China rolls out its version of the H-1B visa to attract foreign tech workers

HONG KONG– Vaishnavi Srinivasagopalan, a qualified Indian IT professional who has worked in India and the United States, is looking for a job in China. Beijing’s new K visa program for science and technology workers could turn that dream into reality.

The K visa rolled out by Beijing last month is part of China’s growing efforts to catch up with the United States in the race for global talent and cutting-edge technology. This coincides with uncertainties over the US H-1B program amid strengthened immigration policies implemented by President Donald Trump.

“(The) K visa for China (is) an equivalent to the H-1B for the United States,” said Srinivasagopalan, who is intrigued by the Chinese work environment and culture after her father worked at a Chinese university a few years ago. “It’s a good option for people like me to work abroad.”

The K visa complements China’s existing visa programs, including the R visa for foreign professionals, but with relaxed requirements, such as not requiring an applicant to have a job offer before applying.

Stricter U.S. policies toward foreign students and scholars under Trump, including increasing H-1B visa fees for foreign skilled workers to $100,000 for new applicants, are leading some non-U.S. professionals and students to consider going elsewhere.

“Students studying in the United States were hoping to get a (H-1B) visa, but it is currently a problem,” said Bikash Kali Das, an Indian master’s student in international relations at Sichuan University in China.

China strikes while the iron is hot.

The ruling Communist Party has made global leadership in advanced technologies a top priority, disbursing massive government subsidies to support research and development in areas such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors and robotics.

“Beijing views strengthening U.S. immigration policies as an opportunity to position itself globally by more broadly welcoming foreign talent and investment,” said Barbara Kelemen, associate director and head of Asia at security intelligence firm Dragonfly.

Unemployment among Chinese graduates remains high and competition is intense for jobs in science and technology fields. But there is a skills gap that Chinese leaders want to fill. For decades, China has been losing its best talents to developed countries, with many remaining and working in the United States and Europe after completing their studies there.

The brain drain has not been completely reversed.

Many Chinese parents still view Western education as advanced and are eager to send their children abroad, said Alfred Wu, an associate professor at the National University of Singapore.

Yet in recent years, a growing number of professionals, including AI experts, scientists and engineers, have left the United States for China, including Chinese Americans. Fei Su, a chip architect at Intel, and Ming Zhou, a senior engineer at US software company Altair, are among those who have accepted teaching positions in China this year.

Many skilled workers in India and Southeast Asia have already expressed interest in the K visa, said Edward Hu, director of immigration at Shanghai-based consultancy Newland Chase.

With the unemployment rate of Chinese aged 16 to 24 excluding students at almost 18%, the campaign to attract more foreign professionals raises questions.

“The current job market is already facing fierce competition,” said Zhou Xinying, a 24-year-old postgraduate student in behavioral sciences at Zhejiang University in eastern China.

While foreign professionals could help “bring out new technologies” and different international perspectives, Zhou said, “some young Chinese job seekers may feel pressure due to the introduction of the K visa policy.”

Kyle Huang, a 26-year-old software engineer based in the southern city of Guangzhou, said his peers in science and technology fields fear the new visa system “could threaten local job opportunities.”

A recent commentary published by state-backed media outlet the Shanghai Observer downplayed these concerns, saying the arrival of such foreign professionals would benefit the economy. As China advances in areas such as AI and advanced semiconductors, there is a “gap and mismatch” between qualified job seekers and demand for skilled workers, the report said.

“The more complex the global environment, the more China will open its arms,” he said.

“Beijing will need to emphasize how select foreign talent can create, not take, local jobs,” said Michael Feller, chief strategist at consultancy Geo Political Strategy. “But even Washington has shown that this is a politically difficult argument to make, despite decades of evidence. »

Recruitment and immigration experts say foreign workers face various obstacles in China. One of them is the language barrier. Another drawback is the ruling Communist Party’s censorship of the Internet, known as the “Great Firewall.”

A country of around 1.4 billion people, China had only around 711,000 foreign workers residing in the country in 2023.

The United States remains at the forefront of research and has the advantage of widely using English. There is also a relatively clearer path to residency for many, said David Stepat, country director for Singapore at consultancy Dezan Shira. & Associates.

Nikhil Swaminathan, an Indian H1-B visa holder working for a US non-profit after completing his graduate studies there, is interested in China’s K visa but is skeptical. “I would have thought about it. China is a great place to work in the technology sector, if it weren’t for the difficult India-China relationship,” he said.

Given a choice, many job seekers will likely still aim for employment at large global companies outside of China.

“The United States is likely at greater risk of losing potential H-1B candidates to other Western economies, including the United Kingdom and the European Union, than to China,” said Feller of Geo Political Strategy.

“The United States may be sabotaging itself, but it’s doing it from a much more competitive position in terms of attracting talent,” Feller said. “China will need to do much more than provide convenient visa pathways to attract the best talent. »

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AP writer Fu Ting in Washington and researchers Yu Bing and Shihuan Chen in Beijing contributed.