#myH1Bstory
November 23, 2015 8:18 PM Subscribe
November 29th marks the 25th anniversary of the US H1-B visa, a highly-coveted three-year employer-sponsored visa for skilled workers that can eventually lead to a Green Card - eventually. SmithsonianAPA presents a collection of art about the H1-B experience, primarily from people that have held or are holding H1-B visas (mostly South Asians, since Indians make up the majority of H1B applications), as well as some H-4 dependent spouses. H1-B visa holders are also sharing their experiences on Twitter. (previously)
This particular experience with H1-B visa is especially weird because it's a tiny handful of companies - primarily Infosys, Tata and Wipro followed by IBM & Deloitte.
Anyway, it is crazy how such a seemingly simple bureaucratic work permit process has become such a cultural touchstone for some 40,000 people a year. I came to the US on a TN and then a H1 - it's a long process. And it's intensified by the fact that it's one of very few ways to enter the US on a work visa.
posted by GuyZero at 9:24 PM on November 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
Anyway, it is crazy how such a seemingly simple bureaucratic work permit process has become such a cultural touchstone for some 40,000 people a year. I came to the US on a TN and then a H1 - it's a long process. And it's intensified by the fact that it's one of very few ways to enter the US on a work visa.
posted by GuyZero at 9:24 PM on November 23, 2015 [1 favorite]
L visa holder here. So glad I never had to go down the H1 process - the way a lot of folks get treated and the restrictions are (or were before some changes his year) ridiculous. Mrs Inflatablekiwi rolled in with me on an L2 spouse Visa and had basically full flexibility and freedom of employment from day 1, while many of my H1 coworkers struggled financially for years because their spouse couldn't work - all because of one letter in their Visa category. Weird.
posted by inflatablekiwi at 9:57 PM on November 23, 2015
posted by inflatablekiwi at 9:57 PM on November 23, 2015
(Furiously searching to see how this trending Twitter tag everyone is adding themselves to may or may not be related to some Republican Immigrant Database Project.)
posted by rokusan at 10:22 PM on November 23, 2015
posted by rokusan at 10:22 PM on November 23, 2015
I disagree that it's only a tiny number of companies. I've been at 3 companies not on that list where all Americans except management were laid off and replaced with visa holders of some denomination, because they can pay slave wages, rather than market value, and I think they get away with not offering insurance or benefits or perks at all to imported labor. It's a complete mess for both local and imported workers, and I don't think the system is fair to anyone except corporations.
I've seen guys with Ph.D. Level education, who were brilliant, and huge assets to the company living 4 and 5 to a shitty little apartment because they're held hostage by the visa requirements. How is that even a thing? If the workers are valuable, and many of the visa holders I've known are, then why are we just not letting them come assimilate and be paid market rates?
By the same token, when companies like HP lay off a third of their workforce, but keep visa holders under the pretense that these workers have knowledge that none of the 30,000 released workers have, then how is it not incredibly apparent that companies are gaming the system to keep lower paid foreign workers?
I really dont understand how the current system benefits either the visa holders or the American workers.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 10:30 PM on November 23, 2015 [13 favorites]
I've seen guys with Ph.D. Level education, who were brilliant, and huge assets to the company living 4 and 5 to a shitty little apartment because they're held hostage by the visa requirements. How is that even a thing? If the workers are valuable, and many of the visa holders I've known are, then why are we just not letting them come assimilate and be paid market rates?
By the same token, when companies like HP lay off a third of their workforce, but keep visa holders under the pretense that these workers have knowledge that none of the 30,000 released workers have, then how is it not incredibly apparent that companies are gaming the system to keep lower paid foreign workers?
I really dont understand how the current system benefits either the visa holders or the American workers.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 10:30 PM on November 23, 2015 [13 favorites]
rokusan: the hashtag was started by the Smithsonian's APA cultural lab, I really doubt they're using it as a way to track immigrants.
