First Page
206
Abstract
International student mobility is a vehicle of globalization in today’s world, with a significant rise in students pursuing higher education abroad over the past two decades, reaching approximately 6.9 million globally. Regardless of personal motivations, the decision to study abroad rests in a careful evaluation of whether long-term rewards outweigh the short-term sacrifices these students make. For students looking to build a professional foundation and immerse themselves in the culture of the country in which they study, few long-term rewards are more appealing than having their student visas serve as a pathway to permanent residency. Determining who may be granted permanent residence in a country is central to immigration law and an issue that continues to fuel extensive scholarly debate and theorization. Professor Hiroshi Motomura offers two lenses through which immigration law can be viewed: immigration as contract and immigration as affiliation. Immigration as contract conceptualizes the relationship between noncitizens and host countries based on mutual expectations and obligations. Conversely, immigration as affiliation acknowledges and values the evolving ties that noncitizens forge with their host communities, emphasizing integration and gradual detachment from their country of origin. The US, Canada, and the UK are among the top destinations for international students, and each country’s immigration framework aims to both promote diversity and strengthen the labor market. These goals often conflict due to concerns about immigrants displacing native workers. Consequently, due to this apprehension, the legislative framework surrounding the student visa in each country attempts to strike a balance in varying degrees. This Note examines the US’s approach to student visas, highlighting its reliance on the immigration as contract framework and contrasting it with the immigration as affiliation approach used by Canada and the UK. By adopting a strict contractual framework and restricting opportunities for students to obtain permanent resident status, the US fails to effectively balance promoting diversity with protecting its labor market.
Recommended Citation
Jeanette Subkhanberdina,
Visa to Stay: Immigration Reform for International Students in the United States: From Contractual Limits to Affiliation-Based Opportunities,
50 Brook. J. Int'l L.
206
(2025).
Available at:
https://brooklynworks.brooklaw.edu/bjil/vol50/iss2/4
