[emeraldx]

As far as I know, there is a minimum salary requirement for the Blue Card visa. So this blows the 'Cheap-talent-taking-over, Reduced-average-wages' argument out of the water.

IMO, the reason this is happening is simple. 1) H1-B visas have an arbitrary numerical limitation every year, which is not tied to reflect the actual dearth of talent, and hasn't been updated since years.

2) They're extremely unreliable. You can only apply once a year, and it's a lottery. So employers aren't even sure if the candidate currently interviewing can get a work permit if hired. And the wait time to reapply is one year. Very inefficient.

3) The EU/Canada/Australia have a very streamlined visa process, allowing qualified candidates to quickly get a visa. Easy to attract and retain talent.

If done right, these countries will benefit hugely like the US did in past decades. The new workers means more taxes, more demand/consumer spending and hence boost to the economy.

Also, I must mention the low birth rates in EU (as normally happens in developed countries) which will start to show next generation onwards. If not for these new immigrants and their tax dollars (euros/francs/kronas) it'll be hard to keep up with the social benefits and expenditure. If not for immigration these countries will end up like Japan with an old population and in massive, compounding debt.