back to article America halts fast processing of H-1B skilled worker visas

The United States has suspended “premium” processing of H-1B visas, the skilled worker visa often used by technology companies to bring workers to the nation. The H-1B is very useful for tech companies, because the first 20,000 applications each year by those with the equivalent of a US Masters degree are exempt from the 65, …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Virtual reality

    This is the end-game of VR. Warehouses in Deli, full of Indians hooked up to VR, working "in" America without need for physical presence. Paid relative to Indian local wages.

    1. Simon Sharwood, Reg APAC Editor (Written by Reg staff)

      Re: Virtual reality

      And using those weird carts with monitors on top that roll around offices to enhance their presence in the office.

  2. Your alien overlord - fear me

    With the number of Indians being targetted in America, I'd think the number of applications would naturally reduce.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      How are they being targeted?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        How are they being targeted?

        https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/feb/24/killing-of-indian-man-in-kansas-bar-investigated-possible-hate-crime

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          @kmiettinen

          You silly git, Indians are not being targeted.

          In the handful of cases, you have some dumb redneck who doesn't know the difference between a Sikh , an Indian, and a Muslim.

          Just some loony toon.

          Remember when that Muslim cabbie took out a knife and killed that Brit soldier who was off duty and returning to the barracks? Did you scream that Muslims are now targeting Brits? No. Because you realized it was a lone incident by a moron seeking jihad.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      With the number of Indians being targetted in America, I'd think the number of applications would naturally reduce.

      That's why they have to import other Indians. Fake Indians, as it were.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      "With the number of Indians being targetted in America, I'd think the number of applications would naturally reduce."

      Bearing in mind the US gung-ho gun culture and one of highest per capita firearms death rates in the planet, that's probably a much bigger risk.... However even if they are not welcome, it's probably still an improvement from life in a third world country. Some of the ones we get sent over here don't know how to use a sit down toilet!

  3. bombastic bob Silver badge
    WTF?

    why was this called 'discrimination'

    I have to wonder, why was this suspension of priority H1-B approval called 'discrimination'? Except, of course, "non-U.S. Citizens" might be "discriminated" against by NOT giving them visas on a priority basis... which is a perfectly reasonable thing as far as _I_ am concerned.

    It sounds to me like it is another attempt to use emotion-word-bombs to drive people to 'feel' instead of 'think', in order to manipulate the general populous into supporting whatever cause they're using those emotion-word-bombs for. It's just like when everyone DISAGREEING with OBAKA was labeled "a racist" simply for NOT paying the obligatory homage to "dear leader".

    It's really about wealthy political contributors stuffing the re-election coffers with funds, and the expectation that gummint policies can KEEP WAGES DOWN. And we all knew that already.

    People in India: Form your own companies and compete in the world market along with everyone else. You'll make more money that way, in the long run. Hire locally. If your people are THAT good, then YOUR companies will show for it, YOUR economy will improve, etc..

    1. kain preacher

      Re: why was this called 'discrimination'

      Disagree with Obama did not make you racist. Asking for his birth certificate was. Calling his birth certificate fake also made you a racist. Oh an I for one would love to seethe H-1b visa revamped.

      The minimum $200,000. If you truly need a specialist that is in short supply you should have no problem paying that price. Also shorten they stay to six months.

      1. Chemical Bob
        Headmaster

        Re: @kain preacher

        "Disagree with Obama did not make you racist. Asking for his birth certificate was. Calling his birth certificate fake also made you a racist."

        Actually none of those things could be considered proof of being racist as none of them indicate that the person doing them really thinks his/her/it's race is superior to others. The whole Obama birth certificate kerfuffle is really just another example of the sad state of political discourse in this country.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: why was this called 'discrimination'

        "Asking for his birth certificate was. Calling his birth certificate fake also made you a racist. "

        What's that got to do with his race? That he is half Kenyan isn't disputed afaik...

