Visa Options for Chefs

Visa Options for Chefs

Florida is home to an international cornucopia of cuisines, and the people who make this possible are the chefs and culinary workers who come from all over the world to satisfy our hunger for variety.

There are a number of visa options for those who wish to work in the U.S. as a chef or culinary worker, including:

E-2 Visa for Chefs

The U.S. has commerce and navigation treaties in place with more than 75 countries.  Nationals of these foreign treaty nations who wish to make a significant investment in the U.S. — known as treaty investors — can be admitted to this country through an E-2 visa. A chef may qualify for an E-2 visa if he or she is the primary investor in the business or an employee of a treaty investor.  To qualify, the chef must be of the same nationality as the treaty investor, meet the legal requirements of an employee and be employed as an executive or supervisor, or have special qualifications.

H2-B for Temporary Chefs

The H-2B program covers temporary guest workers for non-agricultural jobs; the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (“USCIS”) issues approximately 66,000 H-2B visas every year to employers that anticipate a labor shortage and need temporary (one year or less) workers to fill the gap.

O-1 Visa for Chefs

O-1 visas are for individuals with recognized extraordinary ability or achievement in the arts, sciences, education, business or athletics. To qualify for an O-1 visa, a chef must be a foreign national who has received significant national or international recognition in his or her area of expertise and will be coming to the U.S. to work in that area.

J-1 Visa for Culinary Instructors and Students

Foreign nationals coming to the U.S. to study or teach the culinary arts typically do so under a J-1 visa and are classified as exchange visitors. Length of stay varies by category — Culinary Specialist, Culinary Trainee, Culinary Student — as do the requirements for eligibility.

A Florida immigration lawyer can help you understand the process for obtaining a visa to live and work in the U.S. Contact one of the experienced Florida immigration attorneys at Jurado & Farshchian, P.L. by calling (305) 921-0440, or email us at info@jflawfirm.com.

 Share

The post Visa Options for Chefs appeared first on Jurado & Farshchian, P.L. Business Lawyer, Real Estate Lawyer, Immigration Lawyer.