~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Let's Compromise ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Fixing Skilled Worker Visas Adjusting the H-1B and L-1 Visa Programs
The current system is a hammer, when a screwdriver would be more appropriate

Although I would like to see the H-1B and L-1 visa programs completely abolished, I realize that some sort of compromise may be in order if solutions or improvement are to come anytime soon. Most problems tend to center around a "lack of balance" in many areas, including mobility, age, and skill sets targeted by visa workers and the visa laws. The current system is a hammer, when a screwdriver would be more appropriate. Below are some suggestions that could reduce some or most of the problem areas of the visa programs:

• Avoid flooding any one profession by permitting a more balanced in-flow of skills. For example, after the dot-com bust and growing programmer unemployment, the number of visa software developers actually increased against the downward demand trend. This is partly because India was still ramping up their computer-related education and personnel promotional institutions against the dropping demand. A commissioner of some sort should be assigned to manage and monitor the skill mixes permitted to enter this nation. This commissioner would be "the Alan Greenspan of visas", lowering the quotas on specific professions or skill sets if demand decreases. The commissioner could monitor job ads, unemployment insurance filings, college degrees applied for, and degrees received. Perhaps a portion of the H-1B fees can be allocated to skill monitoring and balancing. Note that technology demand is historically cyclical.

• Require coordination with state unemployment offices to see if they can find or recommend citizen matches for requested visa positions.

• Perhaps use the existing immigration program to bring in those with allegedly hard-to-find skills rather than a separate visa system. This may reduce the "indentured servant" problem with the current visa programs. Full immigrants would also be more likely to have or bring families with them to consume local products and services, and be able to shop around for better wages without fear of deportation, better balancing their impact on jobs, wages, and the economy.

• Require a more "natural" level of ages for visa workers. Age discrimination is common in many technology fields to due various stereotypes of seasoned workers. Requiring a more natural range of ages in visa applicants may result in less "replacement" of older tech workers with younger ones that appears to be going on in many companies. This might be a little tricky because many countries have only just begun formal training in technology. But, it might also encourage such countries to offer training to a wider range of ages.

• Avoid recognizing combinations of skills in the "skill shortage" visa claim form slot. Manipulation of combinations of skills appears to be one of the larger sources of deception and trickery among visa filers, and make it hard to verify shortage claims. For example, claim forms should state something like "Oracle DBA" as the (alleged) skill in short supply, rather than "Oracle DBA, Fortran, Java, WebSphere, MS-Access, C++, C#, XML, SAP", and so forth. Narrowing the skill claims may also make it easier for citizens to know what is in short supply in order to obtain training in areas of high demand. Investigators have been hard-pressed to find patterns under the current visa programs, and the few they did find contradicted unemployment patterns.

• Better monitoring of pay rates and complaint follow-up. Although officially the visa program is to supply hard-to-find skills, many of us feel that it is an attempt to avoid paying "full" wages or to replace older workers with younger ones, who traditionally earn less. A portion of a visa application fee can be used to finance a monitoring program. This could be similar to the "skills commissioner" mentioned above.

• The "training fee" of the current system does not work very well, and needs to be overhauled. The training is going toward entry-level positions instead of the specific skills cited as in short supply by visa sponsors. Part of the problem is that there is no decent feedback on what specific skills are in shortage (see above). The industry changes so fast that by the time any useful statistics are out, the given skill set may already be flooded due to various dynamic market forces. Faster reporting times are needed.

• Require reciprocal behavior on the other country's part. They must allow at least an equal number of visa workers into their country from the U.S.

• Require that visa requests be made available to the public electronically. Every visa opening should be made available to potential citizen job hunters so that they have an opportunity to apply.

• Review programs for citizens allegedly displaced and unemployed or underemployed. Unemployed citizens who may qualify for positions given to visa workers should have a right to challenge visa positions for their own employment. Perhaps at least require the employer to interview the unemployed citizen and produce a written document of why they don't qualify and could not qualify with minor specific training. The citizen should also have the right to review or call for auditor review of the actual work being performed by the visa worker to see if it meets the written description. However, care must be taken to make sure intellectual property is not at risk.

Links

• UC-Davis Report
• Debunking the "Shortage" Claim
• Visa Education and Work Ethic Myths
• Corrections to PAEA Visa Claims
• Zazona - H-1B Visa Criticism
• H-1B Info
• Economic Myths
• Offshoring Criticism (blog)