Can you provide a source on this? It sounds like you know what you're talking about, but this is the internet and I'm not in a position to tell if you're mistaken or not.

Just google H1B visa transfer. All of this is (or at least should be) pretty common knowledge in the tech world.

This is just an h1b transfer. No lottery needed. Not as easy as having a green card, but still an order of magnitude easier than doing the h1b lottery. https://www.upcounsel.com/h1b-visa-transfer#:~:text=Yes%2C%2....

What you said is true - a new lottery is not needed. However before offering a job to a H1B candidate the company should demonstrate that it advertised this job to the general public and no non H1B candidate (a US citizen or permanent resident) applied or was eligible. In the current job market, there are tons of citizens and permanent residents in the job market making it difficult if not impossible for a H1B holder to get a new job.

The original purpose of the H1B system was exactly for those rare individuals that have some X skill(s) that can't be met by the domestic job market. The implication being that practically zero entry to intermediate level jobs would have H1Bs filling them, even in SV.

Though the expected norm nowadays is for it to be a cheaper second-rate labour supply restricted by years long waiting lists and lotteries, and not a smooth pipeline of geniuses and super-geniuses interested in emigrating to the US,

What you said is correct from the policy/public perspective.

This thread is talking about, from employee's perspective, it is hard to jump ship.

I wasn't writing it from any specific perspective?

The original ideal and present situation seems fairly clearly spelled out in an unbiased manner.

> You understand wrong. If you already have an H-1B visa then you don't need to enter the lottery again. You just need another job offer in a similar role, and can start working immediately.

The other employer still needs to be willing to sponsor you, and that's often not the case.

> don't need to enter the lottery again

Yes

> can start working immediately

Abso-lutely not. Check out Reddit to look for accounts of how the transfer works and see how easy it really is...

When you transfer, you need a lot of cooperation from the new firm as they have to be ok filing paperwork, they have to do it in a timely fashion, and due to processing delays on the order of weeks (if all goes well) you cannot start work immediately. For many, many employers, this put you at a strong disadvantage against applicants who are all good to go and ready to show up on Monday.