Switzerland, a country with 28% of foreign population, has a system where you can quit your job and claim unemployement benefits for at least 6 months before your work permit actually expires.
I am currently on a student visa in the U.S. and was considering trying the H-1B route. However, since it is so tiresome and it literally can make you waste years of your life, I was thinking to not even bother. When I was doing research, most people say that the US is the best place to be at as a SE. This makes it sound like if you are doomed everywhere else. I am happy to see that you seem to be a counterexample to this. If you don't mind me asking, how "bad" is it really to be in Europe instead of US as a SE? Which country do you live in? People say pay is so much lower in Europe, but does it really affect you that much?
Thanks!
In general, the entrepreneurial scene is much smaller, but if you want to concentrate on SE Europe is fine.
I think you are a bit off on both :)
Salary:
As a Software Engineer, chances are you can a bit more (especially including bonus + RSU). If you're "senior" you can earn quite a bit more.
Also: There are tons of other small perks that add up (phone/internet reimbursement, free food, public transport pass, free electric car charging, ...)
Rent:
You can currently get a 2 BR, 2 BR in Mountain View for about $3500 (managed newish building 2 minutes from Castro)
(Source: moved to Valley from Europe via Boston)
http://blog.sfgate.com/ontheblock/2015/06/02/san-franciscos-...
$2500-$3000/month will get you a nice 1-bedroom in some of the more desirable neighborhoods.
I should know, I just spent a month finding one.
If you're looking for options out of USA, I would seriously recommend Canada. It has a culture similar to the US, but better visa regime and healthcare.
So in summary, H1B applicant pool can vary from year to year so don't cross it off your list yet
Not sure why you would consider those years "wasted". You're working, gaining experience and making money. Since the job market is great, an H-1B isn't really something that would keep you back from negotiating your salary or anything else.
Getting the green card is a bit different, but there have been some reforms over the last few years.
I'd personally recommend it (having been on L-1B and H-1B).
I thought EU was way worse on Indians[regarding IT jobs]
Plus, what gives any people- including the government- the right to interfere with Freedom of Association.
Like Gay Marriage, the right to hire whome you want is an exercise of this basic right.
Alas, there wasn't an amendment to the Bill of Rights (though there doesn't need to be, read the preamble) to support freedom of association, and so this right has been eroded over time.
Immigration restrictions are government interfering with the economy, and in a bad way.
All immigrants benefit a country (unless you have a rickety socialist country in which case some of them may tax the welfare system-- but if its not rickety the ones who come to work will pay for the ones who don't.)
The same crowd that supports unlimited immigration, ironically oppose free trade. If it's ok to let in $60,000 engineers because there is a shortage of professionals willing to work for $60,000, why is it not ok to let in tarrif-free cars because people don't want to spend $20k on a Chevy?
There is no shortage of software devs. There is a shortage of software devs willing to work for $60k. The H1 system ought to be for exceptional cases such as a data scientist proficient in R, Haskel and Ruby which experience on mobile API design. It shouldn't be for effectively entry or mid level work. Many of the Infosys and Tata engineers with whom I have worked have been reasonably competent, but far from spectacular and some have been downright dangerously incompetent. Not a single one has been a field-leading expert.
Someone mentioned about what if plumbers were the primary recipient of H1s.. That would be interesting because it would expose the scam that is the enterprise-level H1 system.
It's about cheap labor (generally) and not about some imagined shortage of people. Honestly, outsourcing firms ought to be excluded from H1 eligibility; only primary employers should be allowed to apply. The program should also have more oversight. For example, you claim you can't find an engineer that can work in C and interact with SOAP APIs. Before your H1 request is allowed to proceed, the government (or quasi-government) should then be allowed to send you US resident prospects that meet your requirements. If there are none, then you get the H1 application processed. Essentially affirmative action for US citizens and resident. If you are unwilling to hire the employee, you would need to justify why. Salary discussions would be forbidden until after you make a hiring decision. If you say yes but the salary is too high, then there would be kind of an arbitration system.
My point is that H1 is about lower cost most of the time and has little to do with an actual shortage.
I'm sure there are few people on HN who want to keep immigrants out of the USA, but that's bad policy in the long run. I hope this debate around H1B will facilitate a better visa regime.