    2. a_yank_lurker

      Re: why was this called 'discrimination'

      @Bombastic Bob - No government owes any non-citizen anything especially the privilege of working in the country at the expense of citizens. Doesn't matter if it's the US, UK, Russia, China, etc. The US IT industry has been caught to many times using H-1B to lower wages at the expense of quality.

      1. druck Silver badge
        Unhappy

        Re: why was this called 'discrimination'

        @a_yank_lucker: No government owes any non-citizen anything especially the privilege of working in the country at the expense of citizens. Doesn't matter if it's the US, UK, Russia, China, etc.

        You try telling that to the House of Lords. Quite happy to get us to guarantee the rights of EU citizens in the UK, before getting any assurances of the future of UK citizens in Europe.

        1. Paul Crawford Silver badge

          Re: why was this called 'discrimination'

          "Quite happy to get us to guarantee the rights of EU citizens in the UK, before getting any assurances of the future of UK citizens in Europe."

          So punishing people who perfect legally live, work and now have families here, if their own governments don't play your political football nicely is a good policy?

          1. not.known@this.address

            Re: why was this called 'discrimination'

            "So punishing people who perfect legally live, work and now have families here, if their own governments don't play your political football nicely is a good policy?"

            No, a good policy is to say "We will treat your citizens exactly the same way you treat ours - if you are nice and play fair, we will be nice and play fair. If you screw ours over, we will screw yours over".

            A bad policy is to say "We will be nice to all EU nationals regardless of what punitive measures the EU countries take against UK citizens over there".

            The House of Lords wants the second one, in case you really could not read between the lines rather than just playing Devil's Advocate.

            1. strum

              Re: why was this called 'discrimination'

              >No, a good policy is to say "We will treat your citizens exactly the same way you treat ours - if you are nice and play fair, we will be nice and play fair. If you screw ours over, we will screw yours over".

              No. This ignores the central point; the UK is leaving the EU, the EU isn't leaving the UK. The first move is ours.

            2. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: why was this called 'discrimination'

              No, a good policy is to say "We will treat your citizens exactly the same way you treat ours - if you are nice and play fair, we will be nice and play fair. If you screw ours over, we will screw yours over".

              No it isn't a good policy. That is a crap policy as these are not political pawns to be bargained with, they are human beings who legally came to live and work in the UK, besides which they provide a great and helpful resource.

              So a good policy is to say unilaterally that we will let them stay here and expect other EU countries to do the same to UK citizens. If the other EU countries don't then that is pretty abhorrent, depending on the way that it is done, but I doubt many/any would. Even if they did it wouldn't mean that the UK would need to act the same way. Give them certainty and remove their stress and anxiety, it's just a decent way to behave.

              1. Missing Semicolon Silver badge

                Re: why was this called 'discrimination'

                ... that's just making UK citizens in the EU into "political pawns to be bargained with". Countries do "pretty abhorrent" things all the time. With various flavours of regretful face, whilst doing it.

        2. Dan 55 Silver badge

          Re: why was this called 'discrimination'

          It's not the way to do it. First you say you guarantee EU citizens' rights after Brexit in perpetuity and the only thing that can change that is the EU (or other EU countries) not guaranteeing British citizens' rights in return. This makes EU citizens pressure their own governments.

          But this prevents the UK using EU citizens' rights as part of a package deal, which I guess is why it wasn't done.

        3. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: why was this called 'discrimination'

          >You try telling that to the House of Lords. Quite happy to get us to guarantee the rights of EU citizens in the UK, before getting any assurances of the future of UK citizens in Europe.

          If we are not going to guarantee their rights to remain, then that leaves the door open for the mass deportation of people based on their country of origin. There is a name for that kind of behaviour - ethnic cleansing - and it is frowned upon in most civilized countries.

          1. Missing Semicolon Silver badge
            Meh

            Re: why was this called 'discrimination'

            Dog whistle again. Nearly Godwin!

            The nature of a Nation State is that it has Citizens, and Visitors. A civilised state treats its Visitors well. But fundamentally, citizens of other EU countries are as much Visitors as UK citizens in the EU are.

