H1B Visa

ritaanz

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 11-12-02 AT 09:26AM (CST)[/font][p]I am in the process of starting the paperwork to sponsor an alien to come to work for us. When I did the paperwork in the past, all had been single with no dependents. What kind of process does one need to go through to have the spouse come with him and qualify for an work authorization?

Don D

We brought in a sales manager from Peru last year and his family of three later moved up here to be with him. As I recall, all it took was a letter from the company certifying that he is employed here and in good standing with the H1B with full intentions of keeping him. Then, the alien presented that along with his documents to his home consulate in Lima and they approved the joining of his family in the US. It is my understanding that the home consulate approves departure from that country (of the family) and after he got up here, they could accompany him home on flights or in fact come and go alone. We also have an Indian engineer who just got married to a woman who has not been out of the apartment in the 6 months since marriage (IQ Test). We gave him the same sort of assurance in writing and he worked it through his consulate for her to come here. It is not the company's obligation to hand-hold all of this, but, naturally that is better said than accomplished. I often wonder if this program is worth all the effort it takes the "HR Guy/Gal". In addition to assisting the Peruvian with getting his family here, we then located an apartment for them, gave him $2000 for furniture, a $5000 salary advance for a car, held a 'welcome shower' of sorts for the family (none of the others spoke English) and gave the kids tons of things for their rooms. In fact we just about bought Wal Mart out! Good luck!

Cxjo

The spouse of an H1B visa holder will not receive any work authorization. The only way the spouse can get this is to get an employer-sponsored visa on their own (ie an H1B for their own specialty occupation or a J1 etc etc). This is often an issue with spouses of H1B visa holders -- they may have had a great career in their home country, but when they come here, unless they meet the qualifications for sponsorship and can find a company to sponsor them, they are unable to work.

The spouse can look to transfer their H2 visa to a student visa and go to school, for example, and then find work through their student visa (they have limitations as to how much they can work as a student).

But if the spouse is just looking to find any type of job (just to get out of the house and contribute to the household income for example) they will not be authorized to work.

Pork

I believe you will be required to undergo the same process for the spouse as a sponsored employee. Your company would have to have the evidence that there are no US Citizens available for the position. After you sponsor the ee for permanent resident worker, you could assist the employee in seeking permission for the spouse and family to travel and live in the USA.

We have recently, withdrawn our petition on sponsoring a Bolivian Manager. After face-to-face interviews, the potential candidate was no where near as strong as his paperwork led us to believe. We would gladly take him as a Manager-in-Training in a two year long program to get him up to the par of our other unit managers. INS then said, why can't you find a Hispanic speaking US Citizen and give that person the opportunity? INS is right, we have not searched nationally for a Hispanic Speaking US Citizen to fill outr needs.

Good luck, INS is not a push over in this area! After 911 and all the discovery of real money being passed for legal aliens, which are not legals at all. INS does not stretch one bit for anything.

Don D

For those who haven't gone through this process or have only experienced the H1B part and the submission of the basic 750-A type documents, consider this: (1) We currently have a Malaysian engineer who has just received notice that he is allowed to travel out of the country, but will not be able to travel back to the US without approval of the US Consular office in Malaysia, which they say will not happen. (2) It will cost upwards of $4-5k to go through all the required gyrations of the entire process if you decide to sponsor. (3) The H1B status is time limited and it requires a great deal of paperwork to get extensions approved. (4) There seems to be no end to the requests from the alien to give him/her various letters of support, letters attesting to this and that (5) HR also regularly gets involved in the process of securing driver's licenses and helping establish credit for the alien (6) The employer is obligated to pay return air travel to the country of origin for the alien if you do not keep him employed (we had to do this). (7) You have to advertise in national publications, local newspapers and through the local employment offices structure for candidates with the state establishing the wage rate that will be approved by DOL. (8) You have to interview any candidate that surfaces and show the system why he was not hired. (9) You have to post the job internally for a period of time and maintain copies of inquiries from all who responded (10) Once the H1B has moved along to the point where you can finally sponsor the application for change of status to green card permanency, you have to have the individual examined by a 'Civil Surgeon', pay fingerprint fees, secure passport style photographs, provide a lifetime history with copies of all I-94 arrival and departure records with birth certificate and translated versions of transcripts and other documents and pay an additional $255 filing fee, a $50 fingerprint fee, and this is on top of the $3000+ you've already paid. All of this may be well worth the time and expense if you are securing someone with skills that are impossible to find domestically. But, again, it ain't no hayride and it's certainly not like adopting a family of puppies from the pound. You can get started without an attorney but would be foolish to go through the entire 4-6 year maze without one. And never believe these aliens who tell you they have portable H1Bs and can come to work for you without your sponsorship, or the attorneys who will tell you they have Canadians approved to work in the US without the sponsorship process. (I'll shut up now).

Cxjo

Don is right on -- it is NO hayride. And I once had a job with responsibilities for approximately 200 employees (5% of our workforce -- we were a highly specialized research/medical org) on a variety of visas -- J1, H1B, TN,.... etc. In addition to running the Employment Office (overseeing recruiters, etc) I spent much of my time being the "immigration lady" (as many of them called me). Upwards of 80% of my time some weeks. For example, they couldnt travel out of the country unless I signed off on it.

I think in some ways it was a tad easier BECAUSE we were so big and had so many visa-holders. We (in HR) didn't get bogged down on the handholding as much or helping people find housing, etc. We compiled some resources and steered them in the general direction of rental agencies, banks, how to get a driver's license, etc etc. But they were pretty much on their own in terms of assimilating. I was there to primarily ensure completion of the process, get wage info, oversee postings and advertising and search processes, deal with their attorneys, assist the foreign nationals in completing paperwork and applications (i.e. going thru the green card process), working with department heads to determine who would be sponsored, writing letters of sponsorship, etc etc.

I think in a company where you have one or two people you are sponsoring, it is STILL advisable to consult with an attorney, but I think the focus of your time will really be spent, as in Don's case, on the day-to-day assistance for these visa holders.