United States

Excluding Workers Who Would Contribute to the American Economy

The low annual limits on temporary visas (H-1B) and employment-based green cards for high-skilled foreign nationals, along with high denial rates for intracompany transfers and the lack of visas for both immigrant entrepreneurs and year-round lower-skilled workers, make U.S. immigration policies “mostly unfavorable” to economic growth when compared to other advanced economies.

Score Breakdown by Category

About the Report

Business Roundtable selected the evaluated countries based on five criteria:

  1. Worldwide university rankings;
  2. Per-capita income;
  3. Gross domestic product growth rate;
  4. Net migration rate; and
  5. Research and development investment.

After comparing each advanced economy relative to the five criteria, the top 10 countries (including the United States) were selected for the study: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland and the United Kingdom (U.K.). Not coincidentally, these are the countries with which the United States competes most for foreign talent, particularly in science and technology fields.

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