So I run a metal fabrication shop in the SF Bay Area. Good help is hard to find, and my best worker has a nephew in the Philippines who has a what looks to be the right skill set for us. Has anyone - particularly in California gone through the process of getting someone a green card? Any information appreciated.
I don't really know anything, but I think you are thinking more about a work permit (or whatever it is called). The Green Card, I believe, is a more permanent status thing, that takes time to get. I used to know someone going through the process, and one of the BS parts of it was he could not change jobs until he put the time in to get the Green Card otherwise the time requirement would reset, which, needless to say, is the source of abuse (to the worker, not the process).
My parents are trying to bring in a young orphan woman they have sponsored in Haiti for the last 15 years. The gangs are pretty much running the country now and young women are having a terrible time there. The State Department is apparently backed up for months and their employees have little interest in doing their jobs. They have been waiting since January. Government workers at their best. IIRC a passport is taking 13+ weeks. Good luck with a Visa.
One of my best engineers at my last place (and still someone I consider a good friend) was an Indian citizen. I was only tangentially involved in the process, and I suspect your guy would fall under different classifications and eligibility, but regardless here's how that went to the best of my knowledge.
We hired the guy straight out of school, after finishing his masters at Johns Hopkins, under a program for STEM majors that granted an initial 18 months of visa eligibility, with the option to extend a further 18 months beyond that, so 3 years total. Pretty much knew at the time that's all that we were guaranteed to get out of him, anything beyond that he would have to apply for an H1B visa.
The way H1B works is through a lottery system, there's a bunch of paperwork to apply for that which needs to be done sometime around March each year. The drawing occurs sometime around the end of March/beginning of April and there's something like a 10:1 ratio of applicants to spots available, so not great odds. On the off chance someone who gets selected doesn't take their visa, that slot gets redrawn from the applicant pool, so the process drags on for months before you know for sure you missed out. Furthermore, I think you only get so many shots at it before you're out of chances, want to say 4-5 maybe?
My dude missed out on the H1B lottery his first few years and it was right around this time last year his initial 3 year eligibility was up. I was pretty upset at the prospect of losing him (as was he,) but after talking with a lawyer we were able to come up with a workaround and buy more time on a type of student visa by enrolling him in another degree program at the company's cost. There was about a 2 month gap where he was unable to work before classes started and the school got their end of the paperwork completed.
Then, this spring I was on vacation when he called to tell me he got selected for the H1B! Never been so happy to hear work news while off! I think that gives him up to another 6 years of eligibility, then I'm not sure what the next move would be if he wants to remain in the US. I know there is family pressure to move back home at some point, so that may still be the long term plan, but that's for him to decide.
All that being said, I would highly recommend talking to an immigration lawyer. I'm certainly no expert, far from it, just sharing what little secondhand experience I do have. YMMV, etc. etc.
EDIT: One more thing, there is also a fairly significant cost for H1B visa sponsorship on the part of the employer, something on the order of $10-20k IIRC. I don't recall if that's a one time thing or each year you apply or are eligible.
You want an H1B. It will be very hard and expensive.
Just a couple of categorizations here that might help:
Right, with all that out of the way - an H1B visa would be the first to come to mind, but that is usually only for jobs that require a bachelor's degree, although you're allowed to substitute work experience in the field - so with 12 years experience, you don't need a 4 year degree anymore. Don't quote me on the numbers as they may be out of date. H1Bs are handed out via a lottery atm and the lottery is pretty oversubscribed again.
I suspect that the main issue you'll run into are the requirements for an H1B - straight from the horse's mouth at the DOJ: "The H-1B program applies to employers seeking to hire nonimmigrant aliens as workers in specialty occupations or as fashion models of distinguished merit and ability. A specialty occupation is one that requires the application of a body of highly specialized knowledge and the attainment of at least a bachelor’s degree or its equivalent.".
Here's a list of all the non-immigrant work visas available: https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/temporary-nonimmigrant-workers
An H2B visa may work, but it's initially only good for a year and caps out at 3 years.
Another potential option would be an employment-based Green Card, but that's going to take quite a while as I suspect that the aforementioned nephew would fall into the EB-3 preference category: https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/green-card-eligibility/green-card-for-employment-based-immigrants
Neither of those are going to be cheap or quick - at work we're going through an employment based GC process with a colleague right now and IIRC the labor certification alone (that determines that you can't find a suitable US employee) can take something like 18 months...
I'm supposed to play tourist at the moment but I'll see if I can think of anything else - feel free to ping me via a PM on here as I have some experience with visas, work permits and permanent residence as I'm here on a family-based Green Card.
Golly, I wonder why people jump the border... The system is very backed up in Canada too. A friend was involved in getting "migrant workers", I guess, up here from Mexico, and it was a long, painful operation, even though there is a program specifically for that activity.
"I'm from the government. I'm here to help."
I have done the H1B visa route and would discourage as its very difficult as mentioned. The lottery run around September iirc and the visas would be gone in less than a minute.
Is his family member a citizen? Depending on how closely related they are, he might be able to petition for him. This would still take time though.
Streetwiseguy said:Golly, I wonder why people jump the border... The system is very backed up in Canada too. A friend was involved in getting "migrant workers", I guess, up here from Mexico, and it was a long, painful operation, even though there is a program specifically for that activity.
"I'm from the government. I'm here to help."
I don't particularly mind if the process is difficult, but the people at the State Department should at least be capable of doing their jobs in a timely fashion if someone is willing to jump through the hoops. As it stands now, they make people put up with the BS and then don't process the paperwork.
Yorline's application was put in in January. The State Department hasn't gotten around to looking at it yet because they suck at their jobs and at life. There really isn't an excuse for that. If it was a private company that was dragging its feet there would be government regulations about how long the process is allowed to take but, since it's a government bureaucracy, suck it up and deal with it.
This is the main reason I will never vote in favor of government health care. They can't process a passport or visa in a reasonable amount of time. Why would they do a good job at healthcare when they have proven their incompetence in almost everything else?
Thanks for the information. I remember an article a few years back where they were interviewing Asian people who had gotten their education here, got a tech job here for a few years then told that their visas weren't being renewed. The quote that stuck in my mind was: "It's like they want us to go into competition with them".
The great irony here (yes the actual meaning) is that it would be way easier to get that person into the country legally (clearly bending the intent of the process of course) where they are not allowed to work, than to get them in to work, where workers are needed.
Kreb (Forum Supporter) said:So I run a metal fabrication shop in the SF Bay Area. Good help is hard to find, and my best worker has a nephew in the Philippines who has a what looks to be the right skill set for us. Has anyone - particularly in California gone through the process of getting someone a green card? Any information appreciated.
Is your " best worker" a US citizen? And is there a way he could sponsor his nephew ?
since you are in the Bay Area there must be some businesses that help you apply for the work visas and know what are the best things to put on the application and what to leave out !
If you find a way , my friend could use a couple metalworkers in San Jose ,
Good luck
You'll need to log in to post.
