H-1B’s big lottery change made final

[echarcha]

H-1B’s big lottery change made final

Many Indian 'body-shopper' companies like TCS, Infosys, L&T Infotech, Cognizant, Wipro will now have to rethink their business model. Whatever, they come up with, their core 'body shopping' business is definitely affected adversely. Years of abusing the H1B visa loopholes has finally come home to roost! Many of our own people from 'Andhra and Telangana' will now find it more difficult to pump up their resumes with 'exotic tech' skills and 'vast' experience.

A new federal rule intended to favor more highly educated applicants and streamline the application process for the controversial H-1B visa has been finalized.

One of the two elements of the new rule will change the way the lottery-based application system works to boost the proportion of H-1B visas awarded to foreign citizens with a master’s degree or higher from a U.S. school, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The visa, intended for jobs requiring specialized knowledge, requires a bachelor’s degree or higher.

“The change will result in an estimated increase of up to 16 percent (or 5,340 workers) in the number of selected petitions for H-1B beneficiaries with a master’s degree or higher from a U.S. institution of higher education,” Homeland Security said in a statement Wednesday.

That part of the new rule will take effect April 1, the date for filing H-1B applications for fiscal year 2020.

The second element imposes a new requirement that any company applying for an H-1B for a worker must register with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration initially instead of applying for the visa. Only those companies whose registrations are selected may apply for the visa. That change, intended to reduce costs for employers and make the system more cost effective and efficient, has been suspended for fiscal year 2020 as a result of “public feedback,” Homeland Security said.

Once that element is put in place, the collective savings for companies with unapproved registrations will amount to $47.3 million to $75.5 million, according to Homeland Security.

While the registration suspension is in place, the new lottery system will still select from H-1B applications, not registrations, Homeland Security said.

The H-1B has become a flashpoint in America’s immigration debate, with tech companies, including in Silicon Valley, lobbying for an increase to the annual 85,000 cap on new visas, arguing that they need more H-1B visas to secure the world’s top talent. Critics point to reported abuses and argue that outsourcing companies and tech firms use the visa to supplant American workers with cheaper foreign labor.

The new rule grew out of President Donald Trump’s “Buy American and Hire American” executive order. Trump, while campaigning in 2016, declared that there was “rampant, widespread H-1B abuse,” and he has attacked outsourcing of American jobs.

A spokesman for NASSCOM, an Indian organization representing IT consulting and outsourcing firms, said the lottery change would shut out an important portion of America’s tech work force.

“It’s going to … put the government in the role of deciding what industry needs in terms of talent,” spokesman Jeff Lande said. “We’ve got school systems around the country, tech companies, hospitals, etc. that are not going to have access to 5,000 to 6,000 H-1Bs who are best suited for the talent they need.”

Workers with master’s degrees or PhDs aren’t always more qualified than bachelor’s degree holders for every job, Lande added. “People with years of experience and cutting-edge skills will be coming in line behind the people with the advanced degrees who may not be as experienced,” Lande said.

Homeland Security said it would publish the new rule Thursday, on a web page that on Wednesday linked to an unpublished PDF of the rule.

Prioritizing master’s degree holders via the lottery change should “very modestly” tilt the odds for obtaining an H-1B visa in favor of companies that tend to hire graduates from U.S. schools, and against those often hiring from abroad, including the outsourcers that receive the lion’s share of H-1B visas, said Howard University professor Ron Hira, a frequent critic of the H-1B program.

“But it is hardly the major fix that U.S. workers expected Trump to deliver based on his promises,” Hira said.

A change benefiting companies including Google, Facebook and Microsoft is not necessarily good for American workers in general, Hira added, citing recent claims in a lawsuit against Redwood City software giant Oracle by the federal government, alleging the firm favored hiring non-citizen graduates of U.S. colleges over American graduates.

Hira said he would like to see the H-1B lottery replaced with a system based on salary to be paid to a foreign worker.

The Semiconductor Industry Association, which represents chip makers including Intel and Marvell, had said in a January letter to Homeland Security that it supported the lottery change, which was a proposal at the time.

