The Immigration Problem
When D Corporation, a company that runs a major resort every summer, sought H2B visas to fill positions such as cooks, buffet attendants, bellhops, hosts and hostesses, and house keepers, the State Labor Commissioner refused to forward the H2B labor certification applications because he felt that the employer did not need foreign workers.
The Result
VisaPro’s efforts lead to the Federal DOL helping us forward copies of applications directly to the Certifying Officer for certification, and VisaPro succeeded in getting all the H2B labor certifications approved, received quick approval from USCIS, and almost all of the 100+ workers received their H2B visas at the US consulates overseas.
Inquiry Into The Background
D corporation maintains a year round staff of 10-15, but hires several hundred summer workers each year, including 125-150 foreign nationals. The company likes to hire US workers but just can’t find enough people willing to work so far out of the way. The foreign nationals, coming from 10 different countries, enter the US on H2B visa and fill positions as cooks, buffet attendants, bellhops, hosts and hostesses, and house keepers.
VisaPro started the H2B visa process in mid-December as usual for a start date on April 15. We worked closely with the State Workforce Agency (SWA) to get the H2B prevailing wage, hammer out the language for the ads and postings, and begin the recruitment process. We completed the recruitment, prepared the >H2B recruitment report and submitted the packages to the SWA. We expected the labor certification applications to be forwarded to the Regional Certifying Officer shortly. Everything was on target and the employer started making plans for opening.
After a few days we noticed that all communication from the SWA ceased and nothing seemed to be happening with our applications. Our attempts to find out the status received silence, and we could get no reason for the delay.
Analysis Of The Problem
We were finally told that the State Labor Commissioner was refusing to forward the H2B labor certification applications because he felt that the employer did not need foreign workers and he was going to find us all the US workers we needed.
At this point we knew we had entered uncharted territory. We, and nobody we knew, had ever had a SWA refuse to forward the labor certification to the DOL Regional Office. And even worse, in the 3+ weeks they held our applications, they only referred us 3 workers, not the 125 we needed, and which they promised us.
VisaPro’s Successful Solution
- When it became obvious that we would not be able to get anywhere with the SWA, VisaPro went directly to the Regional Certifying Officer for assistance. At that time there were no procedures in place for dealing with the situation because the DOL Regional Office also never had this problem.
- At the DOL, the matter was escalated all the way to Federal DOL headquarters in Washington, DC.
- This got so complicated that we had to involve State legislators’ offices, State Governor’s office, and US Congressperson’s office.
Conclusion
After all our committed efforts, Federal DOL helped us forward copies of our applications directly to the Certifying Officer for certification. This eventually led to DOL developing a procedure that could be utilized in future.
VisaPro finally succeeded in getting all the H2B labor certifications approved, received quick approval of the H2B petition from USCIS, and almost all of the 100+ workers received their H2B visas at the US consulates overseas.
The resort opened on time, albeit a little short-handed for the first few weeks, and had a very successful summer. On our side we met and overcame challenges that you only see once in a lifetime. We learned a lot, did what was necessary for our client, and were ultimately successful in getting the workers they needed.
Our experienced attorneys are able to review and analyze complex scenarios and formulate strategies for hiring foreign workers on work visas.
If you are running a hotel, restaurant, park, entertainment center, resort, grocery store or any other facility that needs foreign workers for seasonal, one-time, or peak load situations under the H2B program, we encourage you to contact VisaPro immigration lawyers to review your situation and discuss your options.
Click here to add a comment
What VisaPro Customers Are Saying
Knowledgeable, fast, courteous, efficient are all words that describe the services I received from VisaPro. They were very helpful in all phases of the H-1B visa process and they got it right the first time. I have tried other Visa services, but VisaPro is the best by far. VisaPro is the only way to go!"