ABIL-Immigration-Updates
FOLLOW ABIL
  • U.S. Blog
  • Global Blog
  • ABIL Home
  • ABIL Lawyers
  • News & Articles
  • More Immigration Blogs
    • ABIL Lawyers' Blogs
    • Immigration Blog Aggregator
  • Contact Us

DOL Policy on Laid-Off U.S. Workers for PERM Labor Certification Applications

2/28/2014

0 Comments

 
by Cyrus D. Mehta, ABIL Lawyer
The Insightful Immigration Blog

The filing of a labor certification application is normally the first step when an employer sponsors a foreign national employee for permanent residence. Under the labor certification process, the employer is required to demonstrate that it unsuccessfully conducted a good faith recruitment of the US labor market at the prevailing wage before it can proceed to sponsor the foreign national employee. The Department of Labor, under the slim authority given to it in INA 212(a)(5) has promulgated complex rules in 20 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 656 that govern how an employer must establish a good faith test of the US labor market. These rules, which have created a huge “labor certification bureaucracy”, also reflect a concern for US workers who were laid off within 6 months of filing the labor certification application. Specifically, 20 CFR 656.17(k) provides:

  1. If there has been a layoff by the employer applicant in the area of intended employment within 6 months of filing an application involving the occupation for which certification is sought or in a related occupation, the employer must document it has notified and considered all potentially qualified laid off (employer applicant) U.S. workers of the job opportunity involved in the application and the results of the notification and consideration. A layoff shall be considered any involuntary separation of one or more employees without cause or prejudice.
  2. For the purposes of paragraph (k)(1) of this section, a related occupation is any occupation that requires workers to perform a majority of the essential duties involved in the occupation for which certification is sought.
The requirement for an employer to have notified and considered all potentially qualified laid-off workers has always been a touchy issue for employers. It is easier for an employer to broadcast advertisements and undertake other prescribed recruitment steps for prospective US workers than for an employer to contact its own prior workers regarding a job opportunity that is the subject of the labor certification application. The notification requirement of all laid off workers in the specific occupation or related occupation has also been open to varying interpretations. Would it suffice if the laid off worker was told to check job opportunities in the future on the employer’s website or must the worker be actually notified when labor certification is being sought in the same job opportunity? The Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration has added a new question and answer (Q&A) to its frequently asked questions (FAQ). The new Q&A concerns notification and consideration of laid-off U.S. workers for PERM labor certification applications.

The new Q&A asks, "How does an employer demonstrate that it notified and considered laid-off U.S. workers for the job opportunity listed on the ETA Form 9089?" The answer notes that some employers have misconstrued the regulations to require only that they inform workers when laid off that the employer may have future positions and invite the worker to monitor the employer's job postings and apply, rather than their actively notifying and considering the laid-off workers. In fact, the Q&A notes, misapplication of the regulatory requirements will result in denial of a PERM application. The employer must make a reasonable, good-faith effort to notify each potentially qualified worker who has been laid off during the six months preceding the application whenever a relevant job opening exists and invite the worker to apply.



The Q&A notes that an employer who files multiple labor certifications can satisfy its responsibilities under the relevant regulation by notifying each laid-off worker (in the manner chosen by the worker) at least once a month that a list of current relevant job openings is maintained electronically on a website operated by the employer. "Simply informing a laid-off worker to monitor the employer's website for future openings and inviting the worker, if interested, to apply for those openings, will not satisfy the employer's regulatory obligation to notify all of its potentially qualified laid-off U.S. workers of the job opportunity," the Q&A states.

The Q&A adds that an employer must maintain documentation showing that it has met its notice and consideration requirements, including copies of all relevant letters, e-mails, faxes, Web pages (including those listing details of the relevant job openings and applications by laid-off workers for those openings), and other contemporaneous documents that show when and how notice and consideration was given. In addition, an employer must obtain and maintain written documentation that a laid-off worker has declined to receive notices, requested discontinuation of the notices, or refused to give or update contact information.

While the DOL has clarified the notification requirement for laid-off workers, must an employer contact all laid off workers in the specific or related occupation for which labor certification is sought even if the employer knows that the laid-off worker’s qualifications do not objectively meet the requirements of the position? For example, the job opportunity for which labor certification is being sought, let’s say a Software Engineer, requires five years of experience in certain computer programming languages like C++, Java and Python. The employer knows that a former worker, also a Software Engineer, who was laid off 3 months ago only had 1 year of experience in C++, but not Java and Python. Is the employer required to notify this worker under 20 CFR 656.17(k) when the employer knows that the laid off worker is not qualified for the position?

The employer must also check off a box on ETA 9089, Section 1.e.26,  which broadly asks whether the employer had a layoff in the area of intended employment in the occupation of the job opportunity or a related occupation within 6 months of filing the application. The checking off the “yes” box is likely to trigger an audit and further scrutiny. The next box Section 1.e.26A, asks “were the laid off U.S. workers notified and considered for the job opportunity for which certification is sought?” If the employer checks off the “no” box or the “NA” box, would that be permissible if the laid off worker is clearly not qualified for the position?   In other words, when an employer knows that a laid-off worker is not potentially qualified, may it only consider the worker’s qualification or does it also need to notify that prior worker? If the labor certification is audited, the DOL will request documentation to establish the number of US workers in the occupation or in a related occupation that were laid off by the employer; a listing of all occupations relevant to the layoffs; an explanation as to why notification or consideration of the employer’s potentially qualified laid-off US workers was not applicable; and proof that any laid off US workers not notified and considered by the employer were not potentially qualified for the job opportunity.

The Board of Alien Labor Certifications in Matter of Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp, 2011-PER-02902 (BALCA February 10, 2014)  held that an employer was justified in rejecting a laid-off worker who was not qualified for the position. While it is not clear from this decision whether the employer had notified the laid off worker, it is clear from the resume that the laid off worker was not qualified for the position, according to BALCA. The position in the instant case required a very deep knowledge of SAS, including SAS on Unix and SAS for Windows. The laid-off worker did not have experience with these program tools. Although the Certifying Officer in denying the labor certification assumed that the laid off worker would have obtained the same skills and knowledge for the position for which labor certification was sought, having worked with the employer for three years, BALCA found that the CO’s assumption was unfounded and unsupported by the record. Cisco Systems, Inc, 2011-PER-02900 (BALCA April 26, 2013), however, provides more clarity regarding whether an employer needs to notify a laid-off worker who is not qualified for the position. There BALCA held that the employer who had not notified a laid-off worker was justified in its rejection of that worker who clearly lacked the qualifications for the position.

It may thus be defensible for an employer to not notify all laid off workers in the occupation for which labor certification is sought, or a related occupation, unless the laid off worker is potentially qualified for the position. Of course, when in doubt, the employer must contact the laid-off worker per the new DOL FAQ. Unfortunately, in the world of labor certification, the DOL imposes unrealistic requirements and burdens upon employers, and one can never know how the DOL will react when an employer justifies that its reason for not notifying laid-off workers was because they were unqualified for the position. The DOL has publically indicated that BALCA does not speak for it, and it may not consider itself to be bound by Matter of Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp or Cisco Systems. Therefore, employers are advised to tread very cautiously when workers have been laid off within six months prior to filing a labor certification on behalf of a foreign national employee.
0 Comments

Chinese EB-5 Quota Retrogression -- Part 2

2/18/2014

0 Comments

 
by H. Ronald Klakso, ABIL Lawyer
Klasko, Rulon, Stock & Seltzer, LLP

In the last blog, I prepared a set of FAQs to try to make the anticipated EB-5 quota retrogression understandable. In this follow-up blog, I will explain some of the changes in USCIS policy and interpretations and investor and developer strategies that will be necessitated by the first ever EB-5 quota retrogression.

One of the most obvious impacts of EB-5 quota retrogression for China is the impact on children who may be “aging out”. Since the child’s age is “frozen” while the I-526 petition is pending and is “unfrozen” when the I-526 petition is approved and there is a quota backlog, the investor is well advised to file the EB-5 petition years in advance of the child turning 21 rather than immediately before the child turns 21. Once the petition is filed, it is to the investor’s advantage if the USCIS processing time is elongated in the event of quota retrogression, since the child’s age is frozen longer if processing times are longer.

Quota retrogression may increase the onset of the 21-24 month conditional residence period by 2 years or more. This is problematic for the majority of investors who invest in regional center “loan model” projects. Most of these loans are 5 or 6 years in term since it is expected that all of the investors will have removed their conditions by the end of the 5 or 6 years, after which the investors can receive a return of their investments. But what happens if quota retrogression results in investors not being able to remove conditions for 7 years or more given the delayed onset of conditional residence status? USCIS has so far refused to opine on the impact of loan repayment to the new commercial enterprise before the investors have removed the conditions on residence.

This raises a number of issues for the I-829 condition removal petition. Has the investment been sustained? Since the investment must be sustained in the new commercial enterprise and not the job-creating enterprise, presumably the answer is yes. If the money just sits in the NCE for a period of time until all of the investors remove conditions, does the money remain “at risk”? Arguably it does, especially since it has already been used in creating the requisite number of jobs; and the NCE can use its own discretion on what to do with the money in the interim. In addition, it is not clear that the money must remain “at risk” during the entire conditional residence period as long as the investment is sustained and the jobs created. In any event, this issue must be clarified by USCIS.

Given this issue, we will be counseling regional centers and developers to consider increasing the length of the loan term to prevent money going back to the investors before their conditions on residence are removed. This is not beneficial to the exit strategy of an investor, but it may provide the developer with EB-5 financing dollars over a protracted period of time while protecting investors at the I-829 stage.

USCIS has created a so-called “2½ year” rule, requiring that all jobs be created within 2½ years of the approval of the EB-5 petition. In an earlier blog, I articulated in detail why this “rule” is wrong as a matter of both law and policy. In the event of EB-5 quota retrogression, it is not only wrong but its foundations crumble and it makes no sense. The premise of the 2½ year rule is that an investor will become a conditional resident within 6 months after approval of the EB-5 petition and then have 2 years to create the necessary jobs during the conditional residence period. The quota retrogression could result in 2 or 3 years from EB-5 petition approval until onset of conditional residence. In that event, the investor will be required to create all jobs before even becoming a conditional resident. This is not at all what Congress had in mind or what makes sense for the success of the program. We are advocating for USCIS to change this policy.

From the project developer’s point of view, quota retrogression may result in projects being able to get credit for more indirect and induced jobs. With most construction projects, if the construction period is, say, 18 months, and stabilized occupancy (and the job creation that goes with it) does not occur for another 24 months, the job creation resulting from stabilized occupancy would occur after the 30 month period. In the event of quota retrogression, since the time period for job creation should be extended to cover the full conditional residence period, the project may well be able to count jobs both from construction and operations where previously only construction jobs could be counted.

Also, developers will have longer periods of time to meet the required inputs in the economist’s job projection report, such as longer periods of time to spend the money, produce the necessary revenues, employ the necessary direct employees, achieve the necessary occupancy rate, complete construction, etc.

Direct EB-5 investors will confront additional challenges in the event of quota retrogression. If it will be an indeterminate amount of years before a direct EB-5 investor will be able to come to the U.S. to manage his investment, it will be more difficult – if not impossible – to prepare a business plan with realistic timeframes for the development of the business and the hiring of the employees.

