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J-1 Business Trainees Can Perform Productive Work Provided that It Is Part of Their Training

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The J-1 business trainee visa is available for foreign nationals with a university degree who seek up to 18 months of business training in their field in the United States

RAM Consulting had been Olender's client for years. RAM had a business relationship with a Dutch consulting firm and wanted to employee one of its consultants named Joost for a couple of years in the United States. RAM hired Olender to prepare and file a cap-subject H-1B. For the past several years the H-1B cap has been oversubscribed. There are 85,000 new H-1B visa numbers available each October 1 and for the past several years, USCIS has received more than double that number of cap-subject H-1B petitions. For more about the H-1B cap, click here. When USCIS receives more cap-subject H-1B petitions than there are H-1B numbers available, USCIS holds a lottery. USCIS selects the first 85,000 cases from the lottery to further process and returns the remaining cases to petitioners.

Unfortunately, Joost's H-1B petition was not selected in the lottery. RAM needed another way to get Joost here. Joost was a few years out of his bachelor's degree program in accounting and we asked RAM if it had an employee training program. RAM had said it had an extensive employee training program in accounting, finance, audit and IT consulting. We suggested the J-1 business trainee visa. To qualify for the J-1 program, the trainee must have:

  1. A degree or professional certificate from a foreign college or university in the field of training, or
  2. Five years of work experience outside of the US in the same field in which they seek training

The J-1 allowed RAM to place Joost in a position where he would perform useful, productive work, but RAM had to provide structured training over 18 months, the productive work Joost would perform had to be directly related to the occupational field and no more than 20 percent of Joost's work hours could be devoted to clerical or office support work. Additionally, the training could not duplicate any of Joost's prior education or training and they job could not be one that was or could be filled by a regular part-time or full-time employee.

After detailed discussions with RAM's audit manager, Sean believed that RAM met the program's requirements.

Companies that do not have their own J-1 trainee program must use an umbrella sponsor to manage the J-1 compliance and reporting requirements. Olender works with three umbrella sponsors, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Olender helps its clients choose the best umbrella sponsor based on occupational field, how quickly the firm needs the J-1 approved and price. Umbrella sponsors change from about $1,000 to $2,500 to issue the IAP-66 and manage J-1 compliance duties. We care enough to provide you with a choice of umbrella sponsor vendors based on your company's needs.

Sean Olender was able to get Joost's umbrella sponsor to issue the IAP-66 in a week and Joost was in the United States 10 days later in his J-1 training program at RAM's San Francisco offices.

For more information about J-1s, visit our J-1 visa page.

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The Olender Pro Bono Project

We represent some clients who have compelling cases and little money at no charge. Sean received the Benito Juarez human rights award in 2008 and the ALRP Volunteer Award in 2012 for taking more than 10 pro bono cases in 12 months. We need volunteers. E-mail Debbie to volunteer.

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