US Visa Sponsorship: Employer Compliance Guide

74% of businesses worldwide struggle to fill critical roles due to talent shortages. Yet you’ve probably dismissed hiring internationally because visa sponsorship seems too complex, expensive, or risky.

This hesitation is costing you access to skilled professionals who could drive growth for your business.

While US visa sponsorship does involve paperwork and investment, it’s far from the impossible barrier most employers imagine. It’s even more achievable when you work with an employee immigration service like Deel.

This guide breaks down everything you need to know about US visa sponsorship from your perspective as an employer: what it involves, how much it will cost your organization, your legal obligations, and how to navigate the process successfully.

By the end, you’ll understand whether sponsoring employees for US visas makes sense for your specific business needs and exactly how to get started without the typical headaches and uncertainties.

What is visa sponsorship?

Visa sponsorship is a process where an employer makes an immigrant petition to the government to allow a foreign national to enter or remain in the country for study or employment purposes.

Throughout this guide, we’ll focus on employment sponsorship.

Unlike other hiring processes, visa sponsorship creates a formal relationship between the employer, foreign worker, and immigration authorities, with specific obligations for each party.

As a US visa sponsor, you’re essentially vouching for a foreign national and taking on legal responsibilities for their status in the country. This differs from simply hiring someone who already has work authorization—you become an active participant in their immigration process.

The sponsorship typically involves filing petitions, paying fees, and committing to specific wage and working conditions. In return, you gain access to talent that might not be available in your domestic market.

Benefits of sponsoring employees for US visas

US visa sponsorship opens doors to advantages that strengthen your workforce and position your company for growth. Here are some of the key benefits.

Access to a global talent pool

Visa sponsorship dramatically expands your candidate pool, allowing you to recruit specialized skills that may be scarce in the local US market. This process ensures the foreign worker will not negatively impact domestic employment opportunities while filling critical skill gaps. You’ll find this especially valuable if you’re in fields like technology, engineering, healthcare, and research.

Enhanced employee retention

Sponsored employees often show higher loyalty and longer tenure since their legal status depends on continued employment. This reduces turnover costs and maintains institutional knowledge.

Competitive advantage

Companies willing to sponsor US visas can attract top global talent that competitors might overlook. That way, you can compete for specialized roles. These employees can also assist you in entering their home markets or establishing international offices.

Types of US visa sponsorship for employers

Each visa sponsorship model comes with distinct advantages, requirements, and considerations that can significantly impact your hiring strategy.

Here are your main options:

Employer sponsorship

Direct employer sponsorship is the most common route, where your company takes full responsibility for the visa application process. Most US work visas require employer sponsorship.

This approach involves your organization directly filing petitions with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on behalf of your foreign workers.

The foreign worker may also have to apply through the embassy or consulate in their home country.

Some of the key advantages of direct employer sponsorship include:

• Complete control over the hiring process and employee relationships
• Ability to build long-term immigration expertise within your HR team
• Direct communication with immigration authorities

However, this type of sponsorship also has its drawbacks.

The main drawback is navigating complex and frequently changing laws and requirements. The process also demands a significant time and financial investment with no guarantee of success, with requirements varying depending on the visa type.

Many organizations struggle to become eligible for sponsorship in countries where they lack a business presence, as governments often require registration with authorities and meeting specific conditions. This is certainly the case in the US.

EOR sponsorship

Employer of Record (EOR) sponsorship offers a streamlined alternative when you don’t have a local entity in the country where you want to hire from.

An EOR, or Employer of Record, is a company that serves as the legal employer for a workforce, managing aspects such as payroll, benefits, HR administration, and compliance with employment laws and other eligibility requirements.

With EOR visa sponsorship, organizations like yours benefit from a more streamlined and transparent visa acquisition process compared to using traditional sponsorship organizations or hiring expensive immigration lawyers.

EOR sponsorship is particularly valuable for:

• Organizations expanding into new markets without local entities
• Startups and scale-ups with limited resources for international setup
• Organizations needing to move quickly on international hires
• Businesses relocating existing employees to new countries

Deel provides an EOR service that enables you to hire in over 150 countries without the complexities typically associated with it.

