There is no doubt that the hospitality and leisure industry is facing a labor shortage. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that there are more than a million job openings, compared to only about 350,000 job openings in 2009.<\/p>\n
The American Hotel and Lodging Association is urging Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform and legislation that strengthen the H-2B and J-1 visa programs, which the hotel industry relies on. Leisure and hospitality jobs are disproportionately filled by \u00a0immigrants; approximately 31 percent of hotel workers are immigrants.<\/p>\n
As we await Congressional action, let\u2019s review the current visa options for those in the industry.<\/p>\n
Hotel managers who are of Canadian or Mexican nationality should look to the TN. A TN visa would grant the applicant status to work in the US for an initial temporary period of three years. To qualify, the applicant must have either a 1) Baccalaureate or Licenciatura Degree in hotel\/restaurant management, or 2) a Post-Secondary Diploma or Post-Secondary Certificate in hotel\/restaurant management and<\/em> three years\u2019 experience in hotel\/restaurant management.<\/p>\n An H-1B visa can be used for a broader range of hotel workers. The process for securing an H-1B is lengthier than that of TN, but it is also a great first step towards a green card. The H-1B category is for those who perform services in a specialty occupation whereas as the H-2B category is for lower skilled workers, such as gardeners and housekeepers.<\/p>\n For those who work for a large company with hotels all over the world, the L visa is likely the best fit. The L category is for those employed by a foreign employer who are seeking to transfer to a US affiliate. For example, say John Doe is the manager of the Ritz in Montreal and has been for the past two years. Mr. Doe gets a phone call one day from corporate saying that they want him to transfer to the Ritz in New York. In that scenario, Mr. Doe would be eligible for an L visa.<\/p>\n Finally, the J-1 visa is perfect for college or university students who are looking to work seasonally in the U.S. To be eligible, the applicant must be sponsored by a host organization and the two-year home residency rule requires those in J-1 status to return to their home country for at least a two-year period before they may secure certain subsequent nonimmigrant and immigrant benefits. A waiver for the two-year condition applies in limited circumstances.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There is no doubt that the hospitality and leisure industry is facing a labor shortage. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that there are more than a million job openings, compared to only about 350,000 job openings in 2009. The American Hotel and Lodging Association is urging Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":138432332,"featured_media":2796,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1916],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guidance"],"yoast_head":"\n