Help & How-To

There is a great deal more involved in getting a “green card” than paying taxes! If hiring immigrants makes the best sense for your business, follow some good advice from SCORE:

--Understand the benefits: Immigrants are often well-educated,
intelligent, loyal and dedicated.

--Follow the law: Contact your Immigration and Naturalization Service field office for information and required forms. For locations, visit the INS Web site at www.uscis.gov.

--Keep things simple: Limit the number of languages spoken to reduce the need for interpreters.

--Expect a community to develop among those who speak the same
language. It’s OK. They can help and support each other and assist in
interpretation.

--Encourage your employees to learn English. Send them to courses offered locally or provide classes on-site.

An employer can certainly choose to “sponsor” immigrants if there is a genuine shortage of citizens to fill the jobs that the employer has; but it can be expensive and time-consuming. And as we have all been reading, there are “crack downs” on the horizon for employers who are employing illegal immigrants with bogus social security numbers. Ignorance will no longer be an acceptable excuse; so I urge you to educate yourself if you plan on hiring immigrants.