The H-1B process can be complicated, lengthy, and expensive. It might be par for the course for big companies that have streamlined in-house immigration teams and processes, but it can quickly overwhelm small businesses with fewer or sometimes no resources dedicated to US immigration.
We talk a lot about how stressful the H-1B lottery is for workers, but we often overlook the challenges small businesses face trying to hire skilled workers from abroad through the H-1B visa program.
Demand for H-1B visas has been increasing over the years, in part due to a shortage of skilled American workers. The annual cap of 85,000 H-1B visas hits small businesses especially hard because they submit fewer applications and thus have fewer “bites at the H-1B apple.”
And when a small business dedicates time and money to an H-1B petition and it doesn’t pan out, the results can be really devastating on the business.
H-1B fatigue can lead small businesses to avoid the visa process altogether. Some businesses end up deciding to make do without the foreign skilled talent they desperately need to avoid being put through the wringer applying for an H-1B visa.
The reason I’m writing this article is that I recently received an email from someone directly experiencing the impact of H-1B fatigue. The person who wrote the email shared with me that his wife had received a job offer from an American employer who was ready to hire her, but the employer wanted to avoid the “hectic” H-1B visa process altogether and instead hire her in Canada as plan A. The problem was that the company didn’t have a Canadian office.
So, what can someone in their situation do?
Fortunately, there’s a solution: hire through a PEO in Canada.
The H-1B process demands time and money from small businesses
The H-1B program has been offering temporary non-immigrant visas for skilled workers since 1990. Every April, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) begins to accept H-1B petitions from hundreds of thousands of companies hoping to get one (or more) of the 85,000 visas that are issued annually.
Large companies can flood the H-1B application pool, while small businesses with less money can support fewer H-1B petitions, sometimes only one petition a year.
The H-1B process is not cheap – petitions cost thousands of dollars between filing fees and legal fees – but what’s worse is that after all that expense, being chosen is a lottery.
The filing costs can be prohibitive for many small businesses, especially if you want to expedite the visa application through a process called premium processing, which costs the company an additional $2,500.
While a few thousand dollars may seem like a minimal one-time investment for the perfect candidate, being able to hire that candidate isn’t guaranteed. The lottery system makes it impossible to ensure your candidates’ successful selection.
This frustrating process often leaves smaller companies in the dust. Large companies can flood the H-1B application pool, while small businesses with less money support fewer H-1B petitions, sometimes only one petition a year.
But the stress doesn’t end with the H-1B lottery.
If you are one of the lucky few who is selected for an H-1B, you might need to wait up to one year for approvals. If you’re awarded an H-1B visa, you could possibly hold it for up to six years or more, after which many then try for a green card, and finally to US citizenship. This entire process can take over a decade (or in some cases 150 years!) to get to permanent residence and then five more years to get citizenship. For many, this is exhausting.
So, given how burdensome and frustrating the H-1B process can be, smaller companies, especially tech companies, like the one I received an email about are skipping the H-1B altogether. Instead, they’re using a Canadian PEO to hire their desired skilled worker remotely in Canada.
Hiring in Canada through a PEO solves H-1B fatigue
A Professional Employer Organization (PEO) is the perfect solution for the email writer’s wife and her hopeful employer. A PEO empowers the American tech company to skip the H-1B process and hire their ideal candidate in Canada.
With the help of a PEO, the wife lands a job she wants and can immigrate to Canada through the Global Talent Stream, which offers a much smoother process than America’s H-1B visa.
Here’s how a PEO works:
A Professional Employer Organization — commonly referred to as a PEO — enables US-based companies to remotely hire workers in Canada without needing to have an office or any other legal presence there. A PEO — like Syndesus — hires the employee and keeps them on the PEO’s Canadian payroll.
The PEO handles all the technical aspects of employment, like handing out paychecks, managing employee benefits, and handling HR issues, while the American employer manages the worker’s day-to-day job.
Through a PEO, the American company can hire the email writer’s wife in Canada. She’d benefit from the Global Talent Stream which allows Canadian employers to expedite the hiring of foreign workers to fill specialized jobs when Canadian workers aren’t available. In about two weeks, she’d be able to start her move to Canada and begin working for her new American employer.
Workers can get the jobs they want while avoiding the challenges of the American immigration system, and small businesses can hire top talent and save both money and headache by avoiding the H-1B process. It’s a win-win!
She’d be based in Canada and legally hired by the PEO, but the American company would be 100% in control of her job duties, would be the one paying her salary, could still offer stock options, and more. It would feel like any other remote job and would be as if the US company had an office in Canada.
The bottom line is that hiring in Canada through a PEO benefits both workers and small businesses. Workers can get the jobs they want while avoiding the challenges of the American immigration system, and small businesses can hire top talent and save both money and headache by avoiding the H-1B process. It’s a win-win!
Syndesus can help you hire — or get hired — in Canada
For many small businesses, H-1B visa fatigue is all too real. But you can avoid it by looking north, to Canada.
Syndesus can help you apply for the right Canadian visa, relocate to Canada, and start working or continue to work for an American company.
So, if you’re considering a move to Canada and working for a US employer, Syndesus can help you make it happen. And if you want a new job in Canada, Path to Canada, which is a service of Syndesus, can match you with Canadian tech jobs that are open to sponsoring non-Canadians.
Reach out to us to learn more about how we can help you work remotely for a US tech company from Canada, or join our Path to Canada database of qualified candidates seeking to move to Canada and get matched with a Canadian tech employer!
