Temporary Work Visas Research Articles

Filipino migrant worker organisations, social capital and disaster resilience: An Aotearoa-New Zealand case study

There is increasing evidence that access to social capital, and particularly linking capital can significantly enhance the resilience of minoritised and vulnerable communities impacted by disasters. Understanding levels and types of access to social capital within such communities before disasters occur is an important part of disaster risk management policy and planning. Migrant worker communities, however, remain an understudied group in general, and there are very few published findings concerned with the 3.5 million Filipino migrant workers who primarily live in high-income host countries. This article contributes to addressing this gap with an Aotearoa-New Zealand qualitative case study that aims to increase understanding of the social capital accessed pre-disaster by members of Filipino migrant worker organisations in the Canterbury region. Interview and focus group data indicated that worker organisations facilitated access to local Filipino migrant worker networks, contributing to consistently high reliance on bonding capital, but less access to bridging or linking capital. This trend is linked to the precarious immigration status afforded by temporary work visas, which increased the vulnerability of participants. Only one organisation provided access to the linking capital required to mitigate this vulnerability. Factors influencing the capacity of organisations to develop linking capital appeared to include establishment objectives, length of time since establishment and support from government and industry groups. These findings emphasize the valuable role that migrant worker organisations can play in mitigating disaster risks, through providing connections that facilitate support and resourcing from authorities and industry bodies.

Married Asian Indians on H-1B and H-4 Visas in the US: an Exploration of Depression, Anxiety, Stress, Well-being, and Marital Satisfaction.

Asian Indians comprise the largest group of skilled workers entering the United States on temporary work visas (H-1B). There are few studies that examine the constraints placed on H-1B visa holders and their families on H-4 dependent visas, and the associated stressors. In this exploratory study, we examined self-reported depression, anxiety, stress, well-being, and marital satisfaction among married Asian Indians on H-1B and H-4 visas in the United States. Participants reported moderate levels of stress and depression and mild levels of anxiety. Using multiple regression, well-being emerged as the only significant factor to explain marital satisfaction among both H-1B and H-4 visa holders. Implications for mental health, employment, and career counselors working with this group are discussed.

Did DACA Harm US-Born Workers? Temporary Work Visas and Labor Market Competition

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals granted more than 900,000 temporary work permits to eligible immigrants. I estimate the impact of the policy on the labor market outcomes of natives and immigrants ineligible to take up the policy using ACS data and a continuous difference-in-differences strategy to compare individuals who are more and less exposed to the eligible population. I find that DACA does not depress labor market outcomes for natives, and possibly increases the fraction working. I also find that the policy likely had no impact on ineligible immigrants.

A note on KiwiSaver and migrants on temporary visas

New Zealand’s (NZ) current policy setting excludes migrants on work or student temporary visas from joining KiwiSaver (KS). Migrants on temporary visas, therefore, cannot access a savings vehicle that makes saving for retirement convenient and provides financial incentives to save. This research note estimates the extent of this migrant KS ineligibility issue. We use linked administrative data to create a cohort of 70,000 NZ migrants on temporary work or student visas in 2009 and follow them for ten years. Results show that after five years, over half of the cohort live overseas and about 10,000 remain on temporary visas and hence are still ineligible for KS. Using KS enrolment of a comparison group of resident-class migrants over the same time period, we estimate that just over half of employed temporary migrants might have potentially joined KS if eligible. The lost individual KS contributions range between $36,000 and $51,000 by time the migrant reaches 65 years old. Our findings contribute to the policy debate of whether the eligibility criteria of NZ’s KS scheme should be revised to allow temporary visa holders to join.

Stuck in India: Punjabi temporary migrants of New Zealand

Our paper reflects on creating a short documentary in 2021 centred around an online discussion, which the second author recorded with three Punjabi migrants. At the time of being interviewed, these migrants had New Zealand temporary work and study visas and were stuck in Punjab, India, for more than a year since the New Zealand government announced on 19 March 2020 the international border would be closed indefinitely due to Covid-19. The documentary research found that Punjabis stranded in their country of origin were imploring Punjabis in New Zealand to lobby to the New Zealand state to let them return. As a result, Auckland migrant groups were advocating for temporary migrants to be allowed back.

The New System of Mexican Migration: The Role of Entry Mode-Specific Human and Social Capital.

