Visa reform may help international students
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When Jim Wu graduated with a master’s degree in biochemistry from the University of Minnesota nearly two decades ago as an international student, his new employer helped him obtain a work visa that allowed him to stay in the United States.But because the competition for visas is so high, some of Wu’s international student peers weren’t as fortunate and had to return home. “Even back then, there was competition. And the legal process is, I would say, hugely depending on the employer’s help,” said Wu, who now works for Target in Minneapolis. Some U.S. senators, including Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., hope to ease that competition with a bill that would increase the current cap on H-1B work visas and exclude those with a master’s or higher degree in a STEM field from the current annual green card cap. The Immigration Innovation Act, or the “I-Squared bill,” would raise the annual cap on H-1B visas to between 115,000 and 195,000 — depending on market demand. The current limit is 65,000 per year. The change will make it less risky for employers to invest in international graduate students and integrate more skilled workers into the economy who have been trained in U.S. universities, said Graduate and Professional Student Assembly President Alfonso Sintjago. GAPSA passed a resolution in January in support of the legislation, and Sintjago said he met with a representative from Klobuchar’s office last week to discuss the bill. “A large number of [international graduate students] would like to stay and contribute to the U.S. economy,” Sintjago said. The bill has also gained the support of the American Council on Education, which wrote in a letter to the measure’s sponsors saying it would help offset a more than 200,000 advanced-degree STEM worker shortfall that the U.S. is projected to face by 2018. Continue Reading
