Hiring a foreign national on a temporary basis is something many small business owners do. There are advantages and disadvantages to making that choice, of course, since it’s a bit of a different process than hiring someone who is a citizen of the US. In order to hire a foreign national, it’s important to understand immigration law. Conversely, you can also hire a Denver/Boulder immigration attorney to help you through the process.

Getting the Right Visa

When a small business owner hires a foreign national, one of the biggest concerns is making sure that person has the right visa and paperwork to work and enter the US. For many, the process starts with the company filing Form I-129, which is a petition to hire a nonimmigrant worker. This petition is filed with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and once it is approved, the foreign national can apply for a visa in order to enter the US. If the worker is already in the US, a change of status may be obtained for the employee to receive training or to work with the company on a temporary basis.

A visa attorney can make sure that everything is in order, so problems don’t arise. There are many options for visas for foreign nationals, depending on the category the person falls under and the country which they call home, along with the type of business they will be working for and the kind of training they must receive. A business owner can hire someone who already has the proper visa, or they can sponsor someone they want to hire and get the right visa for them. With so many options for immigration services, it’s possible to make choices that are going to be right for the business.

Consider the Business

It is not just about the visa itself. When immigration law firms help small business owners get visas and hire foreign nationals, they also pay close attention to the kind of business the owner is operating. Some businesses lend themselves more naturally to workers from specific countries or regions of the world, where other businesses are less structured in that way. No matter where a foreign national is coming from, hiring them on a temporary basis requires the right visa. There are more than 20 visas that are commonly granted to temporary workers, so understanding the business and the type of work the foreign national will be doing is very important to ensure that the paperwork is handled correctly.

Consider the Country

Companies that are interested in hiring a foreign national should also consider that it is easier to get visas for workers from some countries than it is for workers from other countries, so checking into those requirements ahead of time is important. A visa attorney can provide Denver/Boulder small business owners with information on hiring foreign nationals on either a permanent or temporary basis, from specific countries. That can help a business owner make the right decision, and hire someone who will be able to come to the US and do the needed work for the right period of time.