Finally, foundations for the “troubled business” rule could crumble in the event of quota retrogression. The investor must demonstrate maintenance of the existing number of employees for a period of 2 years. If the investor, who may well be the key manager of his business, will not be able to immigrate for more than 2 years, such a showing may not be possible.

In summary, Chinese EB-5 quota retrogression will require a rethinking of conventional wisdom on many EB-5 issues. It will be incumbent for EB-5 counsel to prepare new EB-5 projects with these issues in mind and to advise EB-5 investors of these issues in potential investments.

In addition, and significantly, USCIS will need to reevaluate some of its policies and interpretations to accommodate the new reality. Hopefully, USCIS will be open to suggestions from stakeholders on how to do this. The AILA EB-5 Committee, which I chair, will be taking a leading role in this advocacy.
0 Comments

Transmission of American Citizenship Through Assisted Reproductive Technology - An Update

2/13/2014

0 Comments

 
by Cyrus D. Mehta, ABIL Lawyer and Gary Endelman
The Insightful Immigration Blog

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” Lao –Tzu, Chinese philosopher (604 BC-531 BC)

Ed. note – This article updates information from a previous piece, “Answer Man: Assisted Reproductive Technology and U.S. Immigration Law.”

The Department of State has announced a major and most welcome policy shift to facilitate the transmission of American citizenship to children born outside the United States using Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART). It will no longer be necessary in all such cases for the “mother “to have a genetic link to the child. The Department has happily now recognized that American mothers can pass on citizenship to children to whom they give birth regardless of whose egg was used for conception. The “mother” must be the legal mother at the time and place of the child’s birth and the gestational mother. Under the new State Department policy, the biological mother can either be the genetic or the gestational mother; the biological father can obviously only be the genetic father.  The State Department policy goes onto clarify:
If the child is biologically related to a US citizen father, but not to the father’s spouse, the case would be treated as a birth out of wedlock to a U.S. citizen father, pursuant to INA 309(a), and the father would have to meet the additional requirements of that section.  If the child is biologically related to a U.S. citizen mother, but not her spouse, the case would be treated as a birth out of wedlock to a U.S. citizen mother, and would have to meet the requirements of INA 309(c).  If the child is the biological child of both parents, and the biological parents are married to one another, INA 301 requirements would apply, including a requirement that at least one of the US citizen parents had resided in the United States prior to the child’s birth.
In addition, the State Department now views the child of a legally married lesbian couple as being “born in wedlock” if the baby is conceived from the egg of one mother and carried by the other.

Under the new policy, a US citizen mother who gives birth to a biological child abroad, including through a foreign surrogate (via her egg), can apply for a US passport and Consular Report of Birth Abroad. While the USC parent with the biological nexus should be listed on the CRBA, a second parent can be listed as well if they can document a legal relationship under local law.

It should be noted that this new policy is retroactive. In those instances where an immigration benefit was denied to the foreign-born child of a gestational and legal American mother, the parent should now submit a new application corroborated by probative evidence that they satisfy the substantive requirements of the new policy.

The nationality provisions of the INA were written long before the advent of ART. The State Department is to be heartily congratulated for bringing them into the 21st century. While a genetic footprint will still be necessary for children born out of wedlock to American fathers under INA 309, it will no longer be required for citizenship claims in all other cases arising under INA 301 which is silent on the need for genetic parentage. The willingness and ability to understand parentage in the legal and gestational sense, as well as in the genetic sense, is something for which advocates have long contended. It is precisely what a consistent line of Ninth Circuit case law, which did not deal with ART, has long exemplified. See Scales v. INS, 232 F.3d 1159 (2000); Solis-Espinoza v. Gonzales, 401 F. 3d 1090 (9th Cir. 2005) and, most recently, Gonzalez-Marquez v. Holder, http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/memoranda/2014/01/03/12-71861.pdf. In these cases, so long as a child was not born out of wedlock, or if born out of wedlock was subsequently legitimated,  the child did not need to prove that he or she was the biological child of his USC mother in order to acquire citizenship.  The Department of State, by allowing the transmission of citizenship through a gestational mother, has advanced the concept of family unity which is the organizing principle at the heart of our immigration system:
The nationality provisions of the INA were written long before the advent of ART. The State Department is to be heartily congratulated for bringing them into the 21st century. While a genetic footprint will still be necessary for children born out of wedlock to American fathers under INA 309, it will no longer be required for citizenship claims in all other cases arising under INA 301 which is silent on the need for genetic parentage. The willingness and ability to understand parentage in the legal and gestational sense, as well as in the genetic sense, is something for which advocates have long contended. It is precisely what a consistent line of Ninth Circuit case law, which did not deal with ART, has long exemplified. See Scales v. INS, 232 F.3d 1159 (2000); Solis-Espinoza v. Gonzales, 401 F. 3d 1090 (9th Cir. 2005) and, most recently, Gonzalez-Marquez v. Holder, http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/memoranda/2014/01/03/12-71861.pdf. In these cases, so long as a child was not born out of wedlock, or if born out of wedlock was subsequently legitimated,  the child did not need to prove that he or she was the biological child of his USC mother in order to acquire citizenship.  The Department of State, by allowing the transmission of citizenship through a gestational mother, has advanced the concept of family unity which is the organizing principle at the heart of our immigration system:
Solis-Espinoza, supra, at 1094.

For all of its manifest merits, however, this new policy does not go as far it we would like it to go. If there is no biological link, but the US citizen is still considered as the legal mother under local or foreign law, will the claim to citizenship be accepted?  It does not seem so, unless the mother was the genetic or gestational mother. It is certainly true that, if the mother is neither the genetic nor the gestational mother, but the sperm is that of the US citizen father, US citizenship can still be acquired under the out of wedlock provisions pursuant to INA 309. Yet, what if the father is a lawful permanent resident or perhaps a non-immigrant, while the mother is a US citizen who lacks a genetic or gestational relationship with the baby but nonetheless is the mother under the law of the country of birth? Under these slightly altered facts, there is no automatic transmission of citizenship. This should change.  The State Department is to be praised for recognizing that there need be no biological link but should a child be deprived of the priceless gift of citizenship simply because his or her US citizen mother is unable to bring them to birth due to a medical infirmity? Practically speaking, if the US citizen mother is able to carry the baby, but needs another female’s egg, there would be no reason to leave the USA and the child thus born in the US would be a birthright citizen. It is only when the US citizen mother cannot use her own egg or carry the baby to term that she needs to enter into an arrangement with a surrogate mother overseas. In such an instance, the citizenship of the child should not depend on the sperm donor father being an American citizen. As long as the law of the state or jurisdiction recognizes the US citizen mother as the child’s legal mother who is married to the father, that should be all that matters. Such a policy would be in accord with Scales and Solis-Espinoza.

 None of this detracts from the wonderful step that the State Department has made. Let us recognize and rejoice in this advance while we hope for further progress down the road. This is a long journey but the ART update is a milestone along the march. Thanks to the Department of State, the law on citizenship transmission is now far more aligned with modern science and contemporary social mores. No longer is it required that both spouses in a marital union be genetically related to their child as a condition of bring a citizenship claim under INA 301. Legal children born in wedlock now will have the same ability to acquire citizenship at birth as anyone else notwithstanding the continued relevance of genetics. Parents legally bound to each other and to their child under local or foreign law can now apply for a US Passport secure in the knowledge that their baby will not be left stateless. Same sex marriages will now enjoy the presumption of legitimacy for the conferral of citizenship that they have never known.

Not bad.

Authors’ Note: This comment is dedicated to the shining memory of Carmen DiPlacido, author of the Child Citizenship Act. To those who knew the pleasure of his company, the warmth of his friendship, the depth of his wisdom and the strength of his intellect, this is precisely the kind of change that Carmen would have championed, one that reflects equity and inclusiveness. He lived these values and this policy embodies them.
0 Comments

Predictions for the Year of the Horse: 5 Reasons Why the EB-5 Program Will Flourish in 2014

2/11/2014

0 Comments

 
by Bernard Wolfsdorf, ABIL Lawyer
EB-5 News Blog: Regional Centers in the USA
Picture
This year, the EB-5 Immigrant Visa Category will be 24 years old. 2014 is also the Year of the Horse on the Chinese Zodiac, and the spirit of the horse embodies unremitting efforts to improve. Over the past two years, the EB-5 Program has undergone tremendous change, culminating in the issuance of the May 30, 2013 U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) memorandum. Like the horse, this long-awaited guidance, which provides clarity on many of the most controversial and problematic issues to have plagued EB-5 adjudications in recent history, is energetic, bright, mostly warm-hearted, intelligent and able. The following are my predictions for how we can expect EB-5 adjudications, policies and processes to manifest these horsey characteristics in 2014:

Prediction #1 – Energetic
USCIS has significantly changed how the EB-5 Program is managed, and these changes will infuse a new energy into the Program sufficient to reduce the lengthy adjudication lines.  I predict we will see adjudication times reduced to six months for most regional center I-526 applications, and as little as three months for direct investment cases. The many I-526 approvals received by our office over the past few weeks were generally processed within six to seven months.

USCIS has struggled to keep processing times reasonable in the face of the Program’s exponential growth in recent years. In Fiscal Year (“FY”) 2010, fewer than 2,000 investor petitions were filed. Only two years later, there have been more than 6,000 petitions filed in both FY2012 and FY 2013. The issues resulting from this explosive growth have been challenging for USCIS as it sought to acquire the expertise and resources necessary to adjudicate these cases. It is assumed there are more than 7,000 cases presently in the pipeline.

This week most of the EB-5 Program will move to Washington, DC USCIS Headquarters.  Only the I-829 petitions to remove conditions will continue to be adjudicated at the California Service Center (“CSC”).  Many of the EB-5 Adjudicating Officers are relocating from the CSC to Headquarters to continue adjudicating cases, although the vast majority is new officers who have been trained at the CSC. Additionally, the EB-5 Program has been transferred from Service Center Operations to Field Operations.  Dan Renaud, the Former Director of the Vermont Service Center, is now the Deputy Chief of Field Operations. Nicholas Colucci has taken over as Chief of the EB-5 Program.

The creation and staffing of the Immigrant Investor Program Office at Headquarters in Washington, DC will prove to be a positive step forward. Opened in May 2013, the office already has over 60 full-time employees, including more than 20 economists with diverse backgrounds in academia, public service and the private sector. The staff includes experts in the fields of business, immigration, fraud detection and national security.

 Prediction #2 – Bright
The comprehensive May 30, 2013 EB-5 adjudications guidance memorandum, particularly with the adoption of “deference” as a policy pursuant to which previous agency decisions on the business aspects of EB-5 adjudications can be relied upon by Regional Centers, projects and investors, is a sign of substantial progress within USCIS, signaling a future of enhanced predictability in processing times and policy interpretations. The memo clarified and consolidated many outstanding policy issues into one document. While not perfect, the memo comprehensively incorporates the statute, regulation, case law and administrative interpretations, and sheds valuable light on many key areas. USCIS has indicated it will issue new regulations, but expect these regulations to take many months before being published.

