There’s plenty of inherent talent in the US already. And those who say there isn’t are politicians and business owners who have something to gain - namely, more lucre for their greedy selves.

THE OVERALL TONE OF THIS ARTICLE IS HIGHLY MISLEADING.

In most cases, H1-B and similar programs are not being used to do innovative, creative new products. In most cases, they are being used to import Cheap Slave Labor so as to replace US citizen workers.

Presenting a talented, attractive, non-threatending poster child for immigration is good propaganda, but it is merely propaganda. How about taking a look at the typical H1-B: He’s Indian, he got his degree at a diploma mill, he “Talks the English very acceptable, you know right”, he workd for Wipro or ADR, and he’s going to be replacing some poor bastard in the accounting department of your local hospital who is going to lose his house after he loses his job.

Most H1-Bs are not Blond Brits from Oxbridge.

@chris banach the E2 was what our lawyers recommended. I would guess that’s because the E1 is for people doing significant trade with the states and as a startup we weren’t trading at all at the time.

> “ten or fifteen still have their hand up”…

The guest worker visa (and student OPT) programs have “RESERVED” millions of high-value jobs for the citizens of foreign countries and these programs, in practice, consistently and routinely DENY, DEPRIVE and EXCLUDE United States Citizens from Equal Employment Opportunity, the law of the land.
The Department of Justice – Office of Special Counsel has received hundreds (perhaps thousands) of complaints about Head Hunters recruiting based on National Origin and Visa Status. The discrimination complaints have been filed by the Programmers Guild and many others. For example,

iGate Mastech Inc. to Pay $45,000 in Civil Penalties to Settle Discrimination Claim
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-.....&EDATE

It is hard though…from 8-12 millions of subscribers each each only 50,000 are elected (randomly, by the computer).

I participated 2 times and a third time I won…I guess I was just lucky…and I’m here since 3 years go.

The winner gets a 10 years greencard as a permanent resident with almost all rights an american citizen has (except voting or be elected for a jury). Of course, you can work for any company you want…even for yours.

After 5 years you are eligible to get the citizenship.

Well, good luck to others who wants to come here…winning the lottery or otherwise.

but it did have a major impact on our company strategy. rather than make the US our main office we’ve had to focus more on Asia and Europe which has turned out well.

for all the communicative joys of technology human contact is still a requirement but restrictions on the movement of labour cause serious inefficiencies in the system.

an injection of common sense is needed i think.

>Having said that, there are plenty, and I mean a good majority, of “American programmers” who tell all kinds of fairy-tales on their resumes, make up skills, experience etc.. You should see the people we have interviewed. Absolute howlers!

This is very true. I have found that there are two groups of developers (local). One group: very intelligent, hardworking and brilliant. The second group: very intelligent, hardworking, brilliant, extremely quick ….in talking. This second group can move a mountain with their mouth. And unfortunately, there is a large gap between the first group and the second group and the first group are very limited in numbers and can be very expensive.

Oh also, when people say there are a lot of local workers that have been sidelined by the H1B workers..please…you must high on something. Please go to every university’s Computer Science and Computer Engineering department and do a head count on how many students they have. And then see if the head count matches the demand for developers for that state. If the supply exceed the demand, then you can continue talking, if not, please STFU. And please make sure you check the grades of those who did not get hired (that is very important)

And for those who claim that companies are laying off developers and hiring H1B developers, there is a reason for that…the laid off developers most likely is from the second group that i talked about earlier. I rather have a productive H1B developer than a local talker.

As an international student, whose mother tongue is not English, I have been working as a teaching assistant for 5 years at a top-50 university in the US. During these years, I have seen so many American students enjoy their lives almost every day, no worrying about their courses, grades or future what so ever. Part of me admired those lucky boys and girls very much because I have to earn the financial aid (the tuition was not affordable to me at all) while working on my research toward my PhD degree. In addition, I have to keep practicing my English, which is not my mother tongue so that I can communicate with people fluently.

This is my story. But it is common for most international students working on their advanced degrees in this country. What I wanted to say is that somebody has to wake up those lucky young Americans. They have to know that they may have a wonderful life in front of them not because they are Americans, but because they have necessary knowledges and skills, for which they are lucky because America has the best education system in the world and the best chance for a decent job. They have to realize that they are not doing what they are supposed to be doing. So, in my opnion, the H1B program helps in this sense. Those people whose are against the H1B program will see that you can only make it worse.

Most likely, your company will be applying for your visa and may be using an outside company (contracting agency and/or immigration firm) to do so. Be sure to double check your application personally before it’s submitted.

Someone at Enterprise Solutions, Inc. (contracting agency) or The Chugh Firm (immigration law firm) screwed up my application and applied for me under the Bachelor’s quota last year (I have a Master’s degree from an university in the US). Without my knowledge, I was put into the H1B lottery and my visa was rejected (while all Master’s applicants were automatically granted H1Bs). They tried to fix the problem but by the time the mistake was noticed, the Master’s quota was filled up and there was no way for me to get a visa. After waiting to see if the lawyers could fix the problem, I decided to go back to graduate school.

The full version of my H1B horror story is up at:
http://www.xanga.com/sushiwalk.....-mark.html

I hope no one else makes the same mistakes I did.

“..less than 5% of these HB1 Visas are for highly skilled workers.”,
well guess what, less than 5% of reports on CNN have any 0.00005% credibility.

@Anonymous
You are just another case-in-point and offer the stock response of “cheap labor”. I am the first person to concede that credentials of people on H1b should be thoroughly examined, and the “due diligence” done to prevent the body-shops from exploiting it.

Having said that, there are plenty, and I mean a good majority, of “American programmers” who tell all kinds of fairy-tales on their resumes, make up skills, experience etc.. You should see the people we have interviewed. Absolute howlers!

you are an exemplar of everything my post summarized! So you think I should hire an “American”, just because s/he was born here and is entitled to this job, before a far talented “foreigner”. What gives you the right to tell me how I should run my business?

If you know better, why don’t you start your own business following your Lou Dobbsian ideology, seek his investment, and like I said - get Lou Dobbs to put his big money where his big mouth is - and good luck to you! What is stopping you?

You, I and anyone who reads this post, more than knows the answer to that!!

We are in an increasingly competitive global landscape. We MUST remain competitive to keep our economic status intact. Otherwise WE will LOSE.
We need the best and brightest in the world helping us to move our industry forward.

If we are forced to pay 100K+ to EVERY worker in our payroll, we will not survive…plain and simple. We have to survive, and that means bringing in the best and brightest who are willing to work for a reasonable wage.

If Congress does not increase the H1-B quote dramatically, our tech industry is doomed, and you will ALL be out of a job.

Its called common sense.