Visa for Employment in the U.S.

[thailend19]

This may not be the right forum, but it 's the closest I could find. I'm an expat American with a Philippine GF(32 years old, who speaks excellent English) and who will graduate from college in May of 2018. I have a friend in the U.S. who owns a large real estate property management company who is willing to hire her to help recruit potential renters, including growing numbers of filipinos, where her background, culture and language is helpful. Between now and the spring of 2018, what information and suggestions would help her chances of getting that work visa from the American Embassy in Manila?

[Dave Hounddriver]

13 minutes ago, thailend19 said:

what information and suggestions would help her chances of getting that work visa from the American Embassy in Manila?

Can you clarify this for me, please?

Do you mean she is a filipina living with you in Thailand who wants to move to the US on a work visa to work for your friend?  That may work, but if she is in Philippines and anyone tries to help her get a job in the US they will get nailed for illegal recruiting. 

"Art. 38.    Illegal Recruitment. — (a) Any recruitment activities, including the prohibited practices enumerated under Article 34 of this Code, to be undertaken by non-licensees or non-holders of authority shall be deemed illegal and punishable under Article 39 of this Code. The Ministry of Labor and Employment or any law enforcement officers may initiate complaints under this Article.  http://www.chanrobles.com/presidentialdecreeno2018.html#.V7GyT1t9600

Edited August 15, 2016 by Dave Hounddriver

[thailend19]

No, she's living with me in Thailand. Do you mean her best choice is to apply at the American Embassy in Bangkok, rather than the embassy in Manila? She has a student(extended stay) visa for her university here.

[Dave Hounddriver]

1 hour ago, thailend19 said:

Do you mean her best choice is to apply at the American Embassy in Bangkok, rather than the embassy in Manila?

I'm saying that I do not know the rules in Bangkok but I know that Philippines has extremely strict rules for filipinas who want to leave the country on a work permit or for people who want to hire filipinas to move out of the country. 

 If she is already in Thailand you "may' be better off to apply from there, but its out of my area of experience.

[earthdome]

Is it your intention to move back to the US with her and continue the relationship?

 

Reason I ask is that getting a work visa for the US will be nearly impossible unless she has a very specialized in high demand skill such as those with computer science related PhD's who will work for large IT firms such as Google, Apple, etc.

 

If your intention is to continue the relationship the easiest way is for the two of you to get engaged and use a K-1 fiancee visa or marry and use the CR/IR-1 spouse visa.

[thailend19]

If that's true, how do thousands of filipinos get U.S. visas as nurses, teachers(of English), nannies and other non-IT or PhD jobs? 

[Dave Hounddriver]

22 minutes ago, thailend19 said:

If that's true

I gave you the link to the actual law. Up to you to read it or not.

[robert k]

13 minutes ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

I gave you the link to the actual law. Up to you to read it or not.

Dave, I think he was replying to Earthdome.

[Hey Steve]

As Earthdome eluded to, your best course of action, I would say as well, is to file a K-1 Visa. If you time it out right initiate the process, say, about Dec 2017. This will mean she will have that K-1 visa in hand in the spring of 2018. (of course you will have 90 days to marry once you get her to the US). The only issue at hand here is that you need to be on US soil to file this (I-129 form-K-1 visa) and not in Thailand (not sure if that will be logistically practical for you).

[earthdome]

1 hour ago, thailend19 said:

If that's true, how do thousands of filipinos get U.S. visas as nurses, teachers(of English), nannies and other non-IT or PhD jobs? 

I gave IT PhD's as an example. They and other highly trained professionals can get a limited number of H1B visas sponsored by their employer.

From what I understand it is much more difficult now for filipino's to get a work visa than it was 20-30 years ago.

Here is a page with a chart breaking down immigration by type of visa. You can see that only 16% of visas were for work, around 160,000 in 2013.

https://www.us-immigration.com/how-many-immigration-applications-filed-each-year/

My best guess is that your gf will not be able to qualify for a US work visa for a job in property management/real estate. Of course I am not a lawyer or an immigration visa professional so consult with a professional if you feel they will give you the answer you want.

The easiest route is for her to immigrate as a fiancee or spouse. On entry as a spouse she would immediately have a green card and can work.