The U.S. government is making significant changes to the H-1B work visa for specialized foreign workers and the U.S. citizenship test, causing a stir in the U.S. immigrant community. This initiative aims to raise the immigration threshold under the guise of protecting domestic workers, aligning with the principle of 'America First.' It is projected that global talent, who have led innovation in U.S. technology corporations like Google and Apple, will find it increasingly difficult to decide on relocating to the United States.
According to the New York Times (NYT) on the 27th (local time), Joseph Edlow, the new Director General of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), stated in an interview that the method of issuing H-1B visas will change from the current random lottery system to prioritizing applicants with higher wages. Director General Edlow also noted that the current citizenship test is 'too easy and memorization-friendly' and plans to adjust the difficulty level. This marks the beginning of the extension of immigration-related policies, which have intensified during the Trump administration, into the market for specialized personnel.
This action comes amid ongoing criticisms that the H-1B system is taking jobs away from U.S. citizens and that corporations are abusing it to hire cheaper foreign workers instead of expensive Americans. The H-1B visa allows foreigners with at least a bachelor's degree in specialized fields such as science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) to work in the United States. This visa permits a minimum stay of three years after graduation and can be extended based on employment status, serving as a key stepping stone to permanent residency.
This system has previously served as a springboard for the growth of tech corporations in Silicon Valley. Companies such as Google, Microsoft, and Amazon have maintained technological supremacy by employing top talent from around the world on H-1B visas. Statistics show that over 70% of H-1B visa recipients are from India, followed by China and Korea. In Korea, people primarily working as information technology (IT) developers, semiconductor engineers, and bio researchers have ventured into the U.S. using this visa.
However, as criticisms continued to escalate, the Trump administration took decisive action. Vice President J.D. Vance recently warned, 'We will not tolerate companies that fire American workers and hire foreigners.' Director General Edlow also emphasized to NYT that 'H-1B visas should supplement, not supplant, the U.S. economy and its workers.'
Every year, hundreds of thousands of applicants line up for H-1B visas. However, the number of issuances is limited to 85,000 this year. The new H-1B visas will no longer be assigned through random computer lotteries, instead opting for wage-weighted selection based on the wage levels proposed by employers. The progressive think tank Institute for Progress analyzed that under the new H-1B selection method, the average annual salary of visa recipients could jump nearly 10 million won from the current approximately $106,000 (around 146 million won) to $172,000 (around 237 million won).
Experts predict that Indian IT outsourcing companies like Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Infosys, which have heavily relied on low-wage labor, will be hit hard. Conversely, it was reported by Business Insider that doctoral-level researchers at corporations already secured with high salaries, or executives holding key technologies or international patents, may find it easier to obtain visas than before.
The U.S. citizenship test, the last gate to becoming an American citizen, will also become significantly more difficult. The high-level test, which was introduced during the Trump administration in 2020 and removed under the Biden administration, will be reinstated. Currently, the U.S. citizenship test poses 10 random questions from a set of 100 anticipated questions, allowing applicants to pass if they answer 6 or more correctly. However, during the Trump administration, the citizenship test featured 128 anticipated questions and posed 20 questions—double the number—with the same passing rate of 60% (12 correct answers).
American media outlets have noted that 'the pervasive anti-immigrant sentiment in American society and the corresponding policy solutions have once again been revealed.' Forbes indicated that 'the U.S. risks losing talent to competing countries like Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom every time it fails to reform,' suggesting that American-style isolationist policies could lead to a decline in national competitiveness.
Canada has implemented the 'Global Talent Stream' policy, granting work permits to IT professionals within two weeks. Countries like the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, and Singapore are also lowering visa thresholds to compete for talent amidst AI advancements. There are concerns that the brain drain phenomenon, where Indian and Chinese talent with high dependency on H-1B visas turn to Canada or Europe, or back to their home countries, could accelerate.
Doug Rand, who served as a senior advisor at the USCIS during the Biden administration, criticized in an NYT interview, 'If visas are divided based on salary criteria, we might miss out on top talent who just graduated from American universities,' and added, 'This contradicts the intention that Congress sought to achieve.'