Prediction #3 – Warm-hearted
While many I-924 Regional Center applications had languished for two years or more, there has been huge progress on the backlog and I-924 adjudications can be completed within as little as six to 10 months. USCIS is now addressing the backlog of over 7,000 I-526 investor petitions. While this may result in huge quota problems, especially for Chinese investors (see attached article), these petitions represent over $3.5 billion in much needed EB-5 capital and will help create over 70,000 American jobs.

Prediction #4 – Intelligent
USCIS is also moving forward with transitioning EB-5 adjudications to the USCIS Electronic Immigration System (“ELIS”). Perhaps the most important efficiency in the ELIS system is the ability for USCIS to initiate inter-agency reviews of documents without having to circulate entire — or multiple — paper files to different federal agency offices. These should serve to further accelerate adjudications.

Prediction #5 – Able
While the dreaded request for evidence (“RFE”) remains the mainstay of EB-5 practice, the USCIS has also implemented more efficient communication systems to address issues that arise during the adjudication process. Instead of exclusively issuing requests for evidence that require paper-based communications, USCIS now embraces direct communication through emails and in-person or telephonic interviews in a far more efficient and effective manner. The USCIS EB-5 Decision Board has been very helpful in resolving cases and has helped share USCIS thinking on key issues.

Conclusion
The Year of the Horse will therefore see a surge of interest as adjudications become more efficient, but this will likely result in a wait line for Chinese applicants in July or August 2014. In September 2014, the Chinese EB-5 numbers may backlog further, or even become unavailable until October 1, 2014, when the new 10,000 visa quota becomes available at which time the line will start moving again. We can only hope Congress acts to extend the Regional Center program which expires in September 2015, and enacts the proposal passed the Senate last year that removed spouse and child derivatives from the visa quota count. This would effectively raise the number of EB-5 visas to almost 30,000.
0 Comments

Why Was My PERM Selected for Audit and/or Supervised Recruitment? #thatawfulmoment

2/10/2014

0 Comments

 
by Cora-Ann Pestaina, Associate with ABIL member, Cyrus D. Mehta
The Insightful Immigration Blog

The filing of a labor certification is often the first step when an employer sponsors a foreign national for permanent residency. The purpose of the labor certification process, known today as PERM, is to ensure that the employer has tested the US labor market for qualified and available US workers at the prevailing wage rate prior to filing an I-140 petition to classify the foreign national under either the employment second preference or the employment third preference.

Foreign nationals (and their employers) often want to know why their PERM was selected for audit while PERMs filed on behalf of their colleagues were approved without audit. Many PERM practitioners are familiar with that awful moment when the PERM application for the foreign national who desperately needed a quick approval was issued a Notification of Supervised Recruitment signaling another year, or maybe even two!, on the scary PERM roller coaster. The mystery behind the PERM audit and supervised recruitment process has been no coincidence. The Department of Labor (DOL) has purposefully left employers in the dark about their selection process and frequently shifts their mechanisms all to protect against fraud. Solicitor of Labor Gregory F. Jacob once stated, “Supervised Recruitment is one of many tools the [Department of Labor] uses to safeguard the integrity of the permanent labor certification process and protect job opportunities for American workers. The department takes seriously its statutory responsibility to ensure that American workers have access to jobs they are qualified and willing to do.”

Nevertheless, through trial and error, certain triggers have been identifiable. We know that PERM applications can be selected for audit for reasons such as random selection; a foreign language requirement; a family relationship between the employer and the alien; an alien with ownership interest in the employer; layoffs in the same or related occupation; a combination of occupations; and more recently because the alien will telecommute; or the employer utilized an employee referral program. Some audits may also be chosen based upon the industry, the employer or the occupation. In recent times, the DOL has increased Supervised Recruitment for IT employers who will employ the foreign national in a roving or telecommuting position.

The DOL has now shed some much appreciated light on its audit and supervised recruitment selection mechanisms. On January 31, 2014, the DOL’s Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) published the following statement on its website (http://www.foreignlaborcert.doleta.gov/):
Section 212(a)(5)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act requires the Secretary to certify the admissibility of a foreign national for employment only when the Secretary can certify that the employment of that foreign worker will not adversely impact the wages and working conditions of US workers similarly employed, and that there is a job opportunity for which a US worker is unavailable. As the regulated community knows, the Department of Labor's Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) is responsible for maintaining the integrity and compliance of the primarily attestation-based PERM Program through the use of certain measures, including audit and supervised recruitment, under a broad integrity review authority. At the time of PERM's implementation, the Department stated that OFLC would select certain applications for audit, employing "auditing techniques that can be adjusted as necessary to maintain program integrity", as well as for quality control. 69 Fed. Reg. 77326, 77328 (Dec. 27, 2004). The Department noted at the time the need for changing audit criteria to focus integrity efforts on program abuse and adjust the audit mechanism as necessary as we gained program experience. 69 Fed. Reg. 77359. Finally, the Department reserved the process of supervised recruitment for a broad application "in any case in which the C[ertifying] O[fficer] deems it appropriate" as a reasonable quality control mechanism. 69 Fed. Reg. 77360, 77362.

In response to a recent Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, we are releasing and making available to all of the regulated community the following documentation regarding the areas in the PERM Program that have in the past warranted this closer examination. Click here to view the OFLC Audit Plan. These areas were deliberately chosen to ensure we are carrying out our statutory responsibilities while also recognizing the evolving nature of program integrity and quality control.

We hope the publication of this information assists filers, especially first-time filers, comply with the PERM Program's various requirements.
The OFLC Audit Plan presents Audit and Supervised Recruitment Tiers which specify the types of cases that will be targeted for Audit Review and tagged for Supervised Recruitment. There are currently eight (8) active tiers and (4) suspended tiers.

The active audit tiers are as follows:
TIER ONE: PERMs will be audited if the primary requirement in Section H, Field 4 of the ETA Form 9089 is less than a Bachelor’s degree, e.g. “none”, “Associates” or “High School” AND the position is not classified under SOC Code 45-2093.00 - Farmworkers, Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals in Section F on the ETA Form 9089.

TIER TWO: PERMs will be audited where the SOC Code in Section F, Field 2 on the ETA Form 9089 matches one or more of the trade related occupations contained in an attachment.
The attachment was not published. However, this list would presumably include positions like Plumber, Electrician, Helpers-Carpenters or Helpers-Painters.  It is conceivable that these cases would be audited so that the employer can present its proof that an available US worker could not be found since it is typically easier to find U.S. workers in the trade occupations.
TIER FOUR:  PERMs will be audited where the employer is a public school listed on an attachment entitled PUBLIC SCHOOLS TO AUDIT.
The attachment was not published.
TIER FIVE:  The DOL will audit 50% of PERMs where the offered position requires a degree but does not require any experience. This will be determined by the information presented in Section H, Field 4 and Section H, Field 6 of the ETA Form 9089.
The logic behind this tier is confusing. It is possible for the employer to indicate a degree requirement in Section H.4; indicate “No” in Section H.6 and yet require experience for the offered position. Section H.6 asks “Is experience in the job offered required for the job?” Section H.10 asks “Is experience in an alternate occupation acceptable?” It is therefore possible for an employer to require no experience in the offered position but instead to require experience in an alternate occupation.  Employers commonly offer positions where experience in the job offered is not required but experience in a related position is required. For example, ABC, Inc. may require two years of experience as a Marketing Analyst for the offered position of Marketing Manager. Accordingly, the ABC, Inc. will indicate “NO” to the question in Section H.6 regarding whether experience in the job offered is required and then answer “YES” to the question in Section H.10 indicating that experience in an alternate occupation is acceptable. Also, in Section H.10-A, ABC, Inc. will indicate the number of months of experience required in the alternate occupation. This means that the experience listed in Section H.10-A is the primary experience requirement rather than an alternate requirement. In FAQs Round 10, the DOL, in the context of a question concerning the need to include the Kellogg language (language well-known to practitioners filing PERM applications as the Kellogg language based on Matter of Francis Kellogg, 94-INA-465 (Feb. 2, 1998) (en banc)) on the ETA Form 9089, confirmed that it is perfectly acceptable for an employer to require experience in an alternate occupation and not in the job offered.  But based on the information provided on the OFLC Audit Plan, there is a 50% chance that ABC, Inc.’s PERM application will trigger an audit for supposedly requiring a degree and no experience.

Considering the additional processing time brought on by an audit (currently, in its audit queue, the DOL is only processing PERMs filed in October 2012!), the DOL ought to amend its review under this tier so as not to cause unfair processing delays for employers who actually do require a degree and experience for their offered positions.
TIER TWELVE:  The DOL will audit 50% of cases where the employer has indicated on the ETA Form 9089 that they have had a layoff.  Specifically, if the employer has answered “YES” in Section I, Field 26 which asks “Has the employer had a layoff in the area of intended employment in the occupation involved in this application or in a related occupation within the six months immediately preceding the filing of this application?”
The ETA Form 9089 goes on to ask, “If yes, were the laid off U.S. workers notified and considered for the job opportunity for which certification is sought?”

Layoffs have long been considered an audit trigger. With the economy continuing to flounder and many employers still reducing their workforce in order to remain competitive, the DOL will continue to more closely examine the employer’s good faith recruitment of U.S. workers.  The PERM regulations at 20 C.F.R. § 656.17(k)(1) state: If there has been a layoff by the employer in the area of intended employment within 6 months of filing an application involving the occupation for which certification is sought or in a related occupation, the employer must document it has notified and considered all potentially qualified laid off (employer applicant) U.S. workers of the job opportunity involved in the application and the results of the notification and consideration. A layoff shall be considered any involuntary separation of one or more employees without cause or prejudice.

The issue of layoffs is one that PERM practitioners ought to discuss with employers at the outset of the PERM process. If it has been determined that layoffs have indeed occurred (even just one) then the practitioner must go through the PERM regulatory analysis with the employer.

The active Audit and Supervised Recruitment tiers are as follows:
TIER SEVEN:  A PERM may be tagged for audit and supervised recruitment if it was submitted after a denial within the same calendar year. Specifically, if the employer’s name in Section C, Field 1 is equal to one or more of the employer names listed in the DOL’s “Denied _Cases table” AND  the alien’s name in Section J, Field 1 is equal to one or more of the foreign worker names listed in the “Denied _ Cases table.”
This trigger is interesting because if a PERM is erroneously denied, the employer will usually have to decide whether to re-file the application or file a Request for Reconsideration with the Certifying Officer based on which process appears faster.  Clearly, refiling may not always prove to be a faster route.
TIER EIGHT: A PERM may be tagged for audit and supervised recruitment if it was re-submitted after it was withdrawn after audit. Specifically, if the Employer’s name in Section C, Field 1 is equal to one or more of the employer names listed in the DOL’s “Withdrawn_Cases table” AND the alien’s name in Section J, Field 1 is equal to one or more of the foreign worker names listed in the “Withdrawn_ Cases table” AND the “Audit Notification Date” in the “Withdrawn_ Cases table” is not null.
Employers may not be saving themselves any time by withdrawing and re-submitting an audited PERM but in fact, may be delaying the processing of the application by a year or more if it gets selected for Supervised Recruitment.
TIER ELEVEN: A PERM may be tagged for audit and supervised recruitment if it was not filed electronically and had to be manually entered by staff at the Atlanta National Processing Center.
No employer should knowingly venture down this road.

