How Can a Business Sponsor an Immigrant Worker?

To sponsor an immigrant worker, a U.S. business files a petition with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) asking the government to authorize a foreign national to work in the country, either temporarily or permanently. Knowing how to sponsor an immigrant worker means understanding four things before you start: which visa or green card category fits the job, what the Department of Labor requires before you file, how much the government fees will be and which of them you cannot pass to the employee, and what your company has to keep doing after the petition is approved. Timelines run from a few weeks with premium processing on a temporary visa to a decade or more for some green card cases.

Pick the Right Category First

Sponsorship is category-specific. The rules, fees, and wait times depend entirely on which visa or green card track fits the job and the person.

Temporary Work Visas

The H-1B covers specialty occupations that require at least a bachelor’s degree in a specific field, such as engineering, IT, finance, or architecture. Maximum stay is six years.¹ Congress caps the H-1B at 65,000 visas per fiscal year, plus 20,000 more for workers with a U.S. master’s degree or higher.² Because demand outruns supply, USCIS runs a weighted electronic lottery. Employers register in early-to-mid March; selected registrants can file the full petition starting April 1.³ If you are not selected, you cannot file that year. Universities, nonprofit research organizations, and government research organizations are exempt from the cap.

The L-1 transfers a manager, executive, or specialized-knowledge employee from a related foreign office to a U.S. office. The worker must have been employed by a qualifying related entity abroad for at least one continuous year within the three years before the transfer. The L-1A (managers and executives) allows up to seven years; the L-1B (specialized knowledge) caps at five.⁴

The O-1 is for individuals with sustained national or international recognition in sciences, arts, education, business, athletics, or the film and television industry. Initial stay is up to three years, extendable, with no annual cap.⁵

The TN is available to Canadian and Mexican citizens in designated professional occupations under the USMCA. No annual cap, and Canadian citizens can often apply directly at the border without a separate USCIS petition.⁶

Employment-Based Green Cards

Permanent sponsorship runs through one of three main preference categories. EB-1 covers priority workers: individuals with extraordinary ability, outstanding professors and researchers, and multinational executives or managers. EB-1 extraordinary ability applicants can self-petition, and no labor certification is required in any EB-1 subcategory. EB-2 covers workers with an advanced degree (or a bachelor’s plus five years of progressive experience) or exceptional ability; labor certification is generally required, but a National Interest Waiver lets the worker self-petition without either an employer sponsor or labor certification.⁷ EB-3 covers skilled workers whose jobs require at least two years of training or experience, professionals with a bachelor’s degree, and unskilled workers in positions requiring less than two years of experience; labor certification is required across the board.⁸

What Your Business Has to Prove

Not every company can sponsor. The employer must be a legitimate U.S. business with a valid Federal Employer Identification Number and a physical U.S. location. USCIS also looks at whether the company can afford to pay the offered salary, typically by reviewing tax returns, audited financial statements, or annual reports. For most categories, you must maintain a genuine employer-employee relationship with the worker, meaning you control when, where, and how the work is performed.

The job has to match the visa. An H-1B position must genuinely require specialized knowledge and at least a bachelor’s degree in a directly related field.² For EB-2 and EB-3 green cards, job requirements must be realistic for the role, not tailored to the sponsored worker’s résumé. USCIS scrutinizes positions where the listed requirements happen to match only one person’s background.

The Department of Labor Step Before You File

Most H-1B and green card cases go to the Department of Labor (DOL) before they go to USCIS. Skipping or mishandling this step can sink the whole case.

Labor Condition Application for H-1B

Before filing an H-1B petition, the employer must obtain a certified Labor Condition Application (LCA) from the DOL on Form ETA-9035E. By signing it, the employer commits to paying at least the prevailing wage or the actual wage paid to comparable employees (whichever is higher), providing working conditions that will not harm other workers, and confirming there is no strike or lockout at the worksite.⁹ The DOL assigns one of four wage levels based on the occupation, geography, and required skill. Wage level also affects lottery odds: USCIS uses a weighted selection favoring higher wage levels.³ The employer must notify existing workers about the filing, either by posting a notice at the worksite or providing electronic notification. The LCA is usually certified within a few business days.

PERM Labor Certification for Green Cards

For most EB-2 and EB-3 green card petitions, the employer must first obtain a permanent labor certification (PERM) from the DOL, proving no qualified U.S. worker is available for the position.¹⁰ PERM is the slowest part of green card sponsorship. It has three stages: a prevailing wage determination from the DOL for the specific job and location, a structured recruitment campaign to test the labor market (including a state workforce agency job order, newspaper advertisements, and additional recruitment steps, all within a 30-to-180-day window before filing), and then the application itself on Form ETA-9089.

As of early 2026, DOL processing times for PERM applications run around 500 calendar days for cases that proceed without complications.¹¹ The DOL can audit any application at random, but certain factors invite extra scrutiny: unusual job requirements, recent layoffs at the company, employers with ten or fewer employees, and family or ownership ties between the worker and the business. Audits add significant time.

Filing the Petition With USCIS

Once any required DOL step is complete, the employer files with USCIS. Temporary work visas like the H-1B and L-1 go on Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker.¹² Green cards go on Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers.¹³ Either can be filed by mail to a USCIS service center or submitted online.

Expect to submit extensive documentation: financial records showing the company’s ability to pay the offered wage, business licenses, and organizational information on the employer side; diplomas, transcripts, employer verification letters, and passport information on the worker side. If USCIS wants more evidence, it issues a Request for Evidence (RFE), typically giving 60 to 87 days to respond.

