Quick Canadian ?

Moria · May 2003

Sorry, didn’t mean the subject line literally, as in a “quick Canadian”, I have a “question” regarding hiring of a Canadian and need a quick answer. We are contemplating the employment of a Canadian Development Officer, what problems would I have in getting him status to work in the US. We are an education/research facility. Or do I leave that up to the candidate, that they would have to have status to work in the US prior to consideration for employment. Help me, please!

Don D · May 2003

It depends on what a 'canadian development officer' is and how the duties/training/educational attainment of the person and the job are view by the Department of Justice's INS Division, that I guess is under Homeland Security now. Without boring you with a ton of details that may or may not apply to your situation, I will advise that you should contact a labor attorney with immigration law experience to guide you through the process or to help your company decide if they want to go that route. You might view the INS website first to read a bit about the complexities and time-lines of this complicated process. I would never recommend negotiating this path without the aid of a competent immigration attorney.

Long story short, the employer will have to sponsor the immigrant, which means paying up to 6-8K dollars over the long haul for total green card process. No, immigrants do not get themselves certified and then shop their immigration visa around trying to get hired.

The whole process is designed to have you prove there are no available, qualified domestic (USA) candidates and you must import one to do your job. Beware anyone who tells you they have Canadians who they can get visa certified for a few hundred bucks if you'll hire them. Simply, they are liars.

Moria · May 2003

Don D. Thanks for responding. The development director is someone who is responsible for implementing the major gifts program to build significant immediate and long-term financial support for our non-profit organization. They also will manage, cultivate, and solicit donors and prospective donors, consisting of individuals, foundations, and corporations. In short they make the big "asks" ($10,000 plus) for individual funding. We require that this person have at least a masters level, and prefer an MBA. Because we are located in the southwest, we would prefer someone who has a good background in southwestern archaeology and native cultures. Doesn't sound like a job for a Canadian, does it. You would be surprised though how many doctoral students we get from Canada applying for our intern programs.

I have been through this process before with medical doctors, who are foriegn grads and placing them in medically under served areas with J-1 visas. And always used an attorney. This would be quite different if I would have to prove that the position could not be filled by a US citizen.

So maybe I shouldn't waste more time. Any other thoughts?

Don D · May 2003

From your job description, I can tell you that the state and regional DOL offices will run you ragged requiring information from you to show that a non-citizen is required for this position. You won't get over the first several hurdles with this one, I predict. I've done quite a few of them over the years and predict that you'll be covered up with resumes of citizens. DOL will of course set the wage based on their 'slippery' wage data and that's what you will be required to advertise in papers or trade journals and with your job service affiliate who will bounce the ad nationwide.

I've gotten many responses from Canadians who seem to have the same PO Box or an attorney in the Southwest who shops them around promising the moon. He is indeed a space cadet; beware those.

I've also gotten lots of resumes from California safe-houses who shop the resumes of hundreds of Indian and Eastern engineers with tons of elaborate credentials. All of these schemes are merely shopping for an employer anxious to spend 6-8K to sponsor somebody.

Bottom line is that I doubt seriously that you can establish that you cannot locate a US citizen with knowledge of 'Southwestern Archaelogy and native cultures' and would wonder how, in the first place, a Canadian would have acquired this sort of expertise, if not in a classroom.

Moria · May 2003

Well after the traditional glass(es) of wine last night, I decided to recommend that we not pursue this avenue of banging my head against the perverbial border wall. Thanks Don D for your input, as usual you are right on!

Moria · May 2003

Oops, sorry about the spelling error, "proverbial". Must have been thinking about another problem coming up today, hmm Perv.... Again another day of fun and games.

Don D · May 2003

Or it could be that dreaded perverbial missspelling syndrome thing caused by wine.

ladyzuesse · May 2003

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 05-08-03 AT 11:56AM (CST)[/font][p]Have you looked into the TN-1 visa? The requirements are much less stringent and this Visa can literally be obtained at the border with proper documentation and about $50 dollars. (High level degree and documentation of the job offer)It must be renewed on an annual basis, but it's part of the NAFTA treaty and worked very well when I was recruiting for an "across the border" company with both Canadian and US employees. There was no proof requyirements like with the H1-B - and I don't think there's a quota on them either. CHeck the INS website for the TN-1 - specifically for those hosers to our north. I last used this visa type 18 months ago.

Tammy
[email]tcolson@oldcastleglass.com[/email]

Quick Canadian ?

Comments