Don't Be Surprised by H-1B Site Visits
Employers across the country reported unexpected work-site visits in July and August from government agents or contractors with questions related to immigration compliance. In addition to work-site raids and investigations into the employment eligibility of the workforce, the government has begun aggressively reviewing the work status and working conditions of foreign-national employees who have been sponsored for H-1B work visas.    [ read article ]

DOL offers online H-1B Advisor
DOL offers online H-1B Advisor May 18, 2:05 PM Houston Employment-based Immigration Examiner By Kristin Jennifer The U.S. Department of Labor recently established a set of online legal tools for employers and employees alike called eLaw Advisors. The lastest eLaw Advisor is on the H-1B, a temporary, legal work classification for foreign nationals who work in speciality occuptions (i.e. engineer, teacher, economist). The H-1B Advisor (http://webapps.dol.gov/elaws/h1b/) is a great legal reference tool for employers and individuals both familiar and unfamiliar with H-1B work classification. USCIS ramps up surprise visits to H-1B employers in high-skill industries For the unfamiliar, or those needing a refresher, the H-1B advisor, first, provides a simple, yet informative, explanation of the purpose for and use of H-1B itself. Next the H-1B advisor asks whether you are an H-1B worker, a U.S. citizen, or an employer. The selection will take the user through a series of questions meant to give the best advice on specific H-1B knowledge points. The H-1B Advisor may even take you to a neat menu featuring all categories of knowledge points, each with their own set of special questions. For example, the first knowledge point on H-1Bs is that of Notification, a simple but sometimes confusing immigration compliance issue for employers, U.S. citizens, and H-1B workers. A background on Notification: before an employer can file an H-1B application, the employer must first obtain a certified Labor Condition Application, or LCA, which states the minimum wage that an employee in the proposed occupation can make in the location where the employee will work. The LCA must be made public, prior to certification, through a Notice of Filing to all within the company so that U.S. workers can know that the prospective foreign national employee is not being offered a below market wage and not, therefore, unfairly competing with Americans for jobs. The H-1B Advisor is great because it asks the right questions to determine the reality of the situation at question in order to best advise you. For LCA Notification questions, the H-1B Advisor asks a) whether a bargaining representative is available and, b) whether the employee will work at an offsite location. To complete this example, let's say that no bargaining representative is available and the employee will work at an offsite. The answer from the H-1B advisor clearly, though simply, explains that the employer must post two Notices of Filing of the LCA at each address where the employee will work. The H-1B Advisor, it should be noted, makes the extra effort to state in bold that the H-1B worker should not be placed at any work location location where there is a refusal to post the LCA Notices of Filing. This is an important point for employers whose H-1B employees work at client sites for long periods of time throughout the year. The H-1B Advisor is a very handy tool for answering H-1B basic legal questions without the aid of an attorney. Although the H-1B Advisor specifically does not give advice on preparation of H-1B applications, this tool should be useful for small and large business and H-1B novices and seasoned practitioners alike.    [ read article ]