Thank you for taking the time to respond. Your advice is much appreciated and you make a lot of great points. I heard about the delay in getting workers for a lot of companies this year. Is that the norm? or does that not happen very often? Do you see problems again with that next year? Also, are you better off getting workers from Mexico vs. Salvador? Do you get the same quality person?
Hmmmm
Lots of questions.
Lemme try to get in as much as possible in as little typing as possible.
there is a CAP (max number of workers allowed in country)
The number is 66,000
33,000 in each half.
the first half (I believe) are workers that start in march.
The second half start work in april/may
so if companies apply for 67,000 workers...that means someone isnt getting their workers.
There are certain laws that must be observed while applying.
One of them is to assure the visa workers are not taking american jobs.
as it were, a few years ago, a mexican american who works washing dishes for $9/hr found out immigrant laborers were getting $12/hr at a local landscaping company and he never even knew the job was open for hiring.
There are powerful lobbies (unions) that do not want ANY immigrant laborers at all (because it threatens union power) and so they get wind of this guy and bank roll his complaint into a lawsuit.
investigation ensues and blah blah blah its determined the guy had a legit complaint.
the law says you MUST advertise for local workers first AND you MUST hire any local workers that apply, BEFORE you bring in any immigrant laborers.
this wasnt happening.
the company in question had been using the same immigrant laborers for years and years, but that is irrelevant, if a local worker wants the job, hes got dibs.
So anyway...the law suit and the reengineering of the law to make sure it's not circumvented again (and the ensuing extra costs it heaped on now) is what caused the delay last year.
the delay was barely noticeable, it was like a week to ten days.
the problem I see happening is: 66,000 workers are not enough.
the cap will be hit early and many companies WILL not get their workers.
90 percent of immigrant visa woerks come from mexico.... not for any special reason other than convenience.
some are from russia or albania...its not just a south/central american thing.
most foregin workers however come from monterrey mexico,
this is because they have a lot of practice processing the visas. If its done wrong you dont get your workers.
so if your guys were 65,997, 65,998 and 65,999 but you filled out your paperwork wrong, then the guys who were 66,000, 66,001 and 66,002 get your slots and you are SOL.
additionally, the law states you must pay their way to and from their home to your work area... so the farther away they come, the more it costs to move your workers... many of the companies that use these workers are in texas, california, arizona... and all they are paying for is a bus ride from monterey to where they are at.
no pricey air fare... so it would be pointless for them to get anyone other than mexicans.
additionally, mexicans are by far the more prevalent hispanic in the US and they don not get along well with other 'southerners"...especially guatemalans.
so its easiest to just get mexicans.
In my opinion... the mexicans have superior work ethic and physcial health compared to their other poorer neighbors as well.
comparing a mexican as far as health and strength are concerned to someone from say el salvador is like comparing a white boy to a mexican.... they are bigger, stronger and better fed and have that much more of their teeth.
however, if you want to jump through the hoops you can get whoever you want, as long as you get in your paper work before the 66,000 cap and your guys arent coming from a barred country like Iran or Syria, or something like that...and in fact you could PROBABLY get them from there if you felt like dealing with extra hoops.
the country in mention has to be able to have a preexisting consulate and embassy and a visa arrangement with the US... there are some countries that do not.
Id be real curious to hear from someone who uses, say, chinese h2b guys?
it probably doesnt work....
Id like chinese guys... that would be cool.
:hammerhead:, not to mention stolen equipment, riding the clock, etc.
