Foreign-born scientists and engineers are increasingly present in technology companies in the United States. Some of them are immigrants, that is, aliens admitted to the US for lawful permanent residence; others are non-immigrants, that is, aliens admitted to the US for a specific period of time for temporary work. Whether immigrant or non-immigrant, an overwhelming majority of foreign-born scientists and engineers enter the US technology sector through one single H-1B visa program. Using a case study of Indian engineers, this article shows different sub-paths of the H-1B visa program, which leads to significant differences in their immigration, work, and socio-economic experiences. The article is based on the secondary sources and 40 in-depth interviews conducted with Indian engineers working in US technology companies.

外国出生的科学家和工程师越来越多地出现在美国的技术公司中。其中一些是移民，即为合法永久居留而被允许进入美国的外国人。其他人是非移民，即在特定时期内被允许进入美国从事临时工作的外国人。无论是移民还是非移民，绝大多数外国出生的科学家和工程师都是通过一项H-1B签证计划进入美国技术领域的。本文通过对印度工程师的案例研究，展示了H-1B签证计划的不同子路径，这导致了他们在移民，工作和社会经济经验方面的显着差异。本文是基于第二手资料以及对在美国技术公司工作的印度工程师进行的40次深度访谈而得出的。