Hiring Foreign Workers for Business Growth: H-1B and EB-3 Visas

The extreme shortage of U.S. employees willing to commit to working for companies has continued to grow post-COVID.  Quit rates have increased across many industries including hospitality, finance, professional services, retail, and manufacturing [reported in 2022 by the US Chamber of Commerce]. To make matters worse, the shortages and quit rates are only expected to grow in the future.

Our clients in nearly every industry have addressed this growing shortage and quit rate through hiring foreign workers that are ready, willing and able to fill open positions in the U.S. Due to talented and available foreign workers, and the availability of U.S. visa options for them, many of our clients have voiced their relief- they are able to continue growing despite facing unreasonable expectations of the current U.S. worker pool, which often include unreasonably high salary expectations, scheduling conflicts, their lack of loyalty, and other demands for unreasonable accommodations.

There are many different immigration options for companies to use for hiring foreign workers; however, we have limited this article to describing the two most frequently used. Specifically, there are two common immigration visa types that our clients have utilized to hire foreign workers: (1) H-1B Visa (Temporary Worker) and (2) EB-3 (Green Card). The H-1B visa, a temporary visa, can allow an employer to bring employees within a matter of months to the U.S (less if they are already in the U.S. working for another employer). Whereas the EB-3 process, a permanent solution, can take anywhere from 12 to 24 months. A brief overview of these visa types that we use for our clients is described below.

H-1B Visa

One of the quickest routes to bringing employees to the U.S. is through the H-1B visa. The H-1B program can be used to bring specialized occupation workers U.S. (employees in positions that require a bachelor’s degree in a particular field). The demand is high for this visa type and there is a maximum limit of 85,000 visas available each year. As such, you will want to start working with your immigration attorney ASAP.

Once here, the employee can only work for your organization under their authorization- nowhere else. The visa allows employment for a total maximum of 6 years (will need to renew after first 3 years). Additionally, the employer’s family (spouse and children under 21) can also accompany the employee under the dependent H-4 visa.

Read More about the H-1B visa here.

EB-3 (Green Card)

The EB-3 visa is a more permanent solution to bringing employees to the U.S. Under the EB-3 category, an employer can sponsor the driver to come to the U.S. to work in permanent position (green card). Generally, this process can be completed within 12 to 24 months. Under this category, an employer can petition for a foreign person to come to the U.S. to fill an employment position if the employer was not able to find a suitable employee from the American workforce- something that can very easily be shown for companies that are in industries that are experiencing great shortages.

Additionally, the employer’s family (spouse and children under 21) can also immigrate with the employee.

Read More about the EB-3 visa here.

While some companies have chosen to slow their expansion due to the confusing and increasingly unreasonable job pool in the U.S., many have decided they will look to talent wherever it can be found, even if outside of the U.S.