Learn strategies to obtain an employment visa in the United States. Attached is the outline for my talk to the Professionals in Human Resources Association (PIHRA). I spoke at PIHRA’s statewide conference in Long Beach. In the talk, I discussed the latest developments and strategies in U.S. immigration law.

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To begin, the outline provides a macro look at the way the U.S. visa system works. How many visas are there? Who gets the visas? After that, I honed in on various visas that may suit your company’s needs. We discussed the pros and cons of each visa.

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First, we reviewed the rules to obtain a business visitor visa. While it’s okay to come to the U.S. for a meeting or a training seminar, other types of activity are frowned upon. For instance, you are not allowed to perform skilled or unskilled labor on a business visitor visa. To make this theoretical discussion more accessible, we discussed recent cases where companies fell afoul of the visa rules.

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Next, we took a hard look at the H-1B visa. This is a great visa for professional employees. But the problem is US Citizenship and Immigration Services issues only 85,000 visas a year. The visas typically run out as soon as they become available. Demand far exceeds supply.

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So what options remain? The outline discusses one exciting development. US Citizenship and Immigration this year created a new Optional Practical Training program for STEM graduates. This program allows STEM graduates to work as trainees for three years. That gives recent grads more opportunities to apply for an H-1B visa. And it also provides companies with a more stable workforce.

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But companies still need more options. So we discussed some alternatives to the H-1B: the O, L and TN visas.

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Finally, I discussed the various visa categories for green cards.

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I focused my talk on the needs of HR professionals. But I hope it is helpful to others as well. Happy reading!

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