Legal Status Categorization, Transitions, Starting Points as Employment Stratifying Mechanisms: Evidence from US Student-Migrant-Workers

Legal status is increasingly recognized as a hierarchical axis of stratification shaping migrants’ access to employment and rights. The study reported herein examined how three facets of legal status—current categorization, transitions, and initial “starting points”—are associated with the employment conditions of student-migrant-workers (individuals who are on student visas and under post-graduation work permits). Using pooled National Survey of College Graduates (NSCG) data from 2015 to 2021, the analysis employed ordinary least squares and logistic regression models, supplemented by propensity score matching, to assess associations between these legal-status facets and annual earnings and four benefits: health insurance, pension plans, profit-sharing, and paid vacation. Findings show that current student-migrant-workers earned significantly less and had poorer benefit access than their comparable counterparts with temporary work visas, dependent visa, permanent residency, or naturalized citizenship. Transitions from student to other statuses (whether temporary, dependent, or permanent) are associated with improved employment conditions, though the extent varies by destination status. Even after becoming permanent, those who initially entered with student visas continued to earn less than those who initially entered with temporary work visas; this disparity narrows over time, but persists for decades. The study contributes evidence that legal-status categorization, transitions, and starting points operate as stratifying mechanisms of employment even among highly educated migrants.