International Organization for Migration (IOM)

Improving Access to Labour market Information for migrants and employers
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on legal procedures for immigration and work visas for temporary workers.
Aggressive corporate lobbying over the past two decades has resulted in more visa
categories for labour migration as well as in streamlining migration procedures.
There does not seem to be any specific public initiative to facilitate legal migration
except that over the years, sources of information for legal migration have become
increasingly user-friendly, labour certification requirements (as discussed in detail
below) have been selectively eased, and the number of visas issued under most
non-immigration categories has increased manifold to meet the growing demand
for migrant workers.
Migration procedures
Most non-immigrant visas for short-term employment involve a three-step process,
as outlined by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services:
Step 1: Employers file a petition with the US Department of Labor (DOL)
to receive labour certification or approval. The petition is called Labor
Condition Application (LCA). The objective of LCA is to ensure that the
admission of foreign workers into the country on a permanent or temporary
basis does not adversely affect the job opportunities, wages, and working
conditions of US workers.
Step 2: Upon receipt of the DOL-certified LCA, the employer files a petition (Form
I-129) on behalf of a non-immigrant worker with the US Citizenship and
Immigration Services. This is a time-consuming process, but the USCIS
provides a Premium Processing Service that guarantees to process petitions
in 15 calendar days at an additional charge of USD 1,225 per application.
Step 3: Upon USCIS approval of Form I-129, prospective migrant workers who
are outside the country apply for a temporary work visa at a US Embassy or
Consulate office.
The three-step process can take between two and six months. To receive the DOL
certification, in some cases, there is also a requirement to provide evidence of effort
by the employer to recruit US citizens. The petition for a non-immigrant worker
(Form I-129) involves a fee of USD 325. There is an additional visa fee that varies by
visa category.
Third-country nationals in the US work in a wide range of occupations – in highly
skilled occupations in science, technology, engineering and maths as well as in lowskilled
occupations such as landscaping, childcare, low-end jobs in hospitality and
accommodation industries. Overall, trends over the past three decades suggest a steady
growth of foreign-born workers in the fastest growing industries and occupations,
at the high and low ends of skill distribution (Bean et al. 2012; Kaushal and Fix,
2006). Yet, there is little in the US labour migration policy to allow for the entry of
low-skilled workers even though many of the fastest growing job opportunities are at
the tail end of the skill distribution (Table 12.1). These lower end occupations have
been largely left to be filled by irregular labour.