I believe a lot of folks here are not familiar with how horrible the immigration process for a foreign born advanced STEM (science technology engineering mathematics) degree graduate is, in the US now.
I wanted to write a letter to the President to point out some of the issues with the system within the 2500 word limit. I thought it might be beneficial to post this letter here. I know how hard the IT worker gun-for-hire policies have hurt the American IT worker, and how the H1-B visa contributed to this. This has led to folks blaming the H-1B program as a whole, as well as much stricter regulations on H-1B filings after Obama took office. It's a good thing if the H-1B visa only applied to these guns-for-hire but that is not the case.
On a sidenote, the Democrats held up a STEM immigration bill because it eliminated the diversity visa lottery. I agree diversity is good, but if we had a choice in nation-building, and had one visa to give, would we give that to a random person, or a person with validated education and skills from a US university?
Another sore point is the per-country cap which I couldn't fit into the 2500 word limit. The country caps make sense for diversity and family visas to ensure fairness. But for employment based visas? For a country that aims to not discriminate against you based on your nation of origin, why are caps based on nation of origin even relevant to employment based immigration?
My aim is not to incite, but to inform. And in this letter, I wish to inform
(a) how hard it is for a qualified advanced US STEM degree-holder to become a resident and citizen of the US
(b) how the current up-to 29 month OPT program leads to terrible abuse of the foreign born advanced degree graduate but also of the American worker who could have qualified for that job. When a company can hire a candidate with an MS in Engineering and pay $15 an hour and keep the employee for 29 months, instead of paying $32 for a reasonably qualified worker, knowing full well that options for the graduate to find a job with a company that does sponsorship (even for legitimate jobs where they cannot find an American worker, companies are stepping away from H-1B sponsorship due to the increased burden and rejections). I personally know a friend who has two Masters and a PhD who accepted a job paying $52K a year because the OPT program restricts your cumulative unemployment period during the 29 months to 90 days. While the H-1B system has some protections to ensure that the company is paying a wage commensurate to the position and candidate qualifications, the OPT program has no such limitations.
Together, the system has been stacked to the advantage of companies. This might be one place we can unleash the free market and have it benefit the American worker.
The letter lies below the orange squiggle.
Mr. President,
First off, congratulations on an excellent campaign, and an important victory.
I have been in the US since December 2004 after completing my Bachelors in Electronics and Communication from a reputed University. In these past almost 6 years, I
- completed one Masters degree in Computer Engineering
- am close to completing a Masters in Business Administration from a top-10 business school.
- Purchased a condo and two new cars, 4 old.
- worked almost 6 years for American Companies on an H-1B visa.
- visited US consulates 4 times for "visa interviews"
- paid about $66000 in income taxes alone.
Through my education and experience, I have developed combined knowledge on running a project from conception to first sale, to develop the hardware and software for communicating embedded devices, as well as general business management including finance, operations, and entrepreneurship, and hope to start a business here in the US. I hope I am the kind of person that you envisage becoming a US citizen If not, please disregard the rest of this letter.
While Gov. Romney dangled policies for entrepreneurship, and green cards stamped to STEM advanced degrees as carrots, Asian Americans still broke for you 75/25 recognizing his catastrophic fiscal plan for what it was. However, you always touted Abe Lincoln's team of rivals, so there is no shame in adopting some of the good ideas that he mentioned.
For the last six years, I have been clubbed with the kind of gun-for-hire IT worker displacing American workers because we have to use the same work Visa. An advanced STEM graduate has an option to start on an up-to 29 month OPT program, but the max-90-cumulative-days unemployment limit combined with very few employers willing to sponsor H-1Bs (due to fees and scrutiny due to guns-for-hire SW firms) leads to Masters and PhDs working for $15/hour getting abused and enabling abuse of the American worker.
The advanced STEM graduate needs a non-employer-dependent smoother path to work permits, permanent residence, and citizenships separate from the H-1B. I will not wait another 6 years for a green card and yet another 5 to be a citizen. I feel like I am an American but the system says "Not really". There's another country that could use the skills the US taught me.
Green cards following advanced STEM graduate diplomas will help prevent the ongoing abuse of them and other American workers and brighten this nation's future.