In today’s competitive labor market, many Greenville-area businesses are finding that many non-immigrant visa programs can be strategic tools that help drive growth, boost job creation, and create valuable cultural exchange opportunities for many Americans. The visa categories below can oftentimes seem complex, but they offer employers several options to meet their critical talent needs.

Several area employers in advanced manufacturing, international investment, healthcare, logistics, hospitality, and emerging technology have recognized the utility these visas can provide. By understanding how these visa categories function, businesses can better position themselves to compete, expand, and hire with confidence.

Treaty Trader (E-1) and Treaty Trader (E-2) Visas

What are they: These visas help facilitate international trade and foreign direct investment between the U.S. and countries that have entered into treaties with the U.S. They are only available to foreign nationals of a country where a Treaty of Friendship, Commerce, and Navigation (FCN) or a Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) exists between that country and the U.S.

Who do they help: These visas help companies with significant foreign ownership interests that conduct substantial trade and investment between the U.S. and countries that have entered into a requisite treaty with the U.S. Specifically, a prospective worker must be a national of a treaty country, and the individual’s nationality must be the same as the majority owner(s) of the company hiring him or her.

Who can get them: The principal treaty trader/investor can obtain these visas. In addition, prospective workers at the firm are eligible for an E visa if they will be a key employee who is an executive, manager, or an individual with specialized/essential skills or knowledge of the company, which must be conducting substantial trade (E-1) or substantial investment (E-2) in the U.S.

E-2 visas can also support entrepreneurs and their newly established corporate entities in the U.S. if the company meets the treaty requirements, demonstrates a substantial investment in the U.S. where the company’s capital is at-risk, and the business shows that it has the potential to create jobs or generate significant income in the future.

What makes them unique: Unlike many other visa categories, E-1 and E-2 visas lack an annual quota on the number of nonimmigrants that can be admitted to the U.S. There are also no limitations on the worker’s ability to extend their stay in the U.S. The worker may also be able to file an immigrant visa petition if, in the future, they decide they want to work in the U.S. on a permanent basis. In addition, dependent spouses of principal E visa holders are authorized for employment “incident to status,” which means they can work in the U.S. without having to obtain an employment authorization document beforehand.

Seasonal Workers – H-2A and H-2B Visas

What are they: The H-2 visa programs are designed for companies seeking to fill temporary, seasonal labor needs. The H-2A program is for agricultural employment, whereas the H-2B program is for non-agricultural employment.

Who do they help: H-2A visas help American agricultural producers meet their workforce needs to help feed our nation and the world. H-2B visas help various industries that struggle to find enough workers to help their businesses grow and be productive during their busy seasons of the year, including hospitality, landscaping, seafood production, restaurants, forestry, mobile outdoor amusement, and golf courses, among others.

Who can get them: Businesses in desperate need of workers can only obtain H-2 visas for prospective employees if they have actively recruited Americans for these jobs and are unable to fill their open positions. Companies must obtain a temporary employment certification from the U.S. Department of Labor showing that they actively recruited American workers and were unable to find enough American workers to meet their needs. In addition, the federal government also restricts where employers can seek potential H-2 workers, as it makes an annual determination as to which country’s nationals are eligible for these visas.

While both programs are designed for employers who need temporary workers, there are significant differences between how temporary needs are defined for each program. A prospective H-2A employer must show that their labor needs are seasonal (typically tied to a growing cycle or pattern) or temporary (where the work contract is typically less than a year). An H-2B employer, on the other hand, must show that the worker will be filling a seasonal, peakload, intermittent, or one-time need. Seasonal, peakload, and intermittent needs are typically determined to be less than 10 months in duration, whereas a one-time need can be for a period of 3 years.   

What makes them unique: Both programs have very stringent recruitment and prevailing wage requirements that must be met to ensure these foreign national workers are not harming similarly situated American workers. The H-2A program does not have an annual fixed quota. The H-2B program has a statutory quota of 66,000 visas/year; half of those visas are made available at the beginning of the fiscal year, the other half are made available at the midpoint of the fiscal year in April. For many of the past several years, the H-2B program has benefited from Congressionally authorized supplemental H-2B visa releases, which, at its maximum, has provided U.S. businesses with access to 64,716 additional H-2B visas, thus raising the total number of visas to 130,716.

