SOLUTIONS FOR TEMPORARY WORK VISAS

Do you own or work for a company that engages in international trade and want to bring a foreign national to the U.S. to fill a key position? An E-1 Treaty Trader Visa allow you to come to the U.S. to conduct international trade on your own behalf or on behalf of an employer. Qualifying trade is the exchange of items such as goods, services, international banking, insurance, transportation, tourism, and technology between the U.S. and a treaty country. The general requirements that need to be met to qualify for an E-1 treaty trader visa include:

• You must be a citizen of a treaty country.
• You must be employed by an individual holding the same nationality as you or a company where at least 50% of its owners have the same nationality as you.
• You must engage in or work for a company that engages in “substantial trade”. There is no minimum monetary value or volume per transaction required, but there must be a continuous flow of sizable international trade, involving numerous transactions. Essentially, the more transactions and greater their value, the better. More than 50% of the total value of this international trade must be between the U.S and your country of nationality.
• You must be employed in a supervisory or executive role, or possess special qualifications that are essential to the company’s efficient operation.

 

Are you a company investing in the U.S. who wishes to bring a foreign national to the U.S. to fill an important role? Do you work for an employer that is investing in the U.S.? An E-2 Treaty Investor Visa would allow you to come to the U.S. to invest substantial capital in a U.S. business. You can also obtain an E-2 visa for an employee of the investor or a qualifying organization. The general requirements you need to meet to qualify for an E-2 treaty investor visa include:

 

• You must be a national of a country with which the U.S. maintains a commerce and navigation treaty. The U.S. Department of State maintains a current list of treaty countries.
• You must have invested, or be in the process of investing, a “substantial amount of capital” in a U.S. enterprise. The investment can be in an existing business or startup. There is no minimum investment required, but the investment must be proportionate to the business.
• You must own at least 50% of the enterprise or otherwise have operational control over the business. You must be coming to the U.S. to develop and direct your investment.
• You or the qualifying organization must be building and directing a business that will generate more income than is needed to support you and your family while in the U.S. within 5 years of receiving the E-2 visas.
• You can also be eligible if employed by the investor or qualifying organization in a supervisory or executive role, or possess special qualifications that are essential to your company’s efficient operation. If entering the U.S. as an employee of a qualifying organization, at least 50% of your employer’s owners must have the same nationality as you.

 

Are you an Australian citizen or looking to employ an Australian citizen? An E-3 Specialty Occupation Visa would allow you or your employee to live and work in the U.S. You must work in a position considered a specialty occupation (i.e., a specialty, professional occupation that generally requires a minimum of U.S. Bachelor's Degree or equivalent such as IT/computer professionals, university professors and teachers, engineers, healthcare workers, accountants, financial analysts, management consultants, and lawyers).The general requirements you need to meet to qualify for an E-3 visa include:

 

• • You must be an Australian citizen.
  • You must have an offer of employment in the U.S..
  • You must have the required academic or other qualifying credentials for the position offered.
  • You will fill a position that qualifies as a specialty occupation.

Call us at (212) 840-0050 or complete our form to schedule a free confidential consultation.

H-1B Speciality Occupation Visas allow an employer to petition for you to work in the U.S. in a speciality occupation. To be considered a speciality occupation, the position must meet the following requirements:  

• Require a Bachelor’s Degree or higher or its equivalent;
• The degree must be common to the industry, or the position must be so complex or unique that it can be only be; performed by holding such a degree; and
• The specific duties of the role are so specialized, that the knowledge required to successfully perform the job is usually associated with possessing a Bachelor’s Degree or higher.

  To qualify for an H-1B visa, you must meet one of the following criteria:  

• You must have earned at least a U.S. Bachelor’s Degree in the field of study required for the position from an accredited college or university or possess a foreign degree that is equivalent to at least a U.S. Bachelor’s Degree in the required field of study;
• You must possess an unrestricted state license, registration, or certification allowing you to fully practice in your specialty occupation in the state of intended employment; and
• You must possess education, training, or progressive work experience in the specialty occupation that is the equivalent to earning at least a Bachelor’s Degree, and demonstrate expertise in the specialty through progressively responsible jobs, which are directly related to the specialty occupation.

 

H-2A Temporary Agricultural Worker Visas allow a U.S. employer or agent to sponsor you to temporarily work in the U.S. in an agricultural job. Employers can sponsor foreign nationals from certain eligible countries. The U.S. publishes a list of H-2A Eligible Countries. To qualify for an H-2A visa, your employer must:

• Offer you a job that is temporary or seasonal;
• Establish there are not enough U.S. workers who are able, willing, qualified, and available to do this work; and
• Demonstrate that employing you and other H-2A workers will not adversely affect wages and working conditions of U.S. workers similarly employed.

