my boyfriend got laid off and may lose his work visa .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm sorry this is happening to your boyfriend. Unless you were already considering it, please don't up and marry him just to get him to stay though.

+1
I don't know what field he works in, but maybe contact a headhunter who specializes in placing people with visas.

He works in IT.

and he is one of the 500,000 Guest workers that are hired as indentured servants for large corporations by Hexaware, Tata, Infosys, Brillio, take your pick, all Indian firms dedicated to providing jobs for Indians to US companies

and because they are in situations exactly like your boyfriend, they cannot move jobs, they cannot get promoted, they have to work weekends and late, for cheap salary, with the hope that someday they get the prize.

complete opposite of freedom and capitalism. another type of government handout to special interests.

There are plenty of jobs in India with a growing economy and India has a very open culture. They have plenty of companies that will give jobs to foreigners.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like he has 4-5 months to get himself a job in IT - is that really so impossible esp for someone with experience? I imagine that even if he doesn't get his first choice job or if he has to move or something, he WILL get a job.

The employer has to have the ability to hold and pay for the visa. Not every company has that capability.

OP here: A transfer petition is a long process unfortunately. To be on the SAFEST side, he can do premium processing of his H1 transfer . He would only have to do this if he transfers his H1 to a different company. We're hoping he gets the job opening he interviewed for today at his current company. His status wouldn't be in danger if he still works for his current company.

OP, I'm not sure if the laws have changed, but the last I dealt with it, H1Bs are portable. That means the transfer petition has to be filed while the current visa is still valid and then he can begin working the day it is filed. You can pay for premium processing but it does not affect his eligibility to work, as long as it is filed before the current one expires.

...filed before the current one expires AND his term date with his current company. The visa is invalid on his date of termination. The op's BF is smart to pursue opportunities in the current company.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm sorry but coming here on a work visa was never a guarantee of permanent permission to live here.
I don't understand the people to choose to come here on a visa and then make such a fuss about having to leave when they are laid off. Yeah - being laid off sucks but he should have clearly known and weighed the consequences before he chose to move her.

Consequences? It's not like he committed a crime. There's nothing wrong with coming to this country for a good job and hoping you get to stay.

Jobs Lost. How much damage is done to each of these two classes of victims? The problem for recent resident college grads is the loss of jobs. I assume that virtually every job that is now filled by a 12- or a 17-month OPT worker could be filled from the vast number of unemployed residents of this country. (There will be exceptions, of course, if an employer really, really needs a recent forestry sciences graduate with fluent Mongolian the boss may understandably need to hire an OPT worker or an H-1B, but these are rare exceptions to the rule.)

Given these assumptions, a total of something on the order of 430,000 jobs were denied to resident workers because of this program; some 64,000 of these jobs were in the STEM fields. For more on the shrill calls of Silicon Valley that there are skills "shortages" (rather than the plain fact that foreign workers cost less and can be exploited more than American workers), see - http://www.cis.org/PanelTranscripts/STEM-Panel-052014

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I hope things work out. I've worked with quite a few wonderful people on visas. It almost seems like these companies run rackets where they hold the visa over their workers. These colleagues were some of the nicest and hardest working people I've ever known, people who are playing by the rules, then get kicked out of our country. All the while there are criminals and gang-bangers we could be focusing more money and effort on in getting them off our soil.

Now is exactly the time to import lots of H1B and F1 and OPT workers to replace US workers.

The minimum wage debate may be center stage in Washington as fast food workers nationwide protest and President Obama renews his call for a higher federal minimum wage. More than 3.5 million Americans work at or below the minimum wage, up more than 50 percent from a decade ago, and government data show that the numbers of minimum wage workers have swollen even among those with college and advanced degrees.

