Business Immigration
Strategy That Scales With You.

Strategic Immigration Counsel for Employers and Professionals

Business immigration sits at the intersection of opportunity and complexity. Whether you're an employer trying to bring in skilled talent or a professional seeking a pathway to work and remain in the United States, the stakes are high and the rules change often. Tenorio Law partners with both employers and employees to design immigration strategies that hold up under scrutiny and stand the test of time.

Our business immigration practice covers the full spectrum of employment-based visa categories, labor certification, and green card sponsorship, with particular depth in healthcare worker immigration and professional visa categories.

Employment-Based Visa Categories We Handle

• H-1B — for specialty occupation workers with a bachelor's degree or equivalent in a field directly related to the job offered
• L-1A and L-1B — for intracompany transferees, executives, managers, and employees with specialized knowledge moving from a foreign affiliate to a U.S. office
• O-1 — for individuals with extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics
• TN — for Canadian and Mexican professionals under the USMCA (formerly NAFTA) in qualifying occupations
• E-3 — for Australian citizens in specialty occupations, a streamlined alternative to the H-1B with its own annual allocation
• J-1 Interns and Trainees — for foreign nationals gaining exposure to U.S. business practices and techniques in their occupational field, outside the hospitality sector
• Religious Workers (R-1 and EB-4) — nonimmigrant R-1 visas for temporary religious work, and immigrant EB-4 petitions for permanent religious worker green cards
• EB-1, EB-2, EB-3 — employment-based green card categories for priority workers, advanced degree professionals, and skilled workers
• PERM Labor Certification — the Department of Labor process required for most employment-based green card sponsorships
• Schedule A — an expedited pathway for registered nurses and physical therapists that bypasses the standard PERM recruitment process

J-1 Trainees and Interns: A Niche We Know Well

The J-1 Intern and Trainee program is often overlooked, in part because it's heavily associated with hospitality and culinary placements. But the program extends well beyond that. Through designated sponsor organizations, the J-1 category allows foreign nationals in fields like technology, finance, engineering, marketing, and nonprofit management to come to the U.S. for structured training or internship programs of up to 12 months (interns) or 18 months (trainees), gaining real-world exposure to American business practices in their field.

For companies looking for a flexible, non-cap-restricted way to bring in international talent for a defined period, J-1 can be an excellent option, particularly for organizations that don't want to compete in the H-1B lottery. We work with both U.S. host companies and sponsoring organizations to structure compliant training plans and ensure the program requirements are met from start to finish.

Religious Worker Visas: R-1 and EB-4

Religious organizations have unique immigration needs, and we represent both nonimmigrant and immigrant religious worker cases. The R-1 nonimmigrant visa allows ministers and other religious workers to work temporarily for a bona fide nonprofit religious organization in the U.S., generally for up to five years. For those seeking permanent residency, the EB-4 special immigrant religious worker category provides a green card pathway for ministers and certain other religious vocation and occupation workers who have been members of their denomination for at least two years.

These cases require careful documentation of the religious organization's nonprofit status, the worker's qualifications, and the nature of the religious work itself. We guide churches, temples, mosques, and other religious organizations through both the temporary and permanent pathways.

E-3 Visas for Australian Professionals

The E-3 visa is a lesser-known but highly favorable category exclusively available to Australian citizens working in specialty occupations. It functions similarly to the H-1B but with key advantages: a separate, far less competitive annual allocation, no lottery system, and a faster, more predictable process. If you're an employer looking to hire an Australian professional, or an Australian citizen with a U.S. job offer, the E-3 is often a faster and more reliable path than the H-1B.

Healthcare Worker Immigration: A Firm Specialty

We have particular depth representing registered nurses, physical therapists, and other healthcare professionals navigating employment-based immigration. The healthcare sector faces persistent staffing shortages, and Schedule A provides a meaningful advantage: employers can bypass the lengthy PERM recruitment and advertising process and file the I-140 immigrant petition directly. This can save many months, sometimes years, off an already long process.

We've also represented numerous healthcare workers affected by recent travel ban policies and 221(g) administrative processing delays. If you are a healthcare professional whose visa case has been delayed or placed in administrative processing, we understand the stakes and have direct experience navigating these exact circumstances.

The PERM Process for Employers

For occupations not covered by Schedule A, employers must complete the PERM labor certification process before filing an immigrant petition. This involves a formal recruitment process to demonstrate that no qualified U.S. worker is available for the position, followed by a filing with the Department of Labor. Currently, PERM processing is taking approximately 16 months, and that timeline is before the I-140 immigrant petition is even filed. We guide employers through every stage of recruitment documentation, prevailing wage determination, and the PERM filing itself.

Frequently Asked Questions