Tag Archives: visa

Latest H-1B Visa News 2009 – What You Need To Know

Immigration News, , , , , ,

After the defeated Immigration bill in 2007 which would have raised the H-1B quota to well over 100,000, it seems like the entire immigrant (or as the US like the classify them, non-immigrant) community missed a golden opportunity for worthwhile change.

That particular Immigration bill was defeated in the end for the provisions relating to illegal immigrants, amnesty and paths to citizenship than the H-1B quota in a growing economy of 2007. Now due to the exonomic conditions and the lies fed to the general public by the politicians and media alike, raising the H-1B quota is not a political reality in a general form.

So what is the latest H-1B news following the April 1, 2009 opening for petition filing for FY2010?

At this stage there has been no official word from the USCIS about reaching quotas for FY2010 for the H-1B visa so hopefully that is good news for all those that applied.  Given we are at the start of the week now, we should expect an announcement soon but hopefully it means that you will get your visa.

Of course if the numbers of applicants are down this year, it may signal a desire from the talented immigrant community and the increasing backward attitude towards them, that other countries or at home might be better destinations for their talents.

When you think that these people are facing a US with higher taxes, less job security, more anti=immigrant sentiment from media/politicians, longer and unclear path to permanent residency, some abuse in the workplace, etc. it is no wonder that a country like Canada is seeming like a better home with some of their recent policies.

All of this will ultimately effect the US economy and her people as we mentioned before, imagine a USA with Google, Intel or eBay which were all companies founded because of immigrants.

The Case Put Forward to Reduce the H-1B Availability

We firstly had the restrictions put on TARP companies for 2 years to hire foreign workers which meant companies like Bank of America had to rescind offers to highly educated US Masters Degree holding foreigners. Maybe some of the hard working and integrity of many foreigners who had to struggle and work hard to achieve everything in their life will help the US economy recover from all the US executives and policticionas who caused this economic mess.

Publications like Business Week are promoting the action by Senators Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) to reintroduce a version of last year’s bipartisan reform bill in the next few weeks. If accepted as law, it would require employers to try to hire Americans first and to pay H-1B workers market wages. It would also bar employers from replacing American workers with H-1B holders. Perhaps most important, it would create a random-audit process to ensure compliance with the rules. It would also initially hold the H-1B quota steady with the effective outcome of reducing it by reducing the ability to get approvals.

On the face of it these recommendations seem somewhat fair except when you dig deeper. The legislation is being cleverly marketed as to help the rights of immigrants from exploitation. However given that being paid the prevailing wage of the area you are in is a minimum requirement of the H-1B visa and that there is far more exploitation of US workers and iliegal immigrants in the US by some of the biggest brands, this is of course a ruse.

Politicians only caring about their next elections chances and more votes couldn’t give a damn about immigrant’s rights and their selective highlighing of cases and devil in the details legislation would have the sum effect of virtually preventing companies from hiring foreign workers.

So in summary the main points of their legislation already exist in law via the current H-1B legislation as well as general workplace laws. They are just not being enforced by departments overseen by these same politicians who have little desire to do anything.

Is there any positive news for Immigrants?

There is one tiny show of positivity for Immigrants from a probably unlikely source. U.S. Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), introduced what he calls the “Stopping Trained in America Ph.D.s From Leaving the Economy Act of 2009”. Essentially, the bill’s acronym, Staple, represents the stapling of science, technology, engineering and mathematics Ph.D. diplomas onto green cards, granting their holders permanent residency.

So effectively the most highly trained immigrants would have immediate access to Green Cards and permanent residency and not wait in some cases for up to 15 years if they are indeed lucky enough to be sponsored as such.

Good Luck Again for FY2010 for H-1B Visa and other US Visa Applicants!

CJ

E3 Visa Jobs

Visa Info, , , , ,

We have talked about the benefits of the E-3 Visa before and how you can get the visa to live and work in the US. Also in general terms we have advised on where to look for jobs in the US so you can best search for a position and employer that will sponsor your E3 visa.

Finally we have given the Top US Employers List which although is the top 200 H-1B visa sponsors last year is just as relevant for E-3 visa holders. It is just as relevant if not moreso because essentially the work benefits of the E3 visa for the employee once in the US is the same as the H1B visa but also has the added benefit of being able to be applied for all year round with a start date immediately following visa approval.

However for many the process is still so overwhelming as they are stuck all the way in Australia and wonder how in the hell they could convince somebody in the US to want to hire them compared to a local candidate.

I am sure many of you to a couple of the biggest job sites in the US like Monster.com (which I do recommend) and CareerBuilder.com (which I don’t recommend mainly for the plethora of junk jobs on there, the fact that spammers seem to like finding details on that site and sending you crap although this has got a lot better but most of all their terrible interface) and find roles and are just applying but with no response.

One of the most common things I think for the aspiring E3 visa applicant is coming to a pre-questionnaire for a position whereby they have to answer a question like “Are you authorized to work in the US” or “Can you work in the US without sponsorship” and unsure what to answer.

The truth is in my opinion that for most companies that ask that question, unless you have an internal or external referral to someone in the company, generally means they won’t consider hiring the average foreigner. This is probably for no other reason than they assume you are an H-1B applicant and they don’t want to the cost, uncertainy and delays that are part of that process.

This is unfortunate but the fact the E-3 Visa is virtually unknown by all of corporate America not to mention the Immigration community 🙂

It is OK because in a previous post we told you how to explain the E-3 Visa to a potential employer as well as in our opinion where to put this information in your resume.

So to continue my point, if you just the average person, it may be time well spent by NOT doing too many of those types of applications whereby you are having to answer that question in the negative. Your application is probably going to an immediate discard pile maybe only looked at if there are no good application in the group of people who can answer that question positively.

Apart from LinkedIn, Monster and Craigslist, my other really great suggestion in the application phase is direct applications to a company via their own website which may just be sending in your resume to a careers email (possibly with a cover letter). This may or may not be to a posted position as often positions are not advertised anywhere or just in obscure places.

Aside from the fact that this type of applying to companies who could offer you a job and sponsor your E3 Visa is frutiful in terms of responses, it also is a lot quicker that going through long questionnarie applications meaning you can apply to more places in a short space of time!

So all you have to do and you can use the job sites to help you here or industry group sites for your chosen industry to find all the companies that may exist in your niche. In today’s day in age they will have websites and then you are set. If those sites have HR contacts that is great in terms of addressing cover letters and emails.

As said in other posts, I highly recommend applying to small companies as well as they can be surprisingly open to hiring a foreigner and you can learn all you need to know here at E3visa.info and guide them through the process 🙂

The final tip which I have also stated before is get a US phone number (you can do it via Skype) and be prepared to fly here for interviews as daunting as it sounds. Of course pick your city and try and schedule as many job interviews as you can in a short space of time.

As you all are no doubt aware Travelzoo, Expedia and Webjet can be helpful to get good flight and accommodation deals.

Good Luck in your E-3 Visa quest!!

CJ