A multi-university study recently released their findings in a report that says that U.S. companies may soon face a serious "reverse brain drain" of highly skilled foreign nationals departing for their home countries, according to CNN Money.  The Kaufmann Institute-published report, "Intellectual Property, the Immigration Backlog, and a Reverse Brain-Drain" by researchers from Harvard, Duke, and New York Universities, found that most Indian and Chinese foreign nationals in the U.S. have graduate degrees – a highly desired asset in their home countries’ burgeoning economies.  "These are highly educated people," says the study’s lead author Vivek Wadhwa.  " India and China would be happy to add these people to their work forces."  

The study examined the three primary categories of employment-based cards (EB-1 visas for ‘priority workers,’ EB-2 visas for professionals with advanced degrees, and EB-3 for ‘professional workers) of which the U.S. approves about 120,000 annually.  Those conducting the study found that over half a million tech professionals were still waiting for green cards in the US at the end of fiscal year 2006.  " U.S. policy is creating a precarious situation by making green card applicants wait too long for permission to work in the U.S. " said Wadhwa of the findings.  

The dilemma extends beyond manpower, according to the study.  Foreign nationals were listed as inventors or co-inventors in 25.6% of international patent applications filed from the U.S. in 2006, up from 7.6% in 1998.  New Jersey had the greatest percentage of foreign nationals contributing to intellectual properties: 37% of patent applications listed foreign nationals as inventors.  Individual companies also showed a heavy reliance on foreign inventors:  Qualcomm, Merck, and General Electric had 72%, 65%, and 74% of their patent submissions, respectively, listing the inventors as foreign nationals.   

The full report, published by the Kauffman Institute, can be found online at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1008366.