H-1B visa fee surge shuts door on Korean students’ US job hopes

The sharp increase in U.S. H-1B visa fees is forcing many Korean students to abandon hopes of working in the country after graduation, with immigration experts warning that the change could lead to a wave of early returns to Korea. “It has become impossible to even consider applying for an H-1B visa now. Many Korean students in the United States will have no choice but to give up on local employment after graduation and return home,” said Jun-hwan Kim, a 58-year-old Korean American immigration lawyer based in California, in a phone interview on Monday. The H-1B visa allows foreign professionals to work in the U.S. for three years, with possible extensions, but the annual quota is limited to 85,000. U.S. President Donald Trump recently raised the application fee from $1,000 to $100,000. The H-1B has long been notoriously difficult to obtain. Of the 85,000 visas, 20,000 are reserved for applicants with advanced degrees and 65,000 for those with bachelor’s degrees. Last year, 780,000 people applied, while 350,000 applied this year, Kim said. Indians accounted for 71 percent of the quoWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times