The OFLC Audit Plan also lists some inactive tiers which are currently suspended and therefore are not triggers for audits or supervised recruitment. These include:
TIER THREE: H-1B Dependent Employers.
Hopefully this remains where it belongs as a non-trigger.
TIER SIX: Requiring a degree and indicating that the alien’s Class of Admission as H-2A, H-2B or EWI (Entered Without Inspection).

TIER NINE: Employers who recently issued layoffs.
The DOL has apparently moved away from auditing every PERM indicating a layoff to now auditing only 50% of PERMs which indicate a layoff.
TIER TEN: Employer with a history of roving.
Practitioners who routinely file PERMs involving roving employees have definitely noticed that the DOL has calmed down its onslaught of audits and Supervised Recruitment Notifications on these types of PERMs. And it didn’t come a moment too soon.

This OFLC Audit Plan can be extremely helpful. Rather than waiting until the employer or foreign national demands an explanation as to why a PERM was selected for audit or Supervised Recruitment, the above list of active and inactive tiers allows practitioners to better advise employers thereby making the PERM process a tad less fraught with danger. Just a tad though.
0 Comments

Program Electronic Review Management

2/10/2014

0 Comments

 
by Meredith W. Barnette, Parter of ABIL Lawyer, Steve Garfinkel
Garfinkel Immigration Law Firm

The first step of the U.S. employment-based permanent residence process for many foreign nationals is generally the labor certification process. In 2005, in an effort to streamline the process and provide faster adjudication, the Department of Labor (DOL) established an online, attestation based process for submitting labor certification applications, commonly known as PERM. Instead of having the intended effect, the PERM process has become infamous for being complicated, challenging, and lengthy.

The most recent challenge presented by the Department of Labor (DOL) in adjudicating PERM applications is the resume review process conducted during the labor market test by the sponsoring U.S. employer. Recent decisions by both the DOL and the Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals (BALCA) have placed a more onerous burden on the employer in reviewing resumes of applicants for the permanent position. A BALCA decision from November 2013 upheld the Certifying Officer’s denial of a PERM application on the basis that the Employer improperly rejected three U.S. workers for reasons that were not job-related.¹  The Employer acknowledged that the three pertinent resumes indicated significant experience in general carpentry and/or construction, but argued that the type of experience listed on each resume did not qualify any of the applicants for the offered position, since none of the resumes listed the specific experience the Employer required in hardwood floor installation.

The Certifying Officer noted that lacking a skill that may be acquired during a reasonable amount of on-the-job training is not a lawful basis for rejecting an otherwise qualified U.S. worker. BALCA upheld the denial, citing a regulation that states how a Certifying Officer determines whether to grant or deny certification of the application, namely that a U.S. worker is considered able and qualified for the position if the worker can acquire the skills necessary to perform the job duties involved during a reasonable period of on-the-job training.²  BALCA went on to state that when a U.S. applicant’s resume raises the reasonable prospect that the applicant meets an employer’s requirements, the employer has a duty to make a further inquiry into whether the applicant actually meets all of the requirements.

This decision puts the burden on employers to contact any U.S. worker applicant who could possibly meet the minimum requirements. The employer must then document when each applicant was contacted; by what means (traceable letter, email, telephone call, etc.) each applicant was contacted; that each applicant actually received any correspondence; and why each applicant would not be able to perform the job duties with a reasonable period of on-the-job training. The term “reasonable” is not defined by DOL and it is left to the employer to convincingly argue that it is unreasonable for applicants with some of the required experience to perform the job duties with on-the-job training.

The decision also states that an employer’s mere statement alone asserting that the requirements are the actual minimum requirements needed to perform the job duties, is insufficient to meet the employer’s burden to establish eligibility for labor certification. This decision reinforces the DOL’s requirement of evidencing business necessity to support the minimum requirements. In the past, business necessity was only documented where the requirements were considered excessive, the job required a foreign language, or the job was a combination of occupations. However, with this decision, employers should be prepared to provide detailed and persuasive evidence, in existence at the time of filing the PERM application, to support the minimum requirements for the position where there are applicants who appear to possess some of the required experience. The business necessity argument is then needed to explain why an individual who does not meet all of the requirements cannot perform the job duties within a reasonable period of on-the-job training.

Interestingly, the BALCA decision in this case noted that “PERM is an exacting process, designed to eliminate back-and-forth between applicants and the government, and to favor administrative efficiency over dialogue in order to better serve the public interest overall, given the resources available to administer the program.”³ PERM is an exacting process, but administrative efficiency is not a reality given the government’s current processing time of 8 months for regular processing, and approximately 15 months for audited cases.

For more information on the PERM process please see our website at (http://garfinkelimmigration.com/about-us-visas/labor-certification-perm/ ¹ In the Matter of Twins, Inc. d/b/a Twins Hardwood Floors, BALCA Case No. 2012-PER-00392 (Nov. 1, 2013)
² 20 CFR § 656.24(b)(2)(i)
³ In the Matter of Twins, Inc. d/b/a Twins Hardwood Floors, BALCA Case No. 2012-PER-00392 (Nov. 1, 2013)

0 Comments

EB-5 Immigration Lawyers Wear Too Many Hats

2/10/2014

0 Comments

 
by Angelo Paparelli, Past ABIL President
Nation of Immigrators
Picture
The EB-5 employment-creation immigrant investor visa category continues to transcend its chutes-and-ladders early history.  This 24-year-old program -- like many young adults of the same era -- seems at last to be maturing in healthy ways.  Foreign investors have become more savvy.  Regulators are more attuned to the need for greater investor protection, as well as clear, consistently enforced rules and predictable adjudicative outcomes (including swift justice for law violators).  Seasoned dealmakers and developers, accustomed to raising substantial project capital from private equity markets, are now entering the field and bringing with them a set of industry practices that include robust law compliance as an inherent element of the fundraising business model. Yet one practice lingers.  Immigration lawyers continue to wear too many hats.  The Bible and law school teach that serving two (or more) masters is a recipe for trouble.  So why then do so many reputable immigration lawyers think they can simultaneously represent the investor, the regional center and the project developers all in the same EB-5 transaction (while possibly also receiving finder’s or consulting fees on the side for procuring investors)?

The answers are only partly governmental.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the State Department perpetuate the practice by allowing only one lawyer to submit a Form G-28 (notice of entry of appearance of attorney) in any given EB-5 benefits request, whether that be the request for approval of a regional center (Form I-924), the request for amendment of a regional center designation (Form I-924A), the EB-5 investor’s petition seeking classification as a conditional permanent resident (Form I-526), the application to register permanent residence or adjust status to conditional permanent resident (Form I-485), the immigrant visa application (Form DS-230), or the investor’s petition to remove conditions on residence (Form I-829). 

This governmental practice is unhealthy and unnatural.  Most federal agencies outside of the immigration world recognize that parties with distinct legal interests to protect deserve to be heard and represented by the respective legal counsel of their choice.  The Securities and Exchange Commission, for example, would never mandate or likely countenance that an investor’s counsel represent the interests of an issuer of securities, or vice-versa. Indeed, the adversarial system of justice is founded on the principle that the truth will out and justice will best prevail when conflicts of interest are minimized and each party to a controversy exercises the right to present evidence and legal argument in support of a particular position asserted before a neutral fact-finder/judge determining the truth and applying the law.   Not so, the immigration bureaucracy.  As I’ve blogged before, the government needs to stop forcing members of the bar and the several “publics” they serve to rely on only one lawyer to carry the legal water in a single immigration case where several distinct interests hang in the balance.

But archaic immigration rules don’t really explain why EB-5 lawyers practicing immigration law too often tend to represent multiple parties. Immigration attorneys can readily serve distinct parties in an EB-5 case quite well by developing lawful work-arounds through multi-counsel collaboration agreements. Thus, the immigration attorney representing the project or the regional center, with client consent, can provide to investor’s counsel submitting the Form I-526 or Form I-829 all of the deal- or project-related documents and data needed to establish eligibility for the particular immigration benefit sought.  Moreover, investor’s counsel, likewise with client consent, can and usually does undertake to provide the immigration lawyer representing the project or the regional center with timely notice and copies of all petition filings and any USCIS request for additional evidence, notice of intention to revoke petition approval or final decisions in a particular EB-5 investor’s petition.   Similarly, immigration deal counsel or regional center counsel can and should provide the immigrant investor’s counsel with any USCIS actions or correspondence involving regional-center designation or amendment.

So why then do immigration counsel wear so many EB-5 hats?  Is it some misguided paternalism (the desire to make sure all parts of the process are controlled by a single, control-freak lawyer/strategist)?  Is it a belief that the EB-5 project and its attendant investors are best served by the perceived efficiency and cost efficacy of using only one immigration lawyer or firm?  Or is it merely bottomed on a rapacious desire to squeeze out the largest dollar value of legal fees from each and every EB-5 deal?

I disclaim any clairvoyant ability to read the hearts and minds of my colleagues and thereby discern their underlying motivation for embracing joint client representation.  Instead, my purpose in posting is merely to suggest that multi-party immigration representation in EB-5 cases is foolhardy and dangerous.

If a deal fails, if EB-5 benefits are not achieved, or if one or more EB-5 investors fail(s) to receive green cards because too few jobs are created, then -- as sure as the night follows the day  -- disappointed and disgruntled parties will engage successor counsel to point the finger of blame at whomsoever has pockets that seem deep enough to pay amends and thereby effectuate some form of retributive economic justice. (For more on this topic, check out an article co-authored by securities lawyers, Gregory L. White and Mark Katzoff, and me, "Hot Topics in EB-5 Financings," published in Forming and Operating an EB-5 Regional Center: A Guide for Developers and Business Innovators (ILW, 2014; Eds., L. Batya Schwartz Ehrens and Angelo A. Paparelli). Even if the multiple-fingers-in-multiple-pies immigration lawyer somehow prevails after all the finger-pointing exercises have been resolved, the process of deposition, discovery, settlement or trial will be enervating.

So, my esteemed and beloved colleagues, it is folly to think that your artfully crafted disclosures and mutual consents to joint representation will withstand close scrutiny and protect you.  

Instead, just say no! Don’t ever agree to represent more than a single party (or perhaps at most a class of similarly situated investors) in any multi-party EB-5 transaction, whether it be a pooled investment involving direct job creation, or a syndicated investment made through a regional center.  In my own case, the need for blissful sleep (and retention of my bar license) compel me to choose sides.  I shall only represent the project or the regional center in any syndicated investment (prospective client referrals without referral fees paid are gladly accepted) and I’ll look to my many talented sisters and brothers at the bar to represent the interests of the investor(s). 

We can do this together while practicing separately -- that is, by each of us undertaking to represent only one party in any pooled EB-5 investment.
0 Comments

Immigration Voices: "What the 'L' is Going on with USCIS?"