            Ethnic cleansing is something Citizens do to other Citizens.

            1. hammarbtyp

              Re: why was this called 'discrimination'

              The nature of a Nation State is that it has Citizens, and Visitors. A civilised state treats its Visitors well. But fundamentally, citizens of other EU countries are as much Visitors as UK citizens in the EU are.

              Even visitors have rights, such as equal access to the legal process and due process of law.

              EU citizens are also a special case. They are not visitors but given have equivalent rights as UK citizens to settle and work as defined through treaty and agreement that the UK signed up to.

              To arbitrarily and unilaterally remove those rights is akin to ethnic cleansing, because if rights can be retroactively removed what is to stop a government redefining the meaning of citizenship at any stage based on colour, ethnicity or religion?

              EU citizens have settled here legally and have every right to expect that right to be protected even when the UK leaves the EU. The idea that their rights should be a bargaining chip as some sort of hostage shield show how low morally the UK government has fallen.

              1. Missing Semicolon Silver badge

                Re: why was this called 'discrimination'

                Your point about the residency rights of EU citizens equally applies to UK citizens resident in the EU. Where is their guarantee?

                Remember, the laws and treaties that bind us to the EU are not permanent. Article 50 provides a route whereby a member state can leave.

            2. strum

              Re: why was this called 'discrimination'

              > But fundamentally, citizens of other EU countries are as much Visitors as UK citizens in the EU are.

              Yes. Both are legally entitled to remain where they are (until some demagogue wants to make a name for him/herself).

            3. jmch Silver badge

              Re: why was this called 'discrimination'

              "The nature of a Nation State is that it has Citizens, and Visitors"

              Nope. It has citizens, residents and visitors. Visitors aka tourists come and go, and stay for days or weeks rather than months or years. Residents, while not citizens, could live there their whole lives. Typically in civilised countries residents are not eligible to vote or run for office, but otherwise have broadly the same obligations (eg pay taxes and Social security contributions) and rights (access to healthcare, benefits*) as citizens. Also in most civilised countries, long-term residents are eligible for citizenship.

              *Note that residents aren't freeloading because they are paying into the system. Typically 'residents' are people who have migrated for work, so are of working age and contribute more into the system than they get out of it.

          2. This post has been deleted by its author

        4. anothercynic Silver badge

          Re: why was this called 'discrimination'

          Because druck, there's this thing in the treaty called equal rights. Just because the USA can doesn't mean *we* should, and the HoL is ensuring that we hold up *our* side of the bargain as it currently stands, i.e. guaranteeing the rights of those EU citizens who settled here. The fact that the HoL has done so (and if the HoC decides that this is a sensible thing to put through - IMO it should), it gives *us* a superior position on this. If the other EU countries suddenly want to play silly with the rights of Brits settled in the EU post-Brexit, they are doing so in bad faith.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: why was this called 'discrimination'

      What is it with conservatives calling Obama "OBAKA" in all caps? Is this some sort of alt-right dog whistle like that stupid frog and calling people cucks?

    4. Just Enough

      Re: why was this called 'discrimination'

      Just to let you know, bombastic bob, that I down-voted your post purely on the basis of your use of "OBAKA".

      Sorry about that, but I usually find any view that includes childish name-calling to be deficient in logic, reason and facts. I don't see anything in your post to change that estimation.

      Please try again later when you can discuss things like an adult. And preferably without the all-caps shouting.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Control the conversation, control the message

        " I usually find any view that includes childish name-calling to be deficient in logic, reason and facts."

        Confirmation bias combined with an Ad-Hominem attack is a good way to avoid an uncomfortable message. Poisoning the Well helps prevent others from repeating that message. Adults try to avoid such tactics or errors.

  4. ecofeco Silver badge

    Good

    The H1-B system is rife with abuse. ESPECIALLY in the IT sector.

