H-1B visa’s tighter rules illegal, tech outsourcers claim in lawsuit

San Jose Mercury News ^ | May 3, 2018 | By ETHAN BARON

[Oldeconomybuyer]

A group of outsourcing companies that use the H-1B visa to fill U.S. jobs with foreign workers have filed a lawsuit claiming recent U.S. government restrictions on the visa program are illegal.

The legal action attacks a February policy change by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration that imposed tighter requirements on outsourcers seeking H-1B visas, which are intended for jobs requiring specialized skills and a bachelor’s degree or higher.

In the suit, two companies and a consortium that has been lobbying Congress over H-1B restrictions claimed Citizenship and Immigration lacked the authority to make the rule changes, and that the alleged over-reach violates the U.S. Administrative Procedures Act.

“Congress has consistently shown the public policy is to increase access to IT professionals, and not increase burdens on US companies to retain this resource,” said the lawsuit, which was filed Tuesday in federal court in New Jersey.

The companies and group filing suit claim the new H-1B requirements will “choke out” their work by denying them H-1B visas and visa extensions.

“Without sufficient employees to meet their clients’ needs, Plaintiffs will suffer irreparable harm to reputation and ability to compete,” the suit said.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said it would not comment on pending litigation.

[dirtboy]

The companies and group filing suit claim the new H-1B requirements will “choke out” their work by denying them H-1B visas and visa extensions. “Without sufficient employees to meet their clients’ needs, Plaintiffs will suffer irreparable harm to reputation and ability to compete,” the suit said.

And this is a bad thing exactly how?

[central_va]

What f-ing audacious nerve these gloBULLists have.

US citizens are second class citizens in their own country. The H-1B visa scam needs to end NOW!

[NonValueAdded]

Tricky business. They bring on discovery into their hiring practices. Interesting to see how they prove there were no Americans that could be hired.

[Vigilanteman]

Precisely why the Japanese have the right idea in giving visas to these type of workers: Import just as many as you think you need with minimal proof that you couldn't find a local to do the job. You will, however, be required to pay them at least 10% or more over the going wage or salary for said position.

This has significant consequences, namely:

1. Companies hire only what they need and are willing to pay the premium to get.
   
2. Jobs dominated by foreigners have the wage level of the entire industry bid up and attract more Japanese to train for the type of job.
   
3. This is exactly what happened to me after 14 years of working in Japan-- it eventually became less attractive to stay.

[snarkpup]

The Democrats think we can revive our local economy with tourism, and the minimum-wage jobs it will create in the hospitality industry. The Republicans think we can revive our local economy by bringing in hi-tech.

I don't think either plan will create any jobs for Americans, especially those over 30. But at least with the Republican plan, we should get a wider selection of Asian restaurants.

[BuffaloJack]

If it were up to me, I’d cancel all H1B visas and scrap the program. They don’t come here to assimilate, they come here to take our jobs and send their money back home.

[Governor Dinwiddie]

"They don’t come here to assimilate …"

Indeed so. They are parasites sucking the blood out of the host. When the host gets weak or sick, they will pick up and move on to the next one.
 

[wbill]

Yep. I know a little about this, as I've been outsourced twice.

What's sad is that in the long run, it doesn't save money, it destroys the "institutional knowledge" in the company, and it ruins the morale of those that are left.

Case in point, I worked for a small company, was the senior IT guy in small shop. Thought that would protect me, but I was wrong. I was outsourced in a one-for-one swap with an Indian H1B. Me, who designed most of the company's systems and operated them for 7 years, for some temp. Cheaper? Sure. Better at the job? Well....

Except that it didn't work. They brought in a 2nd H1b, and a third, fourth, and finally a fifth. 5 people to replace little old me. No idea what it cost, but it most certainly was more than I had been paid.

I'm not arrogant enough to claim that I could do the work of 5 men - the reality was that one of them was a decent engineer, three were mediocre placeholders, and the fifth was worthless, and carried by the other four. But all of them got paid, I'm sure.

Long story short, company ditched the idea after about a year, offered me my job back (ahahahaha!! that was a GOOD day), and wound up hiring another middle-aged white guy from the next town over - at a salary 2x mine (the company's controller and I are good friends). After 2-3 years, things started to settle back down and the IT team resumed its productivity again....

...Until the NEXT management seagull comes in and says, "Hey! I've got an idea as to how we can save money! This H1B agency that bought me a great golf weekend said..."

There's the reality of it all.

