> The idea behind h1b is to bring people to this country to work in useful and productive ways.
Specifically, in a temporary way. H1B is not an immigration visa, it's a temporary working visa, for which duel-intent is acknowledged (it's legal for an H1B holder to intend to get and apply for a green card.) But at the end of the day, an H1B visa is still a temporary work visa, not an immigration visa.
I'm not saying I like it. If it were up to me all the temporary work visas would be done away with and replaced with a system of permanent visas. But it is what it is.
That's hiding behind technicalities. A person on H1B needs to leave the country within 30 days after being laid off. What life plans can one make around that? Even a simple housing lease is minimum 12 months in most parts of the country.
It leads to immigration in the sense that an H1-B terminates in a green card or the worker loses it after 6 years. Compared to a Chinese Z work visa, which you can just renew indefinitely and has no path to a permanent residency, an H1-B is a completely different beast.
Specifically, in a temporary way. H1B is not an immigration visa, it's a temporary working visa, for which duel-intent is acknowledged (it's legal for an H1B holder to intend to get and apply for a green card.) But at the end of the day, an H1B visa is still a temporary work visa, not an immigration visa.
I'm not saying I like it. If it were up to me all the temporary work visas would be done away with and replaced with a system of permanent visas. But it is what it is.