H-I employees

deb

It looks like we will be hiring an individual with an H1 visa at my company. The individual is already in the US working for another company. The law's changed just recently and it looks like we fill out a few forms, pay some fees and once they are mailed, he can come to work. I've not done one of these in several 5+ years. Has anyone handled a situation like this recently ? Has it really gotten that simple? thanks!

VWIN

No it is not quite that simple. We are in the process of working an H-1B transfer as well as a conversion to RESIDENT STATUS. YOU WOULD BE WELL ADVISED TO BE WORKING WITH AN EMPLOYER'S IMMIGRATION ATTORNEY who can best advise you on the choices and methods used to process the H-1B. When you sponsor an H-1B, the employer has to petition for the application and there are some ramifications for the employer that you need to know about. However, when you get past all that it is still quite do-able and may be the only way you will get the difficult to find talent.

Terri

Would someone tell me what an H-1/H1B employee is?

cg

I'm not an expert but we have had experience with
with H-1 visas because we are a scientific
research institute. The H-1 is commonly
used for foreign scientists that have
qualifications not easily found in US.
An organization sponsors them to work in the US
for I believe three years which is extenable.
I also believe that in the interim the
person can apply for permanent residence status.
The best thing to do is consult the INS
web site for accurate info. It's got a
very helpful FAQs about all types of visas.