The number of college graduates working minimum wage jobs is nearly 71 percent higher than it was a decade ago, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' latest figures. As of 2012, 284,000 college graduates were working at or below the minimum wage, up from 167,000 in 2002 and more than two times the pre-recession low of 127,000 in 2006. The cohort includes an estimated 30,000 people with masters' degrees, a figure that is more than twice as high as it was in 2002 and three times as high as in 2006.

http://www.bls.gov/cps/minwage2012tbls.htm#6

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm sorry this is happening to your boyfriend. Unless you were already considering it, please don't up and marry him just to get him to stay though.

+1
I don't know what field he works in, but maybe contact a headhunter who specializes in placing people with visas.

He works in IT.

and he is one of the 500,000 Guest workers that are hired as indentured servants for large corporations by Hexaware, Tata, Infosys, Brillio, take your pick, all Indian firms dedicated to providing jobs for Indians to US companies

and because they are in situations exactly like your boyfriend, they cannot move jobs, they cannot get promoted, they have to work weekends and late, for cheap salary, with the hope that someday they get the prize.

complete opposite of freedom and capitalism. another type of government handout to special interests.

There are plenty of jobs in India with a growing economy and India has a very open culture. They have plenty of companies that will give jobs to foreigners.

I don't know about all of that. He's making 90k /year and has a normal work schedule.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm sorry this is happening to your boyfriend. Unless you were already considering it, please don't up and marry him just to get him to stay though.

+1
I don't know what field he works in, but maybe contact a headhunter who specializes in placing people with visas.

He works in IT.

and he is one of the 500,000 Guest workers that are hired as indentured servants for large corporations by Hexaware, Tata, Infosys, Brillio, take your pick, all Indian firms dedicated to providing jobs for Indians to US companies

and because they are in situations exactly like your boyfriend, they cannot move jobs, they cannot get promoted, they have to work weekends and late, for cheap salary, with the hope that someday they get the prize.

complete opposite of freedom and capitalism. another type of government handout to special interests.

There are plenty of jobs in India with a growing economy and India has a very open culture. They have plenty of companies that will give jobs to foreigners.

I don't know about all of that. He's making 90k /year and has a normal work schedule.

why doesn't he get a job where his family lives? what pushes him to want to leave his family and home??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like he has 4-5 months to get himself a job in IT - is that really so impossible esp for someone with experience? I imagine that even if he doesn't get his first choice job or if he has to move or something, he WILL get a job.

The employer has to have the ability to hold and pay for the visa. Not every company has that capability.

OP here: A transfer petition is a long process unfortunately. To be on the SAFEST side, he can do premium processing of his H1 transfer . He would only have to do this if he transfers his H1 to a different company. We're hoping he gets the job opening he interviewed for today at his current company. His status wouldn't be in danger if he still works for his current company.

OP, I'm not sure if the laws have changed, but the last I dealt with it, H1Bs are portable. That means the transfer petition has to be filed while the current visa is still valid and then he can begin working the day it is filed. You can pay for premium processing but it does not affect his eligibility to work, as long as it is filed before the current one expires.

...filed before the current one expires AND his term date with his current company. The visa is invalid on his date of termination. The op's BF is smart to pursue opportunities in the current company.

Um, that's exactly what I said. The H1B status (not visa, visa term is irrelevant to the status term) is valid as long as the person is employed. He has ample notice as to the date of termination, and he can negotiate with the employer on the actual termination date to give himself some wiggle room.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm sorry but coming here on a work visa was never a guarantee of permanent permission to live here.
I don't understand the people to choose to come here on a visa and then make such a fuss about having to leave when they are laid off. Yeah - being laid off sucks but he should have clearly known and weighed the consequences before he chose to move her.

Consequences? It's not like he committed a crime. There's nothing wrong with coming to this country for a good job and hoping you get to stay.

Jobs Lost. How much damage is done to each of these two classes of victims? The problem for recent resident college grads is the loss of jobs. I assume that virtually every job that is now filled by a 12- or a 17-month OPT worker could be filled from the vast number of unemployed residents of this country. (There will be exceptions, of course, if an employer really, really needs a recent forestry sciences graduate with fluent Mongolian the boss may understandably need to hire an OPT worker or an H-1B, but these are rare exceptions to the rule.)