While the temporary and seasonal nature of the employment needs create unique prerequisites for obtaining these visas, unlike many other categories, there are no educational or knowledge requirements associated with qualifying for these types of visas.

Intracompany Transferees – L-1A and L-1B Visas

What are they: These visas allow U.S. businesses to transfer an employee from an overseas office to the U.S. The L-1 is split into two subcategories, whereby the employee must qualify as an executive or manager (L-1A) or as a “specialized knowledge” employee (L-1B).

Who do they help: This visa classification helps companies that have an international presence and that need to move their employees from abroad to the U.S. for various business needs. This includes moving the individual to an established U.S. business location or to open a new company office or facility in the U.S.

Who can get them: Prior to an employer being able to bring an L-1 worker to the U.S., the individual must have worked abroad for a qualifying entity for one continuous year within the preceding three years in a “managerial,” “executive,” or “specialized knowledge” position. In addition, the L-1 worker must fill an open job position in the U.S. in a “managerial,” “executive,” or “specialized knowledge” capacity.

What makes them unique: One benefit of utilizing the L-1 program is the ability for a company to obtain a “blanket designation” that significantly streamlines the application process. An employer can apply to the Department of Homeland Security for it to approve its corporate relationships (i.e., subsidiaries, affiliates) as qualifying for L-1 treatment. Once its corporate relationships are approved by DHS, the company no longer needs to file individual petitions, as its employees can apply directly to a U.S. Consulate abroad for an L-1 visa.

Another benefit of the L-1 is there no statutory quota on the number of L-1 visas that can be issued each year. The maximum duration of stay for an L-1A worker is 7 years in the U.S.; the maximum duration of stay for an L-1B is 5 years. There are specific rules for cases involving an L-1 is coming to the U.S. to assist in the opening of a new office or facility. The initial grant of L-1 status for a “new office” petition will typically be for a maximum of one year and in that time, the company will have to apply to extend that individual’s status and provide evidence that the new facility is growing in a manner sufficient to support that L-1 worker’s position.

Mexican and Canadian Professional Workers - TN Visas

What are they: The TN visa classification was created under the original North American Free Trade Agreement to provide greater mobility for professional workers between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. The TN allows U.S. companies to employ qualified Canadian and Mexican professionals on a temporary basis.

Who do they help: The TN visa helps many different companies that cannot meet their professional workforce needs. Companies must seek to employ an individual in a capacity listed in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement that replaced NAFTA. The positions that an employer can seek a TN worker for include, but are not limited to, accountants, engineers, lawyers, pharmacists, and scientists.

Who can get them: For a U.S. employer to hire an individual on a TN visa, the company must seek to employ the worker in one of the many professional capacities listed in the USMCA. The foreign national must have a job offer to perform temporary services for a U.S. employer and they must also prove they have the relevant educational training and/or work experience to meet the job requirements.

What makes them unique: A TN applicant does not need to obtain prior approval for the visa from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services before they come to the U.S., which makes utilizing this visa very expedient for employers. Recipients of this visa are generally provided status in 3-year increments with the option to extend their status without any arbitrary limits - so long as a qualifying employment opportunity continues, the individual can extend their stay in the U.S. Another benefit of hiring TN workers is that there is no annual quota and there are no labor certification requirements employers must comply with in order to hire workers on a TN visa.

Specialty Occupation Workers – H-1B Visas

What are they: The H-1B specialty occupation visa category allows U.S. employers to hire foreign professionals in jobs that require the theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge, which is evidenced by the attainment of a bachelor’s degree or higher in the particular specialty. Common qualifying occupations include engineers, applications software developers, IT specialists, accountants, doctors, researchers, and other highly skilled roles tied to specialized academic knowledge.

