You may find a job applicant whom you'd like to hire, but she asks you to sponsor her for a visa. In most cases, these are temporary, or nonimmigrant, visas. There are a variety of nonimmigrant visas.
Many small businesses sponsor individuals.
These visas aren't blanket work authorizations, as the employee can only work for the sponsoring employer. Consulting companies, which place employees in work sites, sponsor some visas. Most employers use lawyers to process visa petitions because any mistakes in the thicket of paperwork almost always lead to big delays. The maximum stay in the United States is six years. Graduating college students often transition to this type of nonimmigrant visa.