About Visa and Green Card

Angelika But now for something completely different: As we have mentioned several times, our visa expires at the end of July this year. Since we would like to stay a bit longer, we have applied for an extension, which still hasn't been processed, as the American immigration authority is not exactly the fastest. In recent weeks, everyone has been looking towards America again, as Chancellor Schröder announced plans to bring foreign computer experts to Germany. We laughed ourselves silly when suddenly the term "Green Card" was on everyone's lips in Germany. It seems to be particularly trendy to use American terms, regardless of whether they are used correctly or incorrectly.

In America, a Green Card refers to a permanent work and residence permit. However, Gerhard Schröder only has temporary permits in mind. That's exactly what Michael has here, and it's called an H-1B visa. We didn't find it funny at all that the German press acted as if one could get a Green Card in America on a silver platter. Especially when you are going through the highly complicated, lengthy Green Card process yourself and are also anxiously waiting for your visa extension, a huge amount of anger arises over so much misinformation. Therefore, I want to do a bit of educational work.

I'll save how to get a Green Card in America for the next newsletter. Today's episode is about how the H-1B visa works. The H-1B visa is issued to highly qualified foreigners. Initially, you get it for three years, with the possibility of extending it for another three years. In total, you can work in the USA on an H-1B visa for six years. After that, no amount of begging and pleading will help; there is no further extension. If you don't have a Green Card in hand after six years, you must leave the country.

This visa program was introduced in 1990 to fill positions for which no Americans can be found, meaning you only have a chance to work on an H-1B visa if you have a profession that is in short supply in America (e.g., software engineer). One of the prerequisites for obtaining this type of visa is having a high level of education (i.e., a completed degree) and/or relevant professional experience. As mentioned, Americans also want to bring highly qualified people into the country, not unskilled workers. Unfortunately, the prejudice still persists that it is easy to complete the necessary paperwork. Completely wrong! For the H-1B visa, the "Department of Labor" (American labor authority) first checks whether there really is no American available for the advertised job. The American employer applying for the visa for the foreign employee must demonstrate that they are paying the industry-standard wage and even post the job offer within the company for two weeks so that other employees have the opportunity to object.

If the Department of Labor then gives its consent, all required documents are submitted in a second step to the immigration authority, which then checks whether everything is in order. It takes at least six to eight weeks to complete all the paperwork, during which time you are not allowed to work. The immigration authority also issues only a certain number of H-1B visas per year to limit the influx of foreign workers. Currently, 115,000 visas are issued per year. If the quota is exhausted, which is currently the case after just a few months, you're out of luck. You have to wait until the next year.

There are so many open positions in the computer industry here that companies would like to hire even more foreign specialists and are advocating for an increase in the visa cap. The issue has become so pressing that it has even become a campaign topic, as companies are losing money because positions cannot be filled. Another thing to consider with the H-1B visa: It can only be applied for once you have found an American company willing to employ you, as the company submits the application. This means that the work permit is only valid for this company and the specifically advertised job. If you lose that job, you must leave the country within 10 days, and the company is obliged to pay for the flight. Or if you no longer like the job and look for another one, the bureaucratic process starts all over again, meaning a new H-1B visa must be applied for. By the way, my visa is called H-4 and, as you already know, allows me to stay in the USA--but not to work.

So, enough for today! We hope that we, your intrepid newsletter reporters, were able to whisk you away from everyday life for a few minutes and delight you with insider information from the land of unlimited possibilities. We will stay a little longer in sunny California--not just because of the weather, but because we love the daily adventure.

Until next time!

Angelika und Michael