2/4/2014

0 Comments

 
by Angelo Paparelli, ABIL Past President
Nation of Immigrators
Picture
[Bloggers Note:  Today's guest column comes from noted Atlanta-based business immigration lawyer, Eileen M.G. Scofield, who addresses a subject covered often before on NationOfImmigrators, the business-critical L-1 Intracompany Transferee visa category. (See, e.g., "The L-1 Intracompany Transferee Visa Facing Attack -- from All Branches of the Federal Government, Part I and Part II.  Eileen and I, together with Miami immigration attorney, Jeffrey A. Bernstein, will speak later this week on "Surviving the 'L' Landscape" at the 35th Annual Immigration Law Update South Beach, hosted by the South Florida Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Although her article is written for an  immigration-attorney audience, it offers a useful background and fresh insights and practice pointers helpful to all readers. Note the image to the right is not Eileen Scofield; rather it depicts a frustrated individual whose level of obvious stress and angst mirrors that of the L-1 stakeholder community.]
What the “L” is Going on with USCIS?
By Eileen M.G. Scofield
Introduction L-1 filings were once familiar territory.  The statute and regulations provided a useful roadmap, and practitioners were soon comfortable navigating it with ease and efficiency.

As more experienced L-1 visa practitioners know, changes in the L-1 process in recent years necessitate changes in the way we approach the L-1 process.  Whereas the familiar guide provided by statutory, regulatory and judicial law was once sufficient; recent regulatory and policy changes have laid landmines, dug potholes, and strewn debris across the road, causing even the most experienced traveler to require a careful trek.  In order to survive the journey on this once-familiar landscape, now we m we must also pay attention to issues related to national security, fraud, politics, economics, various administrative directives, internal agency guidance into the L-1 diet in order to survive.

In light of these many issues, all practitioners need to revisit how they draft L-1 petitions, and as well, what they seek from the petitioner and beneficiary in the course of advising on L-1 petitions. And while the filing location and/or the A or B classification was often not in need of extensive analysis, in today’s environment, it is. Recent procedural changes at USCIS make the Request for Additional Evidence (“RFE”) more of an exception than a rule.  And once filed and approved, what later issues should be anticipated. While this discussion will focus overall on Service Center Based Filings, the overall guidance might add value to other filings as well.

By way of reference, this discussion focuses on changes in USCIS policy as they apply to L-1B petitions.  However, the same principals also affect L-1A filings as well.  The practice pointers in particular can easily be reworked to apply to L-1A specific concepts.

Upheavals in the L-1 Landscape: Changes Abound, Denials Increase, “New” Rules Appear – What Happened to L?   

On October 9, 2012, USCIS and AILA discussed a number of issues including the adjudication of L-1B visa petitions.[1]  There were two questions and answers on the agenda regarding adjudications of L-1B nonimmigrant visa petitions. One dealt with L-1B specialized knowledge in general, and the other focused on the significant impact on “new office” situations. Here is the question that was raised:

Question 6f: Statistics released by USCIS and a recent study by the National Foundation for American Policy[2] have shown that the rates of requests for evidence and denials for petitions in the L-1B classification have increased dramatically and that the standard for what qualifies under the L-1B classification has been severely limited (AILA Doc. Nos. 12082954 & 12020964). This has been a particular burden on new and emerging companies in the U.S. The increase in requests for evidence and denials has happened even as practitioners have been overly cautious in recommending the l-1B classification to their clients. On January 24, 2012, AILA submitted a memorandum to USCIS on the current interpretation of “specialized knowledge” (AILA Doc. No. 12012560). Please update us on USCIS’ review of the memorandum and on the long-promised L-1B memorandum. (Policy)

Response: USCIS continues to review the issues related to the interpretation of “specialized knowledge,” and is considering AILA’s memorandum of January 24, 2012 as part of this review.[3]

The February 2012 NFAP Policy Brief cited by AILA provided an analysis of data that revealed high denial rates for L-1 and H-1B petitions at the USCIS. NFAP surmised that the increased rate of denials has resulted in harming the competitiveness of US employers and has discouraged companies from bringing new business and jobs into the United States.[4] According to NFAP’s executive summary:

[t]he evidence indicates adjudicators or others at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services changed the standard for approving L-1B and other petitions in recent years, beginning in FY2008 and FY 2009. If one considers that in FY 2011 63 percent of all L-1B petitions received a Request for Evidence and 27 percent were issued a denial, that means U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services adjudicators denied or delayed between 63 percent to 90 percent of all L-1B petitions in 2011.”[5]

This change in adjudication came about without any change in law or regulations before or during this same period. It is unclear, therefore, why such a significant change in adjudicatory procedures has changed. Practitioners can only conclude the changes result from unannounced internal agency changes, which is the conclusion reached by NFAP. Further, the data analyzed by NFAP indicates that the stark increase in denials and delays is even greater for visa petition beneficiaries from India.[6] One of the results of this adjudicatory trend is a significant decrease in the number of L-1 visa petition filings with the USCIS Service Centers.[7]

A review of recent RFEs and denials issued by the USCIS shows that the current theme in L-1 adjudications follows the following principles:
1.  Qualifying experience
One year of experience with the foreign company within three years of transfer to the United States is no longer sufficient, despite statutory and regulatory language indicating otherwise.[8] For one company, three denials with the following similar language were issued: “In this case, the beneficiary has only been working with your organization since July 2010 and the petition was filed on August 2012.” In the fourth case, where the individual had been employed for four years, this sentence was not included.
2.  What is “special knowledge”?
Under the INA, “an alien is considered to be serving in a capacity involving specialized knowledge with respect to a company if the alien has a special knowledge of the company product and its application in international markets or has an advanced level of knowledge of processes and procedures of the company.[9] The regulations further define the term as “special knowledge possessed by an individual of the petitioning organization’s product, service, research, equipment, techniques, management or other interests and its application in international markets, or an advanced level of knowledge or expertise in the organization’s processes and procedures.[10]

            These same denials included the following paragraph:

While there is no requirement that an L-1B specialized knowledge employee possess proprietary knowledge of your company’s processes and methodologies, you state in your petition that the beneficiary here is familiar with them. There is no indication in the record however whether others in the field could obtain such knowledge in sufficient time so as not to cause a disruption or interruption of your business operations. If such company-specific knowledge is easily transferable to, or obtainable by, other dynamic decision making turnkey solutions professionals in the field without causing disruption to your business, this is a strong indicator that the knowledge in question is not special or advanced.  By contrast, had a beneficiary been responsible for the development of your proprietary tools, processes, and methodologies, not being able to obtain that person’s services might in fact result in a significant disruption to your business.

This interpretation is that only if the individual was directly responsible for the development of the proprietary tools, processes, and methodologies would that person be possibly qualified for an intracompany transfer. This removes from consideration key employees who were perhaps not involved in the design and development but have significant experience in applying the principles and techniques as part of a service organization and who are in the better position than the actual designer to deploy the product and/or service. Nowhere in the statute nor in the regulations does it at all indicate that entire classifications of employees are forestalled from being considered for L-1B transfers. It is also noteworthy that in issuing the denials, the USCIS examiner also took pains to note that -- because the proposed positions fall within one of the occupations listed in the Department of Labor’s Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) -- there was insufficient evidence to determine whether the position of Senior Quality Assurance Engineer involved “a special or advanced level of knowledge in the dynamic decision making turnkey solutions field or related occupation.”
3.  Managerial Capacity
In the L-1A field, recent RFE experience shows that USCIS is focusing heavily on organizational substructures.  No longer do examiners simply accept the company’s detailed description of duties.  Rather USCIS now uses a variety of means to investigate the job qualifications of both the beneficiary and his subordinates.  Examiners have been seen scoping job postings at related companies in the corporate family to determine similar requirements for positions.  Special attention has been placed on the educational qualifications for subordinate positions, with supervisory and managerial duties themselves being disregarded.

PRACTICE POINTER: Dealing within the current legislative framework?
  1. Advise petitioners that one year of qualifying employment with the foreign entity may be insufficient.
  2. If the individual beneficiary was not the key developer of a particular proprietary technology, methodology, or business program, then USCIS may find that the individual does not have specialized knowledge. (And further, even a demonstration that the beneficiary did play such a lead role will not guarantee approval of an L-1 visa petition.)
  3. Describe the individual’s experience with the organization in such a way as to outline why his or her experience is different not only from those in the U.S. labor market, but also from other employees within the sponsoring organization. USCIS often cites to Webster’s New College Dictionary to define “special.” Practitioners are on notice to do the same.  This same principal applies to other terms as well.
  4. Explain why the experience could only have been gained through employment within the organization. Focus on the petitioner’s products and methodologies and their applications. Give special care if the individual is using other company’s products and technologies to explain how the use, methods, procedures, etc. tie into the sponsoring petitioner’s business. This is also true if the employee will be deploying a product to an end-client Focus on the petitioner’s business, not the client’s business.
  5. Work with the petitioner to specify the nature of the claimed special knowledge. Focus on why it is necessary to have this special knowledge to perform the duties of the U.S. position, and outline how the special knowledge was gained.
  6. If the position can be classified as a standard occupation that may be listed by the DOL in its Occupational Outlook Handbook, then explain why the sponsored position is not simply identical to the standard occupational role. Differentiate the sponsored position from the standard job description, so that USCIS understands that others in the occupation would not have the same level of knowledge and expertise as the beneficiary.
  7. How is the work currently being handled without this individual? If this is a new role or need, explain why. If the L-1B nonimmigrant’s transfer to the United States will result in more job opportunities in the United States, make this explicit in the support letter.
  8. Salary matters. If the employee is key to the organization, he or she should be compensated as such. Despite the fact that there is no per se wage requirement, be wary of low wage offers being sponsored for L-1B visa status.
  9. What is the financial implication of the transfer? What happens if the individual is not granted the L-1B? What happens to the business?
  10. Given the current L-1B adjudication trends, consider filing an H-1B visa petition or any other category that maybe available.
  11. If filing an L-1A petition, pay careful attention to the organizational chart.  USCIS puts special focus on these charts and expects to see each subordinate carefully detailed.  The more detail the chart can show regarding the duties and qualifications of subordinates, the easier the RFE response will be.
  12. Be careful to include evidence that subordinates have bachelors degrees and that these are required to perform the duties.  USCIS tends to define “professional” as meaning “in possession of a bachelors degree” and tends to ignore supervisory or managerial duties of subordinates.   Be clear in the petition exactly what type of role each subordinate is filling, and if that is not a so-called “professional” position, make it clear that the person is a supervisor or manager and thus “professional” status is not required.
  13. Review the job duties of each subordinate employee and flag job postings within the company and other members of the corporate family that have similar positions.  Ensure that the qualifications for these positions qualify under the USCIS definition of “professional” or consider restricting access to these postings until after the filing.

Practice Pointers: Draft your own map

One major issue with L-1 filings is a lack of clarity as to what USCIS is looking for.  If allowed to set the parameters of their review, USCIS inevitably comes up with undefined standards and uses them as an excuse to deny valid petitions.  The problem is that the L-1 landscape they have created has no formal roadmap.  Often, the best solution is to provide them with a map to follow.  As with the above, the following is an example regarding specialized knowledge, but the same principles of immigration cartography can also apply to a variety of standards the government seems to want to view as nebulous.

