[foldr]

>gave all the legal immigrants "Job Mobility" (i.e., their H1B visa was not anymore tied to the employer)

Reference for this? I see that Bush proposed something like this in 2004, but I can't find any reference for it ever having been implemented.

[suryacom]

I did a quick google search but could not find any reference. Media barely covers any of our issues (no NYT no WashingPost, no noone). But, I personally know more than few of family friends were benefited.

Bush Administration made the "priority date current" for a short window; this allowed legal immigrants waiting in the line for Permanent Residency to file and obtain 485-EAD.

[foldr]

You're saying there was a major change to the H1B rules, and that Obama then reversed this change, and that there is no reference to this anywhere?

[suryacom]

They were allowed to move out of H1B visa to EAD status (non-visa legal status). The same legal status DACA recipients got from Obama administration. So, technically nothing was changed to the H1B rule.

[foldr]

Broadly speaking, this is allowed now, no? There is a route to an EAD for H1B holders (and various advantages and disadvantages to each).

https://www.murthy.com/2012/10/26/using-the-ead-as-an-option...

[suryacom]

80% of the H1B holders today are from India. And they cannot reach that step; because the wait time to reach there (485-EAD) is 70+ years.

[suryacom]

mavelikara's comment blow has the references to Bush's changes: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13402891

[foldr]

Yeah, I saw that. But the way you initially described them was very inaccurate.

[suryacom]

Yeah, if I had said Bush made "the priority date current" so that H1B could file 485-EAD; I don't think anyone would understand what that mean.

So, I tried to keep it simple by mentioning "job mobility".

[mavelikara]

> Bush Administration made the "priority date current" for a short window; this allowed legal immigrants waiting in the line for Permanent Residency to file and obtain 485-EAD.

The priority dates became current abruptly for a month in July 2007 (see [1], [2] and [3] for Visa Bulletins for Jun/Jul/Aug 2007; "C" means current, "U" means unavailable). This was also the time period when "labor substitution" [4] was possible - i.e the employer could substitute a new prospective employee in the place of another who has an approved labor certification. Together, this enabled many people on H-1B to get an EAD [5]. EADs offer more or less the same flexibility as Green Cards for the purpose of employment.

This is probably what suryacom meant.

Labor substitution provision has since been revoked.

[1] Visa bulletin for June 2007: https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/law-and-policy/bul...

[2] Visa bulletin for July 2007: https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/law-and-policy/bul...

[3] Visa bulletin for August 2007: https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/law-and-policy/bul...

[4] http://www.kenreyeslaw.com/blog/2014/october/labor-certifica...

[5] https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/green-card-processes-and-pr...

[ojbyrne]

Google surfaces literally thousands of references to every little bit of US immigration minutiae, thanks to every immigration lawyer having public websites and forums, so I think that your path to EAD was likely wishful thinking.

The incoming administration has targeted the H-1B program and thanks to their control of the legislative arm and their embrace of the "southern strategy" I would expect things to get significantly worse for H-1Bs, especially those with the wrong skin color.

Here is a concrete example of something the Obama administration - the executive arm - did actually do for H1Bs - clarifying that there is a 60 day grace prior for switching jobs:

https://www.uscis.gov/news/news-releases/uscis-publishes-fin...

[mavelikara]

> Google surfaces literally thousands of references to every little bit of US immigration minutiae, thanks to every immigration lawyer having public websites and forums, so I think that your path to EAD was likely wishful thinking.

It was not. Please see my sibling comment.

Furthermore, Obama administration has explicitly declined to allow such provisions despite being well aware of this situation and after publicly promising relief.

In a memo[1] dated 11/20/2014 (right after the President's State of the Union address [2]), Jeh Johnson (Secretary of Dept. of Homeland Security) stated:

  As you know, our employment-based immigration system is
  afflicted with extremely long waits for immigrant visas, or 
  "green cards," due to relatively low green card numerical limits 
  established by Congress 24 years ago in 1990.
  ...
  The resulting backlogs for green cards prevent U.S. employers
  from attracting and retaining highly skilled workers critical to
  their businesses. U.S. businesses have historically relied on 
  temporary visas- such as H-1B, L-1B, or 0-1 visas-to retain
  individuals with needed skills as they work their way through 
  these backlogs. But as the backlogs for green cards grow longer, 
  it is increasingly the case that temporary visas fail to fill 
  the gap.
  ...
  To correct this problem, I hereby direct USCIS to take several 
  steps to modernize and improve the immigrant visa process.

After 2 years of dragging its feet on the issue, USCIS recently published its rule. It goes into 95 pages of legalese, but the TL;DR is that USCIS has not done pretty much nothing to address issues pointed out in Johnson's memo. The only good thing to have come out of it is what you said:

> clarifying that there is a 60 day grace prior for switching jobs

Notice how little the actual action was compared to the lofty initial rhetoric.

[1]: Executive Action: Support High-skilled Business and Workers - https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/14_1120...

[2]: https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/01/28/presi...

[3]: USCIS Publishes Final Rule For Certain Employment-Based Immigrant and Nonimmigrant Visa Programs - https://www.uscis.gov/news/news-releases/uscis-publishes-fin...

[pm90]

Thank you for sharing this. I don't assume you're a lawyer or anything, but does this mean that after leaving a job on an H1B visa, a worker has 60 days to potentially find another job?

It is rather disappointing that more action has not been taken to remedy this increasingly byzantine process. Its rather frustrating to jump through all the hoops and then be told to wait for 10+ years for the legal right to work after having contributed thousands of dollars in taxes, social security etc.

[mavelikara]

> does this mean that after leaving a job on an H1B visa, a worker has 60 days to potentially find another job?

Yes. The content of the actual rule can be found at: https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2016-11-18/pdf/2016-27540.p.... It says:

    Nonimmigrants in certain high-skilled, nonimmigrant classifications may 
    be granted grace periods of up to 10 days before and after their validity 
    period, and a grace period upon cessation of employment on which the 
    foreign national’s classification was based, for up to 60 days or until the 
    end of their authorized validity period, whichever is shorter, during each 
    authorized validity period.

PS: IANAL etc.