H-3 Training Programs
The H-3 Nonimmigrant Trainee visa allows a United States company to bring workers from its foreign parent company, subsidiary, or affiliate to the United States temporarily for nonacademic business, technical, or other training, not including graduate medical training. Petitioning United States employers must submit an application including a detailed training syllabus that must demonstrate that their training programs will benefit the trainees’ employment abroad and that a comparable training program is unavailable in the trainees’ home country.
H-3 Trainee status lasts for the duration of the submitted training program, which may be no longer than two years. Trainees in H-3 status may be paid by the United States company, provided there is no intention to employ trainees permanently and that any productive work is incidental to necessary on-the-job training. The longer duration and ability to pay trainees during the training program makes H-3 status a viable alternative to training employees in B-1 Business Visitor status where only brief training visits to the United States are practical.
A parallel program, the H-3 Special Education Exchange Visitor visa, permits students and recent graduates of foreign special education programs the opportunity to work in the United States with children afflicted with physical, mental, or emotional disabilities. Application procedures for the H-3 Special Education Exchange Visitor status are similar to those for H-3 Trainee status, but immigration regulations cap the number of visas approved nationally at 50 per year; these visas are rarely exhausted, however, despite the low cap. Special Education Exchange Visitor programs may last no longer than 18 months.
For both H-3 Trainee and H-3 Special Education Exchange Visitor status, employers may include multiple beneficiaries on each petition, and once a training or exchange program has been approved it may be reused for subsequent petitions. H-3 visa holders’ spouses and unmarried children under 21 years of age may be admitted in H-4 dependent status to accompany them; H-4 dependents may not work in the United States but are eligible to study. Premium (expedited) Processing is available for H-3 petitions.
May Law Group’s immigration lawyers file H-3 training programs for corporate clients frequently and have obtained fast approvals utilizing the Premium Processing option. This has enabled our clients to quickly sponsor trainees. Our immigration attorneys assist our clients with the writing of the training program’s curriculum. Please contact a May Law Group immigration attorney for a free consultation on H-3 visas.
