Employment Sponsorship
Employment Sponsorship
What is Employment Sponsorship?
The United States offers many work opportunities for work. Foreign nationals often seek employment in the United States based on these opportunities. However, foreign nationals are not allowed to work in the United States unless the United States government has authorized them to do so.
Federal law allows United States companies to hire foreign nationals to work in the United States, either temporarily or permanently. Foreign nationals must obtain permission to work in the United States by securing nonimmigrant or immigrant visas. The term nonimmigrant visa generally refers to a temporary visa to work. In contrast, an immigrant visa refers to a visa to work where the non-U.S. citizen ultimately seeks to obtain permanent residence (a green card) in the United States. The U.S. Department of State Bureau of Consular Affairs and U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS) offers instructions on their websites for obtaining immigrant and nonimmigrant work visas.
For a foreign national to obtain a job in the United States, the person must usually obtain sponsorship from a U.S. employer. Employers who want to hire foreign nationals must submit an application with the U.S. federal government and meet certain requirements for sponsorship. This article discusses how U.S. employment sponsorship works.
Who is Eligible?
Employment sponsorship in the United States is available to foreign nationals who are not permanent residents or U.S. citizens and who have no inadmissibility issues. The company that wants to hire you will need to sponsor you in order to give you a job in the United States. By sponsoring you for employment and thus helping you obtain a work visa, an employer certifies to the United States government that you will be a legal, working resident of the United States during your employment.
What Are the Requirements?
To obtain authorization for a foreign national to work in the United States, employers must submit various forms of documentation showing that they have a certain job opening that they need to fill and that a foreign national can fill that job. For some employment work visas (but not all), the employer must show that it tried but could not fill the position with a qualified American worker. Employer sponsors will help the employee complete their work visa application, prepare the labor certification documentation, and submit the petition for the visa.
What Types of Employers Are Eligible?
Any U.S. employer willing to provide sponsorship for visas can do so as long as they take all the steps necessary to obtain the sponsorship. The most common types of employer sponsors are tech companies, consulting firms, investment banks, financial service companies, manufacturing companies, and education employers. Some employers, like universities or other non-profits, do not have to file a Labor Certification, and can more easily hire foreign workers.
Employers must typically go through the following steps before they can become visa sponsors:
- Make sure the available position qualifies as a specialty occupation
- Determine the position’s salary
- Place an ad for the position in the United States directed to the U.S. workforce
- Submit to the U.S. Department of Labor a Labor Condition Application
- Submit a completed visa form to USCIS
What is a Visa Sponsorship Letter?
A visa sponsorship letter is not necessarily a letter. Rather, it’s a set of documents the employer submits to USCIS, stating the reasons for hiring a foreign national for an open job position. The documents will typically include the foreign national’s employment contract with the company, the job description, and documents showing that the foreign national is qualified for the job. For some types of visas, the employer may have to also certify that the employer could not find an American citizen suitable for the job.
Nonimmigrant Visas Employment Sponsorships
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How Long is the Sponsor Visa Valid?
The answer is it depends on the type of sponsor visa you have, although most will expire after a certain time period, so make sure you don’t overstay your visa period.
For example, an H-1B visa, the most commonly used nonimmigrant visa, is valid for three years, with the possibility of extending the visa for up to six years. Other types of sponsor visas are only valid for one year, while other visas can be renewed indefinitely.
Unlike a nonimmigrant work visa, an immigrant work visa is permanent. If you get an employer to sponsor you for an immigrant work visa, you can become a permanent legal resident of the United States. When you get an immigrant work visa, you will obtain a Green Card, which is valid for ten years, with unlimited extensions allowed. Permanent Residents can apply to become U.S. citizens after five years.
How Can I Get a Sponsor Letter?
Obtaining a sponsor letter can take a long time, and it can also be very costly for employers. Usually, an employer will hire an attorney to put together the documents that are collectively referred to as the sponsor letter.
Before obtaining a sponsor letter, an employer must first offer you a job in the United States. The sponsorship documents will often contain the employment contract, a statement describing the employee’s qualifications, etc. The employer will obtain the Labor Certification, and then will submit the sponsor letter and work visa petition to USCIS, which will then process the petition. Because of a high backlog, this can sometimes take months.
The USCIS will notify the employer and employee once they have approved the petition. Once approved, the non-U.S. employee then starts the visa application process at the U.S. embassy or consulate in the country where they live.