In This Article:

- Greene cards for foreign graduates?! 

Stay or not to stay, that is here the question. The decision whether foreign students that earn highest degrees from US universities should use their degree to work in the states is a valid one. However, even for the highly needed STEM fields, that is science technology, engineering, and math, the path to a straight forward work place and permanent residency is currently quite cumbersome, time consuming and expensive; 12+ months waiting time, extensive application forms, in addition to attorney fees in the 5+ thousands are the norm. Well, a partisan bill was recently submitted to the congress by a Texan Congressmen, Mr. Lamar Smith (surprisingly from the Republican party).

55,000 Green cards for foreign Students

The idea: instead of offering a lottery to win 55,000 green cards every year, the proposal calls to give these cards to masters and PhD level foreign graduates. Would this be a good idea? Well, truth is, that STEM majors are rare all over the globe, not just the US. STEM majors are typically those who bring in high tax revenues since they have a decent salary. STEM majors are also those who are able to develop intellectual property (patents), and start new companies, especially in the IT sector. All in all, STEM majors are a strong engine for US’s technology infrastructure. Thus, it comes to no surprise that even republicans want to open doors for these highly talented graduates. We therefore find a strong argument to go ahead with the bill.

Coming back to the question whether this is a good idea, one can also argue against the bill, by highlighting diversity as one of the strengths of the states. In fact the green card lottery was instigated by a motivation to increase diversity. However, in a world with more and more challenges, faster innovation cycles, and a constant competition for experts the question is, whether we want to educate those smart men and women in these innovation critical majors, and then send them home afterwards. In this regard, Mr. Smith's proposal seems quite appealing and forward thinking.