H-1B workers stuck in home countries
The H-1B visa program allows skilled foreign workers to get jobs in the U.S. But many workers are having a hard time renewing their visas because of security checks. Raymond Thibodeaux reports from New Delhi.
H-1B paperwork (www.us-immigration.com)
More on Jobs, International
TEXT OF STORY
Tess Vigeland: Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee this week. She said her agency is stepping up checks on the H-1B visa program. Those are the visas that let highly skilled foreign professionals work in the U.S. when no qualified American can be found.
Professionals from India -- often tech workers -- have generally taken a big chunk of those visas. But a lot of them are now finding it harder to get them renewed. So they're stuck in their home country. Raymond Thibodeaux has more from New Delhi.
Raymond Thibodeaux: About two dozen people meet for lunch at a cafe in an upscale neighborhood of New Delhi. They have a lot in common: they're Indians who work in the U.S. on H-1B visas. They have advanced degrees from American universities in specialized fields like science, medicine and engineering. And they've all been in limbo here for months, just waiting.
DHIRAJ JOSHI: We weren't even warned about this.
That's Dhiraj Joshi, who's spent years in the U.S. designing image recognition software for Eastman Kodak. He came back to India to get married. He thought it would be a two or three week trip. But U.S. authorities subjected his H-1B visa renewal to additional -- and time-consuming -- security checks because he works with a technology that they say could pose a threat to American national security if put in the wrong hands.
JOSHI: They asked me for my research details, like my present, past and future research plans. They gave me a paper, a red slip, saying it would take four to six weeks, but I had no idea that it would take so long.
So long, in his case, has been four months. His friend, Himani Sharma, came back to visit family. She's a post-doctoral researcher who's normally based outside of Boston. She's been waiting for about three months, long enough for her American employer to put her on unpaid leave until her visa issue is cleared up.
HIMANI SHARMA: This is a mental trauma for our family. We have mortgages to pay. We have responsibilities to take care of. If I lose my job, another house is going on foreclosure. I know that. Who's responsible for that?
Falling behind on mortgages or car loan payments is one thing, but many of these H-1B visa holders are also falling behind on their work projects to the frustration their U.S. bosses and colleagues.
The Indians understand the need for rigorous checks for national security purposes, but some complain the delays are a deliberate tool to deter foreign workers during the current economic downturn. David Donahue, the U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for visa services, denies that.
DAVID DONAHUE: A certain small percentage -- about 3 percent worldwide -- of our cases do require extra administrative checks. We do not like it when it takes this long for those to come through.
Donahue says wait times are increasing because of rising global demand for U.S. visas, especially in places like India, where applications have shot up 65 percent over the last two years.
Back at the cafe, many of the H-1B holders are growing impatient. Some are rethinking their options, and looking for jobs right here in India.
In New Delhi, I'm Raymond Thibodeaux for Marketplace.
Comments
Comment | Refresh
From greenville, PA, 08/06/2009
why does someone have to through such trauma because of an H1-B visa? America is not heaven and certainly not the only country that can give you an opportunity to make a decent living. There are countries like Australia and Canada that highly demand for skilled foreign workers, so why stick your mind to only the United States when you can go to Australia and even spend less for your living costs than when you're in the U.S. No visa hassels for Australia or Canada. Am a foreign college student at Stanford University, I am in my junior year (Third year) majoring in Computer Science and engineering with hopes of working for facebook one day but am not guaranteed that my dreams will come true because am a foreigner. So I keep looking to other countries besides the U.S for any opportunity after school
From Vancouver, 07/27/2009
H1B would hardly solve the employment problem in US, furthermore a significant proportion of the Masters and PhD students are international (not to mention that some PhD programs have predominantly international students). My heart goes to American people who now have to compete with the best of the best in the world (and the smartest 1% in the world is more people than the whole country, not to mention the inadequacy of the domestic K-12 system to deal with the new competition), but lets not forget that U.S. started and exported actively the globalization agenda.
