US embassy: Approved job required before visa

PUBLIC diplomacy officer Brian Asmus with the US embassy clarified that while Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu citizens are eligible for temporary work programmes in the United States, all applicants must have an approved job offer before applying for a visa.
Asmus was responding to queries following publication of an article on H-2A and H-2B temporary worker programmes in The National yesterday.
“Anyone interested in applying for temporary work programmes in the United States would have to have make contact with and been offered a job by an approved entity in the U.S.
“All applicants must have a petition approved by the US Department of Homeland Security prior to applying for a US visa,” he said.
He advised interested parties not to contact the US Embassy or any of its consular agencies directly as “neither the US Embassy in Port Moresby, nor our consular agency in Honiara, Solomon Islands would be able to make an offer of employment”.
Asmus also urged citizens of PNG, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu not to fall for scams.
A petitioner, agent, facilitator, recruiter or similar employment service is prohibited from collecting job placement fees or other compensation (either direct or indirect) at any time from an alien H-2A or H-2B worker as a condition of employment” stressed Asmus.
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), does not send recruiting agents into the field and, therefore, no visits of this nature are planned for Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.
“Given the cost and distance of flying temporary workers from this part of the world, it is highly unlikely that many US employers will be considering temporary workers from the Pacific,” he said.
 According to Asmus, illegitimate employment agents tricked a number of people into paying processing fees for jobs doing relief work in Haiti following the earthquake there in early 2010.