Canada is a beautiful country that is close to the US from the geographical aspect. However, visa difficulties are still prevalent just as faced by residents of other nations when attempting to work and reside in the US.
MacLennan taught in the northern California region on an OPT visa. She completed her undergraduate schooling and expected to stay in the country for a few years, followed by teaching on a TN visa. But soon, she found that the TN visa was available only for university, college and seminary teachers.
She got an offer to continue with her teaching service but was not legally allowed to provide service as a teacher. Within just a week of getting the notification, she needed to sell the apartment and resign from the job. She felt sorry for herself as she knew that getting back to Canada means it will affect her teaching career. So, she decided to apply for a student visa to stay back in the US and after facing lots of difficulties, finally managed to enroll in BYU’s MBA program.
Overseas Students willing to Stay Longer- but do not get Work Visa for Canada
It has been found that overseas students are willing to stay longer in the country on work visas after completing their graduation from the American universities. But, it’s really difficult to obtain a work visa.
According to the studies, more than 85,000 H-1B work visas are provided every year – 20,000 visas are meant for those holding the master’s degree and remaining for candidates having bachelor’s degree. Today, the demand for this visa is quite high. But, in accordance with the Fortune Magazine, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services received only 190,098 applications in the year 2018, which showed a drop in comparison to 199,000 applications in the year 2017.
H1B Visa highly challenging- thus more Applications for Canadian Visa
Now the question is when the demand for this visa is more than the availability, then why the H-1B work visa applications seem to be on a declining note.
Kim Buhler-Thomas, an immigration lawyer says that the present situation of immigration in the US has become highly challenging, and he termed it as an “invisible wall”.
This wall issue has become highly prominent in programs like specialty skilled work visas and H-1B visas that usually the overseas graduates from the US universities apply for. This red-tape wall is developed by the Citizenship and Immigration Services in order to discourage companies from hiring foreign talents in the US. Thomas added that applications are now made to pass through severely tight scrutiny and unprecedented requests are made for providing additional evidence on cases that were approved prior to Trump’s buy American, hire American’ were approved.
He further added this “Wall” has lead to untold heartaches during the processing years and even forced some to leave the country while waiting for their visas.
Job Offers not easy to come by for International Students
As per Minji Kim who is a BYU student, South Korea and studying civil engineering, it is really difficult to get a job. Again, Kim, an international student thinks that it is hard to come across job offers and internships as overseas students.
Although we know that it is quite difficult to obtain the work visa after completing the graduation studies, still, overseas candidates see advantages in obtaining educational degrees in US and gaining work experience after the completion of graduation. According to Mr. Sam Brown who is the direction of the BYU International Student and Scholar Services Office, there is a huge rate of graduate international candidates in comparison to domestic students.
Amazing educational opportunities for Students in Canada
Maria Fernanda Arryan, a candidate of Peru, studying at BYU because of the ample opportunities available. According to her, the education level is better in the US in comparison to any other country and the strong network building can actually help her to explore the work opportunities.
Flexibility of schedule makes it easier for students to Study and Work at same time
Mathilde Pinault is a student from France, studying at the Mesa Community College feels that the flexibility in school timings in the U.S. is one of the prime factors which attracted her. She said that the best part is that she can choose her own class timing, which means there is an opportunity to work while studying. This is really helpful in supporting herself during the educational years.
Experiencing a new culture as International Students
According to Raygoza Jose Sanchez, a student from Mexico studying at the BYU-Idaho, getting to learn and understand the surrounding and culture is one of the other factors that contributed to the major decision of coming to Canada. Undoubtedly, it is exciting and interesting to experience and witness another culture. As most of the films are based on the American lifestyle, so it is the best opportunity to experience that all by himself!