US H-1B visa rules push Chinese workers to explore Europe as alternative

The new H-1B visa fee and stricter US visa rules are prompting Chinese workers to explore Europe, seeking better opportunities, higher stability, and a more welcoming work environment

What happens when the United States, long seen as the land of opportunities, begins putting up barriers for migrant workers? That question came to the forefront after President Donald Trump announced a $100,000 fee for H-1B visa applications. 

The announcement sparked widespread anxiety among foreign workers, many of whom scrambled for clarity. The White House later clarified that the fee would apply only to new applications, but by then, concerns had already taken root, and some workers had begun considering alternatives outside the US. Ftr

Many Chinese workers have started looking to Europe as an alternative, with discussions about life and job opportunities on the continent gaining traction on Chinese social media platforms, reported South China Morning Post.  

 

Alan, a Chinese national working at a semiconductor company in the San Francisco Bay Area, is one such worker. Soon after the news, he contacted a friend in Paris to learn more about Europe’s job market and immigration policies. Alan has spent almost all of his life in the US, where he attended college, completed his PhD in Chemistry, and took up a job in a chip company. 

He has been trying to obtain an H-1B visa for the past two years but failed due to the lottery system used in the US visa programme. The newly announced visa fee became another hurdle, prompting him to say, "Policies like this are testing my bottom line, so I began to explore other options." 

“I cannot take it any more,” South China Morning Post quoted Alan as saying. He added that all he wants is a normal job and peace, but Trump's policies are not giving him that option. 

Similarly, Sacha, another Chinese national holding an H-1B visa, expressed her frustration over the latest order, saying she considered moving to Europe. However, she feels that moving to Europe would be premature, given the lower pay and the language barrier there. 

"If it weren’t for the money, no one would want to stay in the US right now," she said, as quoted by South China Morning Post. 

Prospects in Europe

In response to these queries, a Chinese resident in Germany took to the social media platform RedNote to share their experience on the advantages and challenges of living in Europe. 

The pros included a high number of paid leave days, a lower cost of living, and generous visa schemes for highly educated workers in countries like Germany and France. However, the user noted the language barrier and comparatively lower salaries as drawbacks. 

In 2023, a French couple with two children under 14 earned a median after-tax income of around US$63,850. In comparison, a married couple in the US had a median after-tax income of US$101,500, according to South China Morning Post. 

A ride back home

Not just Europe, many Chinese scientists have also started moving back to China amid increasing challenges in the US. Liu Jun, a renowned statistician and long-time Harvard professor, recently returned to China to take a chair at Tsinghua University, the South China Morning Post reported. 

With expertise in data science, biostatistics, and AI, Liu has contributed significantly to big data and machine learning. He began his US academic career at Rutgers in the late 1980s before moving to the University of Chicago. His return was driven by funding cuts and stricter immigration rules in the US. 

Beijing has also introduced 'K visa', designed to attract foreign talent working in the science and technology sector, placing it as an alternative to the H-1B.