Tim D’Arduini and Praveena Nallainathan Quoted in Law.com Story on Impact to U.S. of New Canadian Immigration Policy to Attract STEM Talent
Quarles & Brady Immigration & Mobility attorneys Tim D’Arduini and Praveena Nallainathan, both based in the firm’s Washington office, provided perspective for a Law.com story about how the early success of a new Canadian immigration policy could impact U.S. companies.
Canada recently implemented its new Tech Talent Strategy, designed to attract tech workers to the country. The first step was enabling 10,000 H-1B visa holders in the U.S. to apply for Canadian work permits, with all 10,000 spots filled within one month. D’Arduini, a partner, and Nallainathan, of counsel, noted that Canada is capitalizing on opportunities presented by U.S. immigration policy and U.S. employers need to give careful thought to how they attract and retain foreign talent.
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Praveena Nallainathan, of counsel with a focus on corporate immigration, nationality and consular law at Quarles & Brady in Washington, D.C., told Law.com that Canada had identified weaknesses in the U.S. immigration system and capitalized on it by identifying where talent may have unmet needs.
“We know that so much of the STEM talent and the tech talent in the U.S. often comes from India and China,” said Nallainathan. “Those are not the only locations, but we have large populations and they have long waits for a green card in the United States, even when they do all the right things. And there is always this longing for permanence, which you just cannot get easily here in the United States.”
Nallainathan said that the initiatives employed by Canada should be of interest to immigration mobility, human resources and tech managers.
“Our clients and others are experiencing that everybody is ready to move talent again, post-COVID,” said Nallainathan. “We are moving talent and employees around the world. And really, stay tuned to how Canada is unrolling their digital nomad scheme.”
Timothy D’Arduini, a partner with Quarles & Brady, also in Washington, D.C., said, in an interview with Law.com, that Canada is clearly aware that the U.S. has not done enough, from a public policy perspective, to provide immigration vehicles for STEM talent.
“I think it is with that backdrop, that Canada said, we want to be more of a welcoming place and to attract this additional talent, which may also incentivize additional economic investment into the Canadian economy by employers that have operations near shore in the United States,” said D’Arduini.
This is a time for U.S. employers to think critically about what they are doing to incentivize their H-1B workers, or STEM talent generally, to remain in the U.S., said D’Arduini. U.S. employers may want to to consider the additional immigration-related benefits they are offering, such as when they start the green card process for someone located in the U.S., D’Arduini added.