Miscellaneous
How businesses approach legal immigration can determine whether or not they are able to hire key people to fill vital roles. Business plans for immigration can be immensely beneficial. Some questions to consider are whether or not there are policies in place, is there a standard or is each case addressed on an individual basis? It’s no secret that getting a U.S. visa has become more difficult. Thus, a good strategy has become an essential component of immigration cases. In the last two years, we have developed a method that helps companies analyze the strategies and processes they use to hire somebody from another country. Getting through the lottery and then getting the case approved are the main obstacles that companies face when trying to hire someone on an H1-B. In the event the petition is not selected or approved, visa strategy becomes critical for companies seeking to hire somebody six months in advance. What we do is go through different visa options with the company. For example: • The H3 for training programs. • The J1 for trainees or interns. • The TN can be used for Canadians or Mexicans - that is a treaty NAFTA visa. • There are some exceptions to the H1B cap, the H1B1 for Singapore and Chile. • The E3 for Australians and maybe the Irish. • An E2 if someone wants to own a company or be an essential employee of a company that has foreign ownership. • The L1 as an option as well. In the last several years, immigration has started to analyze the evidence to make the visa process more difficult. Some immigration attorneys just take whatever evidence is given to them, put it in the petition and hope for the best. We have a very holistic approach. We look at all the documents, i.e., offer letters, contracts, business plans, etc., to see if there is something in there that is going to be a "gotcha" for immigration officials. We also write 30-page briefs where we identify and justify issues. We identify the good things about the company as well. For example, a startup in Silicon Valley may have a small number of employees and may not even be profitable yet, but there is a lot of good press about them. Maybe the company has won some awards, turned some heads, and has some buzz. We'll add that in there.