Brand new here with work visa question

[Boiler 45,524]

Minimum wage where I am is $11 something but the living wage is much higher, Housekeepers last I heard were c $25 an hour.

[jan22 3,056]

There is some mis-information in these responses. 

 

First, you do NOT need to look for someone in the US before seeking to bring someone in as your domestic employee. They are not going to get a work visa per se -- it will be a B-1 domestic employee visa, annotated with your name as the employer.  There are some special requirements for this, of course.

 

Are you remaining in the military, with the expectation that you will be deployed overseas again within the next six years? If not, then you will not be able to bring a domestic employee with you. The only way US citizens can do this is if they have an expectation of leaving the United States and taking the domestic employee with them. You will need to show that you are on a temporary assignment in the US and that you are subject to frequent postings abroad that last two years or more.

 

Do you currently employ domestic help in your overseas assignments?  You will need to show that either the employee you wish to bring has been in your employ for at least six months prior to your entry into the US or that you have regularly employed domestic employees in the same capacity that you wish to employ this person. The employee also must show that they have worked as a domestic employee for at least one year previously, for you or someone else.

 

You will also need a contract, signed and dated by you and the employee, that will be submitted at the visa interview and the Port of Entry. The contract must include information on the following, at a minimum:

• You will be the only employer in the US.
• You will provide room and board and round trip airfare.
• You will provide the greater of minimum wage under US federal, state, or local law for an eight-hour workday.
• Both you and your employee must provide two weeks notice if either side intends to terminate the contract.
• The contract must also include any other benefits that are normally required for domestic workers in the area of employment.

In other words, the contract must show that you will be paying and providing benefits to your employee the same as any employee in the US would legally expect to receive.  Under a law referred to as the Wilberforce Act, the employee will be informed of this during his or her visa interview and will be provided information on how to contact officials if the contract is not adhered to.

 

If, after reading this, you still think you qualify to and want to bring an employee, once you have the contract and everything in place the employee will apply for a B-1 Visa under the same process as any visitor visa.  They will need to have a copy of the contract to submit at that time.  They will also need to meet all of the requirements of B visa, including having a residence abroad which they have no intention of abandoning.

 

Edited June 24, 2019 by jan22

[Boiler 45,524]

I thought the OP was living in Alaska?

[W1a9c8k5 8]

9 minutes ago, jan22 said:

There is some mis-information in these responses. 

 

First, you do NOT need to look for someone in the US before seeking to bring someone in as your domestic employee. They are not going to get a work visa per se -- it will be a B-1 domestic employee visa, annotated with your name as the employer.  There are some special requirements for this, of course.

 

Are you remaining in the military, with the expectation that you will be deployed overseas again within the next six years? If not, then you will not be able to bring a domestic employee with you. The only way US citizens can do this is if they have an expectation of leaving the United States and taking the domestic employee with them. You will need to show that you are on a temporary assignment in the US and that you are subject to frequent postings abroad that last two years or more.

 

Do you currently employ domestic help in your overseas assignments?  You will need to show that either the employee you wish to bring has been in your employ for at least six months prior to your entry into the US or that you have regularly employed domestic employees in the same capacity that you wish to employ this person. The employee also must show that they have worked as a domestic employee for at least one year previously, for you or someone else.

 

You will also need a contract, signed and dated by you and the employee, that will be submitted at the visa interview and the Port of Entry. The contract must include information on the following, at a minimum:

• You will be the only employer in the US.
• You will provide room and board and round trip airfare.
• You will provide the greater of minimum wage under US federal, state, or local law for an eight-hour workday.
• Both you and your employee must provide two weeks notice if either side intends to terminate the contract.
• The contract must also include any other benefits that are normally required for domestic workers in the area of employment.

In other words, the contract must show that you will be paying and providing benefits to your employee the same as any employee in the US would legally expect to receive.  Under a law referred to as the Wilberforce Act, the employee will be informed of this during his or her visa interview and will be provided information on how to contact officials if the contract is not adhered to.

 

If, after reading this, you still think you qualify to and want to bring an employee, once you have the contract and everything in place the employee will apply for a B-1 Visa under the same process as any visitor visa.  They will need to have a copy of the contract to submit at that time.  They will also need to meet all of the requirements of B visa, including having a residence abroad which they have no intention of abandoning.

