mach1343
01-26 11:18 AM
Minneapolis has the best education for children. Weather wise we have to compromise when it comes to children.
wallpaper Thomas Paine in “Common
nav_kri
06-18 03:07 PM
I believe dates open 2 weeks in advance. If you want appointment in Nov check in mid of October. I recently went for stamping in Chennai and experience was smooth.
redgreen
12-16 02:14 PM
I had only I-485 receipt (previous I-94 expired, passport had validity for only 3 weeks) and in MA I got a driver's license for 5 years.
2011 Thomas Paine- Common Sense
gemini23
08-02 01:35 PM
Sanju,
This is indeed related to immigration issues, as many people have to get birth affidavits from india to usa and other places. I dont see whats wrong in using IV to discuss this courier issues.
Also, I dont know why would you link this with DC rally. I assume in good faith that people are going to show up at rally if they can, based on their circumstances.
Please do not make generic negative assumptions.
Peace.
People have started using IV forums to report any issue with customer service. Guys, grow-up, participate in IV activity rather than screwing the effort of few good people. I am sure that people who posted on this thread about DHL/UPS/FedEx are not going to show up at the DC rally. Why are you guys wasting the bandwidth and at the same time killing your time? Wish you all the luck in finding something better to do.
This is indeed related to immigration issues, as many people have to get birth affidavits from india to usa and other places. I dont see whats wrong in using IV to discuss this courier issues.
Also, I dont know why would you link this with DC rally. I assume in good faith that people are going to show up at rally if they can, based on their circumstances.
Please do not make generic negative assumptions.
Peace.
People have started using IV forums to report any issue with customer service. Guys, grow-up, participate in IV activity rather than screwing the effort of few good people. I am sure that people who posted on this thread about DHL/UPS/FedEx are not going to show up at the DC rally. Why are you guys wasting the bandwidth and at the same time killing your time? Wish you all the luck in finding something better to do.
more...
raysaikat
04-03 10:56 AM
Yes, they will return the old passport. You should always carry all your passports. However, only the latest passport is the "active" passport. Any new VISA stamp will be on the latest passport.
All VISAs stamped on your old passports remain on the old passports.
All VISAs stamped on your old passports remain on the old passports.
akhilmahajan
04-23 06:48 PM
First of all congrats for your I140......
Secondly, i8 was looking at the dates and the texas web site mentioned they are processing September 13, 2006 cases.......
But as per your information, it seems wrong..........
I guyess its just random case dates which are processed........ I will have my fingers crossed amd hopefully will get my gift soon.........
Thanks
Secondly, i8 was looking at the dates and the texas web site mentioned they are processing September 13, 2006 cases.......
But as per your information, it seems wrong..........
I guyess its just random case dates which are processed........ I will have my fingers crossed amd hopefully will get my gift soon.........
Thanks
more...
hoolahoous
09-15 07:02 PM
you can go to a nice restaurant with friends AND donate some money to Sankara Eye foundation (they do eye operations for poor in India and send you the name and contact info of the person who benefited from your donation)..
that's what I did when I got greened.. :)
that's what I did when I got greened.. :)
2010 artwork: Thomas Paine (1737
friend99
08-11 10:16 PM
Hi Guys,
I am in a similar position, I have applied for my I-485 last july and PD is Jan 2007, I haven't got any RFE yet but reading all the posts I think I might get one for BC. My BC has 20th August as date of birth but from my school certificate,PP, DL all have 17th August date and I have send an affidavit with I-485 from my parents that I was born on 17th August. But Now when I read all the forums I think I should have send the affidavit which should have said that 20th was right but I did not know that uscis gives more importance to BC date instead of dates on other documents.
Does somebody know what uscis might do? Should I support 17th or 20th date now? and if 20th then is it possible date on school certificate, DL can be changed? I finished my 10th in 1990 and CBSE board. but on CBSE website they say they can change the DOB but only if I had finished 10th in the last two years.
Can somebody please suggest what to do since I can be ready if i get RFE.
Thanks in advance.
I am in a similar position, I have applied for my I-485 last july and PD is Jan 2007, I haven't got any RFE yet but reading all the posts I think I might get one for BC. My BC has 20th August as date of birth but from my school certificate,PP, DL all have 17th August date and I have send an affidavit with I-485 from my parents that I was born on 17th August. But Now when I read all the forums I think I should have send the affidavit which should have said that 20th was right but I did not know that uscis gives more importance to BC date instead of dates on other documents.
