Testing abilities instead of a lottery for H1-B visas
Nobody hides that the current state of affairs with the issuance of H1-B work visas for foreign programmers who want to work in the United States has actually turned into a profanation. Firms employers fill out applications for their potential employees, and then the entire annual visa limit is issued within a few days. This is ridiculous.
Obviously, such an unhealthy situation needs to be somehow corrected. The largest IT corporations, including Microsoft and Google, offer the most logical solution to the problem: just increase the H1-B visa limit. But for obvious reasons, the US government is not ready to take such measures. Instead, they found another “solution” to the problem. Instead of the traditional issuance of visas on the list, they hold a lottery among the candidates. Lottery like the one that is held for those wishing to enter a permanent place of residence under the program "green card".
This year the blind lot will determine 85,000 lucky ones among the 163,000 submitted questionnaires.
')
Some experts have already expressed their bewilderment about this way of solving the problem. After all, it contradicts the very idea of ​​H1-B visas, which were conceived as a way to bring the most talented, most capable specialists to America. As a result of the lottery, meddling can accidentally get a visa, and real talent will be left out. But you can select a victory on a fairer principle.
According to some experts, it would be more logical and more correct to introduce clear criteria by which it would be possible to select the most truly talented specialists or conduct testing.
The problem is that experts cannot work out similar criteria, for example, for programmers. How to distinguish a talented, creative master from the usual apprentice? Perhaps, by the size of the proposed salary, and then allow only the highest paid specialists to come to America? Or to give an advantage to foreigners who graduated from American universities (among engineers, about half of the graduates of American universities are foreigners), and when this happens, focus on the average mark at the university?
Interestingly, according to statistics, it is emigrants who are the main driving force behind IT entrepreneurship in the United States. According to a study by Duke University, among all the technological American startups created in 1995-2005, 25.3% were founded by foreigners, and in Silicon Valley, 52%.
However, holders of H1-B visas are not allowed to establish their own companies and can remain in the United States for a maximum of six years. If they file an application for registration of another visa, then they are completely in bondage to the employer and can not resign during the entire period while their documents are considered in the state commission. Wives of programmers who own H1-B visas are not allowed to work anywhere at all. They are not even given social security cards, without which it’s usually impossible to get a driver’s license or to get a bank account.
Obviously, such an unhealthy situation needs to be somehow corrected. The largest IT corporations, including Microsoft and Google, offer the most logical solution to the problem: just increase the H1-B visa limit. But for obvious reasons, the US government is not ready to take such measures. Instead, they found another “solution” to the problem. Instead of the traditional issuance of visas on the list, they hold a lottery among the candidates. Lottery like the one that is held for those wishing to enter a permanent place of residence under the program "green card".
This year the blind lot will determine 85,000 lucky ones among the 163,000 submitted questionnaires.
')
Some experts have already expressed their bewilderment about this way of solving the problem. After all, it contradicts the very idea of ​​H1-B visas, which were conceived as a way to bring the most talented, most capable specialists to America. As a result of the lottery, meddling can accidentally get a visa, and real talent will be left out. But you can select a victory on a fairer principle.
According to some experts, it would be more logical and more correct to introduce clear criteria by which it would be possible to select the most truly talented specialists or conduct testing.
The problem is that experts cannot work out similar criteria, for example, for programmers. How to distinguish a talented, creative master from the usual apprentice? Perhaps, by the size of the proposed salary, and then allow only the highest paid specialists to come to America? Or to give an advantage to foreigners who graduated from American universities (among engineers, about half of the graduates of American universities are foreigners), and when this happens, focus on the average mark at the university?
Interestingly, according to statistics, it is emigrants who are the main driving force behind IT entrepreneurship in the United States. According to a study by Duke University, among all the technological American startups created in 1995-2005, 25.3% were founded by foreigners, and in Silicon Valley, 52%.
However, holders of H1-B visas are not allowed to establish their own companies and can remain in the United States for a maximum of six years. If they file an application for registration of another visa, then they are completely in bondage to the employer and can not resign during the entire period while their documents are considered in the state commission. Wives of programmers who own H1-B visas are not allowed to work anywhere at all. They are not even given social security cards, without which it’s usually impossible to get a driver’s license or to get a bank account.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/24314/
All Articles