Stapling Visas to Diplomas? Simulating High-Skill Immigration Reform via Randomized Experiment

The researchers are planning to run a randomized experiment encouraging the take-up of visa-application assistance with their partner organization, Plymouth Street. The research design leverages recent, little-known changes in eligibility for the O-1A visa that have made STEM PhDs presumptively eligible. The study will randomize email outreach at the levels of the student, department, and university to account for informational spillovers. Outcomes of interest include visa receipt, residency (lives in USA and city/region), employment (by industry and for top firms), scientific contributions, and entrepreneurship. The researchers will then use the results to simulate the consequences of a high-skill immigration reform: guaranteeing permanent residency to foreign-born, U.S.-educated new PhDs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).