Overview
An employer that files work-visa petitions is an employer with an ongoing, recurring immigration need — H-1B renewals, PERM cases, new hires, transfers, compliance. Companies that sponsor foreign workers rarely do it once, and many are under-served by a firm that can't scale with them. An immigration practice that identifies active sponsors and reaches their HR or mobility lead can win a relationship worth many cases a year.
This Hound watches public labor-certification data and hiring signals for employers actively sponsoring, filters for the ones that fit your practice, finds the person who owns immigration, and opens the conversation.
How to set it up
Four things to brief your Hound. This is the exact configuration behind this play.
A · Describe the opportunity
This is the brief every source is filtered against. You describe what you're looking for in plain language, add keywords to sharpen it, then set the structured criteria.
Tell Forest what you're looking for:
"I'm looking for employers actively sponsoring foreign workers — companies filing H-1B/LCA, PERM, or other work-visa petitions — especially those filing at volume or across multiple worksites, who likely need more immigration support than they have. I want them in my geography and target industries. Prioritize growing sponsors and companies posting roles that mention visa sponsorship. Skip the mega-cap employers with large in-house immigration teams unless there's a clear opening."
Keywords to watch for: H-1B · LCA · PERM · visa sponsorship · will sponsor · labor certification · foreign worker · green card sponsorship · [your industries] · [your metro area]
Fields to extract: employer_name · filing_type · worksite_location · job_title · filing_count · naics_code · filing_period · prevailing_wage
Match criteria:
✓ Employer files the visa types you handle (H-1B, PERM, L, O, etc.)
✓ Worksite in your geography
✓ Filing volume or growth suggests real ongoing need
✗ Exclude very large employers with established in-house immigration teams (unless a specific opening)
B · Choose the sources to monitor
Labor-certification data is public, published by the DOL — Forest reads it against your brief. It's batch-released quarterly, so pair it with real-time hiring signals for freshness.
Public immigration data (free — connected by default) 🟢
DOL OFLC Disclosure Data —
dol.gov/agencies/eta/foreign-labor/performance— Quarterly public files of H-1B/LCA, PERM, H-2A/B determinations: employer, worksite, job title, wage. (Batch-released with a lag — the sponsor list, not a same-day alert.)DOL FLAG System —
flag.dol.gov— The live filing gateway; program-level activity.USCIS H-1B Employer Data Hub —
uscis.gov— Approved-petition counts by employer, year, and geography.
Hiring signals (real-time freshness) 🟡
Job postings mentioning sponsorship — Forest reads public job boards against your brief for roles that state "will sponsor" or "H-1B" — the earliest, freshest sponsorship signal, ahead of the DOL batch.
News & Press 🟡 default source, always on — reads the open web against your brief for expansion and hiring-surge news at companies likely to sponsor.
C · Define the ICP to reach
Which people to find and reach at the sponsoring employer, in priority order, with fallbacks.
Head of HR / People — Primary — owns immigration and mobility —
PRIMARYGlobal Mobility / Immigration Manager — At larger sponsors with a dedicated function
Talent Acquisition Lead / Founder — Fallback at startups sponsoring their first hires —
FALLBACK
D · Email & LinkedIn sequence
The play the Hound runs for each match. Fields drop in as variables.
Email · Day 0 I noticed {{employer_name}} has been sponsoring foreign talent ({{filing_type}} filings in {{worksite_location}}). As your program grows, so does the compliance and case load. We help employers handle immigration end-to-end with faster turnaround and proactive PERM strategy. Worth a quick call to see if we can lighten the load?
↓ Wait 2 days · no reply
LinkedIn · connection request · Day 2 Hi {{first_name}} — reaching out about {{employer_name}}'s immigration program. Would value connecting.
↓ Wait 4 days · no reply
Email · Day 6 · follow-up Following up — happy to share how we've helped similar {{industry}} employers streamline H-1B and PERM at scale, no obligation. Even if you're well-served today, glad to be a resource as the program grows.
⏸ Any reply on either channel pauses the whole sequence — the conversation is yours.
Run this play for your market.
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