Does somebody know what uscis might do? Should I support 17th or 20th date now? and if 20th then is it possible date on school certificate, DL can be changed? I finished my 10th in 1990 and CBSE board. but on CBSE website they say they can change the DOB but only if I had finished 10th in the last two years.
Can somebody please suggest what to do since I can be ready if i get RFE.
Thanks in advance.
more...
GCtrouble
09-25 09:53 PM
Hello,
I am in serious trouble. Sometime ago I tried to switch my I-140 from EB3 to EB2. Now I get NOID to deny 140. Something related to prevailing wage (lawyer has actual letter). In my LC the offered wage was OK for EB3 but low for EB2. Lawyer says he'll try to reinstate EB3, but not sure. Has any one of you been able to reinstate EB3 140? Please help...
I am in serious trouble. Sometime ago I tried to switch my I-140 from EB3 to EB2. Now I get NOID to deny 140. Something related to prevailing wage (lawyer has actual letter). In my LC the offered wage was OK for EB3 but low for EB2. Lawyer says he'll try to reinstate EB3, but not sure. Has any one of you been able to reinstate EB3 140? Please help...
hair Common Sense by Thomas Paine
kevinkris
08-06 01:57 PM
Is it a big blow for desi consulting firms??
US raises H-1B, L1 visa fee by $2000
Washington: The US Senate today approved a substantial increase in application fees for H-1B and L1 visas, most sought after by Indian IT professionals to fund a $ 600 million emergency package to improve security along the porous Mexican border.
The proposed massive increase in H-1B and L1 visa application fee would primarily affect the top Indian IT companies who rely majorly on these categories of visas to continue with their work in the US. The Senate measure increases the visa fee to $ 2,000 per application on those companies that have less than 50 percent of their employees as American citizens.
"I prefer our source, which is from these companies which are not, as I say they are companies whose whole purpose is to bring people in on H-1B and the vast majority of them from other countries who go back to the other countries. That is a better funding source," Senator Charles Schumer from New York said in his remarks on the Senate floor.
Schumer along with his other democratic colleagues including Senator Claire McCaskill has introduced the legislation in this regard, which was passed by unanimous consent. During the debate, however, Senator John McCain wanted to fund the security along the Mexican border with the stimulus money, which was turned down by Schumer.
"The bottom line is this. I like the H-1B programme, and I think it does a lot of good for a lot of American companies. In fact, in the immigration proposal I made, along with Senator Reid and Senator Menendez, as well as the outline with Senator Graham, we expand H-1B in a variety of ways," Schumer argued.
"There is a part of H-1B that is abused, and it is by companies that are not American companies or even companies that are making something. Rather, they are companies that take foreign folks, bring them here, and then they stay here for a few years, learn their expertise, and go back. We think we should increase the fees when they do that," the Senator said.
Rejecting McCain's proposal to get the funding from the stimulus money, Schumer said: "I hope, even though I cannot accept these amendments, that maybe we could come together on something that we could bring back in September because I do believe we have to secure the border."
Schumer said: "Even in the comprehensive proposal that we made, we said we have to secure the border and do other things as well. It is my belief that securing the border alone will not solve our immigration problems; that until we have comprehensive reform, particularly in making sure employers do not hire illegal immigrants which they now do, even though they do not know they are illegal immigrants because documents are so easily forged, that we have to do comprehensive. But we should do the border. To say we have to do comprehensive does not gainsay that we have to work on theborder and work on it quickly and soon."
It is not clear yet, if this increase would also apply only to those firms that are also H-1B-dependent.
US raises H-1B, L1 visa fee by $2000
Washington: The US Senate today approved a substantial increase in application fees for H-1B and L1 visas, most sought after by Indian IT professionals to fund a $ 600 million emergency package to improve security along the porous Mexican border.
The proposed massive increase in H-1B and L1 visa application fee would primarily affect the top Indian IT companies who rely majorly on these categories of visas to continue with their work in the US. The Senate measure increases the visa fee to $ 2,000 per application on those companies that have less than 50 percent of their employees as American citizens.
"I prefer our source, which is from these companies which are not, as I say they are companies whose whole purpose is to bring people in on H-1B and the vast majority of them from other countries who go back to the other countries. That is a better funding source," Senator Charles Schumer from New York said in his remarks on the Senate floor.
