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Comment by codeonfire | Hacker News Reader

Contrary to popular belief, H1B is not about money. It is more about power and control. Businesses want to be able to bill someone out at 300 or 400 dollars per hour and know the person can't quit or start their own business. Whether or not that person is paid 25, 50, or 75 per hour is not as important as keeping that person working long hours for the company for years.

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Er, how would paying someone 25/hr pass the required market rate salary component of the H1B application? There is now a list of H1B jobs an the average pay which the petitioner must prove they are paying above.

Also, how does a person become trapped working 'long hours' for the same company 'for years' when there is a porting aspect of the H1B where the visa-holder may port the visa to another employer after 6 months. If they don't wish to work for that employer, or another can provide them with a better option then they are free to port.

Sorry, but respectfully your comment is utter bullshit.

Porting is a mess. For starters, the list of employers willing to deal with your visa is limited (most startups are too small and moving too fast). Second, you can't quite your job, without having secured a visa transfer first. I mean of course you can but you must leave the country immediately (looking for job after quitting and before leaving the country is technically a violation of the law). While not 100% preventing moving between companies, it definitely puts higher pressure on job security.

In some cities 25/hr is the market rate, in others it is 50. That is how is passes the required market rate salary component of the H1B application.

"how does a person become trapped"

Illegal collusion, a pink slip, and a simple phone call.

"Sorry, but respectfully your comment is utter bullshit."

I guess you win the thread then, way to go winner.

>> There is now a list of H1B jobs an the average pay which the petitioner must prove they are paying above.

Citation needed.

Usually a H-1B transfer is doable. If the person came on a H-1B visa that is capped, they can amend the petition and switch employers: http://www.uscis.gov/ilink/docView/AFM/HTML/AFM/0-0-0-1/0-0-...

The H visa is a pretty bad deal though.

Just because something is doable on paper doesn't mean it is actually doable. If you've read the recent CEO emails you'll realize that, in the labor market, tech companies are illegally colluding specifically to keep employees from changing companies. If an employer finds out a person is trying to change jobs they can simply fire that person and he/she immediately loses his/her H-1B visa. If you don't think that happens, welcome to the workforce.

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