Senior applied mathematics and statistics major Joanie Leung is an international student from Hong Kong, where she will return after graduating. She says, though, she would like to find a job in the United States if she can.
“I feel like it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity,” she said. “Once I go home, I can’t really come back.”
For many international students, visas to remain in the United States are hard to obtain.
But legislation proposed in January by a bipartisan coalition of senators seeks to alleviate this problem by doubling the number of temporary work visas available to highly skilled workers in the science and technology fields.
The proposal would address a longstanding shortage in such visas, which has forced many international students to return to their home countries after graduating from American universities.
The visas, designated H1-B, are designed to allow employers to temporarily hire foreign workers in specialty occupations. But because of their scarcity, employers are required to be selective in their hiring.
“You have to perform really well to show companies it’s worth helping you stay,” said Leung.
In 2008, there were twice as many applications for undergraduate H1-B visas than the 65,000 cap.
The new legislation would increase this cap to 115,000 a year, with a provision to increase the cap up to 300,000 based on annual demand.
A major push for the reform comes from the technology industry, where companies are struggling to fill highly skilled positions with a demand not met by American graduates. Microsoft alone reported 3,400 openings in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) related positions last September, representing a widespread shortage in the technology industry.
Companies are looking to foreign students, who represent nearly half of graduate degrees in computer science, to fill these essential positions.
“These employees are vital to U.S. competitiveness, and we should welcome their contribution to U.S. economic growth,” Bill Gates, former CEO and current chairman of Microsoft, wrote in a 2007 op-ed for “The Washington Post”.
The legislation would also make an unlimited number of green cards available to international students graduating from American schools with advanced degrees in science and technology.
3,611 international students from 110 countries are currently enrolled at Stony Brook—primarily on F-1 visas, which are designed to allow students to attend American schools and participate in jobs and internships related to their area of study.
Expanding the number of H1-B visas available to these students would allow more to seek jobs in America, rather than returning to their home country after graduation.
The proposal comes alongside a larger bipartisan push for comprehensive immigration reform in the senate, which would increase border security while creating a more expedient path to citizenship for undocumented workers.
