> This is a backdoor immigration cut, nothing more.
H1B is a non-immigrant visa.
> Remember that it's not just new entrants that need H1B processing: it's immigrants currently in the country that need to transfer their visa type.
Immigrants already admitted to the US can not get and would not benefit from a non-immigrant visa.
Non-immigrants in the US might seek a different non-immigrant visa, but preventing them from getting one is not an immigration cut. It does not reduce the number of immigrant visas issued.
> What, are they supposed to leave or risk being denied a visa forevermore?
Yes, non-immigrants are supposed to leave when their eligibility for their non-immigrants visa status expires. That's what a non-immigrant visa means. (Even dual-intent non-immigrant visas: those just do not prohibit you from entering with the intent of seeking an immigrant visa while in non-immigrants status, but doing so displaced another prospective immigrant, so cutting the number of people in a position to do it has zero effect on immigration.)
> Not to mention, they've already paused green card processing
Well, yes, that's an actual immigration cut. No need for a back door.
Dual-intent does not mean what you think it does. It means the visa beneficiary can be admitted on a non-immigrant visa even while having an immigration intent. If this has not been a non-immigrant visa then there would not be the need to designate it as a dual-intent ( there are no dual-intent immigrant visas) so, ironically, people who spam "dual-intent" as a refutal to the statement that it's a non-immigrant visa, in fact, just reaffirm the non-immigrant category of this visa.
There is no green card, which is based on any non-immigrant visa, including H1B. Body shops and some other companies use a promise of a green card to convince foreigners to join on H1B but it's not what H1B is for and it doesn't mean it's an immigrant visa or a part of the "path to green card". The whole practice, is, if not illegal then immoral.
> you can still stay and a green card based on it (eventually).
No, you can't.
You can apply for an immigrant visa based on any of the qualifications for such a visa without having to leave the country first if you can keep a current H1B or other dual-intent visa, but the H1B itself does not qualify you for an immigrant visa no matter how much time you stay on it.
Dual-intent visas are non-immigrant visas where it is not a violation of the terms of the visa to apply for it with the intent of later seeking an immigrant visa without leaving the country.
If you do wish to immigrate after being admitted on a dual-intent visa, you still have to qualify for, apply for, and wait in the line for (if it is category with a backlog for your country of origin) an immigrant visa.
H1B is a non-immigrant visa.
> Remember that it's not just new entrants that need H1B processing: it's immigrants currently in the country that need to transfer their visa type.
Immigrants already admitted to the US can not get and would not benefit from a non-immigrant visa.
Non-immigrants in the US might seek a different non-immigrant visa, but preventing them from getting one is not an immigration cut. It does not reduce the number of immigrant visas issued.
> What, are they supposed to leave or risk being denied a visa forevermore?
Yes, non-immigrants are supposed to leave when their eligibility for their non-immigrants visa status expires. That's what a non-immigrant visa means. (Even dual-intent non-immigrant visas: those just do not prohibit you from entering with the intent of seeking an immigrant visa while in non-immigrants status, but doing so displaced another prospective immigrant, so cutting the number of people in a position to do it has zero effect on immigration.)
> Not to mention, they've already paused green card processing
Well, yes, that's an actual immigration cut. No need for a back door.