 

Thank you for the info. What I was really hunting for

 

boiler- I am doing a 180 tour in Singapore, but I am stationed in Alaska

[W1a9c8k5 8]

46 minutes ago, mcdull said:

so why would you think it is ok to pay a Filipino minimum wage with room and board? Sounds like modern day slavery to me.

Minimum wage in the Philippines is under 700 pesos a month. That’s $350USD a month. Again,  a month. That’s 4-5 weeks. 

 

How is paying someone $320 a week and providing lodging and meals modern day slavery?

Edited June 24, 2019 by W1a9c8k5

[geowrian 22,337]

Ignoring COL does make it easier to sleep at night, I suppose.

[W1a9c8k5 8]

I don’t know what COL means

[Daphne . 1,866]

Just now, W1a9c8k5 said:

I don’t know what COL means

Cost of Living..

You are comparing Phil wages with US wages but the cost of living is so much lower in the Philippines.. 

[W1a9c8k5 8]

I have been living here for a little time now and that’s not necessarily true. I bought a Cheeseburger meal here at Wendy’s for about $6 USD equivalent. T-shirts are 10-15 usd for the generic shirt. Cars are more expensive in most cases. Alcohol is similarly priced.  COL isn’t 3-4x less here. But a minimum wage employee would see a 4x increase to their pay. I sleep fine at night. I’m not trying to scam anyone. Just wanted information. I fell like trump right now though

[W1a9c8k5 8]

And to add to the to govt sets per diem  rates for all locations. Philippines Manila  is $137 a day to live off the local economy. Alaska Anchorage $125

[geowrian 22,337]

I'm not sure how many people in Manila are earning $50k annually. It's certainly higher than I recall. 🤷‍♂️

[usmsbow 801]

1 hour ago, W1a9c8k5 said:

And to add to the to govt sets per diem  rates for all locations. Philippines Manila  is $137 a day to live off the local economy. Alaska Anchorage $125

 

The US gov't per diem is basically based on eating western food at nice western restaurants 3 times a day. It really is not based on reality for your average resident of said location. This is especially the case in places like Manila and elsewhere in Southeast Asia. I've never been to Manila, but in Jakarta you can get a decent meal for $2-3 while the per diem is $103/day. 

[laylalex 7,285]

I believe that the OP genuinely thinks he is doing nothing wrong here, but this really does look like indentured servitude from an outsider's perspective. I make minimum wage here, which is $15 an hour (going up to $15.59 next week) and it is NOT a lot of money. I looked up the COL difference between Anchorage and Berkeley and it's only 10% lower there! I am only able to afford living here because I have an independent source of income and get a serious break on my rental unit (it's my father's friend's property). Even if I didn't have to pay room and board, I still don't know how I would squeak by without the outside support I get. You also need to factor in what paying someone a low rate can do for a person's motivation. My ex-husband used to always tell me that money has a way of smoothing out all sorts of unnecessary feelings, and I would say that also applies to working in a job that doesn't have a lot of prestige. If you want someone to be a hard worker, PAY THEM for it. If you can't afford the worker, don't employ them. When you can afford to hire someone, that's the time to bring someone on, in my opinion.

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

5 hours ago, W1a9c8k5 said:

Minimum wage in the Philippines is under 700 pesos a month. That’s $350USD a month. Again,  a month. That’s 4-5 weeks. 

 

How is paying someone $320 a week and providing lodging and meals modern day slavery?

Serious question: are you assuming she will be doing not much other than working and saving all her money to use/send to family back home where it’s worth something, or will she be partly moving to the US to have a fun experience of actually seeing what living there is like, going out, experiencing life and what there is on offer etc?

 

Idle question: how much does it cost to kit up for an average Alaskan winter? Will she be expected to buy all the heavy winter clothing that one presumes she will never use again once she goes back to the Philippines? 

Edited June 24, 2019 by SusieQQQ

[Going through 5,671]

Like the saying goes, you get what you pay for.  If I was planning on paying someone only $8 an hour for full-time housekeeping, wouldn't expect too much out of that person work-wise...what would be their incentive to do anything other than the minimum amount of work for little pay?  What would be their incentive to remain ongoing?

 

 

Edited June 24, 2019 by Going through