USA Immigration News

U.S. Urged to Allocate More Professional Visas to South Koreans

South Korea is urging the U.S. to raise the quota of non-immigrant U.S. visas for its citizens with a specialty occupation, according to a diplomatic source on July 26, 2012.

However due to the high unemployment rates in the U.S. and upcoming U.S. election, South Korea expected that it would achieve that goal next year. The South Korean government committed to increase the number of H-1B visas for its citizens seeking jobs in the U.S. to 15,000 while the two countries signed the South Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA), the source revealed.

Currently, there are 3,500 South Koreans being granted U.S. visas each year with professional skills such as IT, engineering, mathematics, physical sciences, social sciences, biotechnology, medicine and health, law, accounting, and the arts. South Korea says that the current quota fell far short of the need owing to a spike in South Koreans studying and seeking jobs here.

If the U.S. Congress accepts Seoul's appeal, South Korea will no longer be subject to the 85,000 annual visa limits for H-1B visas worldwide. "A problem is that Congress is focused on other issues. It appears to have no room to handle the visa issue this year," added the source. "South Korea expects the matter to be resolved next year."

If you are interested in Visas to the USA, contact Migration Expert for information and advice on which visa is best suited to you. You can also try our visa eligibility assessment to see if you are eligible to apply for a visa to the United States of America.