Besides, we're on a database already anyway, we have to keep our details updated with Immigration constantly.
posted by divabat at 10:30 PM on November 23, 2015
Besides, we're on a database already anyway, we have to keep our details updated with Immigration constantly.
posted by divabat at 10:30 PM on November 23, 2015
SecretAgentSockpuppet: It doesn't, at all, and the H1-B holders have been speaking for ages about how they're exploited. Problem is, a lot of the work-visa activism tends to focus on American losing jobs, and makes the visa holders out to be villains because it's their fault Americans are losing jobs, rather than actually trying to build alliances.
posted by divabat at 10:34 PM on November 23, 2015 [13 favorites]
posted by divabat at 10:34 PM on November 23, 2015 [13 favorites]
Yeah, I was on an H1B for 2 years, at a small landscape design firm, paid the bare minimum they could get away with, which is odd if you think that H1Bs are supposedly given to essential employees who do jobs that they can't fill in the US. My wife couldn't legally work. I couldn't change jobs. Basically H1Bs are a way for US companies to get cheap labor from skilled professionals.
I wasn't exploited, but it was less than ideal. I came home.
posted by signal at 5:48 AM on November 24, 2015
I wasn't exploited, but it was less than ideal. I came home.
posted by signal at 5:48 AM on November 24, 2015
My wife and I lived in the USA on an H1-B visa for three years. The most dehumanizing thing about it was that, every time you leave and re-enter the country, the border guards are not only empowered to deny you entry, but to strip of you of your visa for any reason they like, and with basically no appeal process.
So, every time we left the country to visit family, we were putting our livelihood and home at risk. Of course, we were never denied entry, and our visas were never revoked, but the risk of it felt very real and prevented us from feeling like the USA could ever really be our home.
posted by 256 at 8:05 AM on November 24, 2015 [2 favorites]
So, every time we left the country to visit family, we were putting our livelihood and home at risk. Of course, we were never denied entry, and our visas were never revoked, but the risk of it felt very real and prevented us from feeling like the USA could ever really be our home.
posted by 256 at 8:05 AM on November 24, 2015 [2 favorites]
Oops, I just realized that we were actually on the (very similar) TN visa. It has almost all of the same restrictions.
The worst thing that I forgot to mention in my first post is that we were living in the USA on a visa during the time of 2008 financial crisis. As if the fear of being laid off isn't bad enough, add on to that the fact that, the moment you become unemployed, you have two weeks to pack up your life and get out of the country.
posted by 256 at 8:13 AM on November 24, 2015 [2 favorites]
The worst thing that I forgot to mention in my first post is that we were living in the USA on a visa during the time of 2008 financial crisis. As if the fear of being laid off isn't bad enough, add on to that the fact that, the moment you become unemployed, you have two weeks to pack up your life and get out of the country.
posted by 256 at 8:13 AM on November 24, 2015 [2 favorites]
In my experience, the TN and H1B were entirely different. TN was (I use the past tense because I'm not a holder of these visas any longer) a non-immigrant visa. You were expected to have a home, car, family, bank account, library card or whatever in your home country and return there after you completed a period of working in the US. The H1B is an immigrant visa.
I totally agree that the visa is subject to challenges and revocation at the border regardless and I absolutely share the feeling of risk and uncertainty that was part of coming back into the US from a trip.
posted by stevil at 8:25 AM on November 24, 2015
I totally agree that the visa is subject to challenges and revocation at the border regardless and I absolutely share the feeling of risk and uncertainty that was part of coming back into the US from a trip.
posted by stevil at 8:25 AM on November 24, 2015
I was on a TN for 8 years, stevil, and I was in a relationship with another Canadian who was also on a TN for 5. Neither of us had property in Canada (though, family and bank account, yes); and it did eventually lead to US immigration vaguely threatening with cutting us off if we kept using that status. So, we switched to an H1 to get a Green Card, and it's been its own different flavor of purgatory.
I haven't exactly found myself exploited. I've worked for a fair wage for most of the employers that I've had, and have been given benefits and treated the same as any other American employee. The fact that all of the visas have been tied to an employer has reduced my mobility within the American market, which (along with the implied cost burden of the visa paperwork that the employer would incur) affects my ability to negotiate raises, but that's generally the worst of it. I'm not denying that some immigrant professionals are getting screwed out of their fair compensation because of working through a services company like Tata or Infosys; but I'm just saying that it isn't my experience.
However, like 256, I would totally agree that the greatest psychic cost of the H1 (and TN) is this constant reminder that you have no long term stability in this country. We pay taxes that support social security and unemployment insurance, but we have little to no access to any of those benefits because we have to self-deport if our jobs ever go away; or we can be frozen out of the country because a border official's bit of pique.
posted by bl1nk at 8:41 AM on November 24, 2015 [2 favorites]
I haven't exactly found myself exploited. I've worked for a fair wage for most of the employers that I've had, and have been given benefits and treated the same as any other American employee. The fact that all of the visas have been tied to an employer has reduced my mobility within the American market, which (along with the implied cost burden of the visa paperwork that the employer would incur) affects my ability to negotiate raises, but that's generally the worst of it. I'm not denying that some immigrant professionals are getting screwed out of their fair compensation because of working through a services company like Tata or Infosys; but I'm just saying that it isn't my experience.
