Hiring foreign professionals? The April 1st H-1B Deadline Approaches

Hiring foreign professionals?  The April 1^st H-1B Deadline Approaches

Employers use the H-1B visa category to employ nonimmigrant foreign workers who possess the equivalent of a U.S. bachelors degree for professional jobs each year.  The first date that H-1B petitions are accepted by the USCIS for employer filing for 2008 employment is April 1^st.  The competition for the 58,200 H-1B numbers is keen; in 2007 there were 150,000 employer petitions filed in the first two days requiring a USCIS random selection of the successful petitions.

To maximize your applicant’s chances for employment authorization, your company should also consider the following :

1.       Use an immigration lawyer with experience in successful H-1B filing.  An improperly filed petition will be rejected, and refiling will likely also be rejected if the cap cases are closed after the first day or two.

2.       U.S. advanced degree recipients’ petitions are placed in a more favorable pool of an additional 20,000 cap exempt numbers.  There is also competition for those additional numbers as that cap was reached on April 30^th last year.

3.       Professionals from Chile or Singapore are given extra numbers, which are unlikely to be used up. Those H-1B1 petitions need special filing treatment and allow specialty professional jobs for qualified persons who have the threshold bachelors’ degrees.

4.       Canadian and Mexican professionals also have specialty professional programs, allowing TN status without the need to compete for H-1B numbers.

5.       Australian professionals are eligible for E-3 professional visa status, a program which is not limited by the H-1B cap.

6.       The O-1 category for aliens of extraordinary ability is a non-cap alternative for persons who have reached the highest level of accomplishment in their fields.

7.       Some foreign-based and educated persons will qualify for up to 18 months employment in qualified training programs through J-1 sponsorship.

 

For further information about the Miller Law Offices immigration benefit legal services, please contact Charles Miller or Terri Miller at (818) 508-9005 or direct your E-mail to info@millerlawoffices.com .

The Miller Law Offices is an AV rated law firm by the Martindale-Hubbell Legal Directory. This represents the highest of the legal ability and general ethical standards ratings given to law firms in the United States. The firm’s website, www.millerlawoffices.com,  contains an immigration bulletin with news and analysis, as well as timely publications of interest to the business and professional communities.

From BNA: Myers to Continue Worksite Enforcement in 2008

ICE PLANS TO CONTINUE TARGETED ENFORCEMENT, ENCOURAGING COMPLIANCE IN 2008, MYERS SAYS

12 BNA DAILY LABOR REPORT A-1 January 18, 2008

In 2008, Immigration and Customs Enforcement plans to continue targeted worksite enforcement efforts while reaching out to employers to comply with immigration laws, Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Julie Myers said at a Jan. 17 American Bar Association Homeland Security Law Institute conference.

Myers, who heads ICE within the Department of Homeland Security, said because ICE is approximately five years old, it is a good time to assess how to move forward with worksite immigration enforcement despite the failure of Congress to enact comprehensive immigration legislation.

“We don't have access to Social Security Administration information about the top 20 employers with the highest rates of non-matching Social Security numbers," she said. "The tax laws prevent us from getting that information from SSA," so ICE doesn't target employers in that way, she said.

Instead, ICE engages in a "risk-based approach" to worksite enforcement and will continue to use this tactic, Myers said. "We target the worst of the worst employers" who hire illegal immigrants as a part of their business model, she said.

Several types of activity are typical of "egregious" employers, Myers said."Money laundering, tax evasion, and schemes where employers use mobile check cashing services to pay workers are all common," she said. In many of these situations the Department of Justice can bring federal charges, she said.

ICE "won't bring criminal charges against employers who accidentally hire an illegal alien," Myers said. Criminal charges are brought against those employers who are "paying workers off the books, ripping up W-2s, and otherwise making an illegal workforce part of the structure of their business," she said.

Myers Calls for 'Culture of Compliance.'

The risk-based approach to targeting employers who hire illegal immigrants is one method of curbing illegal immigration, Myers said. However, criminal cases against employers "won't be enough" and we need a "culture of compliance with immigration laws," she said.

IMAGE, a partnership program between a participating business and ICE promoting the use of best practices, is one method to create a culture of compliance, Myers said. ICE will continue to promote this program in 2008, she said. IMAGE -- ICE Mutual Agreement between Government and Employers -- began in July 2006. IMAGE creates a binding partnership between a participating business and ICE, promoting the use of screening tools, best practices, and continuing education to determine employment eligibility based on immigration status, according to ICE's Web site.

Additionally, in 2008 there will be "a lot more I-9 inspections of employers," Myers said. ICE has the authority to audit the I-9 employment verification form records of any employer. The IMAGE program and the increased inspections foster best practices among companies that have a "long-term business benefit," she said.

Myers said one additional expected development in compliance is that employers who violate immigration law and settle claims with ICE will be required in many settlements to "invest money to make sure they are in compliance with the law going forward."

'No-Match' Rule Expected to Move Forward.

Myers said she expects an additional tool to combating illegal immigration in 2008 -- the use of no-match letters. "I think we will prove victorious in the no-match lawsuit," Myers said. "This will give employers the clarity they need," she said.

The lawsuit was brought by a consortium of labor, civil rights, and business groups challenging a DHS rule under which the Social Security Administration would include in its no-match letters language on employer liability for violating immigration laws (AFL-CIO v. Chertoff, N.D. Cal., No.3:07-cv-4472-CRB, filed 8/29/07).

"We expect legal challenges like the no-match lawsuit," Gus Coldebella, acting general counsel for DHS said. DHS is a new agency "exploring new areas of the law and taking novel actions," he said.

In coming months, DHS will issue clarifications to the no-match rule addressing the court's three main concerns, Coldebella said. On Dec. 14 a federal trial judge agreed to stay proceedings in the lawsuit to give DHS time to develop or amend regulations regarding employer notifications to accompany the no-match letters ( 241 DLR A-1, 12/17/07).