Refers to immigrants with at least a university degree.  These individuals make up a substantial proportion of the foreign born in many economically advanced countries. For example, immigrants in the generally high-income countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) tend to have more education than their native-born peers —often working in essential workforce sectors with substantial shortages such as health care and education which also typically require some sort of credential or license.

There is no universally agreed-upon definition of the highly skilled immigrant. Some lawmakers define using a salary scale; others use the level of education.

Many highly skilled immigrants face underemployment or unemployment. These are typically conditions impacted by undervaluing education and professional credentials, language skills, legal status, and discrimination.

While many native-born workers are also overqualified for the jobs they hold, rates tend to be higher among immigrants. As of 2021, approximately one-third of highly educated immigrants in the OECD countries and European Union Member States were overqualified for their jobs, according to the OECD, with highest rates in South Korea (73%), Canada (57%), and Costa Rica (56%).

In the U.S. 35% of the 40.7 million immigrant adults (ages 25 and older) in the country as of 2022 held a bachelor's degree or higher (Kreimer 2024). The largest numbers came from India (14%), China and Hong Kong (8%), the Philippines (7%), and Mexico (6%).

During the pandemic, to address teacher shortages and prevent staffing reductions while new university graduates waited to take the general teacher licensure test, many U.S. states temporarily eased requirements. Some subsequently changed their education licensure processes permanently. Virginia offers a provisional license to eligible internationally licensed educators; and Nebraska eliminated use of the basic skills test altogether, streamlining the licensure process for foreign- and U.S.-trained educators alike.

The offering of microcredentials and certificates (typically short, nondegree, certified learning courses that lead to a certificate or badge, that with additional credentials or courses may lead to a larger credential) has expanded in recent years to provide rapid credentials for workers with particularly needed skills. Microcredentials can allow highly skilled immigrants to obtain host-country credentials quickly and affordably. While available to native- and foreign-born workers alike, some microcredential programs such as Google’s Career Certificate Program, which offers short-term certificates in high-growth and in-demand fields, have been specifically targeted to immigrants among others.

Alternate terms: highly-educated migrants, highly-qualified migrants