Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/124472
We're not the only school facing this challenge. According to data from AACSB International, about 13.3 percent of the students in general MBA programs at American schools are non-U.S. citizens; in EMBA and specialized degree programs, that percentage is 18.1 percent and 21.6 percent respectively. That means career services professionals all over the U.S. are looking for ways to show employers that our international MBA students could be assets to their companies. At Weatherhead's Career Management Office, my team and I have tried to make it as easy as possible for employers to understand the policies that affect our graduates—and to counter any objections to hiring them. The ABCs of H1-Bs It helps to first get some background. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has guidelines that govern employment opportunities for foreign nationals. Curricular Practical Training (CPT) allows students who have completed two semesters in school to take off-campus employment, typically through internships. If they've previously studied at a U.S. college, they don't have to wait those two semesters. Optional Practical Training (OPT) allows students to work in their fields of study for up to 12 months after graduation. Most candidates are entitled to a maximum of one year of OPT; there are some extensions for students in science, technology, engineering, and math fields, but most Weatherhead students don't qualify. Therefore, if American companies want to hire MBAs from outside the U.S., those MBAs need 22 May/June 2013 BizEd H1-B visas, which permit foreign nationals to work in the U.S. for up to three years. (In most cases, this period can be extended by another three years.) The annual quota for H1-B visas is 65,000, with an extra 20,000 available for graduates with master's degrees from accredited U.S. schools. For our purposes, there are 85,000 visas available to international students in the U.S. each year. April 1 is the first day for any foreign national to file an H1-B visa application; if approved, the visa is in effect from October 1 of that year. In both 2007 and 2008, USCIS received more than 170,000 applications within the first week of April. USCIS was forced to hold a lottery to award the visas each of those years. This had a chilling effect on some companies' international hiring policies. If a business hired an international student in November 2006, but she lost in the visa lottery, she would be able to stay in that job for only another year under OPT guidelines. The situation changed for a while after 2009—more H1-B visas were available until much later in the year— but in 2013, USCIS was looking at a lottery again. Given this level of uncertainty, many employers have become reluctant to hire international students. At least, that has been the case for local companies within Case Western's home market in northeast Ohio. At Weatherhead's Career Management Office, we've developed a set of strategies to educate employers about the realities of H1-Bs in today's international market and help them more easily navigate the process of hiring international students. Smoothing the Way Many employers are actually open to the idea of hiring international candidates—they just don't know where to start. One company representative asked, "Is it legal to hire international students?" Another one was interested in Resources for Employers Here are helpful websites for companies and HR managers who wish to hire foreign nationals but aren't sure where to start: n www.aila.org—for local immigration attorneys n www.foreignlaborcert.doleta.gov—about foreign labor certification n www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (see the page about H-1B Speciality Occupations) n www.dol.gov—the U.S. Department of Labor n www.workpermit.com/us/employee.htm—the U.S. Immigration Guide for Employers n www.embassy.org/embassies/—the Washington, D.C., Electronic Embassy