The Reason Behind Chinese Immigrants’ Affection for Chick-fil-A in the U.S.

(SeaPRwire) –   During a recent weekend comedy performance for a Chinese audience in northern Virginia, the host posed a question: “What food do you like?” The most enthusiastic response that filled the venue was “Chick-fil-A!”

“You still haven’t won your H-1B lottery, ha?” the host joked, referring to the work visa most sought after by Chinese students.

This is a common joke within the Chinese student community, where individuals hoping for U.S. visas feel their success could depend on an unlikely factor: an American chicken sandwich and its restaurant chain.

While Chick-fil-A has no presence in China, it appeals to Chinese students in the U.S. for a straightforward reason: the name “Chick-fil-A” is a homophone for “check files.” In a culture that places significant importance on homophones and numbers, this is thought to bring good fortune to those navigating complex visa processes.

“Having a Chick-fil-A meal makes me feel like I’m closer to getting a green card,” stated Zhou Yilu, an AI software engineer in his late 30s residing in Wilmington, Delaware.

Zhou’s visa status has been a turbulent journey since he came to the U.S. as a student 14 years ago. While transitioning between four different visa types, he was frequently required to submit additional documents, with one visa being approved just days before it expired. It was at this point that he began relying on the well-known chicken restaurant.

The originator of this idea is unknown, but it has circulated for years among Chinese students, particularly for lottery-based visa applications like the H-1B, which have grown increasingly difficult to obtain.

Some individuals 3D-print the Chick-fil-A logo onto coasters. Others embroider the logo into small cross-stitch keychain pendants. Many change their social media profile pictures to the Chick-fil-A logo, occasionally altering its color from red to green—symbolizing the coveted green card.

Chick-fil-A did not reply to emails requesting comment.

They believe they’re one wordplay away from ‘stay’

Wordplay has long been popular among Chinese people, especially the younger generation.

For instance, eating apples—”pingguo” in Mandarin—is a tradition on Christmas Eve because the word resembles “ping’an ye,” meaning Christmas Eve. Brides sometimes carry bouquets of lettuce because “shengcai” (lettuce) sounds like “getting rich,” a welcome sentiment at weddings. A more ancient example is the aversion to the number four, as it sounds similar to the word for death in Mandarin.

This superstition surrounding Chick-fil-A highlights the significant challenges immigrants face to work legally in the U.S., even for those with elite educations and senior professional roles.

Over 46,000 Chinese students and workers received H-1B visa approvals in 2024. Chinese applicants made up 11.7% of all approvals, the second-largest national group after India, which accounted for 70%.

Fan Wu, a data scientist in Indianapolis, was not selected in the H-1B lottery, despite changing his social media profile picture to the chain’s red logo and traveling to a Japanese Taoist temple in Hawaii to pray.

“I felt compelled to explore these mystical avenues,” he explained. “The lottery is inherently a game of chance. Since it relies on luck, we seek out another form of mystery to resonate with it.”

The phenomenon extends beyond chicken. The desire for improved odds in visa lotteries has created a new occupation: agents who pray at temples on the other side of the Pacific Ocean for clients.

When students contact 24-year-old Meng Yanqing in Beijing via the social platform Xiaohongshu, he queues to enter the famed Lama Temple to pray. He holds a paper with a wish for an H-1B visa, a process that requires “precise positioning” using the client’s personal details like passport numbers and birthdays.

“I respect them; they have their needs, and I provide the service,” said Meng, who also assists clients in purchasing consecrated bracelets from the temple and shipping them to the U.S. “I sincerely wish them the best.”

The visa issue is always looming

A recent abrupt proposal by the Trump administration to levy a $100,000 fee on H-1B visas shocked Chinese students and workers, causing confusion and a more intimidating environment. It was later clarified that this would apply only to new visas. However, this unstable situation increased the anxiety for Chinese students, who already confront language and cultural hurdles and a competitive job market.

According to some experts, the sponsorship of green cards by employers through visas like the H-1B is a key reason the United States can draw in top global talent.

“A real talent pipeline,” remarked Juliet Gelatt, associate director of the U.S. Program at the Washington-based Migration Policy Institute. “We’ve really benefited as a country and as an economy from bringing in smart young people from all around the world, including from China.”

The climate of suspicion around Chinese immigrants, particularly in tech sectors, adds to the difficulty. Experts caution that this undermines the U.S.’s capacity to attract international talent.

A manager in his late 20s at a new energy company eventually changed his profile picture to the chicken logo after waiting months for his visa. Preferring anonymity due to concerns about his visa status, he provided only his surname, Yang. Describing his life in the United States, he said, “It feels like living under someone else’s roof.”

U.S. regulations restrict participation in the H-1B visa lottery. Students with STEM majors can receive three years of optional practical training on their F-1 student visas, while other majors are eligible for one year. Once this period ends, they often resort to Chick-fil-A superstitions as they pursue a work visa to remain in the country.

For Harriet Peng, a data analyst in northern Virginia, merely eating the chicken sandwich and keeping the company’s T-shirt on her chair were insufficient. After multiple lottery failures, she visited a temple in upstate New York to pray herself—or, in her words, to “apply scientific materialist methods within metaphysics.”

The temple houses numerous deity sculptures, each governing a specific life domain. However, Peng notes, there is no designated god for visas.

Despite this, Peng quipped, “I knelt and prayed in front of nearly every god, just in case they are all acquainted with each other.”