The problem with sorting by wage is that it gives a massive advantage of SV companies vs even a place like Seattle. They already have to pay higher wages, so a premium on top doesn't hurt as bad.
If it's a lottery system, why not charge 25k per entry or something? It's affordable even by a smaller company is they really want the person. It's affordable by the big tech companies who are being honest about their H-1B visa requests. It puts some hurt on Tata and the like by making them pay through the nose for trying to game the lottery.
Or you could restrict the number issued per company, at least until others have their share. Say every company gets 1500 max, then you bump that up to 2000 for those interested. keep going like that until you exhaust the quota.
Actually, I don't see a big problem with SV companies getting the lion's share of H-1B visa allocations if they are for the highest paying jobs. I would argue that this would ensure that everyone is better off -- workers in Seattle area will see their wages increase while SV companies have (properly) high-priced access to the talent that they claim they cannot get locally.
DoL already has a process for determining prevailing wage for a given location. There is no reason why "sorting by wage" can't mean "sorting by ratio of wage to local prevailing wage".
This could be SO easily circumvented. Just open an office in another location (a subsidary, perhaps) and have it do the hiring at the prevailing wages at that location.
This is not so easily circumvented. If an employee on H-1B transfers to another location, the employer is required to file an amendment to the H-1B petition and go through the prevailing wage determination again. From USCIS website [1]:
You must file an amended H-1B petition if your H-1B
employee changed or is going to change his or her place of
employment to a worksite location outside of the
metropolitan statistical area (MSA) or an “area of intended
employment” (as defined at 20 CFR 655.715) covered by the
existing approved H-1B petition
If it's a lottery system, why not charge 25k per entry or something? It's affordable even by a smaller company is they really want the person. It's affordable by the big tech companies who are being honest about their H-1B visa requests. It puts some hurt on Tata and the like by making them pay through the nose for trying to game the lottery.
Or you could restrict the number issued per company, at least until others have their share. Say every company gets 1500 max, then you bump that up to 2000 for those interested. keep going like that until you exhaust the quota.