Schumer along with his other democratic colleagues including Senator Claire McCaskill has introduced the legislation in this regard, which was passed by unanimous consent. During the debate, however, Senator John McCain wanted to fund the security along the Mexican border with the stimulus money, which was turned down by Schumer.
"The bottom line is this. I like the H-1B programme, and I think it does a lot of good for a lot of American companies. In fact, in the immigration proposal I made, along with Senator Reid and Senator Menendez, as well as the outline with Senator Graham, we expand H-1B in a variety of ways," Schumer argued.
"There is a part of H-1B that is abused, and it is by companies that are not American companies or even companies that are making something. Rather, they are companies that take foreign folks, bring them here, and then they stay here for a few years, learn their expertise, and go back. We think we should increase the fees when they do that," the Senator said.
Rejecting McCain's proposal to get the funding from the stimulus money, Schumer said: "I hope, even though I cannot accept these amendments, that maybe we could come together on something that we could bring back in September because I do believe we have to secure the border."
Schumer said: "Even in the comprehensive proposal that we made, we said we have to secure the border and do other things as well. It is my belief that securing the border alone will not solve our immigration problems; that until we have comprehensive reform, particularly in making sure employers do not hire illegal immigrants which they now do, even though they do not know they are illegal immigrants because documents are so easily forged, that we have to do comprehensive. But we should do the border. To say we have to do comprehensive does not gainsay that we have to work on theborder and work on it quickly and soon."
It is not clear yet, if this increase would also apply only to those firms that are also H-1B-dependent.
more...
pncool01
09-16 01:56 PM
Feel free to celebrate as you please, but keep in mind the less fortunate - not the ones who are waiting for a GC in this country but those who are waiting for their next meal. Ask your wife to make donation somewhere in India or put some money to charity.
For me, symbolic act is enough...I am going to keep it simple
- drive to the border; walk over to mexico and walk back into the US
You know how Mahatma Gandhi made salt in Dandi (and I do see the oppressiveness and exploitation employers can sometimes bring in this GC process)
For me, symbolic act is enough...I am going to keep it simple
- drive to the border; walk over to mexico and walk back into the US
You know how Mahatma Gandhi made salt in Dandi (and I do see the oppressiveness and exploitation employers can sometimes bring in this GC process)
hot Thomas Paine Gave America Some
pappu
06-08 10:37 AM
/\/\/\/
Bumping it up. This is the most important action ite we can take part in. Please contribute if you have not contributed to this drive yet.
Bumping it up. This is the most important action ite we can take part in. Please contribute if you have not contributed to this drive yet.
more...
house 23, 1776, patriot Thomas Paine
gcpadmavyuh
09-23 11:54 AM
My Wife is on AOS (as a dependent with me as primary). She has recently applied for admission into Graduate School. Since she does not have her green card yet, she was being considered as an international application and was requested to submit her "visa documents". We sent in her I-485 Application, EAD and AP documents. Apparently, the school did not have these in their list of acceptable "documents for admission". The school insisted that we need to apply for my wife's F-1 and provide proof of financial support.
I was trying to convince the Director of Intl Affairs that my wife is in the country legally and while on AOS, she can attend school and work for any employer.
The school now comes back saying that they understand being able to work, but they are now asking if there is any law that explicitly states that an AOS applicant can go to school.
Could you please help?? Is there such a law? I personally went through F-1 to H1 to AOS myself and understand each of these statuses, but am looking for a way to convince that AOS can attend school while in the USA.
It's really frustrating to get denied because one is on AOS even though one qualifies for admission. Really alarming to see that not many out side the immigration community understand US visa laws.
I would really appreciate your help!
I was trying to convince the Director of Intl Affairs that my wife is in the country legally and while on AOS, she can attend school and work for any employer.
The school now comes back saying that they understand being able to work, but they are now asking if there is any law that explicitly states that an AOS applicant can go to school.
Could you please help?? Is there such a law? I personally went through F-1 to H1 to AOS myself and understand each of these statuses, but am looking for a way to convince that AOS can attend school while in the USA.
It's really frustrating to get denied because one is on AOS even though one qualifies for admission. Really alarming to see that not many out side the immigration community understand US visa laws.
I would really appreciate your help!
tattoo by Thomas Paine
NewDocinUS
02-05 05:49 PM
Please email me your details, I may be able to get you an observership spot. I do not promise, but I will try
Can you please let me know if you received my email.
Thanks
Can you please let me know if you received my email.
