The H-3 visa is a nonimmigrant visa that allows the recipient to work and receive a Social Security Card and to remain in the U.S. for two years. Ostensibly, the program of training is not supposed primarily to provide productive employment for the petitioning individual or organization.
To qualify the applicant must have a residence abroad to which he/she will return. The training must be unique to the U.S.: not available in the applicant’s country. Productive employment must be incidental and a necessary part of the training. The H-3’s purpose is to enable the applicant to apply the skills learned here to a career abroad.
The instruction the applicant must receive includes a description of the teaching schedules, weekly or bi-weekly, and the details of the objectives of each time frame the employer needs to design and to verify that the trainees learning curve and to verify that the training program is succeeding according to the company’s view of what it seeks the candidate to learn.
The training program has to be consistent with the nature of the petitioner’s business and this program is not meant for an applicant who is already expert in the areas being taught. The training cannot be intended to benefit the petitioner’s own staffing needs. Lastly, it must be established that the petitioner has the staff and the physical capacity to enable the company to properly train the alien.
An example would be: an American cheese manufacturer and supplier who has a young French candidate who has worked in France for a cheese manufacturer there. The company in France wishes that this employee learn how American purveyors market their products in the U.S. to improve ultimately the French company’s introduction to the U.S. market. The French candidate would learn here that the merchandisers in the cheese industry in the U.S., in advertising emphasize nutrition and that their product is not too fattening. In France advertisers primarily emphasize taste. The French candidate’s purpose here would be to learn more about selling in the American market so he can help his French company to be more capable in acquiring American business. The U.S. cheese company would learn from the candidate how French manufacture cheese for its superior taste and how the French company advertises in France.
H-3 petitions require the employer to cite the details of the training program, the proportion of time that will be spent in productive work that would be minimal, how much time is scheduled for on the on-job training and how the program will be supervised, and how the training will prepare the candidate for work in his/her country. An explanation of why the applicant cannot obtain this training in the applicant’s country must be shown and lastly the U.S. company has to show in what way this training program will benefit the U.S. company itself..
The H-3 may be granted for a maximum of two years. The H-3 candidate may not change status or be readmitted to the U.S. as an H or L visa holder unless he/she stays abroad for at least six months.
For H-3 doctors may be approved for internship at AMA or AOA hospitals. Nurses may also obtain H-3 visas provided they have had an unrestricted license in the country where they received their training or if they’ve received their training in Canada or the U.S. they need to
prove their licensing here.
An example would be: an American cheese manufacturer and supplier would have a young French candidate who: worked in France for a cheese manufacturer there. The company in France wishes that this employee learn how American purveyors market their products in the U.S. to improve ultimately their introduction to the U.S. market. The French candidate would learn that the merchandisers in the cheese market in the U.S. emphasize nutrition and that the product is not too fattening. In France the French advertisers primarily emphasize taste. The French candidate’s purpose would be to learn more about the American market so he can help his French company to be more capable in acquiring American business. The U.S. cheese company would learn from the candidate how the French manufacture cheese for its superior taste and how the French company advertises in France.
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