[Wuli]

what is the H1B visa game actually about

it is NOT about a general shortage of workers in certain categories

as much as it is about specific employers NOT wanting to look for a qualified candidate already able to work legally in the U.S. in a particular category but the employer already having chosen a foreign resident they want to import to the U.S. for a job, a job for which there is in most cases - as the CIS STEM report shows - someone already in the U.S. and qualified for

[grania]

Met two or three people who were given green cards to fill jobs in the US. That was years ago. They became citizens, married, have families. When they reached that point where they actually needed a living wage, they were laid off and replaced by.....foreign workers with legal green cards!

How out of control is that?

[300winmag]

what is the H1B visa game actually about

Not usually mentioned by either side is that Asian H1B workers count as minorities for affirmative action quotas. If they were bankers, lawyers, etc. they'd be plain ol' white people.

Hiring or contracting in STEM areas, when federal money is involved, require that 20% of those interviews must be some government-approved minority, even if there is only one person in the country that fills the bill.

One federal agency wanted to hire five PhDs this year for a NOFORN project. My nephew was the only one who even came close to what they wanted, but they still had to interview four more warm bodies to uphold their side of the Kabuki.

So normally, H1Bs in STEM can be a double bonus if federal dollars are involved.