Thanks
more...
pictures Common Sense by Thomas Paine
jonty_11
07-31 01:54 PM
u have to file 140 for ur old labor..once that get approved....u can interfile the approved 140 onto ur pending 485..(filed with PERM labor/140) and request USCIS to use the PD of the old Labor/140...
Confirm with lawyer...
Confirm with lawyer...
dresses photo of quot;Common Sensequot;
aadimanav
11-02 10:22 AM
I think since in their case there is not Labor Certification process so their PD is the day they file I-140.
Internet - In either case, it helps EB3 for the next yr as these 61,000 nurses are removed from EB3 quota.
Also I am wondering whether nurses also have PD or something like that. If most of them have PD > 2006 then they will not be able to use EB3 visas as it is retrogressed and stuck at 2001/2002.
Internet - In either case, it helps EB3 for the next yr as these 61,000 nurses are removed from EB3 quota.
Also I am wondering whether nurses also have PD or something like that. If most of them have PD > 2006 then they will not be able to use EB3 visas as it is retrogressed and stuck at 2001/2002.
more...
makeup Common Sense, The Rights of
msp1976
02-12 10:28 AM
msp1976, I found out that it would take at least a month to get a new passport (is this right?), and I did not have time for it. I'll be sure to post my experience here.
Thank you!
I have heard of people getting passport in 1 day or so in New York...But you have to go in person.....The mail service would take longer....
Also once they give you a stanp for the whole duration.. as someone mentioned earlier...you need to carry the old passport and the new booklet they give you...That works out just fine.....
About what happnes at the POE depneds on the USCIS officer....It is just a draw of luck..
Thank you!
I have heard of people getting passport in 1 day or so in New York...But you have to go in person.....The mail service would take longer....
Also once they give you a stanp for the whole duration.. as someone mentioned earlier...you need to carry the old passport and the new booklet they give you...That works out just fine.....
About what happnes at the POE depneds on the USCIS officer....It is just a draw of luck..
girlfriend Thomas Paine published the
jnraajan
03-27 11:56 AM
I am celebrating the good news from IV by pledging $100 to IV. Any one care to up the ante on this?
My Receipt ID: 54118296K6578915K
My Receipt ID: 54118296K6578915K
hairstyles quot;Common Sensequot; by Thomas Paine
calaway42
10-04 01:18 AM
roger that :)
gcboy442
10-08 08:25 AM
sg72
My spouse EAD and AP were approved on Sept 13th , Mine is still pending......Don't know what to do .....I am the primary applicant....
My spouse EAD and AP were approved on Sept 13th , Mine is still pending......Don't know what to do .....I am the primary applicant....
pellucid
04-05 03:31 PM
America embraces foreign-born ballplayers, but not engineers, much to the
dismay of big business, says Fortune's Marc Gunther.
By Marc Gunther, Fortune senior writer
NEW YORK (Fortune) -- Imagine if the baseball season had begun this week
without such foreign-born stars as Albert Pujols, David Ortiz, Justin
Morneau and the latest Japanese import, pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka and his
mysterious "gyroball."
It wouldn't be as much fun, would it? Fans want to see the most skilled
players compete - immigrants and Americans.
So why is it that people don't want skilled immigrants to compete for jobs
in the multibillion-dollar technology industry?
They view these immigrants as a threat. CNN anchor Lou Dobbs argues
permitting more educated, foreign-born engineers, scientists and teachers
into the country would force many qualified American workers out of the job
market.
That may be true in baseball, where the number of jobs on big league rosters
is fixed. That's not necessarily so in technology, where people with skills
and ambition help expand job opportunities. Immigrants helped start Sun
Microsystems, Intel (Charts), Yahoo! (Charts), eBay (Charts) and Google (
Charts). Would America be better off if they'd stayed home?
"This is not about filling jobs that would go to Americans," says Robert
Hoffman, an Oracle (Charts) vice president and co-chair of a business
coalition called Compete America, which favors allowing more skilled workers
into the United States. "This is important to create jobs. It's not a zero
sum game."
This week, as it happens, is not just opening week of the baseball season.
It's the week when employers rush to apply for the limited number of visas,
called H-1B visas, that became available on April 1 to allow them to
temporarily hire educated, foreign-born workers. This year, Congress has
allowed 65,000 of these H-1B visas, plus another 20,000 for foreign-born
students who earn advanced degrees from U.S. universities. After obtaining
guest-worker visas, employees can then seek green cards that allow them to
stay in the United States
FedEx and UPS did a brisk business last weekend because the visas are
awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. The first 65,000 are already
gone. The 20,000 earmarked for graduates of U.S. universities will be
distributed in a month or two, experts say.
