Employment Based Immigration & Sponsorship Kelly E. Simon, Partner Office Mobile

Agenda  Immigration 101  Strategies for Sponsoring Foreign Nationals  Questions

Part 1: Immigration 101

Glossary of Common Immigration Terms  Nonimmigrant – individual from foreign country who has the intent to visit the U.S. on a temporary (non-permanent) basis  Immigrant – individual from foreign country who has the intent to stay permanently in the U.S.

Frequent Nonimmigrant Statuses  F-1 (Students)  H-1B (Specialized Professionals)  TN (NAFTA Professional)  L-1 (Intracompany Transfers)

F-1 Students  Student enrolled in full time course of study at U.S. educational institution  Paperwork prepared by school  Work eligibility in limited circumstances Curricular Practical Training Optional Practical Training – 1 year of employment following graduation

OPT  12 months is standard term  Additional 17 month extension is available if student has STEM degree and employer is enrolled in E-Verify  OPT Students can complete an I-9 based on documents provided by their school

H-1B – Specialized Professionals  Position must be “specialty occupation”  Job must require and individual must have a bachelor’s degree in the area of specialty or a related field  6 years  Additional extensions become available, if certain threshold steps are made in the green card process on behalf of the individual

H-1B – The CAP  Limited number of H-1B visas available each fiscal year  If you plan to hire someone who will need sponsorship, application must be filed by April 1 for October 1 start date  Lottery

H-1B Portability  Employees in H-1B status must work for the sponsoring employer in the position subject to the application  But, the employees are portable, meaning they can work for a new sponsoring employer New employer must file a petition for change of employer and get a receipt notice before new employment may begin

Green Card Process  Three steps to the green card process: Labor Certification: Employer tests job market to see if there are any U.S. workers willing and able to do the job Form I-140: Employer requests permission to sponsor employee for employment based green card Form I-485: Employee files green card application

Green Card Process  The demand exceeds the supply  Backlogs have been created – particularly for foreign nationals from China and India  For backlogged category, the wait can easily exceed 4 or 5 years

Part 2: Strategies for Hiring or Sponsoring Foreign Nationals

The Most Critical Question: Why sponsor a foreign national for work authorization?

Four Approaches to Sponsorship  Long Term Vacancies  Senior/High Level Positions  Specific Skills  Ad Hoc

The Strategy Questions  What is the internal protocol?  What is the nonimmigrant strategy?  What is the temporary to permanent strategy?

Part 3: Questions?