Delayed Legal Status Incorporation among Student Visa Holders

Student visa holders reflect a large and growing share of the higher educated immigrant population. Although historically considered legally protected, student visa holders’ current precarity raises important theoretical questions about their incorporation. Yet we know very little about student visa holders’ legal status trajectories over time, which is important if we are to understand their opportunities for social and economic incorporation. Using longitudinal data from the National Survey of College Graduates, and multidecrement life table methods, the authors find that half of foreign-born students remain in the United States after 10 years. Yet students have limited transitions to lawful permanent residence. Indian student visa holders are among the least likely to transition to permanent residence. The authors attribute this pattern of “delayed legal status incorporation” to immigration policies, which increase permanent residence wait times for individuals from high-sending countries such as India. More broadly, the authors argue that these results reflect a mismatch between the policy intentions of the “temporary” student visa program and students’ real intentions to stay in the United States long term. The authors discuss the implications of this mismatch for this growing share of young people who are in high demand in the high-skilled labor market, but who face limited pathways to permanent residence.