Between 2000 and 2020, undocumented migration declined, temporary labor migration rose, and legal permanent residents arrived at a steady pace-together creating a new system of Mexico-U.S. migration based on the circulation of legal temporary workers and permanent residents. Drawing on data from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Mexican Migration Project, we specify multinomial event-history models to predict the likelihood of departure on first and later trips via four entry categories: no documents, noncompliant tourist visas, temporary work visas, and legal residence visas. The models reveal how the accumulation of entry mode-specific social and human capital powered a system of undocumented migration that emerged between 1965 and 1985, and how that system deteriorated from 1985 to 2000. After 2000, employers took advantage of new visa categories to recruit legal temporary workers, leading to the accumulation of migration-related human and social capital specific to that mode of entry and the emergence of a new system of Mexico-U.S. migration.

Immigrant workers' movements in the U.S.: Where are high‐skilled ‘nonimmigrants’?

AbstractImmigrant workers in the U.S. mobilize through labor unions, worker centers and even autonomously for their rights. But existing literature on immigrant workers' movements mentions only low‐wage, low‐skilled and undocumented immigrants, who represent the majority of non‐citizens in the country. There is no discussion on how high‐skilled ‘nonimmigrant’ workers (or immigrants on temporary work visas) mobilize. A relatively small section of migration literature pays attention to high‐skilled nonimmigrants' challenges. But scholars in this group, too, are silent about these workers' organizing capacities. In this critical review, I draw attention to this mutual silence in two groups of literature. I also refer to some empirical instances of mobilization by high‐skilled nonimmigrants. I suggest that this is a potential field of research, which may contribute to social movement, migration and labor scholarship. Additionally, it may identify possibilities of solidarity across immigrant groups.

A Nation of Immigrants Reconsidered: US Society in An Age of Restriction, 1924–1965

A Nation of Immigrants Reconsidered: US Society in An Age of Restriction, 1924–1965

Did DACA Harm US-Born Workers? Temporary Work Visas and Labor Market Competition

Did DACA Harm US-Born Workers? Temporary Work Visas and Labor Market Competition

Medically underserved areas and International Medical Graduates (IMGs) in the United States: challenges during the COVID-19 era

ABSTRACT Background: Given that nearly a quarter of the US physician workforce are international medical graduates (IMGs), many of whom remain on temporary work visas for prolonged periods due to processing delays, the pandemic has posed unique challenges to these frontline workers and has arbitrarily limited our physician workforce. Methods: This is cross-sectional survey data obtained from IMGs on temporary work visas pertaining to their role in healthcare, impact of visa-related restrictions on their professional and personal lives was sent to the participants. Results: A total of 2630 IMGs responded to the survey. Most of the respondents (1493, 56.8%) were physicians in active practice, with Internal Medicine (1684, 65.7%) being the predominant specialty encountered. 64.1% were practicing in Medically Underserved Areas (MUA) or Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSA), with 45.6% practicing in a rural area. Nearly 89% of respondents had been involved with direct care of COVID-19 patients, with 63.7% assuming administrative responsibilities for COVID-19 preparedness. 261 physicians (11.5%) were subject to quarantine, while 28 (1.2%) reported a confirmed COVID-19 infection. 93% physicians expressed inability to serve in COVID-19 surge areas due to visa-related restrictions, while 57% had been approached by recruiters due to staffing shortages. 72% physicians reported that their families would be at risk for deportation in case of their disability or death. Most respondents (98.8%) felt that permanent resident status would help alleviate the above concerns. Conclusion: A significant proportion of the US physician workforce is adversely impacted by work-based visa restrictions and processing backlog. Mitigating these restrictions could significantly bolster the current physician workforce and prove beneficial in our response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

From the High School Journal Editorial Board: Living in an Anti-globalization era: A Call for Promoting Critical Multiculturalism and Multicultural Education for Immigrant Teachers and Students in Secondary Education

