USCIS Completes the H-1B Cap Random Selection Process for FY 2016

IMHO, fix this by replacing the &#x27;random&#x27; with &#x27;highest salary&#x27; (or total comp). Just go down from the top.<p>- It would alleviate (though probably not solve) the downward pressure on salaries.<p>- It would ensure that companies are well motivated to find domestic workers since they would, theoretically, be cheaper.<p>- It would ensure that H-1B&#x27;s go to the people who would add the most value to the economy (or else the company would be less competitive due to overpaying).<p>- It would favor the most talented foreigners rather than putting them in a random lottery with new grads.<p>- It would allocate the H-1B&#x27;s to the companies that need them most (since they&#x27;re offering the most money)<p>- It would maximize the future tax take of the US government (maximum income =&gt; maximum taxes paid)<p>Ironically, this might have prevented me from getting my own H-1B as I got it fairly early in my career.

I&#x27;m originally from France, came to the U.S. for undergraduate studies in 2010. My first year here, I fell in love and started dating an American student, and have been dating her ever since. Similarly, I fell in love with the United States, and wish to spend my life here. Currently, I am currently on OPT, applied for the H1-B process this year with my great SF company, and now am waiting to hear back about my 28% chance of getting a visa...<p>I&#x27;m not trying to scam the U.S., or cheat Americans out of a job, and my company is paying me the same amount as the americans who started at the same time as me. Instead, I want to be an American, and be a part of this country. Despite this, I am now at risk of being deported if I don&#x27;t get the visa, and having to leave behind my whole life here, and my girlfriend here who I intend to spend the rest of my life with.<p>The worst part about this is that I am completely powerless, and at the whim of chance.

I&#x27;m one of those 233k this year. Was an intern with a J1 a couple years ago, came back to my country to finish grad school, and my former employer wants to hire me back.<p>From what I&#x27;ve been researching, there are several of these so-called &quot;consultancies&quot; that hire mostly Indian guys (please don&#x27;t take it personally, no offence intended), fake their resumes, and give them shitty life conditions in the US. Lots of people also pay for these consultancies to apply for them with fake jobs as to increase their chances in the lottery.<p>Its a shame that us with real, good-paying jobs have to go through that. I&#x27;m being hired because they cannot find someone in the US to fill this spot and because they already know me and think I&#x27;m a good fit for the company.

The worse part is that there are a lot of applicants filing multiple applications. They pay some agencies just to file H1B applications for them. This itself is against H1B application policy. There is an ongoing petition trying to get government&#x27;s attentions: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;petitions.whitehouse.gov&#x2F;&#x2F;petition&#x2F;remove-and-ban-cheaters-who-sent-multi-petition-h1b-lottery-selection" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;petitions.whitehouse.gov&#x2F;&#x2F;petition&#x2F;remove-and-ban-ch...</a>

I was going through this painful process two years in a row. Last year there were around 170k petitions filled. A year before that, around 125k.<p>We did not win the lottery both times, and opted for L1B instead this year. It is available only to the companies who have international offices in order to bring people from abroad to the US. Still waiting on this...<p>I&#x27;ll probably write a blog post about the whole experience, once everything is over. Stay tuned.<p>P.S One thing is certain - US immigration desperately needs fix.

So, let&#x27;s say Google wants to move you to US and wants to pay you $200.000+ because you&#x27;re a unique scientist that filling a position that can&#x27;t be filled by a US citizen. After spending time and money for the interview process, they apply for H-1B on behalf of you. Than there goes the lottery, than no luck, than what?<p>168.000 is pretty decent number to turn down after your own companies spend all those resources just for the selection of those applicants.

Does anyone know or have an estimate on how many of the 233,000 total are filed under the Master&#x27;s cap?

If any of you are in the SF Bay Area, I&#x27;m organizing a hackathon[1] on May 29~31 in SF focused exclusively on immigration. Shoot me an email at my HN username at gmail dot com and I&#x27;d be happy to give you a generous discount code.<p>[1] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.up.co&#x2F;communities&#x2F;usa&#x2F;san-francisco&#x2F;startup-weekend&#x2F;5961" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.up.co&#x2F;communities&#x2F;usa&#x2F;san-francisco&#x2F;startup-weeke...</a>

Why this is important:<p>Because if a tech company wants to hire a foreigner, the visa process (regardless of skill^1) is basically worse than a coin toss. Which means companies have a much more limited pool of applicants. And let&#x27;s be real, this country doesn&#x27;t have nearly enough STEM professionals to meet demand.<p>1)Exceptions: Master&#x27;s degree (another lottery), extraordinary ability (pretty tough).

I had to resign from my job in San Francisco in order to go back to France for a couple months due to family issues.<p>My H1B was revoked by my employer in January. My I-94 is valid until September 24, 2015.<p>What are my options to go back and work in the US now? Is there anything besides filling a new petition in 2016?<p>Or is transferring the previous H1B still an option?

When do they reach out to people if their application has been selected in the lottery or not?

Now it makes sense why there are so many foreign Masters students.

They still need more than 6 months to answer the H1-B extension request, with the consequence that those candidates either cannot travel anymore or have to leave permanently.

In simple words, US Immigration system is quite messed up.

Do L-1 visas have caps? Why not hire oversees for a year and bring them in after that as a L-1 visa holder?

How does this affect TN visas (if at all)?

Can someone translate to human language?

This is the process I went throught back in 2005 to get a job in IT after graduating in Business in Poland: 1. Got a position with an Indian company that promised a job after paid training ($5k) 2. After 3-month long training they totally and completely faked my resume. I.e. included 5-years experience, fake credentials, fake references. 3. Got me a job with large, large bank. 4. Got half my salary for 6-months. 5. After that I was on my own as I couldnt stand lies anymore.<p>From my experience 90% + people from H-1B is on these terms in the US. We had trainees on our &quot;camp&quot; that <i>literally</i> haven&#x27;t seen PC keybaord before. Ending up as IBM tools specialists in Fannie Mea, Freddie Mac, Capital One.<p>This much about H-1B. And this much about interview process int the US too. And actually about dumb Americans who can&#x27;t get a job in that country too.

OK and why is this the top of HN? Because of the number of applications?<p>The number of applications is slightly higher than last year, but still I fail to understand why it is on the top, because this same thing was happening for the last 4+ years.<p>My application was picked up in the year 2013, so I have been following both HN and the USCIS at that time. Never saw it make top of HN.