Business Visas

In a global economy, employers in the greater Houston area understand the importance of being able to hire talented employees who can enter the United States expeditiously and with certainty through business visas. Our experienced Shenandoah immigration attorneys can help.

Luis F. Hess represents employers who want to sponsor a foreign national to either work temporarily in the United States or to become a permanent resident based on a permanent job offer. Our Texas-based immigration lawyer works closely with foreign investors and local business owners to help them accomplish their business-related immigration goals during each stage of the process.

Luis F. Hess, PLLC helps clients on properly filing both employment-based visas and green cards. He helps employers with PERM processing of labor certification, immigrant petitions for alien workers, and other documents that may be required for an employee to legally work in the United States.

Attorney for Business Immigration Law in The Woodlands, TX

Contact an immigration attorney at Luis F. Hess, PLLC in Shenandoah, just north of The Woodlands, TX, to learn more about the fundamentals of business immigration from an employer’s perspective. We help employers identify workers who need sponsorship and to understand the basic processes required to sponsor foreign workers for immigration benefits. We can also help employers understand how to meet their short-term and long-term immigration goals for specific workers.

With an office in Shenandoah, we help clients throughout Montgomery County and Harris County, including Shenandoah, The Woodlands, Conroe, Spring, Houston, and the surrounding areas.

Call (281) 626-5359 discuss the goals of your company and how an experienced immigration attorney can help.

Overview of Business-Based Visas in Conroe, TX

The Stages of an Employer-Based Immigration Case

If it becomes difficult to find a U.S. Citizen who can meet the needs of a Texas employer, then the operators of that company may consider hiring a foreign laborer. The employer’s hiring requirements may determine whether it decides to petition for a green card for an employee or to petition for a temporary work visa.

An experienced business immigration lawyer can help you decide the best course of action when choosing an immigrant worker to meet the company’s needs. Additionally, an immigration attorney can help an employer who is “sponsoring” or petitioning for a permanent worker and needs to obtain a labor certification from the Department of Labor (DOL).

A labor certification is used to verify that there is an insufficient number of available, qualified, and willing U.S. workers to fill the position that an employer is seeking to fill. The labor certification must also show that the employment will not have an adverse effect on the wages and working conditions of similarly situated U.S. workers. An employer might also seek to hire an employee who falls within a temporary (nonimmigrant) category that allows a foreign national to work in the United States.

Facing immigration concerns?

Whether you want to live in the US, get a US visa, bring your family, get employed, or legally stay in the country, our Shenandoah Immigration attorneys are here to help!

The Certificate of Labor Condition Application

An experienced immigration attorney can aid a U.S. employer attempting to hire immigrant workers by ensuring that each potential employee has proper certification for employment. An employer must obtain a certification of labor condition and be able to show compliance with the following requirements:

  • The employer is paying a wage that is either no less than the wage paid to similarly qualified workers or, if greater, the prevailing wage for the position in the geographic area;
  • The employer will provide working conditions that will not adversely affect other similarly employed workers;
  • The employer must show that there is no strike or lockout at the place of business of the prospective temporary worker
  • The employer must give notice to the bargaining representative or post a notice at the place of business that a labor condition application has been filed with the DOL.

Types of Business Visas

Business-related visas are typically used for short-term employment in the U.S. There are multiple types of visas, including:

The immigration system provides nonimmigrant and immigrant visa classifications. Employer-sponsored nonimmigrant visa petitions are filed using the US Citizenship and Immigration Services’ Office.

Per-Country Limitation for Employment-Based Immigrant Visas

The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) limits the number of employment-based immigrant visas that may be awarded to nationals of any one country during a fiscal year to seven percent. This limitation is known as the “per-country limitation. 8 U.S.C. § 1152(a)(2).

The State Department is responsible for administering the provisions of the INA relating to numerical limitations on immigrant visa issuances. Under 8 U.S.C. § 1153(g), it also manages the individual allotment of employment-based immigrant visas. The State Department allocates visa numbers for use in connection with issuing immigrant visas based on reports from consular officers.

When the demand for immigrant visas outpaces the statutorily allotted supply in any particular preference category or for any specific country, the State Department considers the category or nation “oversubscribed.” The Department will then impose a cut-off date to keep the allocation of visas within the statutory limit for each fiscal year. Anyone who applied for a visa after the cut-off date will be entered into a visa queue.

The State Department divides applicants in the visa queue by preference category. After the preference category are accounted for, the State Department determines an applicant’s position in the visa queue by referring to his or her priority date.

Lawyer for Business Immigration in Montgomery County, TX

Luis F. Hess represents clients in immigration cases throughout Montgomery County and Harris County. For business-related immigration cases, contact Luis F. Hess, PLLC.

Immigration attorney, Luis F. Hess, works on employment-related visa cases for corporate clients in the Shenandoah, The Woodlands, Conroe, Spring, other nearby areas in Montgomery County and Harris County, TX. His practice is focused on all aspects of visa and green card related immigration and compliance issues.

Contact Luis F. Hess, PLLC to help you in obtaining temporary immigration status for executive, managerial, or professional employees. He can help you apply for the most appropriate visa for nonimmigrant workers.

Call (281) 626-5359 today.