Last Updated on March 2, 2023
With the skills gap in the U.S. reaching new heights, companies must develop new strategies for filling high-skilled roles. One such strategy starts with looking abroad and recruiting foreign nationals.
For the sake of streamlining the process and staying compliant throughout the organization, a first step in the process is creating an immigration policy for your organization. Here are some basics to help make sure your recruiting is done compliantly:
Recruiting foreign nationals and staying compliant
Before recruiting foreign nationals, it’s valuable to understand work visa options before any recruiting begins. There are 20 different employment-based, non-immigrant visas available, and the visa or visas you choose to sponsor should depend heavily on the needs and structure of your organization.
Then, it’s important to understand clearly – and make sure hiring managers can clearly articulate – the business need or needs. Setting up a process for clarifying business needs can help you figure out the best-fit visa program and can also come in handy down the road should you need supporting documentation to accompany a visa application.
Seek immigration help early
Finding help early from an immigration services provider can be a big help in this situation. Sometimes the visa option that seems like the best fit might not be because of competition or recent immigration policy updates.
An immigration services provider or legal counsel can help you determine which visas are right for your business needs.
Know specific recruiting requirements
Some visa programs, like the H-1B visa, have very specific recruiting requirements. The purpose of these recruiting restrictions is to ensure that no qualified and willing American worker is available to fill a position before it’s offered to a foreign national recruit.
In the case of the H-1B visa for example, the application requires recruiting activities to take place in the U.S. with strict rules as to where a job placement must be posted and for how long.
The bottom line?
If you’re looking to recruit foreign nationals, make sure you build business needs into your recruiting process and understand the ins and outs of the available employment-based, non-immigrant visas – especially any recruiting requirements.
Recruiting foreign nationals and staying in compliance don’t have to be at odds, as long as your organization is organized, informed and the process is streamlined.
Interested in learning more about what goes into a compliance-based immigration-policy? Watch the replay of our recent Creating an Immigration Policy for Your Organization webinar.
