Business-Based Sponsorship and Working in the U.S. | United States Immigration Law Guide

The H-1 visa category is used by U.S. employers for the temporary employment of foreign nationals in professional positions requiring specific educational and professional credentials. The foreign national must possess the minimum requirements for performance of the duties of the position and the position itself must qualify as a “specialty occupation,” i.e., one that minimally requires possession of a four-year university degree or equivalent. Furthermore, the employer must be able to demonstrate that alien’s salary can be paid as of the year of filing with DOL (i.e., business tax return, financial statement, business bank statements).

The initial period of stay granted to the alien admitted to the U.S. is governed by the time required by the employer, up to a maximum of three years. Extensions of stay may be obtained, but the alien cannot be continuously employed in H-1 status for more than six years.

The United States L-1 visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows companies operating both in the US and abroad to transfer certain classes of employee from its foreign operations to the USA operations for up to seven years. The employee must have worked for a subsidiary, parent, affiliate or branch office of your U.S. company outside of the U.S. for at least one year out the last three years.

The following is a listing of documentation/information required by to commence the preparation and filing of an I-129L Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker (Corporate Transferee Visa).

Alien’s personal documents including:

• Completed Personal Analysis Questionnaire.
• Copies of passport and I-94.
• Copies of academic credentials, i.e., diploma, degrees, transcripts and if necessary, educational equivalency evaluation (with certified translations if applicable).
• Copies of marriage certificate and birth certificates of spouse or children and advice on if we are to include family members (there will be an additional fee for inclusion of family members) (with certified translations if applicable).
• Copy of alien’s resume, which must include the details of his/her professional experience for the past five years.

Employer documents including:

• Completed Employer Questionnaire.
• Job title and five to seven sentence job description, highlighting key names and duties, monetary value of major projects or clients, salary, location where work will be performed (worksite).
• Contact person name, address, telephone, and fax numbers.
• Documentation of the Parent/Subsidiary Relationship between U.S. Company and Parent/Affiliate abroad.
• Articles of incorporation, partnership agreements, or other forms of business organization for the U.S. affiliate
• Two (2) Organizational Charts reflecting the following:

1. Applicant’s position in the company prior to proposed transfer (insert the titles of both supervisors and individuals/departments supervised).
2. Applicant’s proposed position after the transfer (insert the titles of both supervisors and individuals/departments supervised).

If you own or run a business, and you wish to sponsor a foreign worker, an Immigration Attorney Morristown, NJ can help expedite the labor certification process. Program Electronic Review Management, also known as PERM, is the first part of the labor certification process. Before PERM, stage one of the labor certification process could take up to four years, and was completed entirely by mail. The government introduced the PERM program a year and a half ago. As of now, after you register via computer, stage one only takes six to 10 months.

Ironically, this has caused backlog in stage two. After you receive your certification, you must apply for your employee’s I-140 immigrant visa petition. Although you can progress quickly onto an adjustment of status appointment, there is an adjustment of status backlog. For sponsorship cases, the visas being granted in December 2006 were applied for in 2002 for skilled workers and 2001 for unskilled workers.

The labor certification process takes time and skill. Although an attorney’s help is not required by law, an experienced immigration lawyer can outline all your options, and help you to select the best one.

To apply for a work permit, or employment authorization document (EAD), you must demonstrate need for the permit. You will file an I-765. You may need to provide the following:

1. Personal affidavit detailing need for basic or commercial driver’s license.
2. Personal affidavit detailing need for Social Security Number.
3. Personal affidavit detailing need for working papers.
4. Job offer letter from potential employer, indicating need for Social Security Number for hiring.
5. Proof of need for requirement of Social Security Number to obtain health insurance.
6. Proof of need for requirement of Social Security Number to open a bank account and carry out banking transactions.

You need a Social Security card for many reasons. A Social Security Number is:

1. Necessary to open a bank account and carry out banking transactions.
2. Necessary for enrollment in state school lunch programs.
3. Required to obtain car insurance.
4. Required for certain educational or personal loans.
5. Required for miscellaneous legal transactions.

You can get a Social Security card once you’ve obtained your work permit. Just take that permit down to the Social Security office, and the process should take about a month.

Usually you will be issued a work permit 60 days after filing for an adjustment of status. You can take your work permit to the Social Security Office to get a Social Security Number, and take both your work permit and SSN to the DMV and get a driver’s license.

Sometimes a non-citizen will marry a U.S. citizen and apply for a green card without any intention to work in the U.S. He or she might plan to be a stay-at-home parent, for example. It’s probably still a good idea to apply for a work permit, however, and to file this along with the rest of the adjustment paperwork. The work permit is an excellent form of photo identification, and it’s a great way of getting a Social Security Number during your adjustment process, instead of waiting for your final green card approval. That Social Security Number also allows you to get a driver’s license, and insurance. You might also later change your mind and decide to seek work. If you file after you secure your green card, you’ll pay a filing fee, but if you apply for a working permit during the adjustment process, there is no fee.