What this guide covers
What sponsoring a foreign professional means for the employer: available categories, obligations to the Department of Labor, timeline and cost. A central subject in a corridor where demand for engineers exceeds local supply.
What exists
Specialty occupation
Subject to an annual cap and a lottery, with a filing window set each year. The employer must file with the Department of Labor before the immigration petition.
Intra-company transfer
Limited to related companies, it assumes a minimum period of employment in the foreign entity. It is not subject to the annual cap.
Internship and exchange programs
Separate programs allow you to host people still in training, with their own sponsoring organizations and duration limits.
Hiring someone already authorized
Anyone who already holds work authorization, a spouse on derivative status, a permanent resident, a student in practical training, can be hired without sponsorship. It is the fastest route, and the most overlooked.
What surprises people arriving from Europe or Quebec
Sponsorship binds the employer, not only the candidate. Posting obligations, a required wage level, record-keeping, and liability on termination. A small company discovering these after promising a role finds itself exposed to the candidate.
Where it gets complicated
The calendars are not the company’s. A capped category requires filing in a fixed window, months before the start date, with no guarantee. An urgent need cannot go that way.
Official sources
- USCIS, working in the United States
- U.S. Department of Labor, foreign labor certification
- USCIS, current processing times
What French Executive Network can do
Introduce you to the French-speaking business lawyers, accountants and tax advisers in the network who handle this subject, and to the members who have already been through it.