I think it is terrible that companies are taking advantage of foreigners, but I also keep seeing this $20,000 number thrown around a lot. That's how much it costs for a company to apply for an H1B. The companies should not be using that to prevent people from quitting, but it is a very real, large expense to getting workers from out of the US.
The flip side of the argument isn't great either. If Softcorp or whatever pays a small fortune to get someone an H1B, that person shouldn't turn around and leave immediately either. It's just really sad that this means Softcorp, etc know they can use that as a leash and treat the worker like crap.
Someone tell me a solution to this problem given the H1B's cost so much. How do you prevent abuse? It seems like making the worker pay for the visa would fix it, but I have a feeling that is quite difficult as well. Also, it would be kind of crazy to have to pay a huge sum to take a job.
"Investigators also found that the Virginia company charged new H-1 B workers fees for training ranging from $1.000 to $2,500. Such fees are in violation of the law."
> If Softcorp or whatever pays a small fortune to get someone an H1B, that person shouldn't turn around and leave immediately either.
Then Softcorp should make their compensation competitive.
>>but I also keep seeing this $20,000 number thrown around a lot. That's how much it costs for a company to apply for an H1B.
To clarify, the actual application cost varies between $2500 and $5000[1]. The problem is that on most years, the visas are given only to a percentage of the applicants. For example, if someone is switching from OPT to H1B and they don't win the RNG game, the cost to the company can be enormous.
Only the petition fees, which are a small portion ($1500?). The lawyers fees aren't refundable.
Some lawyers do charge up to $15,000 for H1Bs, and I've heard of people reasonably paying $8000. (Good lawyers are definitely in the $4000 range, though you can bring thing down considerably by using inhouse lawyers, which is probably what big companies do).
So if we assume that lawyers cost $2000 per petition for large companies, and that there's a 33% success rate in the lottery (it was 50% last year), we're still talking only a cost of $6000 per hire.
I stand partially corrected. The visa perhaps costs between your stated numbers, but I've heard the lawyer fees push that number far higher. I worked at a company where the application was rejected at first, and the fee basically doubled to $40,000 dollars because you pay to apply, not to be accepted.
My point remains though, it is really expensive to get these visas in your hand, and the company usually fronts this cost.
There's no lease. An H1B worker can switch companies freely with little hassle. It's the L-1 visa that has a lease. Congress passed a law in 2000 called 'AC21' which brought job portability for H1B workers. I don't know why I keep hearing people on HN and elsewhere talk as though AC21 never happened over and over again. Please have the sense to do some basic research before forming your opinions. Lastly the cost to the company is actually around $4-5k.
H1B portability is a misnomer. All that happens is that the new employer applies for a new H1B for you, which is not subject to the cap. So you are just tied to the new employer. Portability here just means that you can choose which employer to be tied to.
You do realize that "tied to" implies that you can't change jobs? But that's not the case with H-1B workers. You can switch jobs at will, and even work multiple jobs (with concurrent petitions) at the same time.
Furthermore, AC21 enables you to begin working as soon as your next/future employer has filed a petition – so you don't have to wait until USCIS makes a decision. With a good employer and attorney, USCIS will generally approve the case (although I'm sure there are outliers).
In practical terms, the effect of AC21 is that (for the most part) it allows you to take up any job in that is directly related to what you major. The employer has to spend a bit on the petition and on an immigration lawyer, but in our industry it's a drop in the bucket compared to what they'll be paying you annually.
I'm 99% certain actually being on the payroll of multiple companies while on H1B is a felony. You can still be working for your original employer while your petition with the new one is underway, or start working with the new one once you receive your petition receipt, but definitely not both at the same time.
I'm not sure what industry you're in, but 20k out of a software dev's 60k-100k salary is a very very big drop, especially for a junior/fresh grad hire. And of course, 20k lump sum is out of the question for many startups.
I have switched jobs under AC21, and I have since gotten permanent residency.
While you can change jobs, your new employer has to both be one that wants to handle H1-Bs (and many smaller ones don't). On top of that, if you were applying for an employer-sponsored green card, like most H1-Bs want to do, then guess what? You have to get your new employer to sponsor you too, depending on the part of the process you are in. And while asking an H1-B to pay for his own visa costs is illegal, as far as I can tell, asking someone to compensate the company for legal fees trying to obtain a still pending green card does not. In my last job before the green card, I had a nice 20K anvil hanging over me if I left before green card +1. And that process took about 7 years, thanks to visa limits. So yeah, I could have changed jobs again, but it would not have been cheap for me.
And all of that, while knowing that getting laid off leads to either leaving, or staying in the US illegally for a small period of time, which is one of the few reasons the USCIS agents can find to end up denying a green card application.
So I am glad AC21 exists, but the freedom an American has and the one an H1-B visa holder have are nowhere near equivalent.
The flip side of the argument isn't great either. If Softcorp or whatever pays a small fortune to get someone an H1B, that person shouldn't turn around and leave immediately either. It's just really sad that this means Softcorp, etc know they can use that as a leash and treat the worker like crap.
Someone tell me a solution to this problem given the H1B's cost so much. How do you prevent abuse? It seems like making the worker pay for the visa would fix it, but I have a feeling that is quite difficult as well. Also, it would be kind of crazy to have to pay a huge sum to take a job.