This makes it very hard for companies to hire foreign-born graduates of the
U.S.'s top schools. More than half the graduate students in science and
engineering at U.S. universities were born overseas.
"It's sending a signal to the best international students that they may not
want to make their career in the United States," says Stuart Anderson,
executive director of the National Foundation for American Policy, a
research group. (Anderson, an immigration specialist, also wrote a study of
baseball and immigration that's available here as a PDF file.)
Expanding H1-B visas is a top priority for U.S. tech firms. Bill Gates,
Microsoft's (Charts) chairman, told Congress last month: "I cannot overstate
the importance of overhauling our high-skilled immigration system....
Unfortunately, our immigration policies are driving away the world's best
and brightest precisely when we need them most."
CNN's Lou Dobbs was unimpressed. "The Gates plan would force many qualified
American workers right out of the job market," he fretted on the air after
Gates testified. "There's something wrong when a man as smart as Bill Gates
advances an elitist agenda, without regard to the impact that he's having on
working men and women in this country."
It's not just Dobbs. Internet bulletin boards and blogs are filled with
complaints about foreign-born engineers. The U.S. branch of the Institute of
Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the leading society of engineers,
brought about 60 engineers to Washington last month to ask for reforms to
the H-1B program. IEEE-USA supports a bill proposed by Senators Dick Durbin,
an Illinois Democrat, and Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican, that is
designed to crack down on companies that use the guest worker program to
displace Americans from jobs.
As it happens, most of the largest users of the H1-B program are not
American companies but foreign firms that want to move jobs out of the
United States. Seven of the 10 firms that requested the most H1-B visas in
2006 were outsourcing firms based in India, which use the visas to train
workers in the United States before they are rotated home, according to Ron
Hira, an engineer who teaches public policy at the Rochester Institute of
Technology. Indian outsourcing firms Wipro and Infosys were the two top
requestors of H1-B visas.
In a paper for the Economic Policy Institute, Hira says that expanding H-1B
visas without improving controls will "lead to more offshore outsourcing of
jobs, displacement of American technology workers (and) decreased wages and
job opportunities" for Americans. He told me: "Bill Gates talks about how
you are shutting out $100,000-a-year software engineers. But if you look at
the median wage for new H1-B workers, it's closer to $50,000."
Asked about that, Jack Krumholtz, who runs Microsoft's Washington office,
said the average salary for Microsoft's H1-B workers is more than $109,000,
and that the company spends another $10,000 to $15,000 per worker applying
for the visas and helping workers apply for green cards. "We only hire
people who we want to have on our team for the long run," he said.
It seems clear that Microsoft - along with Oracle, Intel, Hewlett Packard
and other members of the Compete America coalition - do not use the guest
worker program to hire cheap labor. They just want to hire the best
engineers, many of whom are foreign born.
So what to do? Everyone seems to agree that the H1-B program needs fixing. (
Even Hira, the critic, says the United States should absorb more high-
skilled immigrants.) Whether Congress can fix it is questionable. The guest-
worker program is tied up in the debate over broader immigration reforms.
But guess what? Just last year, Congress passed the Compete Act of 2006,
which stands (sort of) for "Creating Opportunities for Minor League
Professions, Entertainers and Teams through Legal Entry." Yes, that law made
it easier for baseball teams to get visas for foreign-born minor league
players.
If the government can fix the problem for baseball, surely it can do so for
technology, too.
dismay of big business, says Fortune's Marc Gunther.
By Marc Gunther, Fortune senior writer
NEW YORK (Fortune) -- Imagine if the baseball season had begun this week
without such foreign-born stars as Albert Pujols, David Ortiz, Justin
Morneau and the latest Japanese import, pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka and his
mysterious "gyroball."
It wouldn't be as much fun, would it? Fans want to see the most skilled
players compete - immigrants and Americans.
So why is it that people don't want skilled immigrants to compete for jobs
in the multibillion-dollar technology industry?
They view these immigrants as a threat. CNN anchor Lou Dobbs argues
permitting more educated, foreign-born engineers, scientists and teachers
into the country would force many qualified American workers out of the job
market.
That may be true in baseball, where the number of jobs on big league rosters
is fixed. That's not necessarily so in technology, where people with skills
and ambition help expand job opportunities. Immigrants helped start Sun
Microsystems, Intel (Charts), Yahoo! (Charts), eBay (Charts) and Google (
Charts). Would America be better off if they'd stayed home?
