The United States is much more dependent on foreign-born workers than are the major EU countries. And, these workers in the U.S. are mostly in the U.S. without visas expressly tied to work, which is the case for European countries.

The U.S. has a higher foreign-born worker share than does Germany, Spain and France. The share in the U.S. was 13% in 2000, 16% in 2010 and 19% in 20204. In Germany, Spain and France the foreign worker share is between 15% and 18%.  In 2000, the foreign worker share in these three countries did not exceed 10%.

In 2024, a majority of foreign-born workers were from outside the EU (Germany, Turkey; Spain, Morocco and Latin America; France, Algeria and Morocco).  Thus, even with large numbers of Poles and Bulgarians who work within the EU outside their country, the dominant source of foreign-born workers are from outside the EU. Generally speaking,  the non-EU workers are admitted on a work visa.

Likely due to much stricter rules in Europe about checking the papers of workers, the share of workers there who are unauthorized is very low, 1 – 5% of foreign workers, than in the U.S. – about 25%. This high figure for the U.S. is due to a large surge in unauthorized workers during 1990 – 2006, responding to demand for workers in meat processing, textiles, construction and farming.