One of the senior scientists in the lab had his visa to America rejected today. His purpose was legitimate – he’s been invited to take part in a study at an American university. We got to talking about visa laws in the US and how strict they are these days. Just a few days ago I read an article that said companies with greater than 40% non-citizen employees would have to pay an extra $2000 per visa for their outsourced labor. It is clear that the American government’s stance is one of decreasing the number of immigrants entering the US and working in US jobs. This policy is double edged since it makes sense when considering that the number of job slots for Americans will increase but it is also devastating because the immigrant labor that America thrives on will go elsewhere to look for opportunity.
Many European countries such as Sweden and Denmark (not England), are keeping their borders open to foreign workers with schemes such as the highly skilled worker visa. These attractive options are drawing more and more talented people from India to other countries when America would have been the only reasonable option in the past.
Another problem with the current way that the US is handling the worker visa issue (e.g. with the visa price hike) is that rather than discouraging the use of foreign workers, it will just decrease their salaries. In order for companies to attach value to their outsourced labor they have to pay them less than American workers. This will only add to the currently growing mentality that America is not the immigrant’s promised land it used to be.
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