If an employer cannot find an American worker to fill a job, then he or she may hire foreign workers. Before a foreign worker, or guest worker, as the government refers to them, can start work, the Department of Labor investigates whether or not the employer first looked for an American worker. If they determine that no American worker was available, then the Department of Labor issues a “labor certification” to the employer. Only after this process is complete can the foreign worker apply for a visa. There are several exceptions to this rule. Foreigners who possess “extraordinary ability in the arts, sciences, education, business or athletics,” and “outstanding professors and researchers and managers and executives of multinational companies” are exempted from labor certification requirements. In recent years, the number of foreign high-tech industry workers in the United States has increased. Most of these workers have come from India. Click CHART for more information.