Sophie Alcorn, lawyerits author and founder Alcorn Immigration Law in Silicon Valley, California, is an award-winning Certified Specialist in Immigration and Nationality Law from the State Bar Board of Legal Specialization. Sophie is passionate about overcoming borders, expanding opportunities and connecting the world by practicing compassionate, visionary and experienced immigration law. Connect with Sophia on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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Dear Sophia,
I’m interested in the Biden administration’s efforts to keep AI talent in the United States. How does the administration make it easier for AI companies to sponsor employees for permanent residency? Will the number of green cards reserved for people in the artificial intelligence field increase?
— All about artificial intelligence
Dear,
Thanks for your timely questions! We’ve seen several improvements over the past couple of years for founders seeking immigration benefits like the O-1A, EB-2 NIWand even EB-1A. Recently, President Biden issued a executive order on artificial intelligencepublished in the Federal Register on November 1, 2023. It included several immigration-related mandates aimed at attracting and retaining international AI talent.
One of these orders was sought by the Minister of Labour publish an RFI (Request for Information) through mid-December to solicit public input on the expansion of the Department of Labor’s Schedule of Occupation Shortage List. The executive order sought to identify “artificial intelligence and other STEM-related occupations, as well as additional occupations across the economy, for which there is an insufficient number of ready, willing, able, and skilled workers in the United States.”
In summary, the RFI seeks to determine:
- What types of data should be used to predict potential labor shortages?
- What methods measure the presence and severity of labor shortages?
- What is a reliable, objective and transparent method to identify STEM occupations with a labor shortage?
- Should the methodology apply to disciplines beyond STEM?
- How might you identify non-STEM occupations?
Employers employing a new or existing worker in an occupation listed in Appendix A may bypass the PERM labor certification process required for EB-2 advanced degree or outstanding ability green cards and EB-3 green cards for professionals.
Ahead of the RFI, the Institute for Progress (IFP), a non-partisan think tank focused on innovation policy, created a data-driven method to determine which occupations should be included in Schedule A. I discuss this method, called the Help Wanted Index, in more detail below.
Now, let’s dive into your questions, taking the second one first.
