High-Skilled Migrants – The competition is on

Rarely is interest in high-skilled immigration as visible as it was in 2023, when post-pandemic labor market restructuring prompted major destination countries worldwide to adopt policies targeting certain highly educated workers. The year began with the highest ever permanent migration to countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), driven in part by international workers filling job postings. And the trend continued through the year, as the World Health Organization (WHO) declared in March that the COVID-19 pandemic was no longer a global health emergency. While concern about rising unauthorized migration hamstrung a more robust immigration overhaul and threatened to undo economically minded reforms in some countries (see Issue No. 8), the desire to woo high-skilled migrants tipped over into open competition in some places.

The most brazen episode was Canada’s new policy taking direct aim at highly skilled foreign-born workers in the United States. Its Tech Talent Strategy opened a pathway for U.S. immigrants holding an H-1B temporary visa, allowing them to apply for a flexible three-year work permit in Canada. While many H-1B workers can get a green card and eventual U.S. citizenship, applicants often face many years of waiting, while prospects for permanent residence in Canada are much quicker. The new Canadian scheme proved popular, and met its target of 10,000 applicants in just one day. Ottawa has tried less-direct moves before; in 2013, the Canadian government rented a billboard in California to display the message: “H-1B problems? Pivot to Canada.”

Washington took notice. In October, the Department of Homeland Security issued long-in-the works changes to streamline the H-1B system and make it more efficient. U.S. officials also raced to address a backlog of hundreds of thousands of applications across visa categories and made tweaks to increase validity periods for work permits and prevent immigrants from temporarily losing their right to work due to administrative backlogs. Partly because of these shifts, immigrants joined the U.S. labor force at a rate more than six times as fast as natives, providing significant relief to the country’s tight labor market.

Similar approaches were evident elsewhere. Reforms to Germany’s Skilled Immigration Act were designed to lure tens of thousands of skilled workers from outside the European Union. New Zealand recorded its highest ever immigration tallies in 2023, as employers were eager to fill empty job postings. Australia announced plans to streamline its immigration processes by creating a pathway to permanent residence for high-skilled immigrants on temporary visas and speeding up processing visas for in-demand professions. And even Japan, which has long struggled with the prospect of increasing immigration, made it easier for multiple types of skilled foreign workers to become long-term residents as it logged a record number of foreign residents (3.2 million).

Still, political pressures limited wider policy changes in places such as the United States, and several countries sought to ensure their reforms were targeted to increase only high-skilled immigration—not immigration writ large. As part of its 2023 changes, for instance, Australia also sought to tighten entry requirements for international students and low-wage workers, as part of a plan to return overall immigration numbers to pre-pandemic levels. The United Kingdom raised the minimum salary required for most immigrants to be eligible for a work visa to 38,700 pounds (U.S. $48,800), up from 26,200 pounds (U.S. $33,100), as well as significantly raising the income threshold for family visas (from 18,600 pounds [U.S. $23,400] to 38,700 pounds [U.S. $48,800]) and scaling back international students’ ability to bring family.

The moves suggest countries are seeking to be more selective in their immigration, prioritizing higher earners and those in in-demand job sectors. Those lucky enough to meet this definition were in hot demand.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story @  Top 10 Migration Issues of 2023 | migrationpolicy.org