https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/12/business/chinese-h1b-visa.html
Young Chinese Émigrés Confront America’s Brutal Visa Lottery
袁莉![]()
For the past three years, luck failed David Zheng in the lottery for the American work visa known as the H-1B. He was in good company: Hundreds of thousands of immigrants apply for a limited number of H-1B visas every year, and a vast majority fail to make the cut.过去三年里，戴维·郑（音）在抽美国H-1B工作签证的时候总是运气不佳。他的情况和很多人一样：每年有数十万移民申请数量有限的H-1B签证，绝大多数人不成功。Mr. Zheng, a Chinese national, came to America for higher education, earning a master’s degree in computer science in 2021. He wanted to stay in the United States and work in his field, but he was running out of time: His education visa allowed him to work in the country for only three years after graduation.戴维·郑是中国公民，他来到美国接受高等教育，于2021年获得计算机科学硕士学位。他想留在美国，在他的领域工作，但时间不多了：他的教育签证只允许他毕业后在美国工作三年。In July, while continuing to work full time, he enrolled in another master’s program to maintain his legal status.今年7月，在继续全职工作的同时，他开始读另一个研究生学位，以保持合法身份。“Sometimes, I wonder if this country wants people like me or not,” he told me.“有时候，我在想，这个国家到底需不需要我这样的人，”他告诉我。For decades, the United States has been the top choice for young Chinese people seeking educational opportunities. Until the coronavirus pandemic, some 80 percent of them eventually went back to China because their country offered more opportunities. Now many want to stay because their country’s economy is faltering and the job market is bleak.几十年来，美国一直是中国年轻人寻求教育机会的首选。在新冠疫情之前，他们当中大约80%的人最终回到中国，因为他们的国家提供了更多的机会。现在，许多人想留下来，因为在他们的祖国，国家的经济摇摇欲坠，就业市场黯淡。But the U.S. immigration process, which is unpredictable and often prolonged, coupled with the degraded United States-China relationship, has left many in limbo. I interviewed six Chinese émigrés, and messaged with a handful of others who were trying to secure visas to establish professional roots in the United States. They described an experience that was vexing and sometimes traumatic — using words like “hell” and “nightmare.”但是，美国移民程序难以预测，往往旷日持久，再加上中美关系恶化，许多人陷入了困境。我采访了六名中国移民，并与其他几个试图获得签证以在美国扎根的人互发了信息。他们用“地狱”和“噩梦”这样的词语描述了他们令人烦恼、有时甚至是创伤性的经历。Quite a few said that, in hindsight, they probably should have chosen Canada or another country with a clearer path to permanent residency and citizenship.不少人表示，事后看来，他们可能应该选择加拿大或其他永久居留权和公民身份的获取途径更清晰的国家。Immigration has been a hot topic in this year’s U.S. presidential election, with much of the attention paid to people crossing the southern border illegally. The fragmented system that legal immigrants must navigate is rarely discussed. Nor is there much debate about how to attract the most talented immigrants from around the world.移民一直是今年美国总统大选的热门话题，大部分注意力都集中在非法穿越南部边境的人群上。很少有人讨论合法移民必须面对的这个支离破碎的系统。关于如何吸引世界各地最有才华的移民，也没有太多讨论。The United States, a country built by immigrants, has become a daunting — and expensive — destination for everybody who aspires to be part of what it represents: freedom, opportunity and even wealth, a place where people are largely left to be whomever they want to be. I know the United States faces many challenges. Yet its system of government and principles of free expression are idolized in many places where people are suffering from much worse, like war, famine and repressive governments.美国是一个由移民建立起来的国家，它代表着自由、机会甚至财富，是一个人们可以成就理想的地方，但是对于那些渴望成为它的一部分人来说，它已经成为一个令人生畏且代价高昂的目的地。我知道美国面临着许多挑战。然而，在许多饱受战争、饥荒和专制政府折磨的地方，美国的政府制度和言论自由原则备受尊崇。The H-1B visa is an entry card for many would-be immigrants in various business sectors, including law, technology and medicine, as well as academia.H-1B签证是法律、技术、医药以及学术等许多行业领域有意移民者的入境卡。But like playing any lottery, getting an H-1B is a gamble. The U.S. government issues 85,000 H-1B work visas each year. In the 2023 fiscal year, there were 480,000 registrations; in the 2024 fiscal year, there were 780,000. Indians usually make up about three-quarters of the applications, followed by Chinese, who make up about one-eighth.但就像买彩票一样，获得H-1B签证也是一场赌博。美国政府每年发放8.5万个H-1B工作签证。在2023财年，登记人数为48万；在2024财年，这一数字为78万。印度人通常占申请人数的四分之三左右，其次是中国人，约占八分之一。Generally speaking, foreign college graduates can work in the United States legally for one year if they were humanities majors, or for three years if they majored in science and technology.一般来说，外国大学毕业生如果是人文专业，可以在美国合法工作一年，如果是科学技术专业，可以合法工作三年。