I have read many articles in recent times since what is an anti-immigration and anti-H1B visa (and L-1 vis) legislation was submitted for debate in the US Congress.

The crux of the legislation is the ludicrous notion that 65,000 annual H-1B visas out of a workforce of over 150 million people (CIA figures) have helped be a major cause of the mass unemployment in the US. This equates to 0.4% of annual labor.

Then when you consider according to NASSCOM (National Association of Service and Software Companies), the average foreign engineer on H-1B visa only stays in the US for 2 years which is not even the full term of an H-1B visa which is 3 years.

Suddenly you see how ridiculous all this is and the arguments put forward by Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) like;
“Some claim that the H-1B program helps to create American jobs, but it is currently being used by some companies to outsource American jobs to foreign countries.”
are all just an anti-immigrant and H-1B visa ruse to distract the US public from who is really to blame for the current  economy.

1. US Politicians who were in bed with corporate America and taking their kick backs, campaign contributions and gifts and providing little or no oversight over mass corruption and breaking of the law

2. US Corporations headed by US Executives (mainly in banking and financial sector) who engaged in practices that would mildly be described as extremely reckless while profiting individually regardless of the damage to their own companies or the general public who engage with them and economy as a whole

3, US Consumers for entering into mortgages they could not afford and racking up tens of thousands of dollars in credit card debt.

It almost reminds you of that Simpson’s episode where Mayor Joe Quimby distracts the public blaming the high taxes on immigrants and the public believes it. The sad thing today is that this is real life and not an animated cartoon on Fox.

For arguments sake lets suppose there proposition that the H-1B visa and immigrants are really taking jobs away from US citizens are argue that statements on its own merits by looking at the facts.

Duke & Harvard University Researcher Vivek Wadhwa who did a study for the Kauffman Group found:

• Half of all Silicon Valley engineers are foreign born, up from 10 percent in 1970, where US innovation for the last 4 decades has stemmed from Apple and Microsoft to Yahoo and Google
• About 40 percent of all U.S. patents go to immigrants.
• These immigrant-founded companies employed 450,000 workers and generated $52 billion in revenue in 2005.

To  go further if that does not convince somebody Yahoo, Google, Sun, Intel, Audiovox, Qualcomm, and eBay – were founded and led by immigrants whose successful companies today employ hundreds of thousands of Americans.

Imagine if all those brands were Chinese, Indian or Heaven Forbid to many Americans, even Arabic where many of these hard working entreprenuers and innovators are from. Would the US even be in it’s top place in the world today?

The study also found that many of the highly educated foreigners who came to the US for undergraduate, graduate and PHD degrees to the top universties in the US paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees and spending each are chosing to return home because of the difficulty in obtaining an H-1B visa & more alarmingly the greater entrepreneurial opportunities back at home.

The New York Times recently profiled a young engineer for Google, Sanjay G. Mavinkurve, an Indian-born, American-educated entrepreneur who helped write the code for a website that would become Facebook. But now, Mr. Mavinkurve, who once proudly displayed an American flag in his college dorm room, must work in Canada because visa rules make it impracticable to move his wife and family to the United States.

Let me leave you with these final thoughts;

• When Google built their moster Googleplex in Silicon Valley that seems to grow every day, how many American contruction companies and contractors built, extend and maintain that facility every day.
• When the tens of thousands of Yahoo employees in Burbank go out for lunch each day to local eateries owned by hard working small businesses owned by Americans, how many US families does that feed.
• At times like the upcoming Mother’s Day or Christmas, when millions of people all over the world purchase off eBay.com and eBay collects all that fee/commission revenue flowing into the US and then pays say 30% tax on their profits, how many roads does it build, young children does it feed and healthcare does it provide for (including Senator Durbin and Senator Grassley!!)

President Obama has signalled he doesn’t want the US to become an inward, protectionist nation. Well lets hope for all US citizens that holds true and this legislation does not pass as it would the first big dagger into US innovation and supremacy leading the world!

CJ

The US Immigration system has an interesting way of classifying foreigners who enter the country. In fact if you have an E-3 visa, J-1 or H-1B visa and somebody complains that you are just another immigrant taking jobs from US Citizens, you can reply and say “well actually I am not an immigrant….I am a non-immigrant”

So what is the difference between a non-immigrant and immigrant in the US and thus the immigrant and non-immigrant visa as it is a different classification than most countries’ systems?

The Non-Immigrant Visa

Well a non-immigrant is anyone who had to establish prior to coming to the US that their permanent residence is outside the US and that they intend to return their after their temporary stay is over.

So of course non-immigrants includes tourists, including those on the visa waiver program, but this also includes those on H-1B visas, E-3 visas, J-1 Work and Travel Visas, J-1 Internship Visas, L-1 visas, TN visas, F-1 visas, B1/B2 visas, etc. All of these people in one form or another have to prove to their US consular or embassy officer that they have strong ties to their country of residence and intend to return their at the end of their US stay.

S0me visas like the H-1B and L-1, have what is known as a dual-intent provision which basically means they can apply for permanent status via their employer while on their non-immigrant status. The E-3 visa in practical terms seems to allow this too although it is not explicitly stated like the H-1B visa for example.

So what constitutes Strong Ties?

There is no set definition and the practical workings of this seem to differ greatly by country and also where a person may be born and even their heritage.

For example someone born and raised in Canada or the UK seem to have to prove little to prove they will return home as it assumed as they come from a rich Western country, probably with strong family and property/asset ties to home, they will return.

On the other hand someone who is from a 3rd world country or is a foreign born and raised citizen of say Australia, seems to have a higher burden of proof to prove strong ties and that they will return home as the US views them as a higher risk. Many view this as a racist policy and in some ways it really is but that tends to be the nature of modern immigration systems in Western Countries.

A strong tie can be;
- family members all residing in home resident country
- bank accounts held in country
- property ownership or significant assets like cars, businesses, etc.
- or anything seen as a compelling reason for a person to return home

As I said the burden for someone to prove this at their consular interview is really dependent on where they come from and sometimes how strict their assessing consular officer may be.

Due to way the regulations are written, it is up to the non-immigrant to prove these strong ties at the discretion of the consulate  or otherwise you can be denied a non-immigrant visa under condition 241(b).

You can re-apply for a non-immigrant visa if you are denied for this reason but you have to show further evidence of your strong ties and your compelling reason to return back to your home country of residence.

The Immigrant Visa

There is less to say about these types of visa as in practical terms these are permanent residency visas of some description. They fall under 3 categories being;
- Family Sponsored (direct relatives only)
- Employer Sponsored
- Special Category

You can read about all of these categories further and their defining characteristics at our How Do I Get A Green Card post and of course about the Green Card Lottery which is another way people can obtain permanent status in the United States.

Thus people in this section do not have to prove ties to their home country as their intention is to reside in the US. However you should note there are limited quotas with most of these visas as well as strict criteria to obtain one and long wait periods particularly in the family sponsored section for certain direct relatives.

Many people apply to transfer to an Immigrant Visa from a Non-Immigrant Visa like H-1B but depending on the country of residence this can also be a long wait as well.

I hope this helped clarify the difference between Immigrant and Non-Immigrant status in the US and this confusing part of the US Immigration system!

CJ