Given these assumptions, a total of something on the order of 430,000 jobs were denied to resident workers because of this program; some 64,000 of these jobs were in the STEM fields. For more on the shrill calls of Silicon Valley that there are skills "shortages" (rather than the plain fact that foreign workers cost less and can be exploited more than American workers), see - http://www.cis.org/PanelTranscripts/STEM-Panel-052014

Very interesting article - thanks for posting.

There is NOT a STEM shortage. STEM people demand high salaries and corporations like Microsoft (Bill Gates supported and lobbied for more tech VIsas) to increase competition for jobs thus LOWERING the salary and costing MSFT less in wages and more in profits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm sorry this is happening to your boyfriend. Unless you were already considering it, please don't up and marry him just to get him to stay though.

+1
I don't know what field he works in, but maybe contact a headhunter who specializes in placing people with visas.

He works in IT.

and he is one of the 500,000 Guest workers that are hired as indentured servants for large corporations by Hexaware, Tata, Infosys, Brillio, take your pick, all Indian firms dedicated to providing jobs for Indians to US companies

and because they are in situations exactly like your boyfriend, they cannot move jobs, they cannot get promoted, they have to work weekends and late, for cheap salary, with the hope that someday they get the prize.

complete opposite of freedom and capitalism. another type of government handout to special interests.

There are plenty of jobs in India with a growing economy and India has a very open culture. They have plenty of companies that will give jobs to foreigners.

I don't know about all of that. He's making 90k /year and has a normal work schedule.

why doesn't he get a job where his family lives? what pushes him to want to leave his family and home??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm sorry but coming here on a work visa was never a guarantee of permanent permission to live here.
I don't understand the people to choose to come here on a visa and then make such a fuss about having to leave when they are laid off. Yeah - being laid off sucks but he should have clearly known and weighed the consequences before he chose to move her.

Consequences? It's not like he committed a crime. There's nothing wrong with coming to this country for a good job and hoping you get to stay.

Jobs Lost. How much damage is done to each of these two classes of victims? The problem for recent resident college grads is the loss of jobs. I assume that virtually every job that is now filled by a 12- or a 17-month OPT worker could be filled from the vast number of unemployed residents of this country. (There will be exceptions, of course, if an employer really, really needs a recent forestry sciences graduate with fluent Mongolian the boss may understandably need to hire an OPT worker or an H-1B, but these are rare exceptions to the rule.)

Given these assumptions, a total of something on the order of 430,000 jobs were denied to resident workers because of this program; some 64,000 of these jobs were in the STEM fields. For more on the shrill calls of Silicon Valley that there are skills "shortages" (rather than the plain fact that foreign workers cost less and can be exploited more than American workers), see - http://www.cis.org/PanelTranscripts/STEM-Panel-052014

Very interesting article - thanks for posting.

There is NOT a STEM shortage. STEM people demand high salaries and corporations like Microsoft (Bill Gates supported and lobbied for more tech VIsas) to increase competition for jobs thus LOWERING the salary and costing MSFT less in wages and more in profits.

Three no-brainer fixes:
* Limit H1B visas to actual employers, not "consulting" firms. H1B's should only be sponsored and paid for by the company that they are working for. This would make it easier for real companies to win the visas and all but eliminate the body shops that are fronts for offshoring. Ban the Hexaware, TCS, Infosys, Brillio that are body shops using H1B to hire Indians only.
* Enable job portability, like Europe does with the "Blue Card," the Euro-version of the H1B. If a person is skilled enough to justify bringing to the US they should be able to quit and find a different job, like any other worker. Disallowing job portability keeps the H1B indentured allowing many of the abuses.
* Disallow H1B's from signing non-compete or non-solicitation agreements to ensure compliance with the other two points.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm sorry this is happening to your boyfriend. Unless you were already considering it, please don't up and marry him just to get him to stay though.

+1
I don't know what field he works in, but maybe contact a headhunter who specializes in placing people with visas.

