Temporary Work Visa
There are a wide range of temporary visas that allow an applicant to work for a specific period in the USA.
The most popular temporary work visas:
(a) the H1B visa-applicants in a specialty occupation.
(b) the H2B visa-employees in the hotel, healthcare, travel and hospitality occupations (temporary non-agricultural workers).
(c) the H3B visa-qualified foreign trainees for the purpose of participating in an established occupational training program.
(d) the L1 visa- intra company transferee visa.
(e) the E1 visa-treaty trade visa.
(f) the E2 visa-treaty investor visa.
(g) the O visa-extraordinary ability visa.
(a) the H1B visa-Applicants in a specialty occupation
This visa is issued to applicants coming temporarily to the USA in a specialty occupation. The specialty occupation category is defined as ” requiring theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge and the attainment of a bachelor or higher degree in the specific specialty (or its equivalent) ” as a minimum entry into the US to work in that occupation.
The visa process consists of 2 stages: the first stage being a petition to be filed by the US employer. The second stage commences upon receipt of the approval of the petition, when the intended employee then applies for the visa.
(b) the H2B visa-employees in the hotel, healthcare, travel and hospitality occupations (temporary non-agricultural workers).
This visa allows US non-agricultural employers who anticipate a shortfall in domestic workers, to bring temporary foreign workers into the US. The US employer needs to obtain a labor certification to the effect that there are no US persons willing and able to perform the job requested and the employment of the alien does not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of employees in the USA.
Qualifying positions cover lots of areas including hotel workers, travel agents, restaurants workers, janitors, resort workers, health care workers, construction workers, amusement park workers, and landscape workers.
This visa is granted for a 1 year period and may be extended in one year increments for a maximum of 3 years.
(c) the H3B visa-qualified foreign trainees for the purpose of participating in an established occupational training programs
This category of visa is offered to qualified foreign trainees who enter the USA with the purpose of participating in an established occupation training program. This visa anticipates that the holder will not be entering the USA for the purpose of engaging in productive employment even though some degree of productive employment may be permissible so long as it is incidental to the training and is otherwise inconsequential in nature.
The US company must file a preliminary petition with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to participate in an established training and educational program.
The visa is issued for the duration of the training program which usually means an outside limit of 2 years. It is however possible to extend the visa.
(d) the L1 visa- intra company transferee visa
This visa allows managers, executives and employees with specialized skills to transfer from a foreign company to a US office, subsidiary, or affiliated company to perform temporary services. The foreign company should remain in operation during the entire duration of the L1 visa. The applicant is expected to have a supervisory role in the company (either over personnel or a function) and would not include people who are primarily performing the specific tasks of production or providing service to customers.
A manager directs the organization, a department, or a function of the organization. Like executives, a qualifying manager will not be overseeing the primary performance of a task. Exceptions apply when a manager or executive is coming to open a business.
The L-1B visa is appropriate for an applicant employee with specialized knowledge of the products of the company and their applications in world markets and/or a proprietary knowledge of the company’s processes or procedures.
The visa is initially granted for a period of 1-3 years with extensions available in 2 year increments and with a maximum duration of seven years.
The spouse and children under 21 of an L-1 visa holder may acquire a dependent L-2 visa.
(e) the E1 visa-treaty trade visa
An applicant who is part of the “essential personnel ” of a company that qualifies under the definition of an treaty trader may apply for a visa under this category. The criteria for an E-1 visa application states that the foreign company needs to prove that it is engaged in substantial trade principally between the USA and the applicant’s country of nationality. This means that over 50% of the total volume of trade must be conducted between the US and the treaty country. In addition, evidence must be submitted that the enterprise is not marginal.
It should be noted that the foreign trade to the US by the foreign entity can NOT fall below the 50% requirement of total trade volume.
The applicant must be an employee who is essential to the foreign company’s operations and not an ordinary skilled worker. In addition, the applicant must have a degree or proven expertise in the area of specialization, unique, specific skills and/or lengthy experience or training with the foreign business. The period of training needed to perform the duties and the salary must be commensurate with the expertise.
An initial issuance of the visa may be for up to 5 years. This visa may be extended indefinitely.
Israel is one of the countries with a treaty agreement with the USA.
(f) the E2 visa-treaty investor visa
Can be issued to nationals of certain countries that have a treaty agreement with the USA.
The applicant of an E2 visa is required to invest or commit to investing a substantial amount of capital into a business enterprise that he/she would be developing and managing. The investment must not be marginal.
A marginal enterprise is defined as one that does not have the present or future capacity to generate more than enough income to provide a minimum living for the treaty investor treaty and his/her family.
There is no fixed minimum amount to satisfy the substantiality test. However, it is doubtful that any amount less than $US 100,000 would be accepted. A satisfactory amount will be dependent on factors such as the nature and size of the business.
The investor must have control of the funds and the funds must be committed to the business enterprise. An idle or speculative investment will not qualify.
The enterprise must be active and a functionally operating business (not an investment in property alone).
(g) the O visa-extraordinary ability visa
This visa is suitable for applicants with extraordinary ability in the arts, sciences, education, business and athletics. The achievements of persons in this category have to be over and above their “counterparts ” in the same field.
Evidence that the applicant has received a major, internationally -recognized award or evidence of at least three of the following: receipt of a lesser nationality or internationally recognized prizes; membership in associations which require outstanding achievements; published material about the applicant in professional publications; original scientific, scholarly or business-related contributions; authorship of scholarly articles; commanded a high salary; participation on a panel, or individually, as a judge of the work of others in the same field or in a field of specialization allied to that field for which classification is sought; and employment in a critical or essential capacity for organizations and establishments that have a distinguished reputation.
There is no numerical quotation for the number of visas that are issued in this category each year.
The visa can be initially issued for up to 3 years and can then be extended for more than 1 year.
CONTACT US
You may be eligible for a number of different visa categories. Each visa category has different requirements and obligations so that it is best to seek professional advice in order to select the visa most beneficial and suitable to your circumstances.
Kangaroo Migration Services is a company that has for many years dealt with and continues to deal with immigration and the obtaining of all types of visas (short term and long term) to the USA.
Please feel free to contact us to discuss with our representative the options available to you and/or to complete our questionnaire and send it to us.