Our platform includes built-in visa eligibility checks, can process different types of work visas (like the L-1B, H-1B visa, etc), and offers in-house expert guidance every step of the way.

Many companies find the EOR approach worthwhile due to its speed and reduced complexity.

See also: H-1B Visa Guide for Employers: Eligibility, Process & Tips.

Self-sponsorship

Self-sponsorship is rare and typically reserved for entrepreneurs, investors, or individuals with extraordinary abilities.

While not directly relevant for most employer hiring scenarios, understanding it now can help when recruiting high-level talent.

Self-sponsored visas generally include:

• Investor and Entrepreneur Visas: Many countries offer visa pathways for individuals who can demonstrate significant investment capital or innovative business plans
• Extraordinary Ability Visas: A program like the US O-1 visa allows individuals with sustained national or international acclaim or extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics to self-petition
• Intra-Company Transfer Variations: Certain visa categories permit multinational companies to sponsor their own executives or managers for permanent residence, based on their experience within the organization

While self-sponsorship relieves employers of the direct sponsorship burden, it requires candidates to meet very specific and often stringent criteria. The application process can be complex and expensive, making it viable only for a select group of highly qualified individuals.

See also: How to Sponsor an O-1 Visa for Your Employee or Contractor.

What goes into the US visa sponsorship process

As the sponsoring employer, you’ll handle most of the heavy lifting in the early stages.

If you take the traditional employer sponsorship route, these are the steps typically involved.

Step 1: Establish your US legal entity

Before you can sponsor anyone for any visa type, you need a legal business presence in the US.

US immigration authorities only accept petitions from legitimate, operational businesses. Without proper legal standing, your chances of visa approval drop to zero, regardless of how qualified your candidate is.

Here’s what this looks like for the US:

USCIS requires sponsors to be US-based businesses in good standing. You’ll need to choose a business structure (LLC, Corporation, etc.), register with your state government, and obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS. You also need a US business address and a designated representative within the country.

Your business must demonstrate it’s operating, not just a paper entity. This includes having a US business bank account, basic staffing, and documentation proving your operations are legitimate. Immigration authorities want to see that you’re a real business that can employ the sponsored worker.

All of these ensure you can legally employ foreign workers who will live in the United States.

If establishing an entity seems overwhelming, consider using an Employer of Record (EOR) service like Deel.

Deel Immigration handles the legal employment while you direct the work, eliminating the need for your own entity and speeding up your ability to sponsor visas. You also get to stay compliant wherever you hire.

If the employer already has an entity, Deel can help them obtain their sponsorship license.

See also: EOR-Sponsored Visas: A Guide for Enterprise Businesses

Step 2: Qualification check

A comprehensive review to ensure both your role and the candidate meet specific visa type requirements before you invest time and money in the process.

Skipping this step can result in expensive rejections.

Each visa type has strict eligibility criteria, so it is essential to ensure that all your details are accurate. If you’re unsure, Deel can deal with it for you.

Deel’s platform offers a visa eligibility assessment, allowing you to verify a worker’s eligibility before signing their contract and initiating the application process.

Step 3: Labor certification (If required)

A labor certificate proves that you were unable to find qualified US workers for the position before considering a foreign worker.

This documentation is required before foreign workers can receive a job offer from a US employer to ensure compliance with labor market testing requirements.

The process typically involves:

• Posting the job in newspapers and online job boards for 30+ days
• Reviewing and documenting why each US applicant wasn’t qualified
• Filing detailed reports with the Department of Labor

This process takes 6-12 months and requires meticulous record-keeping. Immigration authorities will scrutinize your recruitment efforts, so maintain detailed documentation of every application, including the reason for rejection.

Step 4: File your petition

This is a formal immigrant petition for alien worker status to immigration authorities to approve your sponsored employee for a specific visa type.

For temporary work visas, this typically involves filing a Form I-129 petition for a non-immigrant worker for temporary positions or other petition types for permanent roles.

