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Like so many systems dreamt up by congress, the H1B mechanics were poorly designed from the start. A lottery? That's incredibly stupid. The DV lottery is one thing, kind of dystopian but one can see the 'logic' (in the progressive mindset) of allowing random people in poor countries to gamble on a kind of Ellis Island vision of making it in America.
But the H1B system requires certainty. A simple fix would just be to cut the total number by 60-80%, then turn it into a bid system. Each visa is auctioned off to the highest bidder. This would have two effects. Firstly it would provide companies with some certainty, because prices would be pretty stable, with some fluctuations depending on the strength of the economy/employment market. Secondly, it would immediately cut out Infosys/Tata/Cognizant etc because the "apply for literally every engineer we have in India, then send over the ones who win the lottery" tactic would no longer work and the new bidding price would be unaffordable for anyone who wasn't generating substantial economic value.
Another issue is the abuse of the O-1 system, which has risen from like 10,000 to 40,000 visas a year (inc dependants). There's no way there are that many exceptional people moving to the US each year. This is a visa designed for Hollywood stars and Harvard academics that is again being exploited by the tech sector.
Or a points-based system, which can also subsume the O-1. And abolish the dual-intent of L-1, which is another incredibly stupid quirk.
Why not turn it into something the POTUS has power over, like these pardons of federal felons? If there's an exceptional person that is so weird he/she won't be able to score enough points through the regular route surely he/she is exceptional enough that the president is familiar with the name and can be convinced to let him/her in?
Any points-based system can be gamed. The O1 for anyone in STEM, including tech, is gamed, for example, by having applicants submit papers to bullshit fake journals that still count for the purposes of the application.
Because then any Democratic POTUS will just stamp millions of visas.
Yes, agreed, the L-1 visa should be for a maximum 5 year stay in the US followed by a minimum 3 year cooling off period in the home country during which they can’t visit the US for more than 60 days per year.
I don't see how you can game the Canadian CRS, for example. By faking your age, perhaps, or getting a Ph.D. from a diploma mill.
Make it a mandatory ceremony, then. The person must arrive at the White House and the President will shake their hand and hand them their papers.
That won't work; the step from "allowing a few" to "allowing a lot" is too easy to make. Maybe a by video ceremony, or using in a standin, or something else to remedy the "oversight" that "helps hard working immigrants who through no fault of their own can't attend". The exact method of slipping is less important than the fact that slipping is a very small step.
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