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52 PCB007 MAGAZINE I JANUARY 2025 Feature Article by Marcy LaRont e H-1B visa has been a long-time friend of the U.S. technology and manufacturing sec- tors. It allows companies to bring high-level talent from other countries or transition uni- versity students with student visas over to the workforce. is is a boon for U.S. public diplo- macy while providing a deeper talent pipeline for fulfilling U.S. workforce needs. According to Mark Howard of the U.S. Department of Security's Bureau of Educa- tional and Cultural Affairs, the U.S. visa is, in fact, a public diplomacy program, whether it's for tourism, study, or work. Howard's col- league, Morgan O'Brien says worker visas, par- ticularly the H-1B visa, are important for com- panies because they "encapsulate the diversity in American business" and provide a pathway U.S. Work Visas Demystified to the American Dream. It also provides diver- sity in thought and culture which has proven invaluable for industries like ours, with a view toward global business. In a presentation I attended last summer, Howard and O'Brien discussed how U.S. work visas are categorized and defined their qualifi- cations and annual issuance caps. ough still recovering from extreme delays that started during the pandemic, there are 60 million visa holders in the U.S. today, and the department is committed to laying the groundwork that will allow the highest number of people in his- tory to legally work in the United States Here are a few facts that help demystify U.S. workforce visas, focusing on those most uti- lized for business and industry.