Taken for Granted: Brother, Can You Spare a Temporary Worker Visa?

By Beryl Lieff Benderly
January 02, 2009

"Postdocs hired at U.S. universities have become, for some time now, a new kind of cheap labor … who are most of the time only allowed to do those experiments that please their bosses, and, on the other hand, cannot many times contribute to the creative scientific process." --Otto B. Doing-Better


Four and a half years ago, a young scientist we’ll call Otto B. Doing-Better began what he thought would be his dream postdoctoral appointment. Otto is one of the tens of thousands of foreign scientific and technical workers in the United States on H-1B visas, which admit nonimmigrant skilled workers for a limited number of years. A lab chief we’ll call Manny Grants had promised to help him get the prestigious publications needed for a shot at a faculty post--and maybe even permanent residence in the United States.

Instead of the career he had hoped for, today Otto has a life in ruins, professionally and personally. His employment prospects are stymied, and his permission to stay in this country is about to run out. He sees no choice but to return to his native land and seek work outside of science. “I am a postdoc who has been ground up by the current system in U.S. academia, where most of us are foreigners who rely on visas to remain in this country,â€