Due to the large influx of Jews to South Florida in the last several years, many people want to be more familiar with working visas and immigrant visas for their friends, family, and business associates. The best way for anyone from another country to live and work legally is to file for a temporary working visa.  South Florida has seen a huge increase in its private Jewish school population.  There is a need for qualified Hebrew teachers in our Jewish Schools.  Hebrew teachers often qualify for working visas in two categories. If they are university graduates, they can obtain an H-1B visa and if they are working as religious teachers in religious Institutions, they  can qualify for a R-1 Visa.  In order for a Hebrew teacher to obtain a Green card, she or he first will need to pass labor certification which is a process to make sure that there are no able-bodied persons in South Florida or the area where the job is being offered to fill that position.

This involves registering the job offer with the Florida Job Service, advertising in a local paper and a few others steps before �Labor Certification� is granted.  Once Labor Certification is granted,  the applicant can file for a green card. As green card applications based upon job offers are taking in excess of two years to process by INS,  obtaining a valid temporary working visas is always a wise first step. Other Jewish occupations which can qualify for a temporary working visas are: Rabbis, Cantors, Mohels, all under Religious Workers.  Further,  qualified Kosher chefs and bakers can qualify for working visas and green cards, but only if they pass labor certification. Although Rabbis and Cantors may qualified as �Special Immigrants� for direct application for green cards, whether to file directly for a green card or to go for Temporary Working Visa  is something that should be discussed  with an experienced attorney. A Hebrew teacher who has not taught in a religious institutions, but rather only in a government school in Israel will not qualified for religious worker but can qualified for the H-1B Visa if the teacher has an University Diploma.  The other �Jewish occupation� is business owners/director.  For this, there is the ever-popular L-1 visa.

The following is a Summary of the L-1 visa which is also can convert to a green card. L-1 Temporary Working Visa. Intra-company Transferee, a manager or executive from a parent company is transferred to the subsidiary or related company of the foreign company in the U.S. This person must have been employed for at least one continuous year within the last three years by the foreign company in a managerial or executive capacity and desires to come to the U.S.
If the foreign manager/executive is coming to open and/or to be employed in a new office in the U.S., he can obtain the L-1 visa which authorizes him to work and allows the spouse and children to be legally in the United States, but they would not be allowed to work, although they could go to school.
An L-1 for a new U.S. company (in business for less than one year) is valid for only one year. After the one year, the L-1 manager/executive can apply for permanent residency if the company has sufficient proof of being legitimate and financially viable.

If the company does not have strong financial records, the L-1 person may lose out his L-1 status and lose his chance for a permanent residency.
An L-1 visa may be issued initially for three years if the business in the U.S. has been in business for more than one year. Buying an existing American business and creating the framework so that it is a subsidiary of the client's business in his home country will allow for a full three- year L-1 from the outset.
An L-1 visa can be renewed for up to seven years as long as the company remains financially viable.

The L-1 visa process involves mailing in applications and documentation to a central Immigration Center and waiting 2-3 months for a decision. A newer fast service is available by paying $1000.00 extra to INS for 15 days service.  If Immigration does not believe that the documents submitted were sufficient, it will issue a letter with a list of those items it must have and/or explanations or additional information. If approved, the client will need to go to the U.S. Embassy or Consulate in his own country to have the L-1 visa stamped in his passport, and the L-2 for the spouse and children. There is an alternative method by sending the passports to the State Department in Washington, D.C.

Warning: Nothing in this article should be taken as legal advice for any reader to act as his/her own attorney in handling an immigration matter, which is a complex matter best handled by an experienced attorney.