Janet Reardon wants to hire a senior engineer for her company’s Los Angeles office — but first she has to send him to Canada. That’s because the engineer, an Indian now working in Kuwait, is among tens of thousands of educated foreigners offered jobs in the U.S. this year but unable to get visas, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Ms. Reardon, a human-resource manager at Corrpro Cos. Inc., has asked the corrosion-prevention firm’s Canadian unit to take on the engineer until the company can reapply for a visa next year. But no one is particularly happy about that. The engineer, with 20 years’ experience, would rather move to Southern California; Corrpro’s Canadian managers are reluctant to hire an employee they might lose in months; and Ms. Reardon can’t be sure that next year will bring the coveted visa.

But she persists because corrosion specialists are rare. “It’s like hitting the jackpot,” she says. “Corrosion is not the sexiest industry.”

As opponents worry about foreigners undercutting well-paid American workers and debate continues over reshaping U.S. immigration laws, companies like Corrpro are quietly taking matters into their own hands, with elaborate workarounds to retain foreign job applicants who can’t get visas.

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