    Taking a pause is a good thing.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Anyone who's spent any time dealing with Indian Support Techs or System Administrators on the phone knows the three things that make Technology Company's assertion that they "need" these foreign workers obvious:

    1. The barely speak English.

    2. Are rude and arrogant.

    3. Despite College Degrees and/or Certifications, they actually lack the skills to do their jobs.

    These Indian Techs always want a Field Tech onsite to install hardware but in most cases, the hardware never failed and they only wanted a Field Tech to come onsite in order to re-configure what they mis-configured, or teach them how to configure something they should know but apparently don't know how to configure. And the only REAL reason these IT Companies are after these foreign Techs, is because they can pay them less. Simple as that. They know they can't do the job. They know they don't have the skills. They don't care. They get away with it because they have qualifications that were obviously obtained with memorization tricks, but can't do the job. This is a fact. So expect the tech companies to bitch and moan about this because they'd rather hide these guys and pay them less, than hire Americans, who can actually DO the job, and are worth being paid more. It's an economic decision to make managers look good and get bonuses. Nothing more.

    1. Adam 52 Silver badge

      Wow, now that is racist.

      *Some* Indian tech workers are rude and incompetent. As are some Americans and Europeans. A poorly trained, script reading, call centre drone is unlikely to solve your problem whatever their nationality.

      The Indian contingent of my team are awesome, but then we are as selective about hiring as we are in London, pay them the same as a junior in London, train them the same as a junior in London and use them interchangeably with London.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        There are now jobs advertised in Mumbai and Bangalore that pay more than equivalent jobs in the parts of the UK outside the major cities thanks to the devaluation of the pound.

        From experience, those Indians that come across and work here for a period of time usually go back and are a lot better at their job afterwards than their colleagues who stayed in India. They also usually get promoted out of that role fairly quickly afterwards too.

      2. Ian Michael Gumby
        Boffin

        @Adam52

        Actually its not racist but pointing out a stereotype.

        I work with a lot of Indians in the US where are here on H1B and or have a green card.

        Over coffee at a conference, one of the speakers who is Indian and a graduate of IIT in India, slammed the bulk of the Indians who are here under H1B visas.

        Had either you or I said the same things he said, we would be labeled a racist.

        I can tell you first hand, there's a lot of truth to what he said.

        This is because the companies are gaming the system.

      3. Jonathan 27

        That's the thing, people seem to think you can get good people for tiny wages in India. It's not true. If you want good people you can get away with paying a bit less, yes. But trying to get people for pennies on the dollar, like most outsourcing operations do, you end up with a bunch of incompetent people. I'd say it's more about outsourcing operations being garbage than anything else.

    2. naive

      We all should learn Hindu, or whatever they speak there. MicroSoft outsourced its Azure support to India as well. So get used to it :).

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        "MicroSoft outsourced its Azure support"

        No they have not. It's all internal.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      1. The [sic] barely speak English.

      And how is that different from the Glasgow based call center of my insurance company? I had to call three times before I was eventually connected to someone who didn't make Rab C Nesbitt sound intelligible.

      1. Siberian Hamster

        And how is that different from the Glasgow based call center [sic].

        Fifteen love, your turn.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Center vs Centre.

          Both are valid. Back to you...

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      4. Indian coding.

    5. InNY
      Coat

      This is about

      The H1B visa's not teenagers or recent college graduates...

    6. This post has been deleted by its author

      1. Bucky 2

        Re: Not always rude and arrogant

        I find dealing with people from India similar to dealing with people from China or Europe in general. They're not rude per se, but they are often quite abrupt. The rhythm of the spoken word is just way too fast, way too direct, or both.

        I frequently have to remind myself that it's probably not poorly-hidden animosity -- just a cultural difference -- and to focus on what's being said rather than how it's being said.

        And if that doesn't work, then I remind myself that it couldn't possibly be me, a total stranger, they're angry at. And for me, it will all be over when the transaction is complete.

    7. ecofeco Silver badge

      I wish it weren't so, AC, but unfortunately, this is all too true.