“Many of the scientific and engineering positions in the semiconductor industry require an advanced degree, and a bachelor’s degree is often insufficient,” the group said.

The Information Technology Industry Council, which represents tech giants including Google and Facebook, and outsourcers including Cognizant and Accenture, said it was reviewing the lottery change, and applauded the suspension of the registration requirement.

Cognizant, based in New Jersey, plus Indian outsourcers Tata and Infosys, are the three top recipients of H-1B visas, with the vast majority of them obtained for workers with bachelor’s degrees.

LINK

[sarv_shaktimaan]

We’ll know if it works by October..

Here’s my analysis.. masters folks used to have a separate 20K quota, now they will be considered on first priority. In 2018, large percentage of masters were denied h1B or given RFEs (request for evidence) on grounds that not having any or much work experience, they don’t qualify for “specialty occupation” work visa.

May be this year, if same trend follows, tcs wipro infy cognizant will get bigger share of H1Bs. Earlier 20K quota mean for advanced degree holders from usa was off limits.

[echarcha]

Originally Posted by sarv_shaktimaan

We’ll know if it works by October..

Here’s my analysis.. masters folks used to have a separate 20K quota, now they will be considered on first priority. In 2018, large percentage of masters were denied h1B or given RFEs (request for evidence) on grounds that not having any or much work experience, they don’t qualify for “specialty occupation” work visa.

May be this year, if same trend follows, tcs wipro infy cognizant will get bigger share of H1Bs. Earlier 20K quota mean for advanced degree holders from usa was off limits.

No, you did not understand completely. I spoke to a friend who has a company and uses H1B workforce from overseas. His lawyer said to him that now with the new rules, students who have done Masters in the USA will get an H1B. The current administration wants people with Masters from the USA to be given a chance at H1B first. So the last year's trend will not continue.

That is the reason that many lawyers are now saying (and even one of them in the original news story above) that "having a masters does not mean you have 'experience' and masters alone cannot do a job where experience is needed'.

But companies like Google and Facebook will welcome this change as they need to hire fresh Masters students and now this makes it easy.

[sarv_shaktimaan]

Who will give job offer to freshers and that too with high pay? Desi consultancies are back in business? Again fake resume’ and get h-1b?

US is a frikkin pipe dream.. so inconsistent and confused with their policies. Last years Masters guys got f’ed in the ass by same administration, this year they offering vaseline? I donno.. why should anybody come for masters to US unless in an ivy league university? Already, with a chimp heading the govt the 40B a year industry is suffering as much as 8% decline in international students.

A colleague in OPT last year had 4 RFEs and eventually denied.. great time for immigration attorneys.

[HarHarMahaDev]

Originally Posted by sarv_shaktimaan

Who will give job offer to freshers and that too with high pay? Desi consultancies are back in business? Again fake resume’ and get h-1b?

US is a frikkin pipe dream.. so inconsistent and confused with their policies. Last years Masters guys got f’ed in the ass by same administration, this year they offering vaseline? I donno.. why should anybody come for masters to US unless in an ivy league university? Already, with a chimp heading the govt the 40B a year industry is suffering as much as 8% decline in international students.

A colleague in OPT last year had 4 RFEs and eventually denied.. great time for immigration attorneys.

If you think H1b is hard now, you guys have no idea how it was in the 1990s.

Back in my days (speaking like grandpa with walking stick), most companies had no idea what H1b was. Nobody even wanted to dabble with foreigners. You were lucky if you found an employer willing to have an interview, let alone sponsor your visa. But once you found an H1ber, then it became easier to find a green card sponsor.

Nowadays, it's easy (relatively) to find a H1b sponsor. Green card has become whole different story.

[echarcha]

Originally Posted by sarv_shaktimaan

Who will give job offer to freshers and that too with high pay? Desi consultancies are back in business? Again fake resume’ and get h-1b?

US is a frikkin pipe dream.. so inconsistent and confused with their policies. Last years Masters guys got f’ed in the ass by same administration, this year they offering vaseline? I donno.. why should anybody come for masters to US unless in an ivy league university? Already, with a chimp heading the govt the 40B a year industry is suffering as much as 8% decline in international students.

