Immigrants targeted by the proposal are those with “advanced academic degrees, or those with exceptional ability in the sciences, arts or business,” according to the statement. The qualifications are flexible, because each candidate is unique, Snyder spokesman Dave Murray said.

More than 25,500 international students attend universities and colleges in Michigan, and they add more than $750 million to the state’s economy, Snyder said.

Eighty-two percent of these students working in the U.S. after graduation earned advanced degrees, he added.

But to many of MSU’s international residents, a bigger issue than staying in the U.S. is to find a job in the first place and to have the required skills necessary for the position.

“With a work visa, (it’s) very difficult,” MSU Fulbright scholar Ahmed Alsuleimani said.

Alsuleimani said he’s completing a master’s degree before he decides where to go and what to do.

He said obtaining a visa through a government-sponsored program, such as Fulbright, seemed much easier than the prospect of acquiring a work visa.

Mechanical engineering senior and international student Zhenyu Chen said he plans to stay in the U.S. after graduation, but is unsure whether to work or go to graduate school.

Chen said some employers would rather hire a U.S. citizen than enter into visa procedures to hire a resident of a foreign country.

Chen said Snyder’s proposal helps him consider Detroit as a place of residence, but his ultimate decision depends on the job.

Office for International Students and Scholars Director Peter Briggs said he applauds Snyder for being ?a proponent of immigration as a potential revitalizing force in Michigan, “a state that was the only state to lose population in the last census.”

Murray said retaining international students is vital because they represent a large portion of Michigan’s brain drain.

“We want them to stay rather than take their skills elsewhere,” Murray said.

Snyder said another benefit for Detroit is that immigrants “file patents ?at twice the rate of U.S.-born ?citizens” and launch more than a quarter of all small businesses.

“Immigrants create jobs, and Detroit is a great ?value opportunity in terms of business costs and ?overall quality of life,” Snyder said in the statement.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said the proposal could potentially bring jobs and population to the city.

“In order for Detroit ?to grow again, we need highly-trained workers ?to move in, open businesses and raise their families,” Duggan said in a ?statement. “The governor’s plan opens the door for more skilled immigrants to ?thrive in Detroit’s fertile ground for economic innovation.”