From the High School Journal Editorial Board:Living in an Anti-globalization era: A Call for Promoting Critical Multiculturalism and Multicultural Education for Immigrant Teachers and Students in Secondary Education Xinxin Wang and Linyu Yu Since the beginning of 2020, the outbreak of coronavirus disease has challenged fundamental ways of living, including the economy and social structures. The world has been experiencing economic recessions, job market losses, health and safety concerns, and school closures. In the United States (U.S.), most schools at all educational levels were forced to shut down or pivot to distance learning immediately in Spring 2020. Insecurity and fear arose among people due to the quick spread of the pandemic and have created discriminatory responses and social exclusion disproportionately against people of color and immigrants (Devakumar et al, 2020). This increasing racism and othering has disrupted the education system's commitment to social justice. Few studies as of yet have examined the impact of the pandemic and anti-globalism against immigrant teachers and students in secondary education. With the previous U.S. administration's stringent immigration policy, restricted international travels, and rising anti-Asian hate crimes worldwide, it is a critical time to re-examine the educational conditions that immigrant teachers and students, particularly Asian American and international students, are experiencing during the anti-globalization era. Globalization has indeed been a phenomenon that cannot be avoided or denied. Knight (1997) conceptualized globalization as "the flow of technology; economy, knowledge, people, values, ideas...across borders" (p.6). Economy, education, politics, culture and every aspect of family life, particularly in the U.S. (e.g., food, clothing, transportation, and social media), are impacted by globalization. The sentiments and actions of anti-globalization are in response to globalization as a contributor to a higher global mobility across borders with no barriers in that globalization might indirectly boost the spread of the coronavirus. The rise of anti-globalization and nationalism during the pandemic has manifested in many aspects of life from "the closure of borders and the difficulty of mobilizing support and solidarity across them, to the fear [of illness, financial distress, social instability that] many people experience...[T]he response appears to make nationalism more salient as people look to support their own communities" (Bieber, 2020b, p. 1). Nationalism is argued to be a predominating ideology and practice in the U.S. and the world that values membership in a nation and downplays the uniqueness of other cultures (Bieber, 2020a). The pandemic and the voices of anti-globalization and nationalism impact every community and school and its teachers and students. However, more attention needs to be on the intersectionality of (post)pandemic anti-globalization and nationalism and its consequences on [End Page 79] immigrant teachers and students who represent the movement of people and ideas across borders. Immigrants accounted for about 13.7% of the U.S. population in 2018 (Budiman, 2020). Immigrant teachers in this editorial are defined as those who are foreign-born and came to the U.S. after receiving a majority of K-12 education in their home countries (Ndukwe, 2019). These teachers came to the U.S. for a variety of reasons such as higher education, family, refugee status, and job opportunities; and they hold citizenship, permanent resident status or temporary work visas. States on the eastern and western coast along with Alaska and Hawaii see the higher percentage of immigrant teachers in their teaching workforce compared to the Midwest (Starz, 2017). With regard to subjects, immigrant teachers are teaching in high-need areas such as mathematics, science, and special education as well as foreign language, English to speakers of other languages (ESOL), and bilingual education. The rise of immigrant teachers is seen as a response to the increase of linguistically and culturally diverse students in the U.S. (Ross & Ahmed, 2016) as well as a critical shortage of new teachers in the teacher preparation pipeline (U.S. Department of Education, 2011). Many efforts have been made in the U.S. educational system to recruit immigrant teachers. For example, many states develop alternative routes to teaching careers and there has also been federal support for alternative teacher certification (Gross, 2018). Within school districts and...

Wage Theft, Economic Conditions, and Market Power: The Case of H-1B Workers

This study explores what determines employers’ violations of the wage contracts of workers on H-1B temporary work visas, which occur when firms pay those workers below the promised prevailing or “market” wage. A theoretical framework is proposed that predicts more violations during economic downturns, fewer violations when firms have more labor-market power, and more violations by subcontractor firms. Empirical analysis is based on a firm-level matched dataset of wage and hour violations and the firms that sponsor H-1Bs. Higher labor market power, measured by the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index, is associated with fewer violations. Higher unemployment rates and subcontractor firms are associated with more violations. The effects of the unemployment rate and labor market power are amplified in subcontractor firms.

Tongan Collective Mobilities: Familial Intergenerational Connections Before, During, and Post COVID‐19

Tongan Collective Mobilities: Familial Intergenerational Connections Before, During, and Post <scp>COVID</scp>‐19

High skilled immigration and the occupational choices of native workers: the case of Australia

AbstractThis paper estimates the effect of a major skilled visa programme in Australia on the wages and occupation-specific skills performed by native workers. We combine data from the full population of approved Temporary Work Visa applications with the nationally representative Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) longitudinal survey from 2005–2015. Our findings indicate that skilled international workers increase the wages of natives, and induce native workers to specialize in occupations associated with a high intensity of communication and cognitive skills. We find no evidence of negative effects of the visa programme on the wages of high-skilled or low-skilled native workers, or on previous migrants who may be close substitutes to the skilled visa holders.

How do U.S. visa policies affect unauthorized immigration?

