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For professionals like me who work with international students, 2025 was a very tough year, and a very sad year. International education was clearly under attack, international students were being unnecessarily scrutinized, and many of us who advised these students felt powerless. I received numerous messages from international students telling me: “Marcelo, I still want a job in the U.S., but we’re not welcome here.”
That said, I haven’t lost hope. Despite the fact that that there have been efforts to make it harder for U.S. employers to hire international students, the dependency of the U.S. economy on international workers hasn’t disappeared—and with the right tactics, many international students will continue to secure quality high-paying jobs in the U.S.
To that end, when talking with international students in 2026, my main message will include the following five pieces of advice.
1. Join the H-1B lottery
Last year saw one of the most significant changes in the H-1B program since its inspection—a new weighted H-1B selection. This weighted selection criteria will likely favor lottery participants with higher wages, and there’s a lot of speculation that international college grads with limited work experience might be hurt by this new method because they don’t command high enough of salaries to be successful in the lottery.
However, we shouldn’t get ahead and ourselves and jump to conclusions. 2026 will be a year of learning for us all, and it could take a few years before we collect enough data on this new method before we can confidently derive any meaningful conclusions. So, the main focus for students now should be on getting hired and joining the H-1B lottery—not worrying about the odds of winning the lottery.
2. Consider pursuing high demand STEM fields
Although it’s generally not a good idea to be entirely focused on H-1B visa lottery odds, it does make sense to be practical. And if you want to be practical about H-1B odds moving forward, it might make sense to consider pursuing highly specialized in-demand STEM fields such as AI, machine learning, and other related technologies. The reason is salaries in these fields can be higher than other fields, even for entry-level roles, and that can be an advantage in the new weighted system. At the same time, it’s important to study and pursue fields you have a passion for, as opposed to purely chasing a visa. A healthy balance is needed.
3. Target firms that have sponsored in the past
This is always a smart way to go, and it will continue to be a smart strategy this year. Firms already familiar with the H-1B process may be more willing to continue to hire international students.
4. Avoid visa fatigue
Conversations about visas changes in the H-1B program can drain our energy and remove the focus from building a competitive profile that differentiates you from American candidates and leads to great job offers and sponsorships.
5. Understand the AI impact in your field
This is super critical. U.S. employers will be looking for candidates who can leverage the power of AI to make fast impact to their organizations.
A final note
On campuses across the U.S., I think it’s very important to move away from having conversations with our international students about navigating visa uncertainty and identifying visa options beyond F-1 after graduation. Instead, the focus of these conversations must be on helping international students maximize their international advantages and get hired. I’m very eager to be back on campus this spring working with universities and international students again. Last year, we were all way too focused on understanding visa options, and that’s not the path that will lead to job offers in the U.S. in 2026.
Marcelo Barros is the author of The International Advantage: Get Noticed. Get Hired!, which gives international students advice on how to find the job they want in the U.S. Barros is a sought-after speaker at U.S. universities on the topic of beating visa odds and landing a great job in the U.S. as an international student. To learn more about Barros and his work, connect with him via LinkedIn and be sure to join his job search training programs for international students. Next stops for The International Advantage include the University of Charleston (January 29, 2026) and Davidson University (February 9th, 2026).
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