Meta scientist Zifan Wang announced on X that he would be moving out of the US after seven years, including his years of study and work, as his visa was not stamped for re-entry. The incident drew a huge backlash as the Donald Trump administration has taken a hard stand against foreigners living on US soil, though reports of OnlyFans creators getting O-1 visa to work in the US surface from time to time. “When I visited my family and friends in China last month, my O1 visa stamp for re-entrance was denied so it is not possible for me to return US immediately after my trip, which was unexpected and crazy. I have been studying and working in US prob like for 7 years,” Wang posted.
‘We are brain-draining ourselves’: DC founder responds
Alec Stapp, co-founder of Washington DC thinktank, Institute for Progress, said this is a case of ‘braindraining ourselves’. Citing Zifan Wang’s academic credentials, Stapp said Wang did his PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon, has 6,900 academic research citations, and works as machine learning reserach scientists at Meta. “Moving from the US to the UK because we denied his visa re-entry. We are brain draining ourselves,” Stapp added.
What is O-1 or Einstein visa?
While the US job narrative is dominated by H-1B debate as America First activists claim that tech companies hire cheap labor in the name of skilled employees from foreign countries like India and China, the O-1 visa rises above this mediocrity claim. This is for people with extraordinary ability or achievement and is nicknamed the Einstein visa. The extraordinary ability can be in science, education, business, athletics, arts, television industry. Many social media commentators, however, justified that he might have failed to do his proper paperwork, and that a Chinese national should not be working in US AI etc.
