What does the above headline in quotations mean?
Why did I disagree with it straight away?
Well firstly to grab your attention but secondly to help stop the crappy untruths filling the visa space. I wrote an earlier piece about my feelings on H1Base so I won’t re-hash all that here now, suffice to say I am not a fan!
Anyway the above headline in quotation marks was the headline of an email newsletter that H1Base sent out yesterday and it annoys me how many people may believe this is true and then pay money to these people in the hope their chances will increase.
Let’s Give Them The Benefit Of The Doubt!
Let’s say everything they say is true. After all I haven’t got inside information on Barack Obama’s Administration plans not to mention the Congress. Even if a bill was to pass with their stated increase to 180,000 visas instead of the annual 65,000, then it would usually only take effect the following year. Then given the way the H1B visa works you would only start working on October 1, 2010!!
Why This Bill Probably Won’t Even Be Up For Debate Possibly Till The Next Presidential Term
As I said I have no inside information (so I am safe to assume do H1Base) but there are few major reasons why immigration changes are unlikely in this next year or two.
Firstly when the original bill was up for vote in 2007 that as they point out Obama supported (and incenditally so did McCain who was a major proponent of the bill), the US economy was on a high and the stock market reached all time highs in October 2007 following the defeat of this bill.
Now of course the economy is in a year long recession with potentially another year to go. Millions of American citizens and residents have lost jobs (along with visa holders) in 2008 and two of the biggest hit area, manufacturing and union jobs and NY finance are in the majority Democratic supporters.
Do you really think these people would be happy and support more foreign workers when they have no job themselves?
Do you think Obama is stupid enough while riding high popularity and pressing concerns like economic stimulus, 2 wars he wants to end, health care mess and other major home and foreign crisis is going to focus on immigration?
(hey even Bill Gates’ Microsoft laid of 5,000 people yesterday for there first ever mass lay off and Bill Gates himself is one of the biggest proponets of huge increases to the quota)
Also one of the biggest reasons the Democrats supported the 2007 immigration bill was the section allowing a form of amnesty for current illegal immigrants. This is the part of the immigration reform that is probably top of their wish list so am sure if you here anything in relation to immigration in the next year or two, it will be about this more than increase visa quotas.
What Does This Mean For You?
As a foreign applicant, essentially you will have the same difficulties as a US worker trying to apply to less jobs in an economic recession. However don’t give up and head for your dreams, just don’t be taken in by false promises from organization such as this without hearing all the facts and judging for yourself.
Like I said I don’t know what will happen either but I do know that making statements like this as a prophecy is certainly misleading unless you evaluate the facts.
GOOD LUCK AND STAY AWARE……
CJ