Who do they help: The H-1B program helps a wide variety of companies across the U.S. address unique workforce challenges regarding highly skilled and highly educated workers. This program is a critical tool for many companies in information technology, healthcare, finance, accounting, semiconductor manufacturing, and other critical sectors. Both large corporations and small businesses rely on the program to recruit the type of talent, especially workers with unique skill in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), that is oftentimes not be readily available in many local labor markets across the U.S.

Who can get them: To qualify for an H-1B visa, workers must meet the minimum educational requirements for the specialty occupation and employers must demonstrate that the job requires such credentials. Before filing an H-1B petition, employers first must register the individual into USCIS’s H-1B Registration portal for a fee of $215, at which point the company must wait and see if the individual was selected through the USCIS’ randomized lottery process. A new change for the FY27 application includes USCIS utilizing its new weighted selection process, which will favor individuals who are being offered higher wages in the lottery.

If the individual is selected in the lottery, the employer then must obtain a certified Labor Condition Application (LCA) from the Department of Labor, attesting that they will pay the higher of either a) the actual wage for the job or b) the local prevailing wage. The employer must further attest that hiring the foreign national will not adversely affect similarly situated U.S. workers.

After DOL has issued the approved LCA, then the employer can file the H-1B petition with USCIS at the proper USCIS Service Center. This application includes many forms and when it is approved,

What makes them unique: The H-1B program has an annual quota of 65,000 visas, of which 6,800 visas are reserved for nationals of Chile and Singapore under the H-1B1 classification. An additional 20,000 H-1B visas are available to individuals who graduated from a U.S. college or university with a master’s degree or higher. Demand for these visas has significantly outstripped the supply of cap-subject H-1B visas for many years, which means that it can be difficult for employers to break through an obtain that initial H-1B without proper planning.

There are many benefits that employers have when seeking H-1B workers instead of others in certain categories. H-1B visa holders are typically admitted for up to three years. The individual’s status can generally be extended to a maximum of six years, but if an employer wants to file for permanent residence on behalf of that H-1B visa holder, their status can be extended throughout the process of obtaining that individual (and his/her family) an employment-based green card. Many other categories do not provide this type of ability to go from a nonimmigrant to a green card.

Critical Considerations When Applying for Visas

Planning ahead – The rules and regulations governing the operations of each nonimmigrant visa program are complicated. Some programs have annual caps, and due to those caps, there are certain times of the year where if you failed to begin the filing process petition, you will likely be unsuccessful in obtaining any visas for potential workers. Knowing all of these “ins and outs” is imperative to use these programs effectively. Companies who are most effective at meeting their workforce needs with foreign nationals have these visa programs as a permanent part of their talent acquisition and retention strategy

What about family members? – If bringing a worker into your company means that his or her family must join them in the U.S., you must obtain visas for their family members as well. This typically raises the costs for your company. In addition, for some foreign nationals, it is critical that their spouse be able to work in the U.S. Some programs provide the worker’s spouse with employment authorization relatively easily, while others have much more complicated rules on when and under what conditions the worker’s spouse may obtain a work permit.

Hiring good immigration counsel and advisors – If your company is in desperate need of workers and you cannot find American workers to fill your open positions, you want an experienced immigration lawyer handling these matters and you want trusted partners who can help you recruit the type of talent that not only has the skills your company needs, but will be a good fit with the rest of your employees. Hiring licensed attorneys or agents with no or little experience in immigration matters is a recipe for failure. Hire counsel with a proven track record of helping companies through the visa application process.

Navigating the U.S. immigration system can feel overwhelming, but the right visa strategy can open doors to new talent, stabilize operations, and help businesses grow with confidence. An effective immigration strategy often encompasses legal counsel, human resources, talent acquisition, and business leadership to ensure the company leverages the right visa categories at the right time for their business.

The visa options outlined can help many Greenville-area employers build a stronger, more adaptable workforce. By planning ahead, understanding the various compliance considerations, and partnering with knowledgeable immigration professionals, companies can put themselves in a great position to expand their operations and thrive. If your business wants further guidance on these matters, Vanteo, a global mobility consultancy firm headquartered in Greenville, SC, provides experienced, business-focused support to help employers make informed decisions and successfully navigate these complex processes.