Hiring Someone With A Green Card? Points to Take Care

When an organization lacks skilled human resources who can further their venture then it starts to expand its talent search by reaching out to the global community. Firms look forward to hiring employees who are not necessarily from the local talent pool especially in sight of specialized skills needed.

While employing an ‘alien’, an employer has to see to it that the employee are well authorized and have cleared all the required legal processes. Hiring foreign nationals is really good for the growth of an organization from various points. But lacking any legal documents or raising any sort of suspicion towards any recruitment of foreign nationals can cause audits which can make the process longer.

Some points to take care of while hiring someone with a Green Card:

1. Checking the requirements of your potential candidate

While hiring a foreign national, see to it that you don’t keep a mindset of ‘everything is cleared’. Properly verify a person’s work authorization before hiring. This will help you reduce all the unnecessary troubles caused during the further legal process.

This verification involves Form I-9 which guides the candidate to present the needed documents. Note that an employer has no right to request some specific documents.

2. Clear all the PERM requirements

While hiring a person, see to it that all process, before extending the recruitment to a foreign national, is properly completed. This includes job postings to check for suitable US candidates, checking the ability to pay the employee as per the prevailing wage.

The advertisements provided should be kept as proof for DOL inspection. See to it that all time periods for each advertisement run is properly maintained with proof. This is because the ETA 908 form can only be submitted after the proper completion of this

See to it that you as an employer remains transparent at all times in your recruitment to prevent raising any suspicions which might lead to lengthy audits

[READ MORE: PERM Recruitment Process Requirements ]

3. Maintain all documents

Recruiting for foreign nationals raises many legal processes. To help you clear all of them easily, maintain a clear trail of documentation. Keep all the advertisement proofs done during the PERM process and the responses received during this period safely and document it to be safe in case of any future audits.

4. Be aware of the time taken for processing

The process of hiring someone via sponsoring a green card takes time. Make proper adjustments for all the time taken for individual processes. This may take quite some time as well as monetary inputs to complete hence plan properly before hiring any foreign nationals.

As it is a time taking process, the employer must be clear on the gap between the start of the recruitment drive to the point the employee starts working in the firm. This knowledge will help the employer to plan well into the future without much worry of any timeline disturbances.

5. Hire an attorney

The path of hiring an international student / foreign national is full of legal hurdles. To keep yourself well informed and properly understanding the legalities behind each process will help you find the shortest way to fulfill this.

Hiring an attorney will help you negate most of the legal storm and move forward smoothly with your hiring process. Having legal help also prevents you from straying down any wrong path, thereby decreasing any chances of possible audits. This in turn reduces the time of onboarding a candidate permanently within the optimum time limits.

6. Keep a non-discriminatory stance

Any practices that show bias toward any candidates, US citizens, or non-US citizens, will not be tolerated by the government body. Maintain this stand in all aspects of your working environment as well as in your recruitment process.

This bias might be based on VISA status, nationality, or any such differentiating point. The advertisements made should be such that they are free from all discrimination unless and until there is any legal need attached to the job position.

7. In the case of no work authorization

A green card gives a non-US citizen a right to work without the need for a different work identity or authorization. In case the process is still ongoing, see to it that the concerned employee has a GC EAD which will help them see through the process of attaining GC being work worthy side by side.

In the case of the candidate being in a different nation, the entire process needs to be handled by the sponsoring party i.e. employer. This requires an investment of time and money on your part to bring them into the US and settle them permanently.

Wrapping up

As said earlier, the process of hiring a foreign national is not an easy one. The legalities themselves make many employers take a step back. That being said, the employers should know that this is not a ‘stringent’ method of the government to keep you from hiring skilled people.

Rather this system is in place to help you get the best person suited for the job, preventing the misuse of the system by bringing an immigrant illegally. This legal block is also kept to prevent the jobs, which are potential ones for the US citizens, to be leached illegally to other nationalities.

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Neil Thomas

With his expertise in Hiring and Recruitment Process, he has helped employers in the face of problems related to recruitment. Alongside as an expert writer at RecruitDesi, with his expert writing skills he has delivered much useful information, tips, and insights for employers in recruitment looking to hire the right talent.