H2B visa for cultural restaurant?
I know that applications for H2B workers can be hard to get approved, but i'm wondering if cultural significance could influence that at all. Specifically, I'm wondering if a German restaurant applied to hire a worker or two from Germany through the H2B program, would it be likely to be approved on the basis that employees from Germany would add cultural significance to the restaurant? (I would assume that the restaurant would not normally be approved because there is no shortage of american workers--H2B seems like a good way to get a few workers for a fairly long time (10 months or so) ). Would H1B be a better option? I appreciate any feedback.
Comments
Cultural significance isn't part of the H2b or the H1b equation. it doesn't figure in. I think it would be even tougher to turn restaurant workers into skilled employees. there is a Q visa where cultural significance is part of the reason for that program, but I've never seen it applied to restaurants. however, if you're really serious, you should consult a good immigration lawyer to see if you have any real options available to you.
You are correct. The H-2B visa application would probably be denied because there is no shortage of American workers capable of working at a German restaurant.
An H-1B visa application would probably be denied as well. An H-1B can only be used for a position that requires a bachelor's degree, and working at a German restaurant would not require a university degree.
I am sorry to tell you that there probably is not a work visa category for working at a German restaurant. Maybe, maybe, maybe you could try a J-1 visa, which is for a cultural exchange, but I am unsure whether you could make a good enough argument for a restaurant as qualifying. I suppose it is worth a try though. J-1 visas are one of the easier visas to get approval for.
There are $300K-per-year corporate lawyers working for Apple, Microsoft, and Oracle, among others, standing in line to catch as many of the very few available H1-B slots which fill within a few days, every year. Your chances are zero.
The same applies to the H2-B. If you can prove that among the 312,800,000 people in the U.S. nobody is capable of working in a German restaurant, then you have a chance. In short: zero chance. None. Nada. Nilch.
There are some very smart people out there, trying to get work visas. Steve Jobs himself complained to President Obama shortly before he died what a nightmare this has become. A restaurant owner is a nobody in this super professional game.
An H1B is far more impossible in this circumstance than even an H2B is.
You can't get either. There is no shortage of Americans who can cook German food. Many of them are culturally German as well.
Cultural significance could influence it, but from what I've just looked up it looks like and H2 visa is only for temporary purposes and means that you don't intend to stay in the United States longer than a few months, or in other words it looks like it's only for temporary employment. Trying for the H1 would be a better option if you wanted them to be able to stay longer.