foreign students hope for work in the U.S.

Date: Monday, February 04, 2008 4:45 PM

<<<<< JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER No. 1816 -- 2/04/2008 >>>>>

Before reading the article below it's helpful to know that foreign students
can get an Optional Practical Training (OPT) authorization to work as an
intern or to work after graduation. OPTs are good for up to 12 months, and
during that time span their employer can apply for an H-1B visa. They must get
their OPT authorized within 60 days after graduation or they will lose legal
status.

When an OPT is being converted to an H-1B visa, American workers are rarely
considered for these positions because the student with the J-1 visa already
has the job. Americans are shut out of these positions by a process that is
non-transparent because most of the time employers don't even bother to post a
job ad.

To learn more about how this process works, go to the archive to read this
newsletter:

2003-03-05 Converting Student Visas to H-1Bs

In the article below, Ping Lu was quite blunt about why international students
are so desired:

"Companies are very welcoming to international students because
they can pay them less money than the local workers, even if
their ability is equal," said Ping Lu, a sophomore management
major from China, who plans on staying in the US to work after
she graduates.

This next point is easy to miss, but it's perhaps the most important.
Salary isn't the most important priority of these students -- their top
priority is to stay in the US permanently. If they have to take substandard
salaries and working conditions until they get their green card they will do
whatever is necessary -- even if it means a year of lousy pay on an OPT and
more years of lousy pay and indentured servitude on an H-1B. They are so
desperate to come to the US they will undercut any American that tries to
compete for scarce internships.

Jaworska, however, said she hasn't experienced any discrimination,
in pay or otherwise. Regardless, most foreign students agree that
salary is not their top priority.

There is one other reason the students want to work in the US -- to learn our
technologies and to take them back to their home countries. Free-trade
advocates use polite euphemisms to describe this like "knowledge transfer"
but if you prefer a more exacting term just use "spying and/or industrial
espionage". I don't agree with this writer that most of the students intend on
returning home -- most of them will stay in the U.S. if they can.

The reason for most international students to stay in the US is to
work and to gain experience on the job that can be taken back to
their home country.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

http://spectrum.buffalo.edu/article.php?id=35050

The Spectrum Online

International students

Have skills, will travel: foreign students hope for work in the United States

January 30th, 2008
LESLIE CHURCH - Asst. News Editor

After graduation, international students studying at UB have exactly 60

days to pack their bags, take their last few snapshots of Niagara Falls, and
hightail it out of here before US Immigration Enforcement comes knocking on
their door. Those who don't want to leave have either the choice of higher
education or employment.

"We don't allow people to just hang out," said Mark Popiel, who teaches an

immigration clinic through the UB Law School. "You have to have a purpose to
be in the US. There has to be a legitimate reason for them to be here."

The reason for most international students to stay in the US is to work and

to gain experience on the job that can be taken back to their home country.
Unfortunately, the hunt for employment has left some students dismayed, with
nothing left to do but "hang out" and hope for an interview.

Foreign students who have an F-1 visa, the typical student pass for

temporary study in the US, can apply for Optional Practical Training (OPT)
after graduation. Students who can bear the $340 processing fee and at least
three months for paperwork to be reviewed could be granted 12 months of OPT,
which is intended to give them professional experience at a job relating to
their degree.

"OPT is an attractive feature of our system," said John Wood, associate

vice provost for International Education. "It's very valuable to a lot of
students."

The student must find a job that meets certain criteria, such as being

relevant to the student's field of study and open to degree-holders only;
flipping burgers at McDonald's won't cut it.

Some have found that months go by with barely a glance from potential

employers, let alone an invitation to join the company. Henry Mok, a Malaysian
student who graduated from UB with a B.S. in electrical engineering, applied
to at least 80 jobs during his OPT in the Buffalo area. With only a few
interviews and no job offers, Mok spent his summer perfecting his fishing
skills at a friend's farm rather than his engineering expertise.

"Our roots are not here," Mok said. "There's a risk that we would want to

go back to our home country. I think that's always on the employer's mind."

Students who do attract the attention of employers can find themselves on

the road to more long-term work if the company is willing to sponsor them for
the H-1B visa, which allows three to six years of residence in the US as a
worker.

"The opportunity for international students to have OPT...is extremely

helpful," said Magdalena Jaworska, a 2006 graduate of UB with a master's in
applied economics. "If we didn't have that, nobody would really hire us.
Having that option, you can start as an intern and then get into the US work
environment."

Jaworska was hired for a permanent position at Arbor Capital Management, an

investment counseling group based in Amherst, after completing an internship
with the company.

The desire to be sponsored for the H-1B visa is a topic that should be

brought up in the job interview, said Dan Berger, an immigration attorney
based in Massachusetts, in a presentation for international students in
November.

The cost of an H-1B visa is steep - over $2,000 for private companies with

more than 25 employees, according to Berger. The paperwork is tedious, as
heightened security checks after 9/11 have slowed the process.

Employers, in addition to being required by law to pay the fees, have to

prove that they could not find any better qualified domestic workers instead.
Beyond that, the company's role is only to sign papers, as long as a lawyer
helps to sort through the intricacies of the visa process.

However, mentioning the word "visa" is often an employer-repellant for some

international workers, probably because the company fears a mountain of
paperwork.

"Applying for permanent positions was very hard," Jaworska said. "A lot of

companies didn't even want to talk to you unless you had a green card. I think
they're afraid that the visa process is complicated, which is not true."

The final step is to apply for the visa by April 1 - the first day

applications are accepted. Students with a bachelor's degree are competing
with over 100,000 others for an allotment of 45,000 visas. This year, it took
only one day for the quota of H-1B visas to be filled.

"There's such a discrepancy between the need and what they allow,"

Jaworska said.

Twenty thousand visas are set aside for foreign workers with a master's

degree or Ph.D., and those visas are relatively easy to come by, as are visas
for students who are offered a position at UB - there is no quota for
University employment.

After establishing H-1B status, foreign workers can reap the benefits of

experience at an American job for the next few years. While they watch their
resumes grow, making them more competitive in their home country, some foresee
their bank accounts dwindling because of discrimination.

"Companies are very welcoming to international students because they can

pay them less money than the local workers, even if their ability is equal,"
said Ping Lu, a sophomore management major from China, who plans on staying in
the US to work after she graduates.

Lu said she knows people caught in this situation, but that after the

workers prove their abilities on the job, their salary will increase.

Jaworska, however, said she hasn't experienced any discrimination, in pay

or otherwise. Regardless, most foreign students agree that salary is not their
top priority.

"I don't really care about the money," Lu said. "I want the experience."

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