Employers in New Jersey often have to sift through hundreds of job applications to find the right person to fill an open position. Sometimes, an employer may seek to hire someone from outside of the United States. In such cases, employers must follow business immigration laws and take additional steps to hire the employee legally.
Employers must start the process of hiring a foreign worker by first completing the labor certification process. This certification is granted by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). The DOL requires employers to:
- Complete the necessary forms, including Employment and Training Administration (ETA) Form 9089.
- Provide evidence as to its reasons for hiring a foreign employee.
- Provide evidence that job opening meets the requirements for the labor certification program.
- Provide evidence that it can pay the employee the required wages.
- Mail in the completed application.
If the DOL approves your certification, you may proceed with interviewing employees from foreign countries. Once you have found the perfect employee to fill the open position, you may proceed to the next step of obtaining a work visa for the employee by filing a petition with the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services. For employees that are located outside the U.S., you may have to sponsor the employee for a work visa by filling out a Labor Condition Application (LCA), providing necessary information, and filing a petition on the employee’s behalf.
The applicant must also show that they can be admitted to work in the U.S. under the Foreign Labor Certification. The worker will also have to apply for a Social Security number and abide by all applicable U.S. tax laws.
