Getting Someone into the USA?

I can only answer for how Canadian laws work. When we came to Canada we had to either have a job waiting for my husband or someone willing to sponsor us for ten years. Sponsoring means pay all expenses for ten years. We also had to have medical test and x-rays to prove we were healthy. Criminal records were also checked. That was way back in 1973 so things may be more relaxed now.

Good luck with your efforts. I hope an American can give you up-dated information.

U.S. universities take lots of foreign students. Basically they have to apply for admission to the university and a student visa. It's very expensive; universities take foreign students because foreign students have to pay exhorbitant fees. Of course what most foreign students prefer is to come over as a sponsored grad student, but that requires finding not just a university who will accept you but a professor there who has funding to sponsor grad students.

Sponsorship by private individuals won't get someone into the country (unless you're going to marry him or hire him, in which case you'd be helping him apply for a fiance/spouse or work visa, respectively).

In order to employ him, you' have to demonstrate that there are no US citizens available to do the job. You'd have to advertise in at least three places, e.g. local paper, Monster, a 'trade' paper. If you do get American applicants, you'll have to be prepared to explain why you don't think they're suitable for the job. He'll have to be able to provide documentary evidence of his experience and qualifications.

You'll have to pay his immigration fees. The best bet is to go for an H1-B temporary employment visa. These are valid for three years and renewable for another three and then another one year. These visas are issued on an annual quota basis. In other words, there are only so many available every year. The USCIS web site would be a good starting point for information.

Getting permanent residency is even harder and it's demoralizing, bureaucratic, expensive and soul-sucking. I hope I never have to deal with the USCIS again, they pretty much fucked us over good and proper.

Good luck!

Monkey said:

We were planning on having him apply at a nearby university and for a student visa, but he was worried he'd get turned down.

I'm already married, and this is a nineteen-year-old kid, so marriage is definitely out of the question, lol.

Hiring him is an interesting possibility. He does have an unusual skill--he's an excellent parkour coach--and I am part of a nonprofit parkour organization that could use him.

He seemed to think there was some sort of "sponsorship" that I could do that would help him, but he's not much more versed in this stuff than I am.

Any more information on those last two avenues, or ideas as to where I could look?

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Not really, but H1-B visas aren't easy to get. Basically you have to attest that he has vital skills for which you cannot find a U.S. citizen to perform the same duties. I'm pretty sure it would be pretty expensive, and you'd definitely need to consult with an immigration attorney.

Ah, now there's another problem...you would have to pay the prevailing wage for that profession. That's one of the few pieces of immigration law that's set up to prevent the exploitation of foreign workers.

And, there are also annual quotas on people coming in from various countries, e.g. Mexico, India and China.

Amadan is right, you should really consult an immigration attorney. A good one will know his/her way through the complex system.

Unfortunately, the U.S. has one of the toughest immigration systems in the world. It won't be easy.

Monkey said:

He would, no lie, be an excellent help to our organization, in a way that not just anyone could. I would even go so far as to say that no one in the US with his skill and experience would work for the wages we could pay, which would be minimal.

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Uh, yeah, "We want to hire an immigrant because he'll work cheaper than a U.S. citizen would" is exactly the sort of thing that DHS does not want to hear.

I believe there is a Mexico based professional organisation you can contact. They specialize in getting people into the US and have been doing so for a number of years now...

A good source of information is visajourney.com. It's a forum site with thousands of others who are somewhere in the process of getting visas or immigrating to the US. They would be able to offer you much more information, links and such. You don't have to sign up to read the information and the guides available either.