Why We're Losing the Competition for the World's Best Talent

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Why We're Losing the Competition for the World's Best Talent

As college admission season nears its end, international graduates are anxiously awaiting another decision - except this time, merit has nothing to do with the outcome. On March 29, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services notified hundreds of thousands of applicants about whether they were lucky enough to have their name drawn in the annual H-1B visa lottery. In last year's lottery,72% of applicants for high-skilled, employer-sponsored roles were rejected without review.

One of us has spent over a decade in the U.S. Foreign Service promoting American interests abroad, including a year adjudicating visas. The other is a recent college graduate who has been on the receiving end of the American immigration system. Both of us think that America's restrictions on high-skilled immigration are short-sighted and counterproductive.

Today the United States is engaged in a global war for talent. As it turns down thousands of high-skilled workers based on a lottery, the rest of the world is finding new ways to attract them.

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