Admission Categories and Differences in Annual Earnings and Job Quality of New Permanent Resident Immigrants

Abstract

This study uses longitudinal data from The New Immigrant Survey to examine the role of immigration admission categories in stratifying new immigrants in the U.S. labor market. More specifically, I explore differences in employment outcomes among family reunification immigrants, employment-based immigrants, diversity program immigrants, refugees, and legalized immigrants who are currently employed. To this end, the following research questions motivate this study: 1) Do point of entry categorizations, as defined by broad admission class or visa categories, influence the annual earnings of new immigrants to the United States?; 2) Are there quantitative differences in the quality of jobs between different categories of immigrants?; and 3) How are these categorizations consequential for stratification processes?