Your opinion: should offshore firms have H1B Visas?

No. If employers want or need foreign workers, they should be required to have them go through labor certification and get green cards BEFORE they come here. Just what we used to do before the employers discovered the joys of having someone work for you who can't change jobs or make waves easily if they want your sponsorship for a green card. As it is, we have a backlog of green card applications from H1-Bs who need to wait many years under their employer's thumb because the number of H1-Bs imported far exceeded the number of employment-based green cards available. (And if you think industry didn't think of THAT before pushing for an increase in H1-Bs in 2000, think again.)