Making progress..
Thanks to some encouragement from people like Roger and Atsushi, we are moving forward, despite everyone’s ultra-busy schedules.
We are almost decided on the new Q&A feature to implement here.
http://premium.wpmudev.org/project/qa-wordpress-questions-and-answers-plugin
Watch out for more updates on this soon..
The debate is whether to to only allow attorneys to post answers to questions or leave it open…Other forums often have very useful content but too much clutter and often inaccurate inormation. The former sounds better but then reduces the number of contributors and possibly the speed of responses quite a bit. For simpler issues, I guess it’s ok for anyone to respond. For complex issues, it’s best left to the pros. But how can that determination of complexity happen automatically? May be volunteers can classify? The software above doesn’t allow that many options either I think…
what is your preference - open for anyone to respond or give only attorneys the ability to respond?
Loading ...
July 9th, 2011 at 3:38 pm
H1B Visa Red Tape and US Unemployment
How H1B immigrants contributes towards US economy ?
1) H1B employees need a place to live, so they rent apartments. Average Rent paid per year – $12,000.
2) H1B employees need food, water, electricity and other utilities to sustain their families. Money spent on such services per year – $6000.
3) Many H1B employees typically go to school in US for MS. Average tuition fee paid + living expenses – $40,000.
4) H1B employees typically travel back to their home country once every year on vacation – $2000.
5) Average taxes paid to US government – $20,000.
Total Contribution in 6 years = $12,000X6 + $6,000X6 + $40,000 + $2,000X6 + $20,000X6 = $280,000
How Red Tape is hampering H1B program ?
Stringent rules and regulations coupled with increasing costs are preventing more and more companies from hiring H1B employees. Here are some examples -
1) For H1B employees in consulting, Visa is being tied to a project.
2) If an employee moves to a different location an amendment needs to be filed.
3) Increased H1B filing fees.
Due to all these added complexities companies are avoiding hiring H1B employees. This is evident from the fact that for fiscal year 2012 only 18,400/65,000 (general quota) and 11,900/20,000 (Masters quota) have been consumed as of 07/01/2011.
How poorly managed H1B program is adding to US unemployment woes?
1) H1B employees after being denied Visa or due to increased red tape are choosing to go back home.
2) Positions that H1B employees used to occupy are being outsourced or are being left vacant.
3) H1B employees who used to contribute $280,000 to US economy are not there to sustain it.
How is this creating a lose lose situation for H1B employees and US ?
1) H1B employees who have spent several years in US, have to return back to their home countries.(Loss to H1B employee)
2) Corruption is rampant in their home countries so they will have to learn to deal with it. (Loss to H1B employee)
3) The money that H1B employees used to generate towards the US economy is gone and gone with it are any jobs related to services that H1B employees used to consume. (Loss to US)
4) Many of these H1B employees if given permanent residency in US would have started their own companies and created so many more jobs. That will not happen. (Loss to US)
How much more ironic can anything get ? Sad but True.
July 10th, 2011 at 2:00 am
An H1-b visa holder is not an immigrant. H1-b is only a temporary
visa which allows the holder to work for the company who sponsored the
employee for up to 3 years, and renewable once for up to 3 more years
if that company wants to keep that particular worker.
What is the percentage of H1b visa holders that become U.S.
citizens, relative to the whole group of H1b visa holders?
What is the percentage of H1b visa holders that have the intention of
becoming a U.S citizen prior to leaving their homeland, relative to
the whole group of H1b visa holders?
I have met and worked with over 60 H1b visa holders and not one of
them, when asked, has ever had any intention of becoming a U.S.
citizen. They all have the bizarre notion that the entire planet
should be open to them as a workplace and carry with them an inflated
sense of entitlement. They seem to be stuck on the fact that having
taxes witheld from them is unfair. They are particularly stuck on the
notion that having Social Security (retirement pension) tax whitheld
from their pay is unfair. My contention is that it is the price to pay
for the priviledge of working in the USA. YES, I said priviledge. It
is NOT a right! Only U.S. citizens have the right to work in the USA.
All others are merely granted the privilege.
The sum total of monetary contribution by H1b visa holders to the U.S.
economy is ostensibly meaningless in a $14 trillion dollar economy.
The rants and raves and justifications of these people , when
psychoanalyzed, is beset with self-entitlement and self-aggrandizement
as though they are doing a favour to the USA by working there. They
view the USA as an entity, as a thing, an object.
The vast majority of Indian H1b visa holders are nothing more than
economic mercenaries motivated solely by a desire for monetary or
material gain.
The USA is not a “thing”. The United States of America IS it’s
citizens. ”
— this message brought to you by a lawfully born citizen of The
United Kingdom of Great Britain. –
July 31st, 2011 at 12:02 am
Hi, Wonderful article and the above two comments. I think the H1B is a market driven visa program. The market still wants them. The naturally born US citizens have lost their jobs because of the rapture of homeloan based economic bubble. No one was complaining against H1B before this economic downfall. The natural born citizens should ask corporates to keep their job in USA. The field of Computer Technology is growing temendously. It not only requires good brains, but it requires them in volumes. Tens of thousands of IT related graduates are getting job in India each year. It should be apparent that the IT related economic activity has moved out of USA to many countries in the world. The corporates did it for their profit or survival, whatever it is, and the naturally born citizens of USA don’t even have the clue. From last two years H1B inflow to USA has reduced drastically. How much did that improve the US economy? The problem is that the Software economy is out of the country. It is ridiculous that supposedly intelligent community of US programmers have been fooled by the corporates to aim it towards the poor H1Bs. By making it difficult for outsiders to come into USA, the government probably played the right populist politics, but committed serious economic damage. Plain and simple, people shoud have access to a place build and particpate in a market. Time to smell the coffee!