Precarity for the global talent: The impact of visa policies on high‐skilled immigrants’ work in the United States

Abstract

The current historical context of growing diversification of legal statuses for high-skilled immigrants since the 1990s has made immigration to the United States a multi-step process: first immigrants have temporary legal statuses, or no legal status, and only in a subsequent stage acquire legal permanent residency. I analyse the constraints this multistep legal trajectory puts on highly skilled immigrants' work in the United States. Specifically, what consequences it has for high-skilled immigrants' incorporation into the labour market the restrictions attached to temporary legal statuses and the visa backlogs and waiting lists immigrants experience in the transition from temporary to permanent residency. Based on 30 semi-structured interviews with high-skilled immigrants, I explain why legal status constraints their work due to three main reasons: immigrants' attachment to one employer; difficulties finding a job that sponsors work temporary or permanent visas; and retaining the same job under different legal statuses.

Diasporean 1 Southern African Perspectives

“…The above statement supports the opinion by González (2021), who alludes that visa policies discriminate in various ways, depending on the country. Some countries have difficult administrative processes and procedures, which are often cumbersome for those desiring to travel to those countries.…”

Prospects and Challenges of PG Education

“…The above statement supports the opinion by González (2021), who alludes that visa policies discriminate in various ways, depending on the country. Some countries have difficult administrative processes and procedures, which are often cumbersome for those desiring to travel to those countries.…”

Hidden in Plain Sight: “Neutral” Enclosures for High‐Skilled Immigrants During COVID‐191

“…In reality both groups experience enclosures, but of different types. While migrants without requisite papers face constant threats of detention and deportation, the high‐skilled temporary migrants live with severe restrictions and continual surveillance (Banerjee 2022; Gonzáles 2022; Roy 2022), poised on the edge of legality and deportability (Das Gupta 2014). Menjívar's (2006) framework of “liminal legality” highlights the uncertainties of liminality between legal and illegal status.…”