[seanmcdirmid]

Well, what if you are in another country working for a company (say Microsoft) on a visa, even though you are American.

> The H1B is fundamentally broken and I'm amazed that so many people put up with it. Credit to the US for being such a desirable destination, I guess.

There are plenty of countries with more broken visa policies (I've lived here for almost 8 years and still don't qualify for permanent residency).

[kelnos]

I know people who have lived in the US easily that long and are still stuck on H1B.

Countries with worse policies are no excuse for the embarrassment that is the state of US immigration.

[seanmcdirmid]

You can only be on a H1B for 6 years (3 years renewed twice). After that, its either greencard or go home for a few years, and everyone I know has been able to get greencards even if the "process" is kind of tough.

However, I cannot get a greencard in the country of my residence (where I have many coworkers with USA greencards, ironically enough), so I think it is not very fair.

[cesarbs]

You can stay longer than 6 years if you have a pending Green Card application.

[seanmcdirmid]

Yes, but your GC application has to basically be approved by that point, and you are just waiting for a slot.

[walshemj]

Well if you see the Q's on the workplace stack overflow about some of the "horrific" employment practices from India the H1B rules might seem liberal.

[cesarbs]

Where is "here"? :)

[seanmcdirmid]

China.