However, like 256, I would totally agree that the greatest psychic cost of the H1 (and TN) is this constant reminder that you have no long term stability in this country. We pay taxes that support social security and unemployment insurance, but we have little to no access to any of those benefits because we have to self-deport if our jobs ever go away; or we can be frozen out of the country because a border official's bit of pique.
posted by bl1nk at 8:41 AM on November 24, 2015 [2 favorites]
The H1B is an immigrant visa.
IANAL but I worked in the field for years for an immigration lawyer and I prepared paperwork for a lot of H-1Bs under a lawyer's supervision. H-1B is a nonimmigrant visa category. A lot of people use it as a stepping stone to a green card but it is not in and of itself an immigrant visa.
posted by immlass at 8:43 AM on November 24, 2015 [6 favorites]
IANAL but I worked in the field for years for an immigration lawyer and I prepared paperwork for a lot of H-1Bs under a lawyer's supervision. H-1B is a nonimmigrant visa category. A lot of people use it as a stepping stone to a green card but it is not in and of itself an immigrant visa.
posted by immlass at 8:43 AM on November 24, 2015 [6 favorites]
I really dont understand how the current system benefits either the visa holders or the American workers.
The cynic in me would say that was never the intent, but just another scheme for business to get the cheapest labor possible. In the end it benefits both the businesses that hire H-1B holders and those that help expedite those visa holders.
Think about it this way: Companies like Infosys and Tata do a form of collective bargaining, resulting in visa holders' wages that are suppressed to a level attractive to the corporations that hire them. On the worker side of the coin, technology workers native to the US have never shown an interest in being part of an organized labor process, and fact are generally among the most vocal in their opposition to unions. They're working against their (and to an extent the visa holders') best interests.
posted by Sir Cholmondeley at 9:02 AM on November 24, 2015 [3 favorites]
The cynic in me would say that was never the intent, but just another scheme for business to get the cheapest labor possible. In the end it benefits both the businesses that hire H-1B holders and those that help expedite those visa holders.
Think about it this way: Companies like Infosys and Tata do a form of collective bargaining, resulting in visa holders' wages that are suppressed to a level attractive to the corporations that hire them. On the worker side of the coin, technology workers native to the US have never shown an interest in being part of an organized labor process, and fact are generally among the most vocal in their opposition to unions. They're working against their (and to an extent the visa holders') best interests.
posted by Sir Cholmondeley at 9:02 AM on November 24, 2015 [3 favorites]
I worked on an H1B at one company first and then switched employment to a second company. The process was pretty straightforward, but took a month or two. The website AllLaw.com outlines the rules here.
Both companies paid me the prevailing wage for my profession (including stock options) and had to show the authorities that they did. I don't doubt the poor experiences others have had, but in this case everything worked out well for me, the companies, and the American tax-payer.
posted by Triplanetary at 2:01 PM on November 24, 2015
Both companies paid me the prevailing wage for my profession (including stock options) and had to show the authorities that they did. I don't doubt the poor experiences others have had, but in this case everything worked out well for me, the companies, and the American tax-payer.
posted by Triplanetary at 2:01 PM on November 24, 2015
However, like 256, I would totally agree that the greatest psychic cost of the H1 (and TN) is this constant reminder that you have no long term stability in this country
Yeah it's rough. I had J-1s and H-1Bs at three different companies in NYC. At the time it was common among Irish professionals in the construction industry, no idea if that is still the case. I was paid very well (and treated well too) but I couldn't handle building a life in a city I could have to leave at a moment's notice if something made my industry go bang, that is very difficult.
At one point when I was leaving I had to surrender the physical visa .... I can't remember if I was entering or leaving the US at the time .... but the customs guy I was talking to was almost offended I was giving up living in the States. "What? you're moving where? Why?". It was kinda funny.
posted by jamesonandwater at 2:44 PM on November 24, 2015
Yeah it's rough. I had J-1s and H-1Bs at three different companies in NYC. At the time it was common among Irish professionals in the construction industry, no idea if that is still the case. I was paid very well (and treated well too) but I couldn't handle building a life in a city I could have to leave at a moment's notice if something made my industry go bang, that is very difficult.