It often seems as if the USCIS position on what qualifies as specialized knowledge boils down to the “I know it when I see it” standard.  If you combine this with not bothering to read what is submitted in a petition, then the adjudicator never has to “see it” at all.  

Present USCIS practice is simply to redefine the rules by making “specialized knowledge” something indefinable, or unattainable, then it can sometimes help to remind the adjudicator of what the real rules are.  The following is an example of how you may be able to do this.  It may not avoid the RFE, and it may not even help to win on the RFE, but then again it might.  And it also helps to lay a foundation for appeal or litigation if your client is so inclined.  So with that, we suggest that you may want to include some or all of the following in your petition or RFE response.
Specialized Knowledge
It appears from the request for additional evidence (RFE) that, notwithstanding the detailed explanation of the beneficiary’s qualifying experience and proposed duties that we provided with the petition, your office needs additional evidence showing that the beneficiary possesses specialized knowledge and that her proposed duties require specialized knowledge.   We trust that the following will satisfy that request, and that it will establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the beneficiary qualifies for L-1B classification.

The starting point for the definition of “specialized knowledge” is the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) and the regulations governing the statutory language.  Under section 101(a)(15)(L) of the INA, in order to qualify for L-1B status, a foreign national’s position must “involve specialized knowledge.”  The regulations at 8 CFR Section 214.2(l)(ii)(D), explain:

“Specialized knowledge means special knowledge possessed by an individual of the petitioning organization’s product, service, research, equipment, techniques, management or other interests and its application in international markets, or an advanced level of knowledge or expertise in the organization’s processes and procedures.” (emphasis added).

This explanation was further defined in a March 9, 1994 Guidance Memorandum from James A. Puleo, Acting Executive Associate Commissioner.  This guidance was re-affirmed in a December 20, 2002 memorandum from Fujie Ohata, Associate Commissioner for Service Center Operations. In his memo, Mr. Puleo stated in part (emphasis added):
The current definition of specialized knowledge contains two separate criteria.

***

The statute states that the alien has specialized knowledge if he/she has special knowledge of the company product and its application in international markets, or has an advanced level of knowledge of the processes and procedures of the company.

***

Webster’s II New Riverside University Dictionary defines the term “special” as “surpassing the usual; distinct among others of a kind.” Also Webster’s Third New International Dictionary defines the term “special” as “distinguished by some unusual quality; uncommon; noteworthy.”

Based on the above definition, an alien would possess specialized knowledge if it was shown that the knowledge is different from that generally found in the particular industry.  The knowledge need not be proprietary or unique, but it must be different or uncommon.

Further, Webster’s II New Riverside University Dictionary defines the term “advanced” as highly developed or complex; at a higher level than others.  Also, Webster’s Third New International Dictionary defines the term “advanced” as “beyond the elementary or introductory; greatly developed beyond the initial stage.”

Again, based on the above definition, the alien’s knowledge need not be proprietary or unique, merely advanced.  Further, the statute does not require that the advanced knowledge be narrowly held throughout the company, only that the knowledge be advanced.

* * *

There is no requirement in current legislation that the alien’s knowledge be unique, proprietary, or not commonly found in the United States labor market.
Mr. Puleo’s memorandum goes on to set forth some of the characteristics of a specialized knowledge employee, but specifically states that these are not “all inclusive.”  They include:
  • Possesses knowledge that is valuable to the employer’s competitiveness in the marketplace;
  • Is qualified to contribute to the U.S. employer’s knowledge of foreign operating conditions;
  • Has been utilized abroad in a capacity involving significant assignments which have enhanced the employer’s productivity, competitiveness, image or financial position;
  • Possesses knowledge which normally can be gained only through prior experience with the employer;
  • Possesses knowledge of a product or process which cannot be easily transferred or taught to another individual.

We note as well that the controlling regulations and the subsequent interpretation and application of those regulations as referenced above follow passage of the Immigration Act of 1990 (IMMACT), which was enacted in part to overturn a handful of conflicting agency decisions that occurred prior to passage of IMMACT.   Those decisions, some of which were designated as precedent decisions at the time, are now largely irrelevant in light of the passage of IMMACT.  Of particular significance to the pending petition, IMMACT Section 206(a) added the following language to 8 U.S.C. §1184(c): 

 "(B) For purposes of section 101(a)(15)(L), an alien is considered to be serving in a capacity involving specialized knowledge with respect to a company if the alien has a special knowledge of the company product and its application in international markets or has an advanced level of knowledge of processes and procedures of the company. (emphasis added.)

The regulations at 8 CFR §214.2(l)(ii)(D), that were enacted following passage of IMMACT remain in force today, and clarify that:
Specialized knowledge means special knowledge possessed by an individual of the petitioning organization’s product, service, research, equipment, techniques, management or other interests and its application in international markets, or an advanced level of knowledge or expertise in the organization’s processes and procedures. (emphasis added).
Accordingly, the statute, the regulation, and the agency guidance referred to above make clear that there is no requirement that the knowledge be both special and advanced. 
Similarly, there is no requirement that the knowledge be special within the petitioner’s organization. In short, the controlling authority establishes that “specialized knowledge” is (1) special knowledge of the company’s product, service, research, equipment, techniques, management or other interests and their application in international markets; (2) that is different from that generally found in the particular industry, where (3) the employee possesses characteristics that are the same as or substantially similar to those identified in Mr. Puleo’s March 9, 1994 memorandum.

Based on the foregoing, we respectfully maintain that the record amply reflects the beneficiary’s specialized knowledge. 

Practice Pointer: Fault Lines and Fault-Finding

In the real world, many geographical features are set by fault lines.  They create mountains, valleys, and many other otherwise incontrovertible features.  In L-1 geography, however, sometimes USCIS will point to a feature and attempt to give it another name.  The way to deal with this is to point at their “faulty faults” and establish the true rules with argument and evidence.  In much the same way a stubborn child would do, you should consider looking at the USCIS’s determinations and statements and say “Oh yeah?  Says Who?”

Again, this example focuses on specialized knowledge, but the same principles apply to other areas as well.

USCIS sometimes avoids having to give any reasonable or rational explanation for a failure to find specialized knowledge is by rejecting your client’s statements as unreliable because they are unsubstantiated and self-serving.  As often as not, USCIS will cite Matter of Treasure Craft of California, 14 I. & N. Dec 190 (Reg. Comm. 1972), as authority for rejecting your client’s statements in support of the agency’s own self-serving outcome-oriented analysis.  Again, it may not ensure that you prevail on the RFE, but it still could prove worthwhile to point out what Treasure Craft really says, and then to argue that the petitioner’s statements satisfy the preponderance of the evidence standard:

In Matter of Treasure Craft of California, 14 I. & N. Dec 190 (Reg. Comm. 1972), the Commissioner essentially set forth three propositions in connection with considering otherwise unsubstantiated information provided by a petitioner or applicant.  Those propositions are:
  • It is proper to consider all of the facts in a visa petition proceeding in arriving at a conclusion regarding the issues;
  • The petitioner’s statement must be given due consideration; and,
  • The petitioner’s statement should be rejected only when it is contradicted by other evidence in the record of the matter under consideration.

Treasure Craft involved an H-3 trainee petition on behalf of four Mexican nationals, all of whom were already working without documentation for the petitioner.  The petitioner sought to qualify the beneficiaries as trainees in a program that would train them in various aspects of the pottery making industry, and the District Director denied the petition. The Regional Commissioner, in dismissing the petitioner’s appeal, wrote “Counsel’s argument that the petitioner need only go on record as stating that training [in making ceramic pottery] is not available outside the United States is rejected in this matter.  It is commonly known, and administrative notice is taken of the fact, that Mexico exports pottery to the United States in successful competition with United States manufacturers. ” id. at page 3 (emphasis added).  In taking administrative notice of Mexico’s healthy pottery industry, the Regional Commissioner cited evidence that called into question the petitioner’s statements, and accordingly rejected the petitioner’s unsupported, and largely unbelievable, contention that no adequate opportunities for training in ceramics fabrication existed for the beneficiaries in Mexico.  The opinion goes on to hold that,

[I]t is proper to consider all of the facts in a visa petition proceeding of this nature in arriving at a conclusion regarding the issues.  The petitioner’s statement must be given due consideration; however, this Service is not precluded from rejecting such statement when it is contradicted by other evidence in the record of the matter under consideration.

id. at page 4.  (emphasis added).  Accordingly, in the absence of evidence in the record that contradicts the petitioner’s statements, the petitioner’s assertions with respect to the specialized knowledge possessed by the beneficiary must be given “due consideration,” and should not be dismissed or discounted.  When the petitioner’s statements are accorded the evidentiary value they deserve, it becomes abundantly clear that the petitioner has established by a preponderance of the evidence that the beneficiary possesses specialized knowledge.

Landmines for the Unweary Traveler: Vulnerabilities and Potential Abuses of the L-1 Visa Program, But by Whom?

The regulatory and legislative history surrounding the L-1 visa make it clear that the purpose of the L-1 visa category is to enable employers/companies to transfer key personnel into the United States, but recent trends have reduced the ability of the employer to persuade USCIS that an employee is key. Employers are greatly enhancing the documentation provided and struggling to meet seemingly new requirements that have sprung up despite no changes in the law or regulations. Matter of Treasure Craft of California, discussed above, like certain nasty vegetables, must be known, and addressed in L-1 petitions. While terribly unfortunate that it is used as a tool to undercut the credibility of a petitioner and as well as to support the agency’s own self-serving outcome, if not aware, the surprise can be disastrous for many.

So query, what is the source of all this negativity? At a time when the research and headlines are all in support of the L-1 visa classification, and its many benefits to the U.S., it would seem the reverse course would be taken:
  • Startup Visa Could Create at Least 1.6 Million U.S. Jobs in Next 10 Years, According to Kauffman Foundation Report, February 27, 2013,Rose Levy and Barbara Pruitt, Media Contacts for Foundation;
  • Not Coming to America, Why the U.S. is Falling Behind in the Global Race for Talent, May 2012,By:  Partnership for a New American Economy
  • Q&A:  U.S. Immigration Policy and Entrepreneurship, February 28, 2013,by Rob Matheson

Today at DHS, and its many tentacles, immigration benefits are now a lower priority, preceded first by national security and fraud detection. As disclosed on February 15, 2012 by Alejandro N. Mayorkas, Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services before two House committees, anti-fraud and fraud detection are such a priority that he outlined 16 programs undertaken by USCIS related to fraud and security. In addition, in 2005, the DHS Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) sought to find and identify fraud and those factors which led to fraud in the realm of the L-1 visa category. Accordingly, OIG met with DHS program managers in Washington, DC, adjudicators and supervisors at the four service centers, consular staff at 20 of the largest L-visa issuing posts, and also employees at the Kentucky Consular Center's Fraud Prevention Office. OIG did not apparently meet with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, US Department of Commerce, Small Business Administration, any of the 50 plus state level business development agencies, any L-1 visa holders, or trade associations or L-1 petitioners for that matter.  In 2006 The OIG published its report wherein it determined that the L-1 program is vulnerable to abuse and fraud   for a variety of reasons, but most immediately, because:

  1. "The program allows for the transfer of managers and executives”,[11] but in 2006, after decades of use of the L-1 for manager and executives, “adjudicators find it difficult to be confident that a firm truly intends using an imported worker in such a capacity”[12];
  2. “The program allows for the transfer of workers with “specialized knowledge””[13], but in spite of the decades of use and guidance, “the term specialized knowledge is so broadly defined that adjudicators believe they have little choice but to approve almost all petitions;”[14]
  3. “The transfer of L-1 workers requires that the petitioning firm is doing business abroad”, but, in spite of the world wide web and the expediential growth in global access to data,, adjudicators now “have little ability to evaluate the substantiality of the foreign operation”[15]
  4. The program allows for start-up operations that do not yet have operations in the U.S.,[16] and even though that was the specific intent of the law, now adjudicators do not know how to process that part of the law;
  5. The program “permits petitioners to transfer themselves,”[17] and again, even though this ability, in certain circumstances, to transfer oneself to the U.S., is covered under the regulations to the adjudicators, this cannot be right.