From Houston, TX, 06/18/2009
It is really sad that people with great careers in the US, when they go to the home country for visa stamping, get struck over there for months. Unfortunately, Legal immigration is everyone’s step child. Half of the people don’t know the difference between legal and illegal immigrants. We LEGAL immigrants receive good salaries; pay a lot of taxes, social security and Medicare as well without being sure that we will be able to use these services decades later. We buy homes, cars in this country supporting the US economy. As a result of some archaic rules USCIS wants us to go outside the country and then get our passports stamped with our renewed H1B visas while that can be easily done inside the country. I can see most of the people posting here are ignorant of the fact that except for a few H1B abusers, most of us are highly paid, we are not only in IT but we work in R&D, core engineering, education and medical fields as well. I agree, there are some who abuse the system but don’t paint everyone with the same brush. I work in the oil and gas industry and I get paid darn well and I pay my share of taxes as well. Don’t behave like xenophobes asking all immigrants to leave just because you lost your job. Whatever said and done - America is a land of immigrants. - Non IT Engineer and a proud Legal Immigrant
From Houston, TX, 06/18/2009
It is really sad that people with great careers in the US, when they go to the home country for visa stamping, get struck over there for months. Unfortunately, Legal immigration is everyone’s step child. Half of the people don’t know the difference between legal and illegal immigrants. We LEGAL immigrants receive good salaries; pay a lot of taxes, social security and Medicare as well without being sure that we will be able to use these services decades later. We buy homes, cars in this country supporting the US economy. As a result of some archaic rules USCIS wants us to go outside the country and then get our passports stamped with our renewed H1B visas while that can be easily done inside the country. I can see most of the people posting here are ignorant of the fact that except for a few H1B abusers, most of us are highly paid, we are not only in IT but we work in R&D, core engineering, education and medical fields as well. I agree, there are some who abuse the system but don’t paint everyone with the same brush. I work in the oil and gas industry and I get paid darn well and I pay my share of taxes as well. Don’t behave like xenophobes asking all immigrants to leave just because you lost your job. Whatever said and done - America is a land of immigrants. - Non IT Engineer and a proud Legal Immigrant
From Houston, TX, 06/05/2009
Why is there so much hype about H1b holders stealling jobs from americans? Every year only 65000 H1b visas are alloted which is a fraction of the unemployed people in US! What about manufacturing jobs? If there is more goods manufactured here than getting it shipped from other countries can you imagine the number of jobs being created in US? Even a printer cartridge is made outside US which just baffles me? Any answers?
From Houston, TX, 06/04/2009
Funny to hear about someone stuck in their home country. Cry me a river, these Indians have been exploiting a program that wasnt meant for low paying, entry level workers only from India. The H1b visa program needs to be revamped and thought about US worker comes first.
From Houston, TX, 06/04/2009
Funny to hear about someone stuck in their home country. Cry me a river, these Indians have been exploiting a program that wasnt meant for low paying, entry level workers only from India. The H1b visa program needs to be revamped and thought about US worker comes first.
From Plano, TX, 06/03/2009
Not all H1B are PhDs or Masters or those with extensive experience. Majority of them have little or no experience when their H1Bs are filed.
There is a systematic abuse of the entire program, that need to be addressed instead of knee jerk reactions, like rejecting every H1B that try to renew.
From Plano, TX, 06/03/2009
Not all H1B are PhDs or Masters or those with extensive experience. Majority of them have little or no experience when their H1Bs are filed.
There is a systematic abuse of the entire program, that need to be addressed instead of knee jerk reactions, like rejecting every H1B that try to renew.
From Detroit, MI, 06/03/2009
Employer can wait 6 months but not 30 days? I would like someone from ImmigrationVoice.org to explain how it is possible for an employer to wait from April 1 filing date of an H-1B, all the way to October 1, earliest start date of said H-1B, when they cannot even wait 30 days to see if there is any U.S. worker available. Yes, that is SIX MONTHS where a job is reserved for said H-1B and all the thousands of willing U.S. workers are shut out from this job. How on earth is this fair? Immigration Voice: "Further, ALL Employers -- not just H1B dependent companies -- are required to 'advertise' positions on the Department of Labor website for 30 days before they can be filled by a H1B applicant. This may seems harmless but many companies cannot wait a full month to fill key positions on high priority projects." http://immigrationvoice.org/forum/showthread.php?t=25894
From CA, 05/21/2009
Let’s clear some issues off the table and cut the BS... Please enlighten me if I misconstrued anything…
1. Immigrants fueled US growth, if you are an American and have any doubt, ask your parents and grandparents
2. US has become home to immigrants from various nations, and now it's majorly exploited by Indians, Chinese etc... They just happened to be capable of succeeding in this era than others… This brought focus to these communities as major exploiters of immigration…. If not them, others would’ve taken their place… Wouldn’t Microsoft hire somebody else if these folks aren’t trained or smart enough?... Sure it would!!! So let’s not point out any particular community….
