Chicago Employment Immigration Lawyers

Chicago Employment Immigration Lawyers

U.S. immigration law allows foreign workers to come and work in the United States for an American employer – but only if both the employer and the prospective employee meet certain requirements. Obtaining these work visas is no walk in the park, and many who apply are, in fact, routinely denied the visas for various reasons. At Kriezelman Burton & Associates LLC, we help clients in the Chicago area to successfully apply and obtain these hard-to-obtain visas. We also take cases in Indiana, Wisconsin, and Michigan.

Employment-Based Immigration

We have experienced employment immigration attorneys who can work with you to navigate the complex immigration system and meet your employment immigration needs. We routinely handle these types of cases and know the ins and outs of navigating this often frustrating system for those unfamiliar with how it works. It is not just what the law says or what the regulations are, as even those are often not applied uniformly, and policies are always changing. Rather, it is knowing how to best present an approvable case, and that usually turns on one’s experience in handling similar cases – and that is what we bring to the table.

Indeed, our employment immigration clients know they can count on our years of experience successfully handling employment-based immigration matters, including work visas, and you can count on us as well.

As an employer, you can petition for a foreign worker to come and work for your company if you need certain specialized workers or are simply unable to find American workers to fill the position or positions you have available. To do so, you will often need to obtain labor certification and petition the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to either obtain a non-immigrant work visa or an immigrant visa (green card) for the employee.

Non-Immigrant Visas

A non-immigrant visa is available for a foreign worker who wishes to come and work in the United States for an American company for a temporary or fixed time. These types of work visas are usually sought and obtained by professional workers, especially those in information technology, the entertainment industry, and medical fields.

 The types of visas available in this non-immigrant category are many, but the most common are:

• H Visa. This is a visa that is given to a foreign worker coming to work in a “specialty occupation,” which is an employment position that requires some specialized knowledge and a bachelor’s degree or its equivalent.

• L-1: Intra-Company Transferees. This subcategory of visa is available to an individual who intends to come to the U.S. to work at a branch, parent, affiliate, or subsidiary office of their current employer in a managerial or executive capacity, or in a position requiring specialized knowledge. 

• O-1 Visa. The O-1 visa is for an individual who has proven they have extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics, or one who has a proven record of extraordinary achievement in the motion picture or television industry and has been recognized nationally or internationally for those achievements.

Speak with a Chicago Employment Lawyer Today

If you are an employer in the Chicago area or a noncitizen who has an employment immigration need, contact our office to talk to one of our attorneys.