Interesting as well, the OIG report highlights that these last two points in particular represent the "windows of opportunity" for the L-1 abuse that is occurring.[18] Also of note, the report refers always to “the program” and not to “the law”.

This L-1 based OIG report webs nicely with the recent USCIS memo wherein USCIS outlines the its definition of “fraud indicators”, petitioner with a gross annual income of less than $10 million, 25 or less employees, established within last 10 years. October 31, 2008 Internal Guidance Memo from Donald Neufeld, Acting Associate Director, Domestic Operations.  HQ 70-35.2, reprinted at AILA InfoNet Doc. No. 12052252, 5/22/12. Then too, there has been discussion that the Fraud Detection and National Security of DHS will soon investigate the use of L-1’s, and expand its investigations of the same to include site visits similar to the FDNS program for H-1B petitions which has yielded few instances of fraud.[19]

As a result of these recent trends, USCIS has added the noted additional L-1 requirements, and has also dramatically increased the use of the RFE as a tool to vet out all that “fraud” in the L-1 visa classification. As previously noted this activity has been confirmed in the National foundation for American Policy and addressed in other sources as well.[20]

A typical example of this phenomena was noted when a 45 year old company, with offices in 16 countries (manufactures, sells and services its products globally), decided that its U.S. sales required the establishment of a U.S. sales and service office. This practice has been recognized by business and immigration officials for decades.  The company elected to transfer a 60 year old Canadian national, one of its most seasoned executives, to the new U.S. subsidiary as President. The initial L-1A visa petition was finally approved for one year, but only after a 6 page RFE was issued. After the new office one year was completed, and three U.S. employees, the L-1A visa petition extension was denied, again after a juicy RFE.  USCIS concluded that because the President was also a degreed engineer, the evidence did not support a finding that the President of the company was really an executive and/or a manager.. When the company changed tactics and filed an L-1B visa petition, USCIS, then issued the next RFE seeking the following data:
1)  Describe a typical work week for the beneficiary, to include a discussion of the specialized nature of his position.

2)  Identify the manner in which the beneficiary has gained his specialized knowledge.

3)  Provide evidence showing either:

(a)  The beneficiary’s knowledge is uncommon, noteworthy, or distinguished by some unusual quality and not generally known by practitioners in the beneficiary’s field of endeavor; or

(b)  His advanced level knowledge of the processes and procedures of the company distinguish him from those with only elementary or basic knowledge.
4)  Provide evidence to show that the knowledge possessed by the beneficiary is not general knowledge held commonly throughout the industry but that it is truly special or advanced.

5)  Indicate the minimum amount of time required to train an employee to fill the proffered position.

6)  Specify how many workers are similarly employed by your organization.

7)  Of these employees, indicate how many have received training comparable to the training administered to the beneficiary.

8)  “The purpose of the L-1B provision is to facilitate the admission of key personnel for those companies who require an employee with advanced knowledge to perform duties in the United States.  Most individuals working for a company may be considered ‘specialists’ to some degree, since they have a certain amount of training specific to their employment.  It cannot be concluded, however, that all employees who hold special knowledge qualify as ‘specialized knowledge’ workers.” Provide evidence of the advanced training and advanced knowledge.

As the law states, Section 101(a)(15)(L) provides for the admission of “an alien who, within 3 years preceding the time of his application for admission into the United States, has been employed continuously for one year by a firm or corporation or other legal entity or an affiliate or subsidiary thereof and who seeks to enter the United States temporarily in order to continue to render his services to the same employer or a subsidiary or affiliate thereof in a capacity that is managerial, executive, or involves specialized knowledge.”[21]
The relevant regulations define “specialized knowledge” as “special knowledge possessed by an individual of the petitioning organization's product, service, research, equipment, techniques, management, or other interests and its application in international markets, or an advanced level of knowledge or expertise in the organization's processes and procedures.”[22]

Per USCIS, one with specialized knowledge is not a specialized knowledge worker. Specialized knowledge is not enough because ADVANCED specialized knowledge is required. In addition, employers must address whether another person could instead be employed in the same capacity. Nothing in the L-1 statute or the regulations lends itself to these requirements. The established law requires merely that the Beneficiary has specialized knowledge, and will be employed in a capacity that involves this specialized knowledge. It would seem that the reason the OIG notes confusion about the definition of specialized knowledge in its report, is not due to the statute, or regulations, but instead due to some adjudicators and the RFE template language produced by USCIS.  

The manner in which Specialized Knowledge is gained now also appears to be a factor in USCIS adjudications for L-1B beneficiaries and the petitioner is advised to address this issue. Per USCIS, specialized knowledge comes from two key sources: experience and training.  Training and experience related to products, services, equipment, techniques, processes, etc. are the norm, yet, this particular RFE demonstrates a reach outside the scope of the law.  Nowhere in the definition of “specialized knowledge” are the terms “uncommon, noteworthy, or distinguished” to be found. “Specialized” as used in this context does not connote exclusivity, but rather narrows the field of “knowledge”. The definition of “specialized knowledge” does not require that the knowledge be “advanced” or “exclusive.”  The term “specialized” refers instead to the fact that the knowledge must be related to the business of the Petitioner. So, based on this RFE, a petition needs to include evidence that knowledge is not “General” knowledge but is specialized and advanced.

“Similarly trained employees” appears nowhere in the statute nor in the regulations. Nowhere in the statute or regulations is it indicated that the beneficiary of an L-1B beneficiary must be the only person with the specialized knowledge.  Rather, the regulator wisely left it to the petitioner to determine which, if any, of its employees is best able to transfer to the U.S. entity and aide in the development of the company’s business.

Practice Pointers: MINESWEEPERS, SURVEYORS, AND OTHER TOOLS TO SURVIVE THE NEW L-1 LANDSCAPE

What to do in this new environment?

First, know the context of this new era -- read the OIG report—it exposes the predisposition against a favorable adjudication of an L-1 visa petition. Read as well the fraud factor memo noted above, and be sure that these issues are addressed as best able in the petition.

Understand how Matter of Treasure Craft of California is being used, or abused.

Third, understand the preponderance of the evidence standard and prepare cases accordingly.

Fourth, and key, in an “effort” to try and standardize what was previously a quite consistent understanding of the L-1 nonimmigrant category, but now is not, USCIS has issued standard RFE formats to “facilitate” its adjudication. The adjudicators are to drop the right data in each form as per the blanks.[23] These, like papaya, are extremely helpful and practitioners should indulge in them. They are checklists, guidance and identify the boxes the adjudicators are ticking.

Fifth, look to older published RFE where sometimes one can see that certain words must apparently trigger certain concepts. For instance, pulled from some of the L-1B RFEs, the words below might be a guide to what USCIS now seeks. Naturally though, each set of words must include a fact(s) to support such.
  • not general knowledge held commonly throughout the industry but that it is truly special or advanced
  • qualified to contribute to the U.S. employer's knowledge of foreign operating conditions as result of specialized knowledge not generally found in the industry
  • utilized abroad in a capacity involving significant assignments that have enhanced the employer's productivity, competitiveness, image, or financial position
  • possesses knowledge that normally can be gained only through prior experience with that employer
  • ‪meetings/presentations to or for  board, owners, management
  • international marketing strategies
  • management secrets
  • pricing strategy
  • ‪trade secrets
  • ‪patents
  • ‪client lists
  • ‪business plans
  • technical training
  • products
  • services
  • research
  • equipment
  • techniques
  • management

Finally, remember at all times that your petition and your responses to RFEs are creating the record you will use for appeal.  By defining your standards carefully, you can set the tone of the review and force USCIS to meet you on ground you have defined.  Draft your petitions with the RFE and appeal in mind and you will be able to define the brave new world in which you and your clients will soon find themselves.
[1] USCIS-American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) Meeting (Oct. 9, 2012), published on AILA InfoNet at Doc. NO. 12101045 (posted Oct. 10, 2012).

[2] According to its website, “[t]he National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to public policy research on trade, immigration, education, and other issues of national importance. The organization seeks to expand the debate over the proper role of government on key issues of the day and to engage actively in the media and with the public to ensure its ideas are considered and implemented wherever possible.” http://www.nfap.com/about/missionstatement

[3] Id. at 7.

[4] Analysis: Data Reveal High Denial Rates for L-1 and H-1B Petitions at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, NFAP Policy Brief (Feb 2012), published on AILA InfoNet at Doc. No. 12020964 (hereafter NFAP Policy Brief) at 1.

[5] Id.

[6] Id. at 7.

[7] Id.

[8] INA § 101(a)(15)(L); 8 CFR § 214.2(l)(1)(i); 8 CFR § 214.2(l)(3).

[9] INA § 214(c)(2)(B).

[10] 8 CFR § 214.2(l)(ii)(E).

[11] Id. at 4.

[12] Id.

[13] Id.

[14] Id.

[15] Id.

[16] Id.

[17] Id.

[18]  U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General, OIG-06-22, Draft Report, Review of Vulnerabilities and Potential Abuses of the L-1 program, p. 4. This L-1 based OIG report, also includes a section wherein it repeats and summarizes statements by individuals who fear that the L-1 will displace U.S. workers, though no empirical data is included in that discussion.

[19] Id. at 18, 35

[20]  Policy recently released its report confirming the dramatic increase in L denials (NFAP Report on High Denial Rates of L-1 and H-1B Petitions at USCIS, National Foundation For American Policy, NFAP Policy Brief, February 2012, AILA Doc. No. 12020964, http://www.nfap.com/pdf/NFAP_Policy_Brief.USCIS_and_Denial_Rates_of_L-1_and_H%201B_Petitions.February2012.pdf;), and similarly  USCIS  addressed this issue as we , L-1B Performance Data by Approvals and Denials, AILA Doc. No. 12082954, http://www.aila.org/content/default.aspx?docid=41107. http://www.uscis.gov/USCIS/Resources/Reports%20and%20Studies/Immigration%20Forms%20Data/Employment-based/i-129-l-1b-performance.pdf)

[21] INA §101(a)(15)(L).

[22] 8 CFR 214.2(l)(1)(ii)(D).

[23] U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service – RFE L-1B templates, April 2010, reprinted at AILA InfoNet doc. No. 12040457, 12010572, 12010573, 12010571, and as well, AILA’s Response to USCIS as well as at doc. No. 12050247.

