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VISITOR VISA AVAILABLE TO SEEK JOB OPPORTUNITIES
IN AMERICA
by Michael J. Gurfinkel, Esq.
Dear Atty. Gurfinkel:
I have a good job in the Philippines, have my own
house, and most of my family and friends are in the Philippines.
However, I am always hearing
about "greener pastures" in America,
and would like to explore the possibility of finding work in America.
Unfortunately, it is hard to look for a job in America, if I am
in the Philippines. I have heard that if the Embassy believes
a person is going to America to look for a job, a visitor's visa
will almost certainly be denied. Is it possible to obtain a visitor's
visa to go to America, to seek out employment opportunities?
Very truly yours,
T.W.
Dear T.W.:
By law, a person may not work in America while
he or she is on a B (visitor's) visa. It is also not permissible
to enter the U.S. on a visitor's visa, with the intent to adjust
status and/or remain in the U.S. permanently.
However, the Visa Office of the U.S. State Department,
in Washington, D.C., was recently asked if it is possible to apply
for a visitor's visa to seek employment opportunities in the U.S.
In response, the Visa Office confirmed that, "An alien
is not necessarily precluded from obtaining a B visa for the purpose
of seeking legal employment opportunities in the U.S. which do
not involve adjustment of status, such as seeking out potential
H-1B employment opportunities". In order to be eligible
for this "employment opportunity" visitor's visa, the
alien must still satisfy the Consul that the alien otherwise meets
eligibility requirements for a visitor's visa for this particular
trip (i.e. that he has a residence outside the U.S. that he does
not intend to abandon, and he has no intention of remaining in
the U.S. on this trip).
According to the Visa Office, "aliens
applying for B status who intend to seek out H-1B [temporary working
visa for college graduates] and L status [intracompany transferee],
or some other employment-based status, have the burden to show
that they remain eligible for B status, in that they do not intend
to adjust status while in the U.S., and have a residence outside
the U.S. which they do not intend to abandon". Thus,
if a person wants to seek employment opportunities in the U.S.,
he must prove to the Consul that he is going to the U.S. solely
to investigate and check out the employment opportunities. But
he cannot work, or seek to remain in the U.S. during that visit.
Instead, he could, perhaps, go to job interviews, find a suitable
employer, and then return to the Philippines, at which time the
employer would petition him for the working visa.
Therefore, according to the Visa Office, is not
"impossible" to obtain a visitor's visa to seek out
employment opportunities. But it still requires the alien to prove
that he or she is just going to the U.S. solely to visit or seek
job opportunities, but he will not work and/or remain
in the U.S. during that trip.
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