Some important changes are being implemented in how H1B visa are handled – these are employer-sponsored visas many international students count on to stay in the US after graduation. The new president has vowed to revamp the program – and this appears to be the first of his changes
http://money.cnn.com/2017/03/04/news/economy/h1b-visa-expedited-suspended-reaction/index.html
I believe H1B visas should go first to international graduates from us colleges, as these students have shown they are well-integrated into us culture and fill a need at individual firms that have tested them, often through an internship. This in addition to bringing exceptional, singular individuals or professionals (such as doctors willing to work on under-served areas).
I don’t think H1B’s should be bought wholesale by groups like INFOSYS that then block the process for all other businesses and legit students.
Exactly, @MYOS1634 . Employers would prefer anyone with more familiarity with US system.
Does require “same pay as local Average”?
I’d like to see that.
Lolz. In theory, H-1B beneficiaries need to be paid at least the median income for their occupation + county. In practice, that’s hard to enforce because employers have room to fudge on the paperwork.
For example, my own company sponsors H-1B visas for programmers & statistical analysts. Minimum requirement Bachelor’s degree, many have a Master’s or PhD. On the visa paperwork, they get classified as “social science research assistants”, which gives them a prevailing wage determination of about $35,000. With a more appropriate occupation classification, the prevailing wage would be somewhere between $70,000 and $120,000, which few of them are actually paid…
The Fortune 250 company I worked for for years also fudged the paperwork so that the IT staffers on H1B earned a lot less than their American counterparts. There was no doubt H1B visas were used to keep the salaries as low as possible and to hire as few Americans as possible. Of course, the entire process was thoroughly lawyered so the company didn’t appear to be breaking any laws… not that the US authorities were looking particularly closely. 
@katliamom isn’t that part of why some Americans think we are aking way their jobs?
The point is, there is not a shortage of skilled people in the US. Companies just want to pay less than prevailing wage…not the purpose of Hb1
@paul2752 – I agree with HRSMom, that the culprit here aren’t H1B workers, but American companies who make huge profits by avoiding hiring of more-expensive Americans and instead exploiting international workers (who, granted, often don’t mind being exploited because the very fact of working in the US may be useful to them in the future.)
the minimum salary requirement on H1B is 65000, so a prevailing wage of 35000 wont make sense.
there aren’t enough science and engineering graduates in the US, so companies are forced to hire outsiders - either those studying in US universities or from foreign countries. However, as the economy is booming and the number of available visas is limited to 85000, there is a scarcity of skilled labor in the economy right now.
The minimum wage requirement for H-1Bs is the prevailing wage for the particular position.
You may have heard a $60,000 minimum wage number being thrown around for “exempt employees.” That only applies to certain employers (‘willful violators’ of the H-1B program and H-1B dependent employers) AND these employers can choose to pay less if they comply with additional disclosures.
^and that is the problem…the prevailing wage may be $60k, but these companies send employees and pay them 35 or 40k.