In an attempt to beat the long odds, some Chinese H-1B applicants pray to Buddha. Others eat at a dim sum restaurant chain whose Chinese name means “bringing good luck.” And some pray while dining at Chick-fil-A restaurants because an urban legend in the Chinese community says doing so can help.为了这渺茫的机会，一些中国H-1B申请人求神拜佛。还有人在一家中式点心连锁餐厅用餐，因为它的中文名字的意思是“好运来了”。有些人在Chick-fil-A（福来鸡）餐厅用餐时祈祷，因为华人社区传说，这样做会有帮助。One of those turning to prayer is Wei, a woman who asked that I use only her surname. Ms. Wei visited temples in New York and California. “I would pray to Buddha,” she told me. “‘I’m going into the H-1B lottery. I really want to stay in the U.S., I don’t want to go back to China.’”魏女士（音）就是这样一位祈祷者，她要求我只使用她的姓氏。魏女士去过纽约和加州的寺庙。“我求佛祖保佑，”她告诉我。“我要参加H-1B抽签了。我真的很想留在美国，我不想回中国。”She first applied for a visa in March 2023, only to be denied. Four months later, the day after she visited a temple in California, she received the approval notice for her second try.2023年3月她第一次申请签证时，祈祷没有奏效，她被拒签了。四个月后，在她前往加州一座寺庙的第二天，她收到了第二次申请的批准通知。“Even though there didn’t seem to be any hardship in my life, I felt hopeless,” she said. “I felt like a zombie.”“虽然我的生活似乎没有任何困难，但我感到绝望，”她说。“我感觉自己好像行尸走肉。”Now Ms. Wei works in the marketing department at a finance company in Silicon Valley. Her ideal job would be to work for a group that advocates human rights and women’s rights, but her job options are limited to employers that would sponsor her visa.现在，魏女士在硅谷一家金融公司的市场部工作。她的理想是为一个倡导人权和妇女权利的组织工作，但她的工作选择仅限于为她提供签证担保的雇主。“I was drawn to the U.S. by its freedom, but after arriving, I realized that freedom is only for citizens,” she said. “The freedom for foreigners is very limited.”“我被美国的自由所吸引，但到了之后，我意识到自由只属于公民，”她说。“给外国人的自由非常有限。”Another émigré, Andrea Gu, left China a decade ago to study computer science. As a member of the L.G.B.T.Q. community, she believed that the United States would be a much friendlier place than China. She never expected what she would have to go through to live and work legally in her adopted country.另一名移民安德里亚·顾（音）十年前从中国来到这里学习计算机科学。作为LGBTQ群体的一员，她相信美国是一个比中国友好得多的地方。她从来没有想到，为了在她的第二故乡合法地生活和工作，她会经历怎样的磨难。Her first H-1B application was rejected. She was approved on her second try, so she traveled back to China to activate the visa at a U.S. Consulate. That was in early 2020. The pandemic and its many complications for travel kept her in China. The night before her visa interview at the U.S. Consulate in Shanghai, she was so nervous that she cried until 3 a.m. She got the visa and moved to New York.她的第一次H-1B申请被拒绝了。第二次申请获批后，她回到中国，在美国领事馆激活了签证。那是在2020年初。大流行及其给旅行带来的诸多麻烦使她留在了中国。在美国驻上海领事馆签证面试的前一天晚上，她非常紧张，一直哭到凌晨3点。后来她拿到了签证，搬到了纽约。But her difficult journey continued. She applied for permanent residency, but the application was rejected because her lawyers had made a minor error on a form. Then, in 2022, her company started layoffs. She kept her job but was jolted by anxiety. H-1B visa holders who are laid off have 60 days to find another employer to sponsor their visa, or they will have to leave the United States.但她艰难的旅程仍在继续。她申请了永久居留权，但被拒绝了，因为她的律师在表格上犯了一个小错误。然后，在2022年，她的公司开始裁员。她保住了工作，但被焦虑所困扰。被解雇的H-1B签证持有人必须在60天内找到另一个雇主来担保他们的签证，否则就必须离开美国。“I came to the U.S. because I want freedom, a better life,” she told me. “Now I can’t go home, can’t change jobs and can’t travel abroad.”“我来美国是因为我想要自由，想要更好的生活，”她告诉我。“现在我不能回家，不能换工作，也不能出国旅行。”Feeling trapped by the process was a common experience for the people I interviewed.对我采访过的人来说，被这个程序所困是一种常见的经历。Mr. Zheng, the computer science student who is now pursuing a second master’s degree, has not visited his family in China since 2018. He has heard too many horror stories about people having trouble re-entering the United States as the two countries’ relations have deteriorated. And he is now separated by the Atlantic Ocean from his girlfriend, also a Chinese émigré, who failed to secure a work visa, so her employer transferred her to Britain in July. As Chinese passport holders, they have to jump through hoops to visit each other.正在攻读第二个硕士学位的计算机科学专业学生戴维·郑自2018年以来就没有看望过他在中国的家人。随着两国关系的恶化，他听过太多人们再入境美国时遇到困难的恐怖故事。他的女友也是中国移民，由于未能获得工作签证，雇主在7月份将她调到了英国。两人之间现在隔着一座大西洋。作为中国护照持有者，他们如果想去探望对方，需要越过重重障碍。Mr. Zheng misses her, and she misses him and her friends in the United States.戴维·郑想念她，她也想念他，还有她在美国的朋友们。“After living here for eight years, we can’t officially call it home because of our immigration status,” he said. “But in our hearts, we feel like it’s home to some extent.”“在这里生活了八年之后，由于我们的移民身份，我们不能正式称它为家，”他说。“但在我们心中，某种程度上，我们觉得这里就是家。”
