H1B is only 36 years old. The Immigration Act of 1990 always meant it to be a temporary status, which is why it is so easily imperiled.
Part of the noise around this topic is that the administration just announced something vague with no detailed guidance, which leaves the door open for bad-faith interpretations by everyone.
Needing to leave to convert a normal working/spouse status to PR is not the norm anywhere.
Additionally, Japan has a very clear and straightforward process to convert HSP Visa (Highly skilled visa) to a permanent residency.
It can be done in 3years for most and to 1year for the high level candidatures (PhD profiles).
This is very far from the current H1B shitshow.
I mean, that's true as far as it goes, but HSP is one special visa amongst many, and they're not all so easy. Also, Japan is currently in the middle of its own dramatic restructuring of the immigration system related to HSP, including a number of new requirements that would drive critics of the US system to apoplexy (i.e. language fluency requirements).
Overall, the Japanese system looks a lot more conservative than the US one, though the sanity and consistency level is far higher.
Japan has a selective immigration system where the profiles JP gov considers as "necessary" are made easy to immigrate, and the others not so much.
One can disagree with the method, but at least it is consistent.
Near that, half of the American tech (and associated GDP) is constructed highly qualified immigrated engineers on H1B visas, and still the US gov openly shit on them.
> US system to apoplexy (i.e. language fluency requirements)
JP mainly just put some Japanese language level requirement on the HSP visas related to roles with communication. That honestly does not shock me.
But let's not kid ourselves: if the US instituted a CEFR B2 language requirement [1] for anyone on an H1B visa to gain residency, it would be an absolute shitshow.
[1] This is the new Japanese language requirement.
Do you think I could not pass that test?
Well, I don't know you, but you've missed the point entirely so...
It would be a shitshow because of the politics of it. I am certain there would be plenty of people who could pass, and some who can't.
Also, it's obviously my assumption.
I doubt H-1Bs would oppose taking that test. Many already took English proficiency exams by the time they apply for the visa.
I assume Americans in general would favor this extra requirement too.
And companies, if we decide we care about what they want, really have no reason to oppose the test. There's a large enough number of applicants that they can easily pick from the ones that do speak English fluently.
So to conclude it would be a shitshow because of the politics is likely incorrect, certainly defeatist, and gives up on the actual thing we should strive for, which is to make the H-1B visa better.
The 1990 law ultimately passed 231 to 192. It likely would never have passed if it had removed H1 from the “temporary worker” category and turned it into an immigrant visa with a clear path to citizenship.
The fact that it's "common in other countries" is entirely irrelevant to what the United States does.
It's not even clear it's common in other countries. Japan is notorious for being insular.
This is a garbage move by this administration that flies in the face of decades of precedents _in the United States_.
Like you, I tend to think this is a ham-handed move, but like one of the sibling comments, I also have to acknowledge that it’s common for other nations to require change-of-status applications happen outside the country. For example, Japan requires this for some (but not all!) visa modifications.
Also, I’ve seen otherwise reliable sources making unsupported claims about this (e.g. “Existing applicants will lose their ability to apply again if they leave the country”) that aren’t clear from the minuscule amount of information that has been released so far.
As usual with these debates, the content is far more heat than light.