3. Not all immigrants are brighter than Americans, but a lot of immigrants try hard to be bright because they have to be bright in order to live in US... Others resort to do what Americans won’t do…. It’s hard for many first generation immigrants to assimilate American values and many can’t fit in the society (but fit very well in labs and offices), which makes them unhappy enough to readily disapprove US policies and lifestyle…. So, their arguments tend to be biased too… I haven’t met enough immigrants, who are grateful to US, to reverse or neutralize my stand…. These immigrants should go back to where they feel happy and content instead of cussing on American system….
4. US is not happy with immigration and H1B now... If US never liked immigrants, we wouldn’t have these many who call themselves “Americans”… As a matter of fact, majority of Americans are the progeny of illegal immigrants, just think back... Did they file documents???
5. H1B folks are truly “legal” immigrants in American history, except few individuals and of greedy companies... They file forms, pay taxes as much as an American would do and what not… If H1B folks aren’t contributing to US growth then who is doing that?: Refugees from starved nations? Greencard lottery winners? Or those, who are breaking through borders?... Curbing immigration in current situation is inevitable, I totally agree, but what’s up with the ridiculous Greencard lottery thing?... Are those people, god knows where they are from, contributing more to the economy than H1B folks etc…
6. It just happened to be a software boom in US, so Indians, Chinese etc took advantage of it... if it were another boom, these guys would still be able to take advantage.... They have no choice either, it ain’t easy to live in some countries with that massive population… And they still don’t know how to control the population and uplift their own countries, but they like to call themselves smart and highly civilized…. Had they controlled the population, they wouldn’t need to emigrate to other countries… This story is true in many countries… If immigrants think they are smarter than Americans, why don’t they help develop their own countries???
So stop fretting over who did what?... US productivity went down, so did the economy, which unfortunately fueled the immigration debates... If everyone has a job, US is still the best place to live in... Watch “CRASH” if you can…. Learn something from mistakes… And be considerate to each other…. H1B visa folks who are undergoing “Administrative processing” are unlucky and not have been treated with proper respect and ethics… Which is not a good signal to send to some neutral countries like India… And the fault is with Indian companies and some individuals too who can fake anything for a US visa…. Get over your pressures from family, peers, society and culture to earn more… Times have changed… Think about the fate of India with this massive population and young blood, that wouldn’t have jobs if America and other developed countries haven’t needed our help… That would truly add to already existing poverty, dismal hygiene, corrupt bureaucratic system, and what not to prematurely end the Indian revolution in 21 century…..
From Dubai, 05/16/2009
Here's some perspective for you:
I've been in the states since 2000. During that time I worked on my Bachelors and worked at a pharmaceutical company for 5 years. I was also a semester away from getting my masters degree, but had to make a trip out to Dubai to see my family.
I left in December, and much to my chagrin, am still waiting for my second work visa to get approved.
Now here I am making payments on a car I can't drive, paying rent for an apartment I can't sleep in, working on bits and peices of work that can be handled over email.
If they (i.e. Homeland Security or any other posters in this forum) want to kick me out, I'd prefer a six month notice to wrap up all my business and leave with dignity rather than finding out post-fact that I might not be showing up to work again anytime soon.
Fortunately for me, I have enough cash saved up to pay expenses for another few months. I hate to think about those who can't pay, leading to unpaid landlords, unpaid car loans, unpaid credit card bills. Not to mention income taxes the state isn't going to earn on employees living in unpaid exile. Not exactly the best thing for the economy right now.
05/16/2009
How come no pity on the millions of unemployed Americans that cannot pay their mortgages because they have displaced by these cheap temporary guest workers. They should have not allowed to come back, so an American can get their job back. These are not the brightest and smartest, some of them are just average and the majority are really incompetent. They fake their qualifications on their resumes. This is the time to be an American and give jobs to needy Americans.
05/16/2009
Trauma? Hardship? What do you think 2-4 million of America's best high-tech workers have been going through for the past 10 years? What goes around, comes around India. These people were supposed to be here TEMPORARILY and they were supposed to LEAVE when the shortage was over. Instead they have TAKEN OVER the U.S. IT economy and they won't hire Americans. They were supposed to create another 90's-style boom. The OPPOSITE has happened. Why are we importing workers ranked 124th in world productivity and replacing workers ranked #1 in productivity with them? And you all wonder why we're having an economic crisis? H-1Bs were never intended to REPLACE the U.S. workforce wholesale. it's time to deport all these people now and put Americans back to work.
