Sunday, October 05, 2003

H1-B Realities. Chiara has recently written on this subject.  You should read what she said, and take the time to read the report she refers to.  There are a number of forces at work, and they're not working in favor of us programmers here in the US... Cheating is rampant.  Companies abuse the H1-B process to find cheap labor.  They falsely certify that they are unable to find appropriate employees already able to work in the US. Corruption is present, and may be common.  There are people out there who "broker" H1-B positions; they're in a position to hire and fire, falsify certifications, and so forth.  Employees are often required to pay to get their position, or give part of their pay. L1 abuse is becoming more frequent.  This does an end run around the entire visa process; consulting front companies use the L1 process to import additional consultants, who are farmed out at cheap rates.  Fear means silence.  Current H1-B holders are often scared to complain about long work weeks, low pay, paying a "toll" to get their job, or giving part of their pay to some organizer.  What we've got is a system with good intentions (to allow American companies to import the specific, skilled expertise they need), that's resulted in a lot of cheating and imbalances.  In the interests of full disclosure, I'll point out that I am a Canadian working in the US.  Fortunately, Canada and the US have a bidirectional visa program, whereby Americans who work in certain professions can easily get a visa to work in Canada, and vice-versa.  Our two cultures are very comparable in just about every way, so that program has worked well for both countries, and given the citizens of each substantial additional freedom. 8:08:39 PM