The H1B program started as a way to let people with "critical skills"
enter the US. It was said there were not enough Americans with these skills
to do the work. For a long while most H1B workers came here to do computer
work. With the slowdown in IT spending many are now coming to do nursing or
other medical work.
An H1B is a work visa that must be held by an employer. It is different
from a green card which can take 5 years or more to obtain. The green card
allows a foreign citizen to stay and work in this country for as long as he
wishes and no employer has to hold his visa.
There are many rules that apply to H1B workers. Most of the employers
who hold H1B visas are agencies that rent their employees out to American
companies. The agency might bill the American company $95/hour for
senior-level DBA services and pay the H1B worker $45/hour. The $50/hour
difference is profit for the holder of the H1B visa. Employers are supposed
to pay their H1B workers whether they are able to rent them out or not. If
the employer doesn't pay the H1B worker, the employer is supposed to ensure
the H1B worker returns to his country of origin within a few weeks. In
practice there is no enforcement of these rules. Generally if the employing
agency cannot find work for the H1B visa holder, he stops paying the worker,
but the worker remains in the US. The INS has no way of tracking this.

This will probably change. American companies are starting to realize
that instead of paying a huge markup to an employer who has H1Bs to rent,
they can simply go to the H1B's country of origin and hire him there. A
mid-level H1B Oracle DBA with the markup, costs an American company
$65,000 - $95,000 a year in America. In India that same worker costs under
$10,000 a year.

he believes in something....strongly...like something is out of whack...


"Brian Peasland"