0 Comments
    Picture

    TO SUBSCRIBE

    Click the RSS Feed below

    RSS Feed

    ABIL

    The Alliance of Business Immigration Lawyers (ABIL) provides global reach and personal touch. We all value great legal ability and provide high standards of care and concern.

    Archives

    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011

    Categories

    All
    104(c)
    106(a)
    106(b)
    10-year Bar
    1252(a)(2)(D)
    12-Step Groups
    1967 Optional Protocol
    1 Year H-1B Extension
    2011 Immigration Awards
    2012 Elections
    2012 Immigration Awards
    2012 Immigration Year In Review
    2012 Nation Of Immigrators Awards
    2013
    2013; HB-87
    2013 In Immigration
    2014 Immigration Highlights
    2017
    204(j) Portability
    20 CFR § 656.12(b)
    20 CFR 656.17(f)
    212(a)(9)
    212(f) Of Immigration And Nationality Act
    212(i) Waiver
    212(k) Waiver
    245(i)
    274B
    287(g)
    3 And 10 Year Bars
    3 And 10 Year Bars.
    3d Printing Technology
    3 Year H-1B Extension
    458
    5 C.F.R. § 2635.402
    5th Circuit
    5 U.S.C. § 706(2)(A)
    5 U.S.C. § 706(2)(E)
    60 Day Grace Period
    79 Federal Register 79
    8 C.F.R. § 1003.10(b)
    8 USC § 1324b
    8 Usc 1621
    90 Day Misrepresentation
    9/11
    A-1 Diplomatic Visa
    AAO
    AB 103
    Ab 1159
    Ab 263
    AB 450
    ABA Model Rule 1.14
    ABA Model Rule 1.2(c)
    ABA Model Rule 1.2(d)
    ABA Model Rule 1.7(b)
    ABA Model Rule 3.3
    Abandonment
    Abolition Of 90 Day EAD Rule
    AC21
    AC 21
    Ac 21 + Status + H-1B
    Accountability
    ACLU
    Acus
    Additional Recruitment Steps
    Adjudicators
    "Adjustment Of Status"
    Adjustment Of Status
    Adjustment Of Status Portability
    Adjustment Portability
    "Administrative Appeals Office"
    Administrative Appeals Office
    Administrative Closure
    Administrative Conference Of The United States
    Administrative Fixes
    Administrative Law Judge
    Administrative Procedure Act
    Administrative Procedures Act
    Administrative Reform
    Administrative Review
    Administrative Review Board
    Admissibility
    Admissibility Review Office
    Admission
    Admissions
    Admitting To A Crime
    Adopted Decision
    Adoption
    Advance Parole
    Advertisement
    Advertisements
    Affidavit Of Support
    Affluent Foreigners
    Affordable Care Act
    Affording Congress An Opportunity To Address Family Separation
    AFL-CIO
    Agency Updates
    Aggravated Felon
    Aging Population
    AG Sessions
    Ahmed V. Gonzales
    AICTE
    Aila
    Airport Screenings
    Akayed Ullah
    Alabama Anti-Immigrant Law
    Alberto Gonzales
    ALCA
    Alejandro Mayorkas
    Alerts
    Alfredo Quinones-Hinojosa
    Alien
    Aliens
    Ali Mayorkas
    Alj
    All-India Council For Technical Education
    Ameircan Competitiveness In The 21st Century Act
    Amended H-1B Petition
    Amendment
    America
    America And Immigration
    America First
    America In Decline
    American Academy Of Religion V. Napolitano
    American Citizenship
    American Competitiveness In 21st Century Act
    American Council On International Personnel
    American Exceptionalism
    American Football
    American History
    American Immigration Lawyers Association
    American Kaleidoscope
    American Role
    Angelo A. Paparelli
    Ann Coulter
    Anonymity
    Anthony Kennedy
    Antidiscrimination
    Anti-immigrant
    Anti-immigration
    Anti-Immigration Legislation
    Anti-Immigration Movements
    Anti-Immigration Rhetoric
    Anti-Trump Protestors
    Ap
    APA
    APA Violation
    Appeals Administrative Office
    Appeasement
    Appellate Bodies
    Appellate Law
    Ap Stylebook
    Arbitrary Quotas
    Arden Leave
    Area Of Intended Employment
    Arizona
    Arizona Dream Act Coalition V. Brewer
    Arizona V. United States
    Arizona V. USA
    Aro
    Arpaio V. Obama
    Arrabally
    ART
    Artificial Reproductive Technology
    Assembly Bill 103
    Assembly Bill 263
    Assembly Bill 450
    Assisted Reproductive Technology
    Associated Press
    Asylum
    Asylum Claims
    ATLANTA
    ATLANTA IMMIGRATION LAWYER AT KUCK IMMIGRATION PARTNERS
    At Risk Investment
    Attorney Advertising
    Attorney Business Account
    Attorney Fees
    Attorney General
    Attorney General Javier Becerra
    Attorney General Jeff Sessions
    Attorney General Self-referral
    Attorney General Sessions
    Attorneys
    Attorney's Role
    Attorney Trust Account
    Attrition
    Audit
    Audits
    Auer V. Robbins
    August 18 Policy
    Australia
    Automatic Conversion Provision
    Automatic Extension EAD
    Avvo
    Avvo Legal Services
    Aziz V. Trump
    B-1
    B-1 In Lieu Of H-1B
    B-1 Visa
    B-1 Visas
    B-2
    B-2 Bridge
    Backlog
    Backlogged Countries
    Backlogs
    BAHA
    BALCA
    Bally Gaming
    Ban On Travellers
    Barack Obama
    Barring Entry To Protestors
    Bautista V. Attorney General
    Beltway Visa
    Beneficiary Pays Fees
    Benefit
    Benefits Of H-1B Visa
    Benefit The US Economy
    Best Practices
    Bilateral Investment Treaties
    Binational
    Biographies
    Biography
    Birthright Citizenship
    Blog Series
    Bloomberg
    Blueseed
    Bokhari V. Holder
    Bona Fide Marriage
    Bona Fide Termination
    Border Crossings
    Border Patrol
    Border Security
    Boston Marathon
    Boston Marathon Bombings
    Bradley
    Bradley V. Attorney General
    Brain Drain
    Brain Pickings
    Brains Act
    Brand X
    Brand X.
    Brazil
    Brazil Quality Stones Inc V. Chertoff
    Brent Renison
    Brexit
    Bridges V. Wixon
    Bridge The Gap
    British Riots
    Broader Definition Of Affiliation
    Broken Promises
    Brooklyn Law Incubator Policy Clinic
    Bseoima
    Bullying Words
    Business Necessity
    Business Visitors
    Business Visitor Visas
    Buy American Hire American
    California Attorney General Javier Becerra
    California Immigrant Worker Protection Act
    "California Immigration Law"
    California Immigration Law
    "California Immigration Laws"
    California Immigration Laws
    California’s Community Oriented Policing Services
    California Service Center
    Camo Technologies
    Canada Point Assessment
    Canadian Council For Refugees
    Cancellation Of Removal
    Candor To The Tribunal
    Candor To Tribunal
    Capitalist Ideals
    Careen Shannon
    Career Progression
    Carrp
    Case Completion Quotas
    CATA V. Solis
    Cato Institute
    Cato Institute Report
    CBP
    Ccg Metamedia
    Certification Of Questions Of State Law
    Cesar Chavez
    Chaidez V. United States
    Chaidez V. U.S.
    Chain Migration
    Chamber Of Commerce V. Whiting
    Change In Worksite
    Change Of Status
    Charles Garcia
    Charles Hossein Zenderoudi
    Charles Kuck
    Chemical Weapons
    Chennai
    Chevron
    Chevron Deference
    Child
    Children
    Child Status Protection Act
    Chile
    China
    Chinese Investors
    CHIP
    Chip Rogers
    Chobani
    Chris Crane
    Chuck Grassley
    Chuck Schumer
    Cimt
    Cir
    Cis
    Cis Ombudsman Second Annual Conference
    Citizenship
    Citizenship And Nationality
    Citizenship Application
    Citizenship Status
    Citizenship Status Discrimination
    Citizens United
    Ciudad Juarez
    Civil Disobedience
    Civil Gideon
    Civil Rights
    Civil Rights To All In New York
    Civil Surgeon
    CIWPA
    Client Site
    Client With Diminished Capacity
    Columbia
    Columbus Day
    Comment
    Common Law Definition Of Parent
    Communicable Disease
    Commuting Distance
    Companies Hosting Skilled Nonimmigrant Workers
    Compelling Circumstances EAD
    Competence
    Competitive Salary
    Comprehensive Immigratin Reform
    "comprehensive Immigration Reform"
    Comprehensive Immigration Reform
    Comprehensive Immigration Reform + Tyranny Of Priority Dates
    Computer Programmer
    Concurrent Cap Subject And Cap Exempt Employment
    Confidentiality
    Conflicts Of Interest
    Conflicts Of Law
    Congress
    Congressman Darrell Issa
    Congressman Gutierrez
    "Congress On Immigration"
    Congress On Immigration
    Conrad 30
    Conservatives; GOP
    Consolidated Appropriations Act Of 2016
    Conspiracy
    Constitutional Law
    Constitutional Requirement To Be President
    Constitution And The Presidency
    Construction Workers
    Constructive Knowledge
    Consular Absolutism
    Consular Nonreviewability
    Consular Non-reviewability Doctrine
    Consular Officer; Comprehensive Immigration Reform; Grounds Of Exclusion
    "Consular Officers"
    Consular Officers
    Consular Processing
    Consular Report Of Birth Abroad
    Consulting
    Consummation
    Continuous Residence
    Controlled Application Review And Resolution Program
    Controlled Substance
    Controlled Substances
    Corporate Counsel
    Corporations Are Not People
    Corporations Are People
    Court Ruling
    Courts On Immigration Law
    Covered Employer
    Crane V. Napolitano
    Creative Classes
    Credible Testimony
    Crime Against Humanity
    Crime Involving Moral Turpitude
    Crime Rate
    Crimes Against Humanity
    Crimes Involving Moral Turpitude
    Crime Without Punishment
    Criminal Alien
    Criminal Conduct
    Criminalize
    Criminal Liability
    Criminals
    Cross Chargeability
    CSPA
    Cuban Adjustment Act
    Culturally Unique
    Curricular Practical Training
    Customs And Border Protection
    Cutcherry
    Cut Off Dates
    Cyrus Cylinder
    Cyrus Mehta V. Tucker Carlson
    Cyrus Vance
    DACA
    DACA 2012
    DACA Driver's Licenses
    Daca Obama Deferred Action Immigration Reform9e741343b2
    Dan Kowalski
    DAPA
    Data Privacy
    David Foster Wallace
    Dead Us Citizen Petitioners
    Debate Questions
    December 2015 Visa Bulletin
    Declinist
    Deconflction
    Defense Of Marriage Act
    Deference
    Deferred Action
    Deferred Action For Childhood Arrivals
    Deferred Action For Parent Accountability Program
    Deferred Action For Parents
    Definition
    Definition Of Employment
    Delays
    Delta Information Systems V. USCIS
    Democrat
    Democratic Party
    Democrats
    