No, the requirement is that the job is for a speciality occupation and that the H1B be paid the prevailing wage for that job, not that there was an attempt to hire locally first.
For an I-140 PERM (employment based green card) however the requirement is that there was an effort made to hire locally first.
Most people on HN are uninformed about this, well actually uninformed in general.
The jobs filled via H-1B are not “specialty” positions, everyone knows this. I know that’s what the visa is ostensibly supposed to be used for, but it’s a very silly thing to pretend at this stage. I agree that many are uninformed on this, and my friends who don’t work in tech think someone on an H-1B visa is like a “particle physics PhD” or something, and not “database administrator” or “backend engineer”.
Well, it doesn't matter what your friends think about what a "speciality occupation" is. What matters is what USCIS and DOL consider a speciality occupation - the "speciality" is that it requires specialized knowledge and training which jobs in software development and even database administration would most certainly qualify for. From https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/h-1b-spec...:
> The occupation requires:
> Theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge; and
> Attainment of a bachelor's or higher degree in a directly related* specific specialty (or its equivalent) as a minimum for entry into the occupation in the United States.
