Uzbekistan Seeks New U.S. Work Pathways During New York Migration Talks

Uzbek officials met with U.S. schools, employers and legal advisers in New York this week as the government pursues formal channels for its citizens to work in America, according to Uzbekistan’s migration agency.

A Tashkent delegation, which included representatives from the Migration Agency, the Foreign Ministry and the Uzbek Embassy in Washington, held a string of meetings on the sidelines of the U.N. International Migration Review Forum. Delegates discussed training partnerships, recruitment arrangements and legal protections for Uzbek workers with organizations ranging from universities to law firms and private recruiters.

Agreements reached in preliminary talks cover several fields. A Missouri university signed a cooperation pact to train medical staff for employment in the United States, and a trucking trade school outlined plans for a 160-hour course designed to meet U.S. licensing expectations for drivers. Agricultural employer groups and a recruitment firm also outlined steps to expand seasonal hiring, including preparatory programs lasting about two months and support for processing farm-worker visa requests.

Officials also met with a New York immigration law firm to review U.S. temporary-worker pathways and ways to bolster legal safeguards for Uzbek nationals on assignment in the United States. Delegation members said these conversations touched on a range of nonimmigrant categories commonly used for temporary employment, while stressing that any expansion will hinge on U.S. visa rules and actual demand from American employers.

At the forum, U.N. and IOM leaders framed the global migration agenda, and Uzbekistan’s migration chief described domestic reforms aimed at preparing workers for overseas jobs through vocational courses and language instruction. Delegation officials emphasized that sending citizens abroad is both a source of household income and an area where the state is investing in workforce skills.

Uzbekistan is pushing this effort as remittances remain a major part of the national economy. The central bank reported nearly $10 billion flowed through conventional money-transfer channels and roughly $8.6 billion moved via card-to-card transfers last year — together making cross-border work a financial lifeline for many families. President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has urged diplomats to press Washington about inclusion in U.S. seasonal-worker schemes, while more than 100,000 Uzbek laborers were recorded as recruited to Russia recently and roughly 1.3 million worked there temporarily, underlining the country’s dependence on overseas employment.

Migration specialists and U.S. employer representatives who followed the meetings said the talks are a logical next step but cautioned that legal and administrative barriers remain. “American hiring programs can open doors, but they require sustained coordination and clear pathways for certification,” said one human-resources executive who has worked with foreign recruitment; a migration analyst added that approvals for workers from countries not listed as eligible under U.S. regulations are possible, but typically adjudicated case by case.