A colleague in OPT last year had 4 RFEs and eventually denied.. great time for immigration attorneys.

A very good friend's son has just finished his masters from here. He has a job offer from a very top firm here in data science and analytics, and they offered him to work on his current OPT (which is for 3 years) and then they said they will apply for his H1B.


Yes, there are many companies who want freshers to work with them. Not every company needs experienced folks for starter/fresher positions.

Having said that, yes a lot of companies need experienced folks and with H1B becoming tougher to get, its going to get harder.

But think of it this way - Those who are already here on Green card or Citizenship have now a better chance and better pay rates. Body shoppers like TCS, Infosys, L&T Infotech, Wipro, et-al undercut the rate tremendously by having a shadow team overseas and just a few folks here on site. They call it blended rate.

And no, the work quality is not the same. Freshers in India handling work here is not always of the top quality required. I have seen this for many years in different projects. Typically the very few on site are a bit more experienced and they take on huge tasks which they farm out to their colleagues in their India offices.

Many companies have realized how this all works and some take advantage of blended rates and many don't because of the quality of work, the coordination of meetings owing to timezone differences, etc.

Now think of it from a political perspective. Prime Minister Narendra Modi started "Make In India" which meant that why get imported stuff when you can make it in India and thus generate employment in the Indian market itself. That we all applaud as we want India to be a manufacturing hub like China.

Now when President Trump says the same about "Buy American Hire American" then why are we finding fault?

Though I came here on H1B decades ago, I know what happens in the software development market today in the Bay Area. All these fake resume assholes come here, are ready to work for a pittance and get the contracts. Within 3 to 4 months the client realizes that just cost saving on contractor rates has screwed the overall project. So they start looking for 'real experienced and skilled' talent. But the mindset is still to pay a little over the pittance they were used to pay. So they get fucked anyway.

I can tell you names of companies here in the Bay Area, big names, who have open positions for certain roles for months and months. They cannot find a good candidate because they want to pay H1B rates but expect work and quality of a much much higher standard.

Call me selfish or self-centered, but I am glad this whole H1B is getting harder and harder and all these "30 year experience in handling 100 Petabyte Oracle Database" type of fake resumes won't be getting a job here. I am glad that the companies here realize that if they cannot pay top dollar then they will get nothing.

[echarcha]

Originally Posted by HarHarMahaDev

If you think H1b is hard now, you guys have no idea how it was in the 1990s.

Back in my days (speaking like grandpa with walking stick), most companies had no idea what H1b was. Nobody even wanted to dabble with foreigners. You were lucky if you found an employer willing to have an interview, let alone sponsor your visa. But once you found an H1ber, then it became easier to find a green card sponsor.

Nowadays, it's easy (relatively) to find a H1b sponsor. Green card has become whole different story.

I know what you are saying.

Fortunately my green card got processed in about 3 and a half years. Thanks to the portability and give remaining visas to India and China regulation/law/bill that things got done faster.

Now, it has become next to impossible to get a employment based Green Card.

I am sure that those who are very rich in India and want to go to USA for sake of a fat dowry can now invest in the Investor Green card by coughing up 500,000 USD. You might not believe it, but there are now ads by local immigration lawyers about getting a investor green card in the local media and desi publications here.

[sarv_shaktimaan]

Lekin India me 3-4 crores loose cash hoinga to idhar US me kyon maraneka?

Naukar chakar everything one can have in India .. and enjoy with friends, family, etc. yahan pe zabardasti friends banao aur 3-4 log mil ke diwali potluck karo.. this US bug in our head is screwing quality of life.

[sarv_shaktimaan]

^^ Cha pai, your friends son .. what if uscis says why comapny no hire American with same skills no work experience ? Why we got job because we working for many years..

1 or 2 cases is fine.. but try finding a job for 10-15K with or little work experience requiring visa sponsorship.. nahi milenga.. only desi consultancy can save your ass, if at all possible.

[sgars]

Originally Posted by sarv_shaktimaan

Lekin India me 3-4 crores loose cash hoinga to idhar US me kyon maraneka?

