Your Immigration Program Could Be Your Edge In Competing For STEM Talent

by Hendrik Pretorius

Originally Published in Forbes on May 5, 2019

Over the last decade as a corporate immigration attorney in Silicon Valley, advising founders and venture-backed companies, I've seen that the battle for the world’s top STEM talent (irrespective of national origin) has been relentless. What can seed or series A–stage companies do to realistically compete for such top talent against some of the world’s largest and most recognized tech companies?

Focus internally on your immigration program. Build out a thorough immigration policy that reflects your company's needs, and ensure that everyone who touches recruitment becomes intimately familiar with it and can speak with some basic level of understanding and compassion to foreign-born job applicants.

A study in late 2017 conducted by the National Foundation for American Policy revealed that well over half of graduate-level STEM students enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities who were studying computer science were international students. The same trend of large international student numbers was found in almost all STEM programs. Further, these STEM graduates tend to focus on finding jobs in tech hubs across the U.S., even further concentrating foreign national talent in these areas, resulting in a high likelihood that job applicants for technical roles will be candidates requiring immigration sponsorship.

International students normally utilize employment authorization obtained via a program called Optional Practical Training, which allows graduates to apply for an employment authorization document in order to work in a position that draws directly from their field of study in the United States.

Unfortunately, many early-stage companies take a just-in-time approach to immigration and thereby often miss out on tremendous talent. I've commonly dealt with series A– or series B–stage companies that still have senior-level executives involved in trying to understand details like visa options and how to launch cases. Failing to dedicate resources beyond executives to these tasks and not having clear workflows for assessing and compiling cases is a surefire way to struggle with onboarding talent and also fails to provide a positive candidate experience.

It's easy for an international candidate to sniff out a company that hasn't put any effort or thought into building out any sort of immigration program. This apathy comes across as a lack of empathy, as international professionals undergo tremendous stress living under U.S. immigration laws to ensure that they maintain legal status and navigate their way towards permanent residency (often seen as the light at the end of the tunnel). Under the current administration, these stresses are further exacerbated with record numbers of immigration case denials, delays, and uncertainty.

If you're truly seeking the very top STEM talent, you should be dealing with immigration fairly regularly. This isn't going to change anytime soon, so rather than view immigration as a headache, turn it into an asset. There's a lot of opportunities to get a leg up on your competition and to compete with much larger and well-established companies. I find it surprising how many companies, including very well-funded and growing businesses, view their immigration program as nothing more than processing cases with a traditional immigration law firm, and satisfying I-9 requirements.

If this sums up your program, it's my experience that you're only seeing the tip of the iceberg and missing much you can leverage to get ahead of your competition. Working with early-stage companies competing for talent, I've seen that taking simple, proactive steps can tremendously impact a candidate's view of your company — for example, providing a candidate with your immigration policies related to when and how green card applications are launched and how you determine who is eligible, showing your clear workflow for moving cases and even showing company data evidencing prompt case turnarounds and successful immigration filings in the face of a tough immigration climate. 

I believe any company looking for STEM talent needs an immigration program. How detailed this program needs to be can be debated, but without one, it will be difficult for a tech company to onboard top talent. Merely having an immigration attorney on

Speed dial does not normally qualify as a sufficient immigration program; this is just the minimum that needs to be in place. Companies do get by, and some are able to convince their immigration law firm to get more involved at the in-house level, but this is not common, and they do not excel at recruiting STEM positions.

You can do much better for your company by understanding the tremendous importance of immigration policies and immigration workflows play in overall workforce planning, efficient onboarding, immigration-related legal compliance, and avoiding discrimination. If companies want an edge, they need an in-house focus, whether developed by their immigration law firm, their internal HR team, or an external provider.

The most effective way to attract, onboard, and retain foreign-born talent starts with the job description and requirements, which impact available options for candidates needing sponsorship. These descriptions need to be vetted by your company's immigration resource to ensure that short-term and long-term visa options are not precluded, qualifying wage requirements can be met and government occupational classifications and assumptions are considered in the event an immigration case is filed — and how all this will impact the strength of any potential visa application that's needed for a particular role.

Further, once you start receiving applications, you need to be able to quickly assess visa options, know what your company is willing to do, and able to sponsor and be open and empathetic with the job candidate. Nothing can be more effective in setting the tone with an applicant than openly and intelligently discussing your immigration sponsorship policies. This is a mere sliver of what can be achieved with some forethought and willingness to make a modest investment in creating and properly managing your immigration program as part of your recruitment and compliance efforts.

If you're seeking an edge in recruiting and retaining top talent, your company's immigration program is your biggest ally. I believe your program needs to be developed to match your workforce planning goals and should be something you are proud of, as it's a reflection of your company's ethos to the outside world.

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The information provided here is not legal advice and does not purport to be a substitute for advice of counsel on any specific matter. For legal advice, you should consult with an attorney concerning your specific situation. Legal standards and rules often change.