Work Visa Lawyers Serving Orlando, Florida & Surrounding Areas

The US Immigration and Nationality Act offers dozens of visa categories for foreign nationals who desire to work in the United States. Whether you want to work at Walt Disney World near Orlando, Florida for a few months, or you want to stay in the Orlando area permanently through the sponsorship of an employer, there is a specific type of work visa for your vocation and length of stay.

Maney | Gordon, P.A. is a firm of Orlando immigration lawyers offering solutions to foreign nationals, businesses, and other organizations interested in learning more about work visas. Since the work visa process is the culmination of hundreds of years of Congressional rulings, understanding how to get a work visa is very difficult for most people. The work visa services provided by the lawyers at Maney | Gordon in Orlando, Florida are especially valuable because we have spent decades examining the ins-and-outs of work visa law. We even provide a free initial consultation to get you started.

One of the most complicated aspects of work visa law is the fact that temporary work visas are divided into dozens of different categories. These categories represent a variety of careers and business ventures, and each category carries its own requirements, advantages, and limitations.

There is also the possibility that a foreign national could pursue a more permanent situation in the United States. Permanent residence can be sponsored by employer or a family member, or it also may be possible through an EB5 visa for business investors. The paperwork that makes employment-based permanent residence possible is often called a green card.

The following are examples of temporary work visa categories:

• B1 visa—If a businessperson wishes to visit the Orlando, Florida area for a limited period of time, usually no more than 6 months, he or she may be able to enter the US with a B1 visa. While a B1 visa is not appropriate for gainful employment in the US, this work visa is excellent for those who are in the United States for consultations, trade shows, interviews, or business negotiations.
• E1 work visa—By opening an import/export business in the United States and being involved with a significant amount of trade with treaty countries, a foreign national can work for his or her own trade enterprise indefinitely in the US.
• E2 visa—Foreign investors from approved treaty countries may work in the US to manage their US investments.
• H1B visa—Often appropriate for foreign professionals with an advanced college education, the H1B visa requires a minimum of a bachelor’s degree (or its equivalent) in specialized careers. A business might also be interested in H1B visas when they want to recruit qualified personnel from overseas. H1B applicants typically include computer programmers, accountants, architects, doctors, college professors, and engineers.
• H2 work visa—Seasonal and agricultural workers who don’t have US citizenship may get an H2 visa through a petitioning employer for the purposes of temporary labor.
• L1 visa—If you are an employer in the Orlando, Florida area and you want one of your foreign executives, managers, or highly skilled employees to transfer from an overseas office to your US office, it is likely you will need an L1A visa or L1B visa for intra-company transferees.
• O1 visa—This visa is reserved for foreign nationals with international acclaim and extraordinary ability in sports, entertainment, the arts, or science.
• P1 work visa—Athletes, performing artists, or entertainers from foreign countries may apply for a P1, P2, or P3 visa to compete or perform in the United States.
• R1 work visa—Foreign religious workers may enter the United States temporarily to perform religious duties through the R1 visa.

As mentioned above, a foreign citizen may establish permanent residence and working rights in the United States by receiving a permanent immigration visa from a sponsoring employer. This possibility of lawful permanent residence through employment depends on whether or not the immigrant’s profession fits into certain categories of preference for certain workers.

For example, the US government gives first preference to foreign nationals with extraordinary ability in the arts, sciences, athletics, education, or business. First preference is also given to executives and managers of multinational companies, as well as outstanding researchers and professors. Second preference is given to professionals with advanced degrees. Third preference is given to professionals with bachelors degrees or specialized skills, and so on.

If you need assistance from a work visa attorney in Orlando, Florida, Maney | Gordon is just a phone call or e-mail away. Before you try to obtain a work visa by yourself, please contact us for a free initial consultation.