At one point when I was leaving I had to surrender the physical visa .... I can't remember if I was entering or leaving the US at the time .... but the customs guy I was talking to was almost offended I was giving up living in the States. "What? you're moving where? Why?". It was kinda funny.
posted by jamesonandwater at 2:44 PM on November 24, 2015
My co-worker is here on an H1B. I don't work for any of these (Infosys, Tata and Wipro followed by IBM & Deloitte.) So I guess that yeah it's possible to get an H1B and not work for a huge corp.
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 6:21 PM on November 24, 2015
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 6:21 PM on November 24, 2015
The primary legal reason I got married to a U.S. citizen was to try and remove the precariousness, fear, and instability of being in the U.S. on an H-1B visa status (as mentioned by 256 and bl1nk). This wasn't a sham marriage by any means - we had already been cohabiting as a couple for 6 years (I was on an F-1 visa). And 11 years on, we are still married.
Nevertheless, the fact remains that we would have happily remained as an unmarried couple. I empathise with visa holders.
posted by cynical pinnacle at 6:26 PM on November 24, 2015
Nevertheless, the fact remains that we would have happily remained as an unmarried couple. I empathise with visa holders.
posted by cynical pinnacle at 6:26 PM on November 24, 2015
jamesonandwater: omg when I announced that I was going to leave the US because my OPT ran out and I couldn't find a job (and thus H1-B) in time some people were offended. Like I didn't love them or the US enough to stay, and they wanted me to apologize for it. And then it's "but did you try EVERY OPTION????" (which included options that were absolutely unworkable) and when I ask them to chill out with the advice, it's too late anyway, they were all huffy about it. Yeesh!
posted by divabat at 7:26 PM on November 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by divabat at 7:26 PM on November 24, 2015 [1 favorite]
I finally feel free to comment here. My PERM just got approved and I just sent the last paperwork to my lawyers.
I still have to renew my H1B in December, I hope for the last time. My first TN was awarded in December 2005. Every December since then I go back home to renew my visa. And every December is the worst time of my life. If you've been on a visa, you know the feeling.
DHS, ICE, or whatever they are called now, can put you in the naugthy list for any or no reason at all. With a little stamp they can take away your job, your friends, your neighborhood, the people and places that you love and love you back. Blink and you everything you've built in the last 10 years. I feel like throwing up right now.
And I have no idea how I will ever repay my wife for 10 years sentenced to be a housewife. She can get a job permit this year, but nothing to fill the decade deep hole in her resume.
For my part I am very excited for the potential for job mobility that the green card will bring. I have lost so many opportunities to work on meaningful and interesting projects. For some reason most socially focused companies and non profits can not afford to sponsor H1Bs.
For what it is worth, the two companies where I've been on an H visa, a small one with undr 100 employed and a huge corporation, always paid over the prevailing wages, offered me full benefits, and did not charge a dime for immigration lawyers. My old company was spending an extra 7k to 12k per H1B per year.
posted by Doroteo Arango II at 10:50 PM on November 24, 2015 [3 favorites]
I still have to renew my H1B in December, I hope for the last time. My first TN was awarded in December 2005. Every December since then I go back home to renew my visa. And every December is the worst time of my life. If you've been on a visa, you know the feeling.
DHS, ICE, or whatever they are called now, can put you in the naugthy list for any or no reason at all. With a little stamp they can take away your job, your friends, your neighborhood, the people and places that you love and love you back. Blink and you everything you've built in the last 10 years. I feel like throwing up right now.
And I have no idea how I will ever repay my wife for 10 years sentenced to be a housewife. She can get a job permit this year, but nothing to fill the decade deep hole in her resume.
For my part I am very excited for the potential for job mobility that the green card will bring. I have lost so many opportunities to work on meaningful and interesting projects. For some reason most socially focused companies and non profits can not afford to sponsor H1Bs.
For what it is worth, the two companies where I've been on an H visa, a small one with undr 100 employed and a huge corporation, always paid over the prevailing wages, offered me full benefits, and did not charge a dime for immigration lawyers. My old company was spending an extra 7k to 12k per H1B per year.
posted by Doroteo Arango II at 10:50 PM on November 24, 2015 [3 favorites]
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posted by k8t at 8:54 PM on November 23, 2015 [2 favorites]