Barjasteh, a graduate student, said he plans to use his student visa to stay in the U.S. as long as he can, but he’s not entirely sure what his fate will be after graduation.

President Barack Obama recently announced the White House will push immigration reform in 2013, which could mean good news for international students, such as Barjasteh, hoping to stay and work in the U.S. after graduation. But in a country where demands for green cards exceed supply, annual caps on the number of work visas mean thousands of international students risk being unable to stay in the U.S. after graduation.

According to fall 2012 Office of the Registrar reports, there are 6,722 international students at MSU.

Office for International Students and Scholars Director Peter Briggs said after graduation, international students could be attracted to stay in the U.S. for numerous reasons, such as professional opportunities, new freedoms or the American lifestyle.

During his inaugural address last week, Obama pledged to reform immigration policies and keep more international students in the country.

“Our journey is not complete until we find a better way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see America as a land of opportunity, until bright young students and engineers are enlisted in our workforce rather than expelled from our country,” he said.

On a student visa, international students are permitted to work in the U.S. for one year after graduation.

“But employers know they can only work legally for a year, so there’s a lot of discouragement when (international) students are competing for jobs,” Briggs said.

After the first year, students must be sponsored by an employer or family member, or marry an American citizen.

Briggs said some worry international students come to the U.S. and take jobs qualified Americans can fill. He said his usual response is that these international students are filling deficits in skilled workers in science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, fields.

According to Congressional Research Service and Briggs, 39 percent of STEM students are from foreign countries.

Congress has made attempts to reform immigration policies within the last year.

To keep high-skilled immigrants in the U.S., the House passed the STEM Jobs Act in November 2012.

It eliminated the green card lottery, which gave both low-skilled and high-skilled workers from underrepresented countries an equal chance to receive a green card. Instead, the bill grants up to 55,000 green cards each year to programs for students who graduate from American universities with advanced STEM degrees.

However, the Democratic-controlled Senate failed to pass the bill because of concern it would not give equal opportunity to all immigrants.

Immigration reform remains a comprehensive issue lawmakers are expected to address in the upcoming year, especially after Latino voters helped Obama win reelection. Now, students, such as Barjasteh, must wait for lawmakers to take action.

“If they like it here, how they figure this out can be a very stressful time in anybody’s life,” Briggs said.