Naukar chakar everything one can have in India .. and enjoy with friends, family, etc. yahan pe zabardasti friends banao aur 3-4 log mil ke diwali potluck karo.. this US bug in our head is screwing quality of life.

One can become a pandit ji. Our nearby Mandir panditji got his GC in 2 years or so.
Looks like they really check if you are really well versed in mantras and all for a religious visa.

[echarcha]

Originally Posted by sarv_shaktimaan

Lekin India me 3-4 crores loose cash hoinga to idhar US me kyon maraneka?

Naukar chakar everything one can have in India .. and enjoy with friends, family, etc. yahan pe zabardasti friends banao aur 3-4 log mil ke diwali potluck karo.. this US bug in our head is screwing quality of life.

I have lived here for so long and then I went and lived (worked and lived) in my home town Mumbai for 5 years and now I am back.

Someday, I will write about what is here and what is there. And no, not just by reading other people's experiences but actually doing it - living in India after having lived here for so long and then coming back here.

[echarcha]

Updates on latest H1B changes

Trump Administration’s H-1B Visa Changes Proven Effective in New Study

When we talk about the H-1B visa program under Trump, the conversation is almost always around governmental policy changes or proposals. Now we have a better idea of how all the maneuvering is actually affecting tech.

In the most recent HackerRank DevSkills report, tech pros were asked about the impact of U.S. immigration policy on them or those they knew. A large percentage (43.74 percent) found the questioning not applicable, suggesting they were simply U.S.-based candidates with no connection to the H-1B visa program (or any other visa program tech pros may take advantage of), and didn’t know anyone involved in such programs.

But almost 25 percent (24.48 percent, specifically) said recent U.S. immigration policy has discouraged them or someone they know from applying to jobs in the United States. Nearly one-fifth (17.20 percent) were unable to get a visa to work in the United States.

These two figures, combined, show that roughly 40 percent of tech pros have been affected by U.S. immigration policy changes. While this data isn’t unique to the H-1B visa, that visa program is most often used by foreign tech pros and U.S.-based tech companies that hire talent from overseas.


H-1B Affects Tech Recruiting, Too
When it comes to recruiters, the same two data points are relevant.

U.S.-based hiring managers report hiring tech talent has been “more difficult” with immigration policy changes. Around 30.43 percent insist the changes Trump’s administration has set in motion make things difficult; only 14.36 percent of global hiring managers report the same, which suggests domestic changes are helping foreign tech recruiters find and retain their local talent.

Around 12.56 percent of U.S. hiring managers say policy changes have discouraged them or someone they know from applying for jobs stateside. This data-point isn’t dissected further, but it suggests many people who would otherwise apply for an H-1B or similar visa no longer wish to.

Globally, the percentage of hiring managers who report they or someone they know were discouraged from applying to a U.S.-based job skyrockets to 27 percent. We should point out that HackerRank asked the same question of tech pros and recruiters/hiring managers, and it’s more than likely recruiters are offering details on candidates more than their own, personal experiences with U.S. immigration policy changes.

A third data-point that stands out is the number of candidates unable to obtain work visas in 2018. Only 5.56 percent of U.S.-based recruiters and hiring managers say they’ve experienced candidates having issues obtaining work visas, which is relevant to those candidates already here who are simply renewing their visa.

Globally, 18.41 percent of hiring managers say they’ve experienced candidates having issues obtaining work visas. This category follows the same disparate ratio as those workers reportedly discouraged from seeking a visa to work in the United States.

While the Trump administration’s H-1B stance has been reliably polarizing, this data shows it has also been effective. Foreign tech pros are discouraged from applying for visas; and when they do apply, they’re often unable to obtain one. Recruiters are finding it harder to discover talent, which many tech pros stateside will point to as evidence of a flaw in the system; those who feel slighted by tech recruiters often feel they’re simply being overlooked as recruiters hunt for overseas employees.


LINK

[HarHarMahaDev]

Originally Posted by echarcha

Updates on latest H1B changes

They are going to change the visa name to Preparation H1B.

[sarv_shaktimaan]

confusion personified..

[echarcha]

Originally Posted by HarHarMahaDev

They are going to change the visa name to Preparation H1B.

That was a clever one.... Preparation H