Jan. 16--Work visas are as common as bellhops and room service in the hotel industry. The permits allow immigrants to legally fill jobs ranging from dishwasher to housekeeper to general manager.

Just ask Jeroen Gerrese, James Bermingham, Ulrich Krauer, Cormac O'Modhrain or Henry Schielein. They are all immigrants to the United States who obtained visas and worked their way up through the ranks to become general managers at five of Orange County's leading hotels.

They started their careers as dishwashers, apprentices and kitchen crew, and they got their breaks in this country when employers were willing to accept their temporary work permits.

Now, under a guest-worker program proposed last week by President George W. Bush, these five European immigrants could help other immigrants launch careers in the hotel industry.

Bush's proposed overhaul of U.S. policy would grant temporary work permits to millions of undocumented immigrants, many of them from Mexico.

The guest-worker program is designed to create a more efficient labor pool in sectors that offer many entry-level jobs, including hotels and restaurants.

Those jobs sometimes become training programs for future general managers.

"This is a great opportunity for people who want to work legally to join our ranks," said Gerrese, a native of Holland and manager of the Laguna Cliffs Marriott Resort & Spa in Dana Point. "I have worked in Asia, Europe and the United States, and our industry is always in need of a pool of (entry-level) associates."

Gerrese recently hired more staff to tend 30 new rooms and a spa that opens next month.

He said they have the same opportunity to rise in the ranks the way he and other immigrants have done.

"It's a long road, but over time, and with the right development, they have the potential to become a great success story," said Gerrese, a Cornell graduate who has obtained a permanent green card.

"You need the training in place, too, because it's unskilled labor. Once they come in the door, our job really begins, and our training goes year-round."

Training at the Marriott ranges from customer service to language courses, in English and Spanish.

Henry Schielein, a native of Germany, worked at some of the best hotels in the world before joining the Balboa Bay Club Resort & Spa in 1994, as president and chief operating officer.

In the European tradition, he spent three years studying hospitality as an apprentice. He worked in Switzerland, Scandinavia and then for a cruise line that took him to New Orleans. A family he met on a cruise ship sponsored him and helped him get a job at a Los Angeles hotel in 1957.

He served in the Army, became a U.S. citizen in 1963 and has earned some of the top honors in the hotel industry for his service and leadership.

"This country has been wonderful to me and I see why people want to come here," Schielein said. "We all deserve a chance, but everybody should have to go through the process (of legalization).

"If this guest-worker program can be worked out, it could be good for everyone. We need the Hispanic workers. They're great people and wonderful to work with, but we insist that they have all the proper documents."

Krauer, born in Switzerland, also began as an apprentice and worked at several prestigious hotels before coming to the St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort & Spa two years ago. He still remembers his very first job washing copper pots and pans with lemon and salt that made them shiny but also burned through cuts in his skin.

His experiences in the kitchen and other line positions help him train the staff.

"When it comes to entry-level positions here, you won't find many Americans who are willing to wash pots, and you don't see college girls who want to start in the hotel business as maids," said Krauer, who speaks four languages. "If we did, we wouldn't need immigrants.

"This program would stop the illegal flow of people, and let them pay the taxes that are due to the country."

Krauer earned a degree at the Lucerne Hotel School, and when a Swiss company opened a hotel in New Hampshire, it offered him a work visa. He has been married for 19 years to an American citizen and has a permanent green card.

"I often tell my staff I didn't start out wanting to be a GM. But I kept doing my best everywhere I went and people promoted me. I learned different cultures and learned to understand people and how to be adaptable."

James Bermingham says he is a very lucky Irishman. First, he won a U.S. work visa in a lottery sponsored by a U.S. senator. Then, after working at several U.S. luxury hotels, he came to Laguna Beach to operate the Montage Resort & Spa.

Bermingham also got his start washing dishes, but quickly graduated to washing vegetables. He moved from Dublin to London, continued training and was able to compete for a job in Houston with ITT Sheraton because he had the U.S. work visa.

"This is a great industry for anyone who has a passion for service and quality to really grow professionally," said Bermingham, who holds a renewable green card. "We're fanatical here about creating a learning environment, so anyone who comes on staff who wants to grow, we support and encourage it."

Another Irishman operates the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort & Spa. Cormac O'Modhrain trained at the Shannon College of Hotel Management in Dublin and worked for a British company that brought him to the United States on an H-1 work visa.

He's unsure how Bush's program might affect the year-old Hyatt.

"In today's environment, it's not an issue for us finding capable people to fill our jobs," he said.

Jorg Santana doesn't know any of these hotel general managers, but he shares their aspirations. Santana, a Mexican native who obtained a U.S. work permit 16 years ago, started as a bartender's assistant with Aramark, the company that provides food service at the Anaheim Convention Center.

He worked his way up to banquet server and supervisor, and recently was named assistant catering manager.

He took classes to improve his English and wants to further his education. His ultimate goal at the convention center: "To run this place."

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