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I'm Peter Roberts, immigration attorney who does work for YC and startups. AMA

245 points proberts | 2 comments | 17 Oct 24 16:01 UTC | HN request time: 0.407s | source

I'll be here for the few hours and then again at around 1 pm PST for another few hours. As usual, there are countless possible topics and I'll be guided by whatever you're concerned with. Please remember that I can't provide legal advice on specific cases for obvious liability reasons because I won't have access to all the facts. Please stick to a factual discussion in your questions and comments and I'll try to do the same in my answers. Thanks!

Previous threads we've done: https://news.ycombinator.com/submitted?id=proberts.

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gangstead ◴[17 Oct 24 17:19 UTC] No.41871598[source]▶
One idea to replace the H1-B lottery that I've seen on HN is to sort the applications by salary and let in the top XX highest paid.

Do you have any thoughts on that? Is this one of those "why don't they just..." type of ideas that people with first hand knowledge know is majorly flawed?

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proberts ◴[17 Oct 24 17:32 UTC] No.41871728[source]▶
I just don't see how the value - from a benefit to the U.S. economy perspective - is tied to salary so that doesn't make sense to me as a line to draw. If the H-1B program were to be limited in any way (which is not something I necessarily agree with), one option is to list occupations that are in short supply each year and to prioritize those. Many countries do this.
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jefftk ◴[17 Oct 24 18:58 UTC] No.41872675[source]▶
> one option is to list occupations that are in short supply each year and to prioritize those

That's a lot of what prioritizing slots by pay does: pay is higher for jobs with low supply relative to demand.

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bubblethink ◴[17 Oct 24 23:51 UTC] No.41875007[source]▶
Not necessarily. You need farmers and scientists. Can't do a descending sort by salary.
replies(1): >>41875381 #
Detrytus ◴[18 Oct 24 00:55 UTC] No.41875381[source]▶
Wasn't Trump's proposal few years ago "95th percentile salary for their profession"? So you still have room for farmers and scientists provided that they are exceptional (or at least exceptionally well paid) farmers and scientists.
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d1sxeyes ◴[18 Oct 24 11:09 UTC] No.41878270[source]▶
Who defines “profession” though? Is “farmer” all encompassing, or is “chicken farmer” different from “cattle farmer”? Is “battery chicken farmer” different to “free range chicken farmer”? Do I need to be top 5% US-wide or just the city/state I would be hired in?
replies(1): >>41881485 #
1. yyhhsj0521 ◴[18 Oct 24 17:19 UTC] No.41881485[source]▶
I don't disagree there's a lot of complications in the actual implementation, but this approach is a better-than-status-quo way to achieve some fairness IMO. Currently the US Dept of Labor has a system of determining the fair wage that should be paid to a certain job description at a certain geographic location. In the green card process this is called "prevailing wage determination". Why not use it for H1b too?
replies(1): >>41931621 #
2. Detrytus ◴[24 Oct 24 03:29 UTC] No.41931621[source]▶
“Prevailing wage determination” is already a part of h1b process, but it is easily gamed.