It was found that Korea is the country with the largest number of applications for permanent residency in the United States by key talents with a master’s or doctorate level or higher per 100,000 people. Last year, the U.S. government ranked 4th in the number of EB-1 and 2 work visas issued to master’s, doctoral and C-level talent, following India, China and Brazil, but on a per 100,000 person basis, it was more than 10 times more than these countries. It is pointed out that the ‘brain drain’, in which high-quality talents are turning away from Korea, is becoming chronic.
According to the U.S. Department of State on the 27th, there were 5,684 Koreans who were issued EB-1 and 2, high-skilled workforce employment immigration visas, in 2023. Last year, the U.S. government issued permanent residency EB-1 and 2 visas to 114,130 people around the world. Korea had the fourth largest number, following India (20,905), China (13,378), and Brazil (11,751). However, when converted to per 100,000 people, Korea’s number is 10.98, which is about 10 times higher than India (1.44 people) and China (0.94 people), which are representative countries with large populations. Japan’s EB-1·2 approvals amounted to 1,066 people, which was only 1/5 of Korea’s in absolute terms and 1/13 (0.86 people) per 100,000 people. This means that the outflow of key domestic talent overseas is that serious.
The EB-1·2 visa is a work visa issued by the U.S. government to highly skilled and highly educated individuals, and also provides permanent residency to their families. Even if we assume that 5,684 people are a ‘family of four,’ at least 1,400 to 1,500 top-notch brains escaped to the United States last year. The number of EB-1 and 2 visas issued to Koreans dropped to 3,318 in 2021 when COVID-19 was in full swing, but jumped back to the 5,000 level from 2022. Recently, the ‘EB-2 craze’ is spreading among science and engineering engineers and researchers at major domestic companies. An official in the immigration consulting industry said, “We are receiving a series of inquiries not only from engineers around 10 years old, but also from lawyers, doctors, and talented people in the business and arts fields.”
Experts are concerned that the overwhelmingly high outflow of talent relative to the population will lead to a weakening of competitiveness in the high-tech industry. Choi Byeong-ho, a professor at Korea University’s Artificial Intelligence Research Institute, pointed out, “In an era of technological acceleration where artificial intelligence (AI) has become routine, if we neglect the situation where key talents turn away from Korea, future growth engines will inevitably be weakened.”
3 times annual salary, children’s education… Engineers, researchers, and lawyers at large corporations are packing up.
Experience in big tech in the U.S. = double salary… ‘Waist’ goes out around 10 years
“The Nvidia employees said it was a huge hit, but I felt like I was spinning on a treadmill.”
Mr. A (39), a 10-year researcher at a large information technology (IT) company, was contemplating a change of job within the country, and last month hired a law firm specializing in local immigration in the U.S. and is preparing for highly educated independent immigration (EB-2). Every year, thousands of Korea’s top talents choose to go to the United States like Mr. A because they can develop their careers in American companies that are not stingy with performance compensation. The ever-decreasing innovation vitality of domestic companies and their children’s education issues are also factors urging them to move to the United States. Experts agree that we must quickly come up with a way to control Korea’s ‘brain drain’, which is overwhelmingly high in the world.
‘American Exodus’ of Korea’s high-quality workforce
According to the U.S. State Department on the 27th, the number of Koreans who have obtained EB-1 and 2, high-level talent immigration visas, has remained at 4,000 to 6,000 every year since 2016. It decreased from 5,604 in 2020 to 3,318 in 2021 during the Corona period, but increased again to 5,514 the following year.
The problem is that the rate of brain drain is likely to accelerate even further. Last year, there were 2,982 Koreans who submitted I-140s for EB-1 and 2 visas to the US Immigration Service. If we simply assume that all of these immigrants are accepted, 8,946 people for a family of three and 11,928 people for a family of four will leave Korea. An immigration industry official predicted, “Right next year, the number of EB-1 and 2 applicants combined will exceed 6,000.”
After the U.S. Immigration Service relaxed qualifications starting in 2022, the outflow of high-level science and engineering talent has become a problem in China and India, which are ‘talent powers’, but it is not as serious as in Korea. In 2023, there are 13,378 Chinese and 20,905 Indians who immigrated through EB-1 and 2, which is an absolute larger number than Koreans (5,684), but when converted to per 100,000 people, the outflow of high-level Korean talent is 8 times higher, respectively. 11 times more.
High-quality human resources “Double your salary even if you fail”
The immigration industry reports that interest in U.S. National Interest Waiver (NIW) certification has increased rapidly in the past two to three years among Korea’s leading conglomerates such as Samsung and SK, as well as top talent such as Kakao and Naver. At one major semiconductor company, there is even a scandalous rumor going around that ‘half of the doctoral level researchers are preparing for NIW’.
EB-1 has become widely known in Korea since 2010, when professional researchers at major domestic electronics companies moved to Nvidia, Qualcomm, Micron, etc. Mr. B, a researcher at a semiconductor company, said, “After the ‘semiconductor super cycle,’ which reached its peak in 2022, engineers’ agitation became more severe as large domestic companies were unable to ride the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution.”
It also seems that the fact that the ransom price can increase even if you fail to settle in the U.S. and return to Korea also plays a role. Mr. Lee (30), a programmer with 5 years of experience at a large company, said, “Among Korean developers, working at a big tech company in the U.S. is called a ‘double annual salary event.’ Even if you are not an immigrant, the trend is to try to get a job in the U.S. when you are at least one year younger.” He said.
Mr. B, a 10-year lawyer who is in the final stages of the EB-2 visa process, was offered a position as an in-house attorney at an IT company in California. He said, “If you include stock options, your salary will immediately increase by about 60%,” and “I was treated at the highest level at a large Korean company, but since I received more than three times the salary as a student at American law school, I decided to go to the United States.”
What happens to domestic companies that lose key talent?
The problem is that key research talents who will be responsible for the future growth engine of domestic companies are choosing to immigrate, but there is no suitable means to control their outflow. As the national research and development (R&D) budget is cut and corporate management becomes difficult, the past learning experience of ‘master’s and doctoral’ personnel ranked first in restructuring is also considered a factor in accelerating overseas departure. Cho Jun-mo, professor of economics at Sungkyunkwan University, advised, “In the technology field, investment without fear of failure is a priority,” and added, “An environment must be created where highly skilled talents are treated fairly and respected.”
Reporters Park Si-on/Ahn Jeong-hoon/Jeong Hee-won [email protected]
