While there are many brilliant people working on H-1B visas, H-1Bs are people with bachelor's degrees, not necessarily "the best minds".
The advantages provided by the H-1B system are:
- As a country, get the benefits of educated people without the economic cost of having to raise and educate them.
- As a company, more leverage over employees, and in many cases, you get employees with lower compensation expectations.
- The visa last 3 years and it can be renewed once, giving you 6 years before a green card is required. In this way, you get the most productive years of an educated adult.
The disadvantages are:
- Wage depression.
- More competition for local workers.
- The process of degree certification is done by attorneys not educational institutions. Most 4-year programs are eligible for H-1B, but not all foreign 4-year programs are equivalent to an American Bachelor's degree.