Talent-Hungry Employers Offer Workers Help With Naturalization

Immigration fees and legal aid are now among the benefits being offered by US employers

In a bid to recruit and retain talent, governments and business organizations alike are recognizing the value of immigrants in meeting US labor needs. Amazon.com is leading the charge to assist workers in obtaining citizenship and other immigration benefits. 

Amazon's "Welcome Door" program provides assistance to refugees and other humanitarian-based immigrants such as asylum seekers with the provision of reimbursement for work permits. The program also offers legal assistance and support for naturalization applications to lawful permanent residents.

In April, Amazon began providing the benefits to staff in the United States, and the company will expand the benefits to other countries later this year. Late last year, the California Farm Bureau Federation, a group of farmers and ranchers in the state, announced similar intentions.

In California, a large percentage of the agricultural workforce are legal permanent residents. These agricultural workers, who are typically older and more experienced, are also the most essential to keep employed on farms and ranches.

The initiatives illustrate how important it is for companies to maintain their immigrant workforces. Employee retention and employee turnover are significant expenses for businesses since they lose not just the productivity and time the employee is no longer working but also their experience. Employers must also pay for the recruitment and training of a new replacement.

According to a Goldman Sachs analysis, since 2010, immigrants have made a disproportionate impact on labor-force growth in the United States. However, the rate of new immigrants has slowed in recent years. It makes sense for businesses to absorb a few hundred dollars to retain essential workers who may be able to choose their own employment.

Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh has urged lawmakers to rework the US immigration system, arguing that merely increasing temporary visas is not enough to compensate for labor shortages. Even if the United States Congress increases the number of available green cards, significant expenses and a complex application procedure linger as barriers to full citizenship.

According to a BlueHub Capital survey — for which more than 1,200 non-citizen immigrants or naturalized citizens between 2016 and 2021 were interviewed for the study — naturalized citizens borrowed from high-interest sources like credit cards or payday lenders to pay for the $725 US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) fee for naturalization. 

Employers in the private sector pay a significant sum to sponsor employees for employment-based visas. Because employment status is not dependent on citizenship, employers usually stop at sponsorship and do not see the need to cover those expenses.

These legal and immigration benefits are critical for recruiting and retaining some employees. Knowing that an employer will provide this heavily discounted legal aid may significantly influence retention, especially if the organization offers the same discount to an immediate family member.

Immigration legal fees can be a barrier to entry

The government has made recent pushes to assist immigrants with the legal process of staying in the United States. USCIS has provided outreach to immigrant communities, distributed instructional materials, and launched a social media campaign to encourage those eligible for citizenship to pursue it. The agency has also announced some fee reductions, and the agency will propose changing immigration and naturalization benefit costs, which have not been adjusted since 2016.

Immigration advocates, on the other hand, argue that fee reductions are only available to the poorest immigrants. A fee reduction may be granted if the applicant's yearly income is less than 150 percent of the federal poverty level, which is approximately $20,000 per year.

At the end of 2021, the Department of Homeland Security estimated that 9.2 million green card holders in the United States could become citizens. In 2017, several states and local governments launched their own citizenship assistance programs to make the application process less time-consuming. The efficacy of those programs demonstrates that cost is a significant barrier.

The immigration system's financial consequences are not restricted to naturalization. The cost of renewing an application for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which protects against deportation and work authorization, is $495.

Even though the long-term fate of the DACA program is uncertain, colleges, businesses, and non-profits have all given DACA beneficiaries money to renew their status. But for those who are not employed or enrolled at schools affiliated with these organizations, there usually is not enough money to cover everyone who requires financial assistance.

The fact is that currently, USCIS's operations rely on individuals paying money to the agency for services. The agency may consider charging individuals in better-off categories for some of those expenses in the future.