How would increasing the number of visas available to potential migrants affect unauthorized immigration from Mexico to the U.S.? Current U.S. policy bans people who are deported from receiving legal status for a period of time. This policy aims to serve as an additional deterrent to unauthorized immigration, but may be ineffective given that most potential Mexican migrants have an extremely low probability of ever being able to legally move to the U.S. We develop a dynamic discrete location choice model, which we estimate using data from the Mexican Migration Project, and consider various counterfactual policies that vary the intensity of enforcement and access to work visas. We find that legal entry bans for deported individuals are ineffective at current rates of legal immigration, but that increased legalization rates would amplify the deterrent effects of deportation. We also show that a temporary work visa program would yield similar deterrent effects as an increase in permanent legalization without resulting in very large increases in the total stock of migrants residing in the U.S. These findings have important implications for structuring future immigration reforms.

Temporary Migrant Workers or Immigrants? The Question for U.S. Labor Migration

Employment-based U.S. immigrant and nonimmigrant work visa data from 1987 to 2017 show that the number of permanent immigrant work visas has remained relatively constant over time but that the number of temporary work visas has increased sharply. That is, the labor migration system has shifted from one in which permanent immigrant workers annually made up approximately 20 percent of new migrant workers to one in which they make up less than 10 percent. Major legislative reforms do not explain the change; this article examines available government data showing how the labor migration system involves mostly nonimmigrant, temporary migrant workers who have few options to remain permanently in the United States and raises questions about the implications for the future legal landscape of immigration.

Creation or Destruction? STEM OPT Extension and Employment of Information Technology Professionals

Information technology (IT) professionals play an important role in firms' IT investments, technology formation, development, and innovation, contributing to economic growth in the U.S. The use of temporary work visas and related immigration policies that import foreign IT professionals has attracted a significant controversy and policy debates in the U.S. On the one hand, foreign IT professionals may complement domestic IT professionals by facilitating local innovation and expanding local employment. On the other hand, foreign professionals may substitute the domestic counterparts by intensifying labor-market competition, leading to a decrease in wage or even crowding-out of domestic IT professionals. In this study, we focus on an extension in the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program for graduates in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) from U.S. institutions, a policy change which greatly increases the supply of foreign IT professionals in local labor markets. Specifically, we explore: (1) the effects of the OPT extension on the number and wage of domestic workers in STEM occupations and (2) how the effects may differ between IT and non-IT STEM occupations. We test the effects using a novel and rich data set that is merged from several sources and use a difference-in-differences model to bring identification. Our results demonstrate that an increase in the supply of foreign IT professionals as a result of the OPT extension boosts employment for domestic IT professionals. The unique characteristics of IT human capital differentiate the impacts on IT occupations from non-IT STEM occupations. This study contributes to the information systems, labor economics, and public policy literature by quantifying the impacts of a policy change on the supply and return of IT professionals and provides rich implications for policymakers.

Bridging the access gap: Medicare ineligibility in people living with chronic hepatitis B.

People living in Australia on temporary student or work visas are excluded from Medicare access and can face barriers to adequate healthcare, even if they are privately insured. This analysis aimed to quantify this issue in relation to people living with chronic hepatitis B, the majority of whom in Australia were born overseas. The data suggest that an estimated 25 000 people living with chronic hepatitis B in Australia are ineligible for Medicare, 10% of the total number affected, with considerable potential impact in access to effective healthcare and prevention of adverse outcomes.

How Restricted is the Job Mobility of Skilled Temporary Work Visa Holders?

AbstractUsing the National Survey of College Graduates, we investigate the job mobility of skilled workers holding U.S. temporary visas. Such workers either have legal restrictions on their ability to change employers or may be reluctant to leave an employer who has sponsored them for permanent residence. We find that the voluntary job‐changing rate is similar for temporary work visa holders and natives with similar characteristics, but that it spikes when temporary work visa holders obtain permanent residence. The spike magnitude implies mobility is reduced during the application period by about 20 percent, alleviating concerns that employers exercise strong monopsony power.

Visa Wait Times and Future Earnings: Evidence from the National Survey of College Graduates

This study explores the relationship between lawful permanent resident status and earnings. We begin by estimating wage differentials between lawful permanent residents and immigrants on temporary visas. We find a wide variation in earnings differentials according to category of temporary visa, and find a negative differential between lawful permanent residents and immigrants on temporary work visas. We then examine the effect of longer wait times to obtain a permanent resident visa on immigrants’ income. Using data from the National Survey of College Graduates, we find that immigrants who enter the US on temporary work visas earn 2% less for each year between the time of entry into the US and when their permanent resident visa is issued. We find a similar relationship for immigrants who enter on student visas and have wait times of more than 5 years. Further, we find a larger relationship for African and Latin American and Caribbean immigrants.