[PGR88]

Brokers who trade in visas and human bodies sue Fed.gov

[bgill]

http://www.myvisajobs.com/Reports/2017-H1B-Visa-Sponsor.aspx

Rank H-1B Visa Companies - Number of workers - Average Salary
1 Infosys 25,405 $81,705
2 Capgemini 17,479 $93,213
3 Tata Consultancy Services 13,134 $76,099
4 IBM 12,381 $87,378
5 Wipro 10,607 $72,720
6 Accenture 9,479 $81,585
7 Tech Mahindra (Americas) 8,615 $75,879
8 Deloitte Consulting 7,645 $122,667
9 Cognizant Technology Solutions 5,370 $74,628
10 Microsoft 5,029 $129,610
11 Hcl America 4,930 $84,040
12 Google 4,897 $129,997
13 Ernst & Young 4,625 $98,722
14 Ust Global 3,170 $69,819
15 Larsen & Toubro Infotech 3,092 $76,755
16 Amazon 2,622 $121,850
17 Igate Technologies 2,197 $70,209
18 L&T Technology Services 1,853 $69,648
19 Syntel Consulting 1,847 $71,338
20 Jpmorgan Chase 1,765 $111,283
21 Apple 1,660 $141,294
22 Intel 1,647 $107,428
23 Deloitte & Touche 1,646 $75,705
24 Hexaware Technologies 1,634 $72,336
25 Ntt Data 1,253 $94,255
26 Kpmg 1,246 $96,621
27 Mastech, A Mastech Holdings Company 1,232 $94,849
28 Pricewaterhousecoopers Advisory Services 1,215 $118,509
29 Facebook 1,167 $145,683
30 Pricewaterhousecoopers 1,095 $91,619
31 Birlasoft 1,069 $60,474
32 V-Soft Consulting Group 1,045 $80,021
33 Htc Global Services 1,001 $68,413
34 Goldman, Sachs 988 $117,083
35 Bank Of America 960 $111,732
36 Virtusa 956 $89,969
37 Compunnel Software Group 953 $68,736
38 Wal-Mart Associates 893 $116,903
39 Salesforce.Com 863 $117,210
40 Oracle America 834 $123,577
41 Qualcomm Technologies 829 $120,531
42 Randstad Technologies 826 $104,710
43 Emc 823 $113,460
44 Populus Group 812 $100,375
45 Mindtree 807 $75,773
46 Ebay 797 $137,362
47 Cummins 797 $80,471
48 Mphasis 782 $75,840
49 Citibank 765 $117,181
50 Capgemini Financial Services Usa 750 $93,776

[crusadersoldier]

Since this has taken affect, the number of calls from recruiters has at least tripled for me.

[thoughtomator]

If we threw the CEOs and the lawyers out of helicopters, it would bring a quick resolution to the issue.

[Lumper20]

Go to Huntsville, AL. Plenty of US citizens with degrees in computer science and we BSEE’s all over the US.

[Buffalo Bob]

BuffaloJack is spot on correct. I too have been outsourced twice also.

To his excellent comments I will add this:

Not one damn more H1B visa until all America's military veterans have 100% employment. The foreigners have continued ZERO to protecting and defending our country.

[KingofZion]

AGree. There is no need for H1B. Plenty of US software engineers and coders being paid less due to influx of cheap foreign wage slaves. And would not be difficult for tech industry to train unemployed workers and teen but then they would have to pay them market wages.

[Bookshelf]

I chose V-Soft Consulting at random. Privately held, the following is instructive:

Year Founded: 1997; No. of Employees: 501-1000
Work Visa Policy: email sachin@vsoftconsulting.com for details or call us on 502-371-0972.
Green Card Policy: Please email to sachin@vsoftconsulting.com for details or call us on 502-371-0972.
Visa Job Locations: Louisville,KY(165), New York,NY(81), Houston,TX(66), Chicago,IL(62), Charlotte,NC(47),
H1B Visa Jobs: Programmer Analyst(1236); Systems Analyst(281); Network Engineer(211); Business Analyst(88); Software Engineer(87);
Green Card Jobs:Software Developer, Applications(186); Software Developers, Applications(86); Computer Systems Analyst(85); Network and Computer Systems Administrators(28); Database Administrator(18);
H1B Occupations:Computer Programmers(1454); Computer Systems Analysts(590); Software Developers, Applications(316); Network And Computer Systems Administrators(307); Computer Occupations, All Other(190);
Green Card Occupations: Software Developers, Applications(292); Computer Systems Analysts(89); Network and Computer Systems Administrators*(59); Database Administrators(35); Management Analysts(21);

Profiles of forein workers who applied for green card under PERM: Citizenship: India(522), Nepal(20), Sri Lanka(4), Pakistan(3), Egypt(2), Saudi Arabia(1), Bangladesh(1), Algeria(1)
Class of Admission: H-1B(440), F-1(85), Parolee(11), L-1(6), H-4(4), H-1A(2), Not in USA(2), L-2(2), J-2(1)
Education: Master’s(372), Bachelor’s(180), Doctorate(2)
College: Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University,India(26); Osmania University,India(25); University Of Madras,India(25); Stratford University(16); Anna University,India(12); National University(12); Kakatiya University,India(11); Texas A&m University - Kingsville(10); Bharathiar University,India(9); University Of Mumbai,India(7)