      Of course not all H-1Bs are unqualified, nor rude, but far too many are. I get reports from various levels of the entire IT industry and most of the IT CVs from India aren't worth the paper they are written on.

      It is a scam and western tech companies are active participants in the scam.

    8. TheVogon

      "Anyone who's spent any time dealing with Indian Support Techs..."

      My experience entirely of many years out outsourcing. Agree with you 100%

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Fixed

    Twit-in-Chief

  7. Pascal Monett Silver badge

    "New Delhi pressed, without success, for a fair and rational approach"

    Fair and rational in this case being "keep our privileges active". Talk about having blinkers . .

    The whole visa thing is going the way of the patent office. Suspending options that allow abuse can only be a good thing. Unfortunately, there's a good chance that said options will be reactivated.

  8. johnnymotel

    dunno why we don't just shorten his moniker to Twit-in Chief or TIC

  9. fpx
    Boffin

    That Sucks

    My previous employer imported a lot of talent on H-1B visas, including myself. We were not low-cost replacements, but the employer had genuine difficulty finding enough residents. And no, that was not because they were skimping on pay. We were all treated fairly.

    The company always paid the extra cost for expedited processing. Without it, you essentially become hostage as you are merely tolerated in the country while your application is being processed. You have to file for "advance parole" every time you leave the country, with a certain risk that you could be turned away at the border when you return. The bureaucracy and uncertainty gets on your nerves eventually.

    Sure, expedited processing is unfair to begin with, as it allows you to skip to the head of the queue if you can pay the price, increasing wait times for everybody else who can't afford to pay this tax.

    These days, the H-1B system is useless for importing talent because the queue is swamped with cost cutters that file 100 applications just so that 20 random ones are approved and they still benefit on the average. Few responsible persons would subject themselves to six to twelve months of uncertainty whether they will be allowed to work or not.

    But please don't make the generalization that every H-1B holder is a blood sucker taking jobs away from poor yankees.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: That Sucks

      My current employer uses labor in India and other countries. In answering Requests for Proposal, the company engineering estimate templates, QE template, uses tables for cost. Indian engineers/devs cost about $26 per hour. The others start at $126.

      I can use the non-Indian folks and I do when it makes sense. (can be justified)

      I am expected to "leverage" the lowest cost labor source (India) to make our bids competitive.

      I have worked in IT and Engineering in the USA, UK, Cyprus, Greece, Belgium, China, Singapore, and Mauritius since the 90s. It happens everywhere.

      Opinion:

      Importing foreign labor suppresses wages for locals, and can create jobs. Sacrificing IT jobs for a few other types.

      Raising the minimum salary (at least double) for imported labor in the USA will increase wages.

      It is complete Bull$, that skilled labor is not available in the USA. It just has a market price.

    2. jmch Silver badge

      Re: That Sucks

      "please don't make the generalization that every H-1B holder is a blood sucker taking jobs away from poor yankees"

      I don't think that that is the point being made. Rather, it is the evil yankee companies who are abusing the system, effectively clogging the works with thousands of applications of dubious merit, in which the genuinely deserving applicants are lost

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: That Sucks, every H-1B holder does take a job

        It is the point and it isn't a generalisation. By definition a H-1B holder is taking a job that a citizen of the country could do.

        The argument that a company needs the cheapest workers, or shouldn't have to educate or train workers, is not a reasonable argument from the Nation's POV or that of it's citizens.

        Not all business models are acceptable to citizens. A business model that requires slaves and massive taxpayer money and trade protection is one that should not exist in the West or any trading block that has open access to Western Markets. A business model that requires cheaper labour be brought in, rather than citizens being educated and trained, should also IMO not exist.

        That is not why citizens accepted the idea of allowing in foreign workers. Most felt it was reasonable to allow a legal path for some foreign workers because they can under some conditions create more jobs by training citizens and helping to create industries that would employ yet many more citizens.

        Today foreign worker programs are being used to profit companies and lower wages. That isn't a generalisation it is an obvious fact in many companies that have contracted work outside the country and have a large percentage of foreign workers, none of whom is being used to train citizens to do their work.

