Can a US Employer use US Citizenship as a preference for a hiring decision, or is this considered discrimination? I was thinking about this in regards with other countries where I’ve lived, where not only is this legal but it is required. In the sense that the employer is required to prove that it cannot find a qualified local citizen to fill a job before it can hire someone else. Now, that is in the simple case (citizen versus non-citizen without a work visa). I’m fairly certain that in some (most?) countries it also holds that they can use preference for nationals versus expats. Is this true in the USA also, in other words, can I hire and put in my ad, “U.S. Citizens only”? I have seen this done at job fairs but it was usually only for Government or security clearance positions.
Let’s see what the EEOC has to say:
That’s basically what I was going to say, Otto, except that you took the time to look up the EEOC and I didn’t. To paraphrase the above bit of legalese, as long as you’re legally entitled to work in the United States (not all foreign nationals are; it depends on what sort of visa you obtained when you entered the country), they can’t legally discriminate against you because of that status. So, if you have a work permit and the only thing you’re lacking is citizenship, and you feel you’ve been discriminated against, it may well be time to acquaint yourself with another fine American institution: the lawsuit. 
Thanks, Otto, nice link, there’s some other interesting stuff there as well. I didn’t think to check under National Origin since I think of it as an entirely separate issue.
Hmmm…In the countries I’m familiar with, the employer is required to prove he cannot find a qualified local before a foreigner can apply for a work visa. Which isn’t the same thing at all. This rule doesn’t apply to foreign people who are already legal residents. So, the discrimination is between people who’re already living there legally and people who aren’t, not between citizens and non-citizens.
I don’t know where you’ve been living, but didn’t you mix up two different kind of regulations?
Not really, I was trying to differentiate between the two. In one country for sure, Thailand, many of the jobs say that they’ll only take Thai citizens. Of course they also will say that they only take men or women for certain positions. In the other two that I lived in, Germany and Switzerland, you could work at will once you had their equivalent of our Green Card, but the work permit I was issued would have been invalid had I changed employers/jobs. I think Germany you need to work or reside for three years before eligible for a “green card” type visa. In Switzerland I don’t recall the exact rules, but they were fairly strict (although they were a lot friendlier than the Germans).
Otto, I think this pertains to foreign nationals that are employed. Once legally employed they are governed by the same anti-discrimination laws that apply to US citizens.
It is common employment practice by US employers to ask job candidates if they are legally able to accept employment in the US. Employers are not required to process ( and pay for, and wait for ) the H-1B application.
For an H1-B or F-1 visa, employers do not have to document their candidate search for a US citizen (however, this is required in order to process a green card application). There are regulations regarding paying foreign nationals the prevailing wage for the position - in other words employers are not allowed to hire foreign nationals at cut-rate wages.
Apparently, there are exceptions for some government work done by contractors. My company lost a couple of employees who were Canadian nationals a few years back because the US Navy wanted no foreign nationals working in that program. Pity.