"This is not about filling jobs that would go to Americans," says Robert
Hoffman, an Oracle (Charts) vice president and co-chair of a business
coalition called Compete America, which favors allowing more skilled workers
into the United States. "This is important to create jobs. It's not a zero
sum game."
This week, as it happens, is not just opening week of the baseball season.
It's the week when employers rush to apply for the limited number of visas,
called H-1B visas, that became available on April 1 to allow them to
temporarily hire educated, foreign-born workers. This year, Congress has
allowed 65,000 of these H-1B visas, plus another 20,000 for foreign-born
students who earn advanced degrees from U.S. universities. After obtaining
guest-worker visas, employees can then seek green cards that allow them to
stay in the United States
FedEx and UPS did a brisk business last weekend because the visas are
awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. The first 65,000 are already
gone. The 20,000 earmarked for graduates of U.S. universities will be
distributed in a month or two, experts say.
This makes it very hard for companies to hire foreign-born graduates of the
U.S.'s top schools. More than half the graduate students in science and
engineering at U.S. universities were born overseas.
"It's sending a signal to the best international students that they may not
want to make their career in the United States," says Stuart Anderson,
executive director of the National Foundation for American Policy, a
research group. (Anderson, an immigration specialist, also wrote a study of
baseball and immigration that's available here as a PDF file.)
Expanding H1-B visas is a top priority for U.S. tech firms. Bill Gates,
Microsoft's (Charts) chairman, told Congress last month: "I cannot overstate
the importance of overhauling our high-skilled immigration system....
Unfortunately, our immigration policies are driving away the world's best
and brightest precisely when we need them most."
CNN's Lou Dobbs was unimpressed. "The Gates plan would force many qualified
American workers right out of the job market," he fretted on the air after
Gates testified. "There's something wrong when a man as smart as Bill Gates
advances an elitist agenda, without regard to the impact that he's having on
working men and women in this country."
It's not just Dobbs. Internet bulletin boards and blogs are filled with
complaints about foreign-born engineers. The U.S. branch of the Institute of
Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the leading society of engineers,
brought about 60 engineers to Washington last month to ask for reforms to
the H-1B program. IEEE-USA supports a bill proposed by Senators Dick Durbin,
an Illinois Democrat, and Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican, that is
designed to crack down on companies that use the guest worker program to
displace Americans from jobs.
As it happens, most of the largest users of the H1-B program are not
American companies but foreign firms that want to move jobs out of the
United States. Seven of the 10 firms that requested the most H1-B visas in
2006 were outsourcing firms based in India, which use the visas to train
workers in the United States before they are rotated home, according to Ron
Hira, an engineer who teaches public policy at the Rochester Institute of
Technology. Indian outsourcing firms Wipro and Infosys were the two top
requestors of H1-B visas.
In a paper for the Economic Policy Institute, Hira says that expanding H-1B
visas without improving controls will "lead to more offshore outsourcing of
jobs, displacement of American technology workers (and) decreased wages and
job opportunities" for Americans. He told me: "Bill Gates talks about how
you are shutting out $100,000-a-year software engineers. But if you look at
the median wage for new H1-B workers, it's closer to $50,000."
Asked about that, Jack Krumholtz, who runs Microsoft's Washington office,
said the average salary for Microsoft's H1-B workers is more than $109,000,
and that the company spends another $10,000 to $15,000 per worker applying
for the visas and helping workers apply for green cards. "We only hire
people who we want to have on our team for the long run," he said.
It seems clear that Microsoft - along with Oracle, Intel, Hewlett Packard
and other members of the Compete America coalition - do not use the guest
worker program to hire cheap labor. They just want to hire the best
engineers, many of whom are foreign born.
So what to do? Everyone seems to agree that the H1-B program needs fixing. (
Even Hira, the critic, says the United States should absorb more high-
skilled immigrants.) Whether Congress can fix it is questionable. The guest-
worker program is tied up in the debate over broader immigration reforms.
But guess what? Just last year, Congress passed the Compete Act of 2006,
which stands (sort of) for "Creating Opportunities for Minor League
Professions, Entertainers and Teams through Legal Entry." Yes, that law made
it easier for baseball teams to get visas for foreign-born minor league
players.
If the government can fix the problem for baseball, surely it can do so for
technology, too.
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