A Canadian producer-director with whom I am in touch is looking for advice on how to obtain precisely the right visa to come to the United States and shoot a movie here. Personally, I don't know any lawyers who do immigration work. If anyone has done this or knows a lawyer in this area whom they can recommend, I will pass along whatever suggestions you have.
Anything Goes : Looking for US visa advice by Douglas Eugene Mayfield
Douglas Eugene Mayfield
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Producer, Screenwriter
10 years ago
Looking for US visa advice
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He doesn't need a lawyer. There are several on-line resources where he can fill out the paperwork. He may be eligible for Person in Specialty Occupation (H-1B). But more likely he will use the H-2B - Temporary Non-agricultural Worker. But there are several different visa's he can research.
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There are several visa options but the right choice depends a lot on who is his employer while he works in the US, and how he wants to work. All non-immigrant work visas are tied to employment and petitions must be filed by the employer. If he doesn't want to be tied to a single employer, he could make his own company and employ himself, but that tactic became difficult in the last few years. A good immigration lawyer should be able to figure out these things, but a good one is not easy to find. Each lawyer has his or her favorite solutions and they just try to sell those, and it may or may not be a good solution.
Thanks to you both. I've forwarded your comments. Through this site and another, we've received a good deal of information, and the names of a number of immigration lawyers who have worked with people in the film biz, so while I'm not discouraging further comments, I do think the filmmaker in question now has enough information to deal with his problem.