After an approved I-140, the worker still needs the green card itself. If they are already in the United States, they file Form I-485 (Adjustment of Status) once a visa number is available in their preference category and country of birth. If abroad, they go through consular processing at a U.S. embassy or consulate.

Premium processing is available for I-129 and I-140 petitions at $2,965 as of March 1, 2026.¹⁴ It guarantees USCIS action within 15 business days for most petition types, or 45 business days for EB-1 multinational executives and EB-2 National Interest Waiver petitions.¹⁵ “Action” means an approval, denial, RFE, or notice of intent to deny, not necessarily a final decision.

What It Costs and Who Pays

Government fees stack. Base fees, set by a rule effective April 1, 2024, are $780 for an H-1B petition on Form I-129 and $1,385 for an L-1 petition on Form I-129.¹⁶ The base fee for Form I-140 is $715.¹⁷

Most I-129 and I-140 filings also carry a $600 Asylum Program Fee. Small employers with 25 or fewer full-time employees pay $300, and nonprofits are exempt.¹⁸ H-1B petitions carry a $500 fraud prevention and detection fee for initial filings and transfers, plus an ACWIA training fee of $750 (25 or fewer employees) or $1,500 (larger employers). The L-1 has the same $500 fraud fee for initial petitions.¹⁹ Form I-485 costs $1,440 when filed separately. Work and travel authorization documents that were previously bundled with I-485 now require separate fees.

Add it up and a single H-1B petition for a larger employer can easily exceed $6,000 in government fees alone with premium processing, before attorney costs. Attorney fees typically run several thousand dollars and vary by case complexity and market.

Now the compliance trap. Federal law prohibits H-1B employers from passing certain costs to the worker. The employee can never be required to pay the ACWIA training fee, the $500 fraud prevention fee, or any expenses directly related to the LCA or I-129 filing, including attorney fees and the premium processing fee.²⁰ Deducting these from an H-1B worker’s paycheck, or requiring reimbursement, violates federal wage rules and exposes the employer to back-pay liability and penalties. The worker can voluntarily agree to pay the base I-129 filing fee and the Asylum Program Fee, but only if doing so does not drop their pay below the required wage. Most employers cover everything to avoid the headache. Green card sponsorship has looser cost-sharing rules, and some employers split certain green card costs with the employee by agreement.

How Long It Takes

Timelines vary enormously by category. An H-1B petition with premium processing can be resolved in about two to four weeks after filing, but the annual lottery pushes planning back by months: registration typically opens in early March, and if selected, the petition cannot be filed until April 1.³ Without premium processing, regular H-1B adjudication can take three to six months or longer.

Green card timelines are measured in years. PERM alone averages roughly 16 to 17 months of DOL processing, plus two months or more of recruitment before filing.¹¹ After PERM approval, the I-140 takes several additional months (or 15 business days with premium processing). Then the worker waits for a visa number in their preference category and country of birth. For workers born in India or China in EB-2 or EB-3, that wait can stretch to a decade or more because of per-country visa limits. Workers from most other countries face shorter waits.

What You Still Owe After Approval

Sponsorship does not end at approval. The employer takes on continuing obligations, and the consequences for noncompliance can be serious.

Wages and Benefits

For H-1B workers, the employer must pay at least the wage stated on the certified LCA for the full period of employment: the higher of the actual wage paid to similarly situated employees or the prevailing wage for the occupation in the area.⁹ Benefits must be provided on the same basis as for U.S. employees in comparable roles. Putting an H-1B worker on a different health plan or denying them a bonus U.S. peers receive can be a violation.

Public Access File and Record-Keeping

Employers must create and maintain a public access file for each LCA, available for inspection within one working day of filing. It contains the certified LCA, the wage rate offered, an explanation of how the actual wage is set, prevailing wage documentation, proof of worker notification, and a summary of benefits offered to U.S. employees.²¹ Payroll records must be retained for three years from creation. Other H-1B records must be kept for one year after employment ends or one year after the LCA expires, whichever comes later.²² If enforcement begins, all records must be preserved until it is resolved.

Reporting Changes

Notify USCIS of any material change to the sponsored employment. A significant shift in duties, a move to a different work location, or a substantial salary reduction all require an amended petition or at minimum a formal notification. A new or amended LCA is often needed when the work location changes, because the prevailing wage varies by area.

Termination

If you fire an H-1B worker before the authorized period ends, you must offer to pay the reasonable cost of the worker’s return transportation to their last country of residence. This applies regardless of the reason, even for cause.²³ It does not apply if the worker quits. Notify USCIS of the termination promptly; failing to do so can leave you liable for back wages covering the period between termination and the end of the authorized stay.

Site Visits

The Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate (FDNS) conducts both random and targeted site visits for H-1B and L-1 petitions, among others.²⁴ Officers verify the company exists at the stated address, that the sponsored worker performs the described duties there, and that salary and working conditions match the petition. They may interview the worker, HR staff, and supervisors, and may ask to review documents originally submitted. Refusing to cooperate or being unable to verify the petition’s claims can lead to denial or revocation. Keep your internal records consistent with what you told USCIS, and make sure reception and HR know what a site visit looks like.

Anti-Discrimination

Federal law prohibits discrimination based on citizenship status or national origin during hiring and I-9 verification. Do not demand specific documents (like a green card), request more documents than Form I-9 requires, or reject documents that reasonably appear genuine.²⁵ Sponsoring some workers does not permit treating them differently from U.S. employees on pay, benefits, or working conditions.

1
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