It’s at this stage that you make your case that the employee deserves visa approval. The quality and completeness of your petition directly impact your chances of approval.

You’d need documents like:

• A detailed job description and requirements
• Your company’s financial statements and business licenses
• Employee’s educational credentials and work history
• Proof that you can pay the promised wage

Rather than navigating complex immigration forms yourself or paying expensive attorney fees, Deel’s immigration experts handle the entire petition preparation and filing process.

Our platform provides secure document upload, and our experts review to ensure completeness. With a 98% visa approval success rate, Deel’s thorough preparation significantly increases your chances compared to a DIY approach.

Step 4: Complete the employee’s consular process

Even with petition approval, the employee must still qualify for the visa through consular processing.

The employee would have to undergo medical examinations, background checks, and a consular visa interview. This typically takes 2-4 months, and there’s little you can do to speed it up.

Step 5: Keep up with ongoing compliance

As the official visa sponsor, your legal obligations continue throughout the employee’s visa validity period, not just during the application process.

Non-compliance can result in fines, future petition denials, and potential criminal liability. It also affects your ability to sponsor other employees.

Instead of manually tracking compliance requirements, Deel’s platform automatically monitors visa expiration dates, sends renewal reminders, and maintains detailed records of wages and job duties.

This eliminates the risk of missing critical deadlines or failing to report required changes that could jeopardize your employees’ status and your company’s sponsorship privileges.

See also: Guide to Employment-Based Green Cards.

Legal requirements and employer obligations

These are some obligations that you, as the employer, should keep in mind as you plan to sponsor a foreign worker.

Wage and working conditions

You’re legally bound to pay the sponsored employee the prevailing wage for their position and location, as determined by the Department of Labor or similar bodies.

Underpaying sponsored employees can result in back-wage obligations, fines, and bars on future sponsorship applications. The wage requirement also applies if you promote or transfer the employee to different roles.

Working conditions must also match what you specified in your petition. If you need to change the employee’s job duties, work location, or employment terms significantly, you may need to file additional petitions with immigration authorities.

Record-keeping requirements

Maintain detailed records of wages paid, hours worked, job duties performed, and work locations. Government bodies can audit these records at any time during the sponsorship period—and for several years after.

Keep payroll records, timesheets, job descriptions, and any changes to employment terms. Also, document any business changes that might affect the sponsored employee’s status, such as mergers, acquisitions, or significant operational changes.

These audits happen more frequently than most employers expect, and poor record-keeping can result in substantial penalties and future sponsorship restrictions.

See also: USCIS Site Visits & Audits: What Employers Must Know

Notification obligations

You must notify US immigration officials of specific changes, including business address changes, ownership transfers, or employment termination. Different visa types have different reporting requirements and deadlines.

If you terminate a sponsored employee, you must notify immigration authorities and may need to pay for their return transportation to their home country.

Best practices for visa sponsorship

The difference between successful visa sponsorship programs and expensive failures often comes down to execution. Here’s how to get it right:

Start early and plan strategically

Don’t wait for specific candidates to begin visa processing. Instead, identify roles that require international talent 6-12 months in advance, especially those that involve green card sponsorship.

Build the processing time into project timelines and consider seasonal factors, especially as employment visas have annual caps that fill quickly.

Build internal immigration expertise

Designate HR team members as visa process experts, rather than having them learn each case from scratch. Since immigration law changes frequently, consider subscribing to updates, attending webinars on employment visas, and developing attorney relationships.

Alternatively, you could work with Deel’s team of experts, who can guide you through the entire process.

Communicate clearly

Be transparent about visa requirements and timelines during interviews, whether discussing temporary employment visas or green card pathways.

Also, ensure hiring managers understand visa requirements before making job offers or project commitments, as different visa types have vastly different timelines and requirements.

Keep records

Maintain comprehensive records of communications, filings, and decisions for each sponsorship case. This proves invaluable during audits and demonstrates immigration law compliance.

Also, document employment changes affecting sponsored employees, whether on temporary employment visas or pursuing green card status.