Trump US work visa options Update for December 2019

Hello and welcome to workpermit.com’s Trump US work visa options Update for December 2019. I’m Sanwar Ali

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In reality the law has not changed that much under President Donald Trump. The options would most likely have been similar under Obama. It is very difficult to persuade both houses of Congress to pass substantive legislation. What has happened is that steps have been taken to make the process more difficult and time consuming, with a higher refusal rate. This is presumably part of the “Buy American Hire American” Trump policy.

It should be noted that the H1B visa and H2B visa is frequently unavailable due to the quota. Please note that in general you either need to already have a job offer in the US or you need to be starting a business. I include some of the more popular work visa options below. These are mainly non-immigrant visas.

L1 visa becomes more difficult

For the L1 visa you need to show that you have worked physically outside the US for one year in the last three years for a company with common control with the US company. The L1A visa for executives and Managers, and the L1B visa for specialized knowledge workers is difficult to obtain with extensive documentation requirements. Applications are looked at in more detail under the Trump administration.

B1 in lieu of H1B visa refusal rate increases

B1 in lieu of H1B visa can be a quick way of sending degree level (or degree equivalent) employees over to the US for a temporary period of up to a year. The person concerned remains an employee of the business outside the US. However, it has become riskier under Trump. US visa officers are more reluctant to grant these visas.

E2 visa or E1 visa for certain nationalities

Businesses can look at coming under the E1 Treaty Trader visa based on substantial trade or E2 Treaty Investor based on substantial investment. However, in practice businesses are more likely to qualify for the E2 Treaty Investor visa showing a substantial investment. The US business needs to be at least fifty percent owned and be controlled by nationals of the Treaty Country. The employee being sent to the US needs to be a national of the same Treaty Country.

H1B visa for specialty occupations

One of the best known visas is the H1B visa for specialty occupations for graduate level (including graduate equivalent) employees. However, in many cases there is a quota of 85,000 and this visa is heavily oversubscribed. Starting in 2020 applying under the quota will be much easier than before. The employer submits a simple application between 1 March 2020 and 20 March 2020.

Other non-immigrant visa options include the E3 visa for Australians, O1A visa for those in extraordinary ability, OPT visa for F1 students, H2B visa for short term work, and J1 Exchange visitor.

While there are various US visa options, sadly much of the time none of the options are suitable.

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