He works in IT.

and he is one of the 500,000 Guest workers that are hired as indentured servants for large corporations by Hexaware, Tata, Infosys, Brillio, take your pick, all Indian firms dedicated to providing jobs for Indians to US companies

and because they are in situations exactly like your boyfriend, they cannot move jobs, they cannot get promoted, they have to work weekends and late, for cheap salary, with the hope that someday they get the prize.

complete opposite of freedom and capitalism. another type of government handout to special interests.

There are plenty of jobs in India with a growing economy and India has a very open culture. They have plenty of companies that will give jobs to foreigners.

I don't know about all of that. He's making 90k /year and has a normal work schedule.

why doesn't he get a job where his family lives? what pushes him to want to leave his family and home??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm sorry this is happening to your boyfriend. Unless you were already considering it, please don't up and marry him just to get him to stay though.

+1
I don't know what field he works in, but maybe contact a headhunter who specializes in placing people with visas.

He works in IT.

and he is one of the 500,000 Guest workers that are hired as indentured servants for large corporations by Hexaware, Tata, Infosys, Brillio, take your pick, all Indian firms dedicated to providing jobs for Indians to US companies

and because they are in situations exactly like your boyfriend, they cannot move jobs, they cannot get promoted, they have to work weekends and late, for cheap salary, with the hope that someday they get the prize.

complete opposite of freedom and capitalism. another type of government handout to special interests.

There are plenty of jobs in India with a growing economy and India has a very open culture. They have plenty of companies that will give jobs to foreigners.

I don't know about all of that. He's making 90k /year and has a normal work schedule.

why doesn't he get a job where his family lives? what pushes him to want to leave his family and home??

Do you still live in a house you were born in?

[Anonymous]

Immigrants in the hi tech sector are creating hundreds of thousands of jobs a year:
Some 40% of Fortune 500 firms were founded by immigrants or their children. So were the firms behind seven of the ten most valuable brands in the world. Although the foreign-born are only an eighth of America’s population, a quarter of high-tech start-ups have an immigrant founders.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Immigrants in the hi tech sector are creating hundreds of thousands of jobs a year:
Some 40% of Fortune 500 firms were founded by immigrants or their children. So were the firms behind seven of the ten most valuable brands in the world. Although the foreign-born are only an eighth of America’s population, a quarter of high-tech start-ups have an immigrant founders.

There's a big difference between an immigrant moving here to start a business (and create jobs) and someone being used as a pawn in a labor cost reduction system, which is what the H1B program has become.

Originally, the H1B program was to bring in talent that could not reasonably be found domestically, so companies are forced to bring talent in. Today, the overwhelming majority of H1B hires are doing jobs for which many local workers are available.

The solution is to put a minimum salary requirement for all H1B hires. If you really can't find someone locally to do the job, clearly you are in need of a highly specialized talent for which a $150k+ salary should be a small price to pay. This would keep H1B hires back to their original purpose: to hire highly specialized talent that cannot be found locally.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Immigrants in the hi tech sector are creating hundreds of thousands of jobs a year:
Some 40% of Fortune 500 firms were founded by immigrants or their children. So were the firms behind seven of the ten most valuable brands in the world. Although the foreign-born are only an eighth of America’s population, a quarter of high-tech start-ups have an immigrant founders.

There's a big difference between an immigrant moving here to start a business (and create jobs) and someone being used as a pawn in a labor cost reduction system, which is what the H1B program has become.

Originally, the H1B program was to bring in talent that could not reasonably be found domestically, so companies are forced to bring talent in. Today, the overwhelming majority of H1B hires are doing jobs for which many local workers are available.

The solution is to put a minimum salary requirement for all H1B hires. If you really can't find someone locally to do the job, clearly you are in need of a highly specialized talent for which a $150k+ salary should be a small price to pay. This would keep H1B hires back to their original purpose: to hire highly specialized talent that cannot be found locally.

That's already required. I think the issue is more that companies are submitting workers for say a Developer 1 job and the labor cert comes back at 50k. In reality you have a Developer 5 and that is how the company uses them.