 

H-2B Temporary Non-Agricultural Worker Visas allow a U.S. employer to sponsor you to temporarily work in the U.S. in a non-agricultural job. An H-2B visa can be used to sponsor foreign nationals for a variety of positions with varying levels of education, experience, and skills. Employers can only petition for foreign nationals from certain eligible countries. The U.S. publishes a list of H-2B Eligible Countries. To qualify for an H-2B visa, your employer must:

• Offer a job that is temporary, which can be a one-time occurrence, seasonal need, peak-load need, or intermittent need;
• Establish there are not enough U.S. workers who are able, willing, qualified, and available to do this temporary work; and
• Demonstrate that employing you and other H-2B workers will not adversely affect wages and working conditions of U.S. workers similarly employed.

Call us at (212) 840-0050 or complete our form to schedule a free confidential consultation.

An L-1A Visa for Intracompany Transferee Managers and Executives allows a U.S. employer to transfer you from one of its foreign offices to an existing office in the U.S. You can also be transferred to the U.S. to set up a new office. To be eligible for an L-1A visa, the U.S. employer must:  

• Have a qualifying parent company, branch, subsidiary, or affiliate relationship with your foreign employer;
• Currently be doing or have plans to do business in the U.S. and at least one other country for the duration of your stay in the U.S.; and
• If a new office is being setup, show it has secured sufficient physical premises to operate the business and that the U.S. office will be able to support an executive or managerial position within one year of approval of your L-1A visa.

  In addition, you must establish:
 

• You have been working for the employer abroad for at least one continuous year during the past three years;
• If you are coming to the U.S. to set up a new office, your employment must have been in an executive or managerial capacity; and
• You will hold an executive or managerial position in the U.S. company in which you will either have broad discretion to make decisions with little oversight; supervise and control the work of professional employees; manage the company or a department, subdivision, function, or component within the company; or manage an essential function of the company without direct supervision.

 

An L-1B Visa for Intracompany Transferee with Specialized Knowledge allows a U.S. employer to transfer you from one of its foreign offices to an existing office in the U.S. You can also be transferred to the U.S. to set up a new office. To be eligible for an L-1B visa, the U.S. employer must:

• Have a qualifying parent company, branch, subsidiary, or affiliate relationship with your foreign employer;
• Be or will be doing business in the U.S. and at least one other country for the duration of your stay in the U.S. as an L-1B visa holder; and
• If you are coming to the U.S. to work in a new office, the U.S. employer must show it has secured sufficient physical premises to operate the business and that it is able to compensate you and begin “doing business” in the U.S.

  In addition, you must establish:  

• You have been working for the employer abroad for at least 1 continuous year within the past 3 years; and
• You have a position within the employer or one of its qualifying parent company, branch, subsidiary, or affiliate that requires advanced, specialized knowledge, or expertise of the organization’s processes or procedures.

 

A Blanket L Petition may be the best choice for an employer that has multiple L-1 Visa eligible employees. To be eligible for a blanket L certification, the following must be established:

• The company has had an office in the U.S. which has been “doing business” for at least 1 year;
• The U.S. company has at least 3 domestic and foreign branches, subsidiaries, and affiliates; and
• The U.S. company along with the other qualifying organizations meet 1 of the following criteria:
  • They have obtained at least 10 L-1 approvals in the past 12 months;
  • They have combined annual sales of at least $25 million; or
  • They have a U.S. work force of at least 1,000 employees.

Call us at (212) 840-0050 or complete our form to schedule a free confidential consultation.

A TN Visa allows citizens of Canada or Mexico who qualify as a North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) professional to work in the U.S. Under NAFTA, Canadian and Mexican citizens may qualify for a TN visa to temporarily enter the U.S. to engage in business activities at a professional level. TN visas are available to professionals who are accountants, engineers, lawyers, pharmacists, scientists, teachers, etc. A complete list of NAFTA professionals can be found at NAFTA list. You may be eligible for a TN visa if:

• You are Canadian or Mexican citizen;
• Your profession is found on NAFTA list;
• The position offered in the U.S. requires a NAFTA professional;
• You have a job offer from a U.S. employer; and
• You possess the education, experience, and other specific requirements to practice in the profession in the U.S.

Call us at (212) 840-0050 or complete our form to schedule a free confidential consultation.