Looks like there is need for 2 separate visa categories:
- One to bring top 0.1% talent from across the globe to the US
- Another to bring in temporary talent as needed
Current version of H1B had become a big basket to hold both, and abused too for just finding cheaper labor. It may be time to segment these out.
Also, given that US has ~400 million local citizens, there should be less need for either.
H1b was officially intended to be the former category, and a $100k visa fee puts in back squarely in that category. For a company that wants 0.1% talent paying an extra $100k one-time fee is expensive but not a show-stopper
Now the question is whether the US wants another visa category for finding cheap labor. I am not sure that is either needed or desired (by voters). Maybe with the exception of agriculture
We actually have more than 2. For the top talent, for example, you have a choice between O1 (nonimmigrant visa) and EB1{A,B} (immigrant category). Same we have multiple visas for temp workers of lesser qualifications: L,J, H2 for seasonal farm workers etc. H1B is just the most abused one as it's the key part of the very important F1->OPT->H1B scheme, which literally makes billions for American schools.
There is no need for "temporary talent" from foreign countries. US is graduating plenty of CS grads from our schools. There is a need for wage suppression and exploitation (for anyone not aware, if you get fired from your H1B job you have 2 weeks to leave the county). That's why they have a reputation for being "better", another word for it is indentured servitude.
There are already categories like this if you jump away from tech.
Our friendly neighborhood Ski resort oligarchies leverage the J-1 Visa program to bring in international students to work at the resorts over paying more to hire local workers for example. They also leverage the company store model by putting them in dorms and charging them accordingly for housing.
> Looks like there is need for 2 separate visa categories: - One to bring top 0.1% talent from across the globe to the US - Another to bring in temporary talent as needed
O-1 is for exceptional talent ("extraordinary ability"). Bring exceptional talent, eliminate the H-1B visa. It's that simple.
Every visa type intended to bring in top talent will be gamed, if easier paths to immigration are not available. That's an unavoidable consequence of the idea that administrative decisions must be made by government officials with sufficient status and responsibility.
When you actually want to identify talent, it works the same way everywhere. You find other experts in the field you can trust and ask them to use their subjective judgment. Governments don't want to do that unless it's absolutely critical, as it goes against the prevailing theory of how government bureaucracy is supposed to work. Even if the government is willing to give outside experts the power to make the decisions, the experts probably don't want to accept the liability that comes with it. Which leaves the final decisions to government officials who rarely have the expertise to evaluate the claims on their own.
My experience writing a letter for a colleague about 10 years ago was that it seemed pretty arbitrary and vague, just in terms of what I was asked to do.
Current version of H1B had become a big basket to hold both, and abused too for just finding cheaper labor. It may be time to segment these out.
Also, given that US has ~400 million local citizens, there should be less need for either.