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Comment by CoolGuySteve | Hacker News Reader

I was an H1-B but not for a contractor. I'm pretty sure the only reason I got off my TN was because I applied during the recession.

There are 2 quick solutions:

1) Allow people to keep their H1-B after quitting their job. Looking for a job while you're on an H1-B sucks, you have to deceive your employer until the transfer goes through. And the transfer itself is a barrier to getting hired because you can't start immediately.

2) Prioritize applications within each occupation class by wage instead of lottery. That way these low wage body shops can't spam the system, they'd actually have to pay a good wage rather than the "prevailing wage" to get a visa approved.

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Re: (1) You do have to leave these here United States on your last day of work -- ask me how I know. However, a new employer can apply for a new H1B for the balance of unused time in the original 6 year block without being subject to the cap even after you leave the US. The time can even be extended via H1 recapture by the sum total of days you spent outside the US while on the H1 subject to documented evidence. It counts as a transfer which employers are much more willing to sponsor. Check with an immigration attorney. This is a fairly common misconception.

Agreed they should let you remain in the US for say 6 months after you leave to seek a new job for balance of time remaining though.

>> However, a new employer can apply for a new H1B for the balance of unused time in the original 6 year block without being subject to the cap even after you leave the US

So, say a worker on H1b quits and goes back to home country on last day of employment.

Then, after 6 months, they decide they want to come back to the US to work for a different company, is this a simple transfer of H1b?

It's Category (2) here: http://www.visapro.com/h1b-visa/h1b-cap-exempt-candidates.as...

"Even after the H-1B cap is reached, employers may continue to file H-1B petition on behalf of foreign nationals who are currently outside the U.S., as long as they held H-1B status during the past six years, and have not exhausted the full six years."

Basically you have 6 years after you quit/are fired and return home to transfer that H1B to a new employer, for the balance of time remaining on that visa, without being subject to the cap.

Ask your attorney ^_^

The actual fix is even easier: just declare that the minimum salary for an H1B is a million dollars per year. That will guarantee it's only used for its intended purpose of impossible-to-hire-locally skills.

It's perfectly fine to shop around for other opportunities while you're working for a company - In fact you should always do it - There is nothing deceptive about that. You're selling your time, your employer doesn't own you.

This isn't correct.

If you are on an H1B and your employer fires you, you immediately lose your right to live in this country, and to seek work, and must leave in the shortest amount of time you can.

So if your employer doesn't like you shopping around they can stop you.

I think @jondubois's comment was about the 1st part of @CoolGuySteve's comment regarding the "deceiving employer":

>> you have to deceive your employer until the transfer goes through

It sounded like it is morally bad to do so. @jondubois says that there is nothing wrong in it as you do not belong to your employer.

There is no moral or other obligation to tell your employer you're job hunting. Many people are always lazily job hunting.

About 2, do you have any thoughts about how equity should play into the H1-B system? Often times people working for early stage startups are getting paid far less than even "prevailing wage" because their equity is valued at next to nothing.

Leaving a loophole will only invite more abuse. If the equity is worth $0 (which it is for all illiquid startups big and small), then it shouldn't count for anything.

The 409A valuation should be used.[1] Definitely not the fundraising valuation for preferred shares. Employees should use the 409A too when trying to evaluate competing offers. While early 409A evaluations can be a bit of a swag they are much more reasonable then fundraising valuations. Example, left a seed stage startup where the founder liked to brag about the $10 million dollar valuation (had a convertible note with a $10 million cap so not really a valuation). The 409A was at $2 million, which was much more reasonable for the progress, potential, and risk.

[1] https://www.quora.com/What-is-a-409A-valuation

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