About 2,000 Koreans Move to the U.S. Each Year
Talent Outflow Expected to Slow Due to Visa Barriers
An 'Opportunity' for Talent Return and Recruitment
As the United States has drastically increased the annual H-1B visa fee-known as the "professional visa"-to 100,000 dollars (approximately 140 million Korean won), some believe this move could benefit Korea, which is currently developing policies to prevent the outflow of highly skilled talent and to attract such professionals domestically.
The H-1B visa is intended for professionals in the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), with annual issuances limited to 85,000 through a lottery system. The visa allows a basic three-year stay, with the possibility of extension and an option to apply for permanent residency. Major U.S. tech companies such as Google, Meta, and Tesla hire thousands of H-1B visa holders each year, making it a key means of securing top scientific and technological talent. However, as the U.S. has made significant cuts to its science and technology budget and has continued to tighten visa regulations, this has led to an outflow of talent from the United States, prompting countries around the world to implement their own talent recruitment policies.
From Korea's perspective, there are opinions that stricter U.S. visa regulations could provide an advantage in attracting talent. Koreans account for about 1% of H-1B visa holders, with many highly skilled individuals working as postdoctoral researchers or in strategic technology fields such as AI, biotechnology, and semiconductors after studying abroad. According to the Korea Institute of S&T Evaluation and Planning (KISTEP), 20,168 Koreans received H-1B visas issued by the U.S. over the past decade (2014-2023). This means that approximately 2,000 Korean professionals have been leaving for the U.S. each year.
In response to this situation, the government plans to introduce policies to attract talent. The government has decided to launch a national project called "Brain to Korea," which will focus on recruiting postdoctoral researchers, early-career scientists, and distinguished scholars in strategic technology fields and supporting their settlement in Korea. The goal is to attract 2,000 professionals in fields such as artificial intelligence and biotechnology by 2030. To achieve this, multiple ministries will collaborate to provide comprehensive settlement support services covering visas, housing, education, and employment, and aim to reverse the net outflow of outstanding scientists-which dropped to a net outflow of 388 in 2023-to a net inflow of more than 500 by 2030. Since last month, the government has formed a public-private task force to develop measures to prevent the outflow and promote the attraction of science and technology talent, and plans to announce its first new talent policy as early as the end of this month.
There are also expectations that the Innocore project, which invested 300 billion won to attract 400 postdoctoral researchers in AI and strategic technology fields, could gain further momentum. The government aims to expand the scale of the Innocore project to 1,000 participants next year.
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