        Even one company doing so should result in the program being stopped and at least reviewed if not scrapped all together for one that will result in more training and higher wages for citizens. .

    3. TheVogon

      Re: That Sucks

      "the employer had genuine difficulty finding enough residents. And no, that was not because they were skimping on pay"

      Yes it was. Supply of skilled workers is directly related to wages.

  10. jmch Silver badge

    "“By temporarily suspending premium processing, we will be able to... Process long-pending petitions, which we have currently been unable to process due to the high volume of incoming petitions"

    How about hiring enough people to process the applications in the first place??

    That aside, the programme IS being abused to get lower-wage earners with not-so-exceptional skills to replace locals with equivalent skills. If it REALLY is for highly skilled people that are unavailable in the US, visa holders should be being paid a much higher minimum (eg $200k as someone above suggests)

    1. kain preacher

      Because republicans run on smaller government. Starve the beast theory.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Stop

    I don't see what the industry's problem is with cancelling premium H1-B processing

    A) Its being done so that the "regular" backlog can be better addressed

    B) Its actually costing the U.S. government money, since they won't be collecting premium processing fees during the suspension.

    Unless of course this concern is because outsourced IT businesses can't guarantee they will be able to quickly bring in cheap bodies to work on contracts they just signed.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: I don't see what the industry's problem is with cancelling premium H1-B processing

      Did you bother the read the article? They are not canceling the premium processing, they are putting it on hold until they clear the backlog of other, non-premium applicants, some waiting in upwards of 240 days, then it will start back up again. It's not being "canceled."

      There is nothing to see here. Move along.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: I don't see what the industry's problem is with cancelling premium H1-B processing

        @AC

        I'm pretty sure that if you read my initial response, you would see that I used the word "suspension" and not "cancellation".

  12. stringyfloppy

    Define "Technology Company"

    I'm sure the Trump administration has totally forgotten that "technology companies" develop products, and that those products are often beneficial to people. I work for a biomedical company which relies on a lot of technology and technology workers, many on H-1B visas. Making problems for those workers does not help the research and production stay on target. But I'm sure making international cooperation, communication, interaction, etc. easier is at the bottom of Trump's list of priorities.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Define "Technology Company"

      I would not want the health of my body to ever depend on anything biomedical running Indian code. It'd be less risky to toss a coin and gargle something lethal based on the result. Can you post the name of your company, so enlightened readers can avoid its products?

  13. redneck

    Trial Run

    As a presidential candidate, Trump promised to both eliminate the H-1b program, and he also promised to expand the program.

    So, this is a trial run by the Trump administration. If, over the next six months, tech work in the US gets moved out of the country, then Trump will open the floodgates for more H1b visas. If, on the other hand, more US citizens get hired, then he'll tighten up the H-1b visas further.

  14. profdlp

    Ummm...no

    "...How about hiring enough people to process the applications in the first place??..."

    So my taxes should go to hire people to expedite the process of bringing foreign workers into the country to take my job?

    Oh, yeah, fine by me, but of course...

    1. InNY

      Re: Ummm...no

      The USCIS is a self funded agency. Their funds come from the fees charged for visas, immigration status changes and naturalization applications. They do not receive any funds from the Government via the taxes we pay.

      It's all there on their web site: https://www.uscis.gov/about-us

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Anyone care to correlate...

    The rapidly increasing level of bugs, instabilities and idiocies in US-sourced software and the number of stack overflow surfing 'can I has teh codez' H-1B fast-tracked special developers employed by the companies responsible? Suggested case study 1: Windows. Case study 2: iOS.

    1. ecofeco Silver badge

      Re: Anyone care to correlate...

      "You get what you pay for" is true in almost everything.

      Hire cheap programmers, get shit code.

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Brexit

    I read some or a lot of comments on effects of the brexit.

    Seems to me that some things are to be done, according to commenters, by the UK government to mitigate the effects of the brexit itself, thus making me think, why brexit in the first place...................

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