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The Biden Administration Announces New Initiatives to Attract and Retain STEM Professional in the United States

January 25, 2022

On January 21, 2022, the Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security announced several changes designed to attract and retain STEM (Science, Technology, Technology, and Math) professionals in the United States.

The White House released a corresponding “Fact Sheet: Biden-Harris Administration Actions to Attract STEM Talent and Strengthen our Economy and Competitiveness” summarizing those changes.

These substantial changes provide U.S. employers and foreign nationals with more clarity about visa options for STEM professionals. Some of the agency announcements include:

• The addition of 22 qualifying degrees to the designed program list for the STEM OPT extension. Many of these are in interdisciplinary STEM fields. A complete list is available here.
• Updates to the USCIS Policy Manual for the O-1 temporary visa category to include examples of persuasive evidence that STEM graduates and entrepreneurs can provide. The new update provides examples of evidence that may satisfy the O-1A evidentiary criteria and discusses considerations that are relevant to evaluating such evidence, with a focus on the highly technical nature of STEM fields and the complexity of the evidence often submitted.
• Updates to the policy manual for the granting of National Interest Waivers (NIW) for those talented foreign national STEM professionals applying for permanent residency based on their exceptional ability in their STEM field. Among other things, the update clarifies the limited value of labor certification with regard to entrepreneurs.
• For J-1 Exchange Visitors enrolled in a pre-doctoral STEM program, the Department will allow them to qualify for an extension of up to 36 months for the purpose of practical training.

If you have any questions about how these recent agency announcements might impact you, please contact the attorney at LHSCD working on your case.  Or, to schedule a consultation with one of our attorneys, please proceed to our Consutation Request Form.