FIVE important facts you need to know before hiring a foreign worker
- There are often different ways to hire foreign workers through our immigration system and each of them has different benefits, eligibility requirements, processing time , application procedures, and pro’s and con’s.
- Whatever visa or green card you file for your foreign worker, you as an employer will be the Petitioner in most cases and your worker will be the beneficiary of the petition.
- As a sponsoring Petitioner, in most cases, you are, in some categories, responsible for all or most of the government filing fees and possibly other fees.
- Some immigration categories require you to prove the financial ability to pay your foreign worker a fair wage. In some cases, the state minimum wage is the only required wage while in other cases a prevailing wage must be paid.
- Some categories require going through the Department of Labor’s labor certification process before proceeding with a petition with USCIS. The labor certification process is designed to assure the employment of your foreign worker(s) will not adversely affect the job opportunities, wages and working conditions of American workers.
Most common ways to sponsor a foreign worker
There are three main types of foreign workers:
- Skilled workers (bachelor’s degree or above)
- Unskilled workers
- Seasonal workers
Visas for Skilled workers
Depending on the nature of the job and the credential of the prospective worker, there are numerous visa categories available such as H-1B specialty occupation worker Visa, L Visa for intracompany executives, O visa, TN visa etc. For Permanent residence there is the EB-2 category for Advanced Degree employees and EB-3 for professional employees.
Visas for unskilled and seasonal workers
Depending on the nature of the employment and credential of the prospective employee, there are options available for workers of this kind such as EB-3 unskilled worker green card, H-2B seasonal worker etc.
How can we help you?
Our Chicago based immigration lawyers have extensive experience in representation business owners and hiring managers across the world to bring in their needed talented workers to the United States. With over 25 years of collective experience, our immigration attorneys have successfully secured over hundreds of employment-based visas and green cards for our corporate clients. We routinely consult with and provide immigration services to businesses and corporations. We also serve as an in-house counsel for numerous small to medium companies in Chicago and across the world.
Strategic Consultation with a business immigration lawyer
If you are interested in hiring foreign workers for your business and wish to learn more about the relating immigration process, please contact us for a consultation.
Educational Immigration Seminars
We strive to become the best immigration lawyers in Chicago to not only our clients but our community in Chicagoland. If your organization has a large number employees who are in need of immigration assistance and wish to learn more about different immigration visa or green card options, we offer educational immigration seminars either in our Chicago immigration office or in your location. Please contact our Office Manager Katherine Sin for assistance.
Discount for Bulk Cases
We offer discount of our legal fees for multiple immigration cases which are of similar nature. If you like to learn more about our bulk fee schedules and how we can assist your company, please contact our Office Manager.
