International Hiring: How non-immigrant visas fill Alaska's staffing needs.

• Author: Erickson, Nancy

People from all over the world come to Denali National Park and Preserve to glimpse North America's tallest mountain and its wild setting. Not only are international travelers among the half-million or so visitors in a typical year, but the hospitality workers serving them at the park's hotels and restaurants are often from other countries, too.

Foreign nationals working at Denali National Park and Preserve for the summer tourist season are likely in the United States with a J-1 exchange visitor visa. That program is just one of the authorization categories that international workers can use to legally hold jobs, and the visa programs are also tools for employers to fill their labor needs.

The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development (DOLWD) forecasts total job growth of 5,300 jobs this year as the state slowly continues to recoup pandemic losses. However, worker shortages and the rising cost of labor require creative staffing solutions. Many industries are looking for qualified employees, and sometimes there aren't enough workers to fill open positions. International workers are often eager to take these positions--if they can obtain the appropriate documents and permission to do so.

Visa processing slowed down during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Italia Carson, an immigration attorney with Polaris Law Group in North Pole. "Overall, the COVID-19 travel restrictions prevented foreign nationals from traveling to the United States," says Carson. "Moreover, COVID-19 shut down most embassies and consulates... which drastically slowed down the movement of foreign national workers to the United States."

The waning pandemic is ramping up visa processing just as industries that hire non-immigrant workers are bouncing back to normal staffing levels.

Legal Avenues

Not every foreign national working in the United States is an immigrant, legally speaking. Immigrants include lawful permanent residents with green cards, who might be immediate family members of a US citizen. About 14 million green card holders are eligible to work in the United States, and most of them are on a path to citizenship.

Alaska gained 823 new lawful permanent residents in 2020, the most recent complete data from the US Department of Homeland Security yearbook; the pandemic depressed that level from 1,374 in 2019. As many as 1,799 immigrants obtained permanent resident status in Alaska in 2011. Immigrants are naturalized at a somewhat slower pace: 1,115 became citizens in Alaska in 2011, down to 624 in 2020.

While immigration based upon being an "immediate relative" of a US citizen is unlimited, federal law caps annual numbers of green cards issued to other family members in preference categories and foreign nationals who come to the United States for employment-based reasons. Visas for employment are limited annually to...