On March 20, 2020, the DHS announced that it is temporarily relaxing some of the employer requirements for completing Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9 (“Form I-9”) as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prior to the DHS’s announcement on Friday, all employers completing the Form I-9 process for new employees were required to physically examine the original work authorization and identification documents that employees presented upon hire. Additionally, the employee had to be physically present with the document examiner. Physical examination of the ...
Effective March 20, 2020, USCIS announced it has suspended all I-129 and I-140 Premium Processing requests. Petitions not receipted in by March 20th will have the I-907 Premium Processing application and $1,440.00 fee returned, although properly submitted I-129 and I-140 petitions will continue to be processed. This announcement follows the suspension of Premium Processing on all FY 2021 Cap-Subject H-1B petitions just days earlier. In recent years, it is not uncommon to see several categories, including H-1B Cap-Subject petitions, H-1B extensions, and other non-immigrant ...
It is no secret that teacher shortages are proving to be a significant challenge for school districts across the country. The Learning Policy Institute estimates the country-wide shortage was at as many as 110,000 teachers by the end of the 2017-2018 school year. In its annual report on the number of teachers leaving the classroom in South Carolina, the South Carolina Center for Educator Recruitment Retention and Advancement (“CERRA”) confirmed more than 6,500 teachers left their positions during the 2018-2019 school year. While the number of teachers leaving the profession ...
It’s official, almost. Implementation of the new H-1B filing process for 2020 is fast approaching and more details have been released. DHS published a notice in the Federal Register on January 9, 2020, which officially announced the process.
Under the new system, employers, or their legal representative, will complete an online registration process, at a cost of $10.00 per petition, which requires basic information about the company and the requested H-1B beneficiary. Information such as employer legal name, employer identification number, country of birth and citizenship ...
As 2019 draws to a close and millions of people contemplate their resolutions for the new year, USCIS made good on their promise and announced the implementation of a new H-1B filing process for 2020. USCIS originally announced the change in early 2019, but delayed implementation. The new process significantly changes the H-1B petition timeline and requires employers to prioritize foreign national hiring decisions earlier than previous years.
In the past, employers seeking to sponsor foreign nationals for H-1B visas prepared and filed full visa petitions in the first five ...
On August 7, 2019, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) conducted a raid of seven Mississippi food processing plants, arresting 680 employees suspected of working without proper documentation. Since the Trump administration came into office, ICE has significantly stepped up worksite enforcement by ramping up the number of I-9 audits. In Fiscal Year 2018, HSI conducted 5,981 I-9 inspections, compared to 1,360 in Fiscal Year 2017.
Increase in Form I-9 Penalties – How Small Mistakes Can Cost You Big Money
A recent Department ...
The Social Security Administration (SSA) resumed sending Employer Correction Request Notices, more commonly referred to as “No-Match Letters”, to employers in the Spring of 2019, following a seven-year period with no issuance of no-match letters. The SSA issues letters to businesses that have submitted a wage report containing a reported name, Social Security Number (SSN) or a combination thereof for an employee which do not match SSA’s records. From an employee misentering their SSN on Form I-9 or unreported name changes, to typographical errors or inaccurate employer ...
The second installment of the Summer Green Card Series explained the function of the Visa Bulletin. In the third installment, we cover how to read the Visa Bulletin and answer some common Visa Bulletin-related questions.
How to Read the Visa Bulletin
The above figure is the Visa Bulletin’s Final Action Date Chart for July 2019, which USCIS indicated should be used to determine whether a foreign national is subject to a filing backlog. Applicants must first determine their employment-based category. The applicant must then look to their corresponding country of origin. The ...
Often times, the first question asked by employment-based Green Card beneficiaries during an initial strategy consultation is, “How long until I have my Green Card in hand?” While the answer varies depending on the particular Green Card strategy and the candidate’s country of birth, the Visa Bulletin is always a factor that must be considered. Particularly for Indian and Chinese nationals, Visa Bulletin backlogs can delay issuance of a Green Card for many years. In some cases, the wait can be nearly a decade. In this post, we explain the Visa Bulletin’s function. In our third ...
PERM can be one of the most confusing and frustrating portions of the employment-based Green Card process for employers. PERM is driven by numerous regulatory requirements and the slightest mistake can doom a Green Card sponsorship. As Part One of Burr and Forman, LLP’s Summer Green Card Series, we look at the PERM process so employers can understand what to expect and how to successfully prepare applications.
What is PERM?
PERM stands for Program Electronic Review Management and is the web-based program operated by the Department of Labor (“DOL”) for obtaining Labor ...