From Tallahassee, FL, 05/08/2009
The problem is that every visa applicant should have undergone, passed, and paid for a proper background investigation before being issued their first visa, a process that might take 3-8 months. Of course, the other problem is that the federal government has been issuing far too many visas to be able to conduct proper background investigations. If the numbers were reduced to reasonable levels then renewals, extensions, and change of status would only require updates requiring mere weeks and days.
From St Louis, MO, 05/08/2009
As Tess Vigeland stated, the H-1B visa is intended for "highly skilled foreign professionals when no qualified American can be found". But the reality has been that American companies use H-1B visa workers to reduce labor costs, even when qualified American workers are readily available.
Many of my computer software colleagues have lost their jobs and contracts to lower cost, lower skilled H-1B and off-shore workers. And those that are still working have been forced to accept lower wages to remain cost competitive.
I'm confident that the H-1B program is appropriate for very limited use, when properly regulated. Unfortunately, companies like Wipro and Infosys have abused the program in collaboration with American companies to the great detriment of tens of thousands of American workers.
Frankly, it's hard for me to muster much sympathy for those H-1B workers now stuck in their home country -- I'm too busy working to replace the 30% income loss that I'm faced with because of the flood of foreign labor.
From Cary, NC, 05/08/2009
This is a real issue affecting top-notch researchers. Several PhD friends of mine have spent months waiting in India for either a renewal or first visa stamping. Its good to be safe, but the net that is being cast is not very smart.
From North Hills, CA, 05/08/2009
“H-1B workers may be hired even when a qualified U.S. worker wants the job, and a U.S. worker can be displaced from the job in favor of the foreign worker.”
You are wrong when you say H-1B workers are hired:
“when no qualified American can be found”
There is no requirement to even look for an American.
see http://www.dol.gov/_sec/stratplan/strat_plan_2006-2011.pdf
(page 36 second paragraph)
Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) put it best he says:
"What many of us have come to understand is that these H-1B visas are not being used to supplement the American workforce where we have shortages but, rather, H-1B visas are being used to replace American workers with lower cost foreign workers."
From Miami, FL, 05/08/2009
I'm an Iranian national. I came to the US 8 years ago as a PhD student and now work as a university professor. I have made the US my home. In the last 8 years, however, I only managed to visit my family once precisely because of such delays in visa processing. The amount of hardship my family has endured over the years is immeasurable and I remain baffled at why highly educated individuals are treated like criminals at the US embassy abroad (Iranians must apply from a US embassy in a third country), the port of entry, while they are in the US and even at the port of exit. I have to visit my severely ill father in Iran next month and so must apply for renewal of my H1B visa. With current delays of several months, my research at the university and my (American) family here in the US will suffer. All I can say is this is no way to secure the future of America.
05/08/2009
Given that most of the applicants screened for months eventually get their visa, it seems clear that the metrics used to issue administrative checks are flawed. Most applicants seem to have PhD from reputable US universities and the research conducted during the course of their degree is public knowledge. No information is provided as to why the checks take so long and how far along they are. Applicants with financial and other obligations are kept waiting in the dark for an indefinite period of time.
From Washington, DC, 05/07/2009
The comment made by David Donahue that the demand for US visas is rising seems totally out of touch with what is commonly perceived as "reality". A current news item that only " 42000 of the available 65000 H1-B applications are filled" substantiates the fact that the demand for H1-B's is actually on the decline. Plus, did he forget that the US economy is in tatters and almost no company is hiring anyone - forget hiring a foreign worker.
It would be welcome if the officials at the State Department can own up to their inefficient ways of working rather than making such ludicrous and out-of-touch statements.
From Washington, DC, 05/07/2009
High tech workers, especially ones with PhD degrees are getting increasingly flagged as a part of the Visa Mantis checks imposed by the State Dept. Its ridiculous to impose these checks only when one leaves the country and not when they are already here. 3-4 months wait is a lot of scientific talent and effort gone waste - not to mention the extreme trauma and agony these highly qualified folks have to go through
From Santa Clara, CA, 05/07/2009
It is not clear from your show if they have job in US and being delayed or they hold H1b visas but do not have active job in US.
Thanks for the show..
Post a Comment: Please be civil, brief and relevant.
Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. All comments are moderated. Marketplace reserves the right to edit any comments on this site and to read them on the air if they are extra-interesting. Please read the Comment Guidelines before posting.
You must be 13 or over to submit information to American Public Media. The information entered into this form will not be used to send unsolicited email and will not be sold to a third party. For more information see Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.