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Comment by sumedh | Hacker News Reader

I would not say it is slavery, my friends who are in US on H1B are very happy. They get to live in the US and save money.

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If you think, having to leave the country where you live just because you raised your voice about your complaints in your company is not slavery, I want to tell to you that there is another world where individuals have more rights amigo.

My friend, you are being too pedantic. If the H1B employee is not happy with employer, the employee can switch to a new job in the US. The new employer has to apply for H1B transfer, involves a bit of paperwork but its not limited to the visa cap.

It's not that easy. Once the Green Card process has started an employer switch is difficult and can reset the waiting period. That way a lot of Indians I know are tied to their outsourcing companies for five years or more.

That is a good point. Once you apply for the green card then yes you are tied to your employer.

I am working in Germany with a visa type which is green card equivalent of green card. As a principle changing employer is allowed. Now I am changing job but with another title but on my permit it say i can only work as software engineer. I just sent an e-mail to foreigner's office to just to get information and suddenly they gave me an appointment to solve the problem, they will just modify my permit. They are encouraging you to change employers and vitalise the economy. And foreigners are welcomed here because they have talent, not because they are cheaper. We are treated same as German citizens. Comparing to the US policy, it is 3 times better i think.

The German policy sounds better based on what you have said but the reality is most foreigners (Indians and others) want to go to US not Germany. The US knows it so it can come up with any rules it wants and people will still choose US over other countries.

Couple of my friends had the opportunity to go to Europe via their Indian Outsourcing company but they cajoled/begged to be sent to the US.

The only disadvantage of europe could be that the wages are lower but it is normal. In europe they don't give your salary and leave you alone. You don't need thousands to live better life because there is social state. Health is free, education is free, you get money for every child yoi have. A lot of social benefits that removes the need of US level salaries. Maybe people from outside just compare the numbers and say ok in the us they pay more let me go there, but the reality is different. IMHO in europe you have a safer future even you see less in your bank statement.

Those are all good points but there is one more important point, language. Almost all European countries have their own languages, you cannot fully integrate unless you know the language of the country.

Integrating into US is easier since most skilled immigrants are good with English. Personally speaking language was was one of the important criteria when I made the decision to move to Australia from India.

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