Workers
U.S. IMMIGRATION WORKERS
Let’s roll up our sleeves and talk about workers. Hello workers. What do they say, the harder I work, the more luck I have?
We will cover 3 of the H visas here. The H3 trainee visa, the famous H1b which is popular among people with a 4-year degree or equivalent, and the H2b for unskilled temporary workers.
The H category also includes the H1A which was for nurses which has been repealed and is now called the H1C. We have the H1B for department of defense employees and in certain circumstances for fashion models, certain doctors and specialty occupations. We will be discussing the Specialty Occupation category in detail. It also includes the H2A for temporary agricultural workers.
Let’s start with the H2 category.
There are two parts to it. The H1A is for persons involved in agricultural services or labor. It is temporary and the employer must show that he or she has made serious recruitment efforts and application. Of course, this is a temporary visa; the spouse and children can accompany the primary beneficiary.
The second part of the H2 visa is called H2B. This is referred to as a work visa by many people. It is not as well known as the H1B, for persons with a four-year degree or equivalent, but has some uses. It is hard to get and frankly, if you can avoid it, do so, whether you are the employer or employee. In order to prove that there are no American workers available for the position, you have to advertise it. This is neither easy to deal with nor quick. This case can take at least 3-5 months to win in some cases. If you have a business, you really need to predict your needs well in advance if you are counting on the H2B. The visa covers both skilled and unskilled workers. The key to this visa is showing the temporariness. You see, with the H1B, you can have someone temporarily filling a permanent position but with the H2B, the person must temporarily fill a temporary position; get the difference? With the H1b, the position can be a regular permanent one, such as an accountant’s position, but the foreign person is filling it temporarily. Here, a position such as accountant is not possible as it is usually a permanent position, but someone who is setting up a restaurant is a person coming here for a temporary period of time, say 6 months in a temporary position to set up the restaurant.
In order to demonstrate temporariness, you must have a need that is either peakload, intermittent, seasonal or a one-time thing. Intermittent means comes and goes. Let’s say you are a hotel owner in a tourist area, you need staff in July and August as you are overly busy only during the 2 summer months. You are starting up a restaurant and need specific types of employees to help you set up. You have to show that no US workers are available, so advertise. But don’t simply advertise. Speak to your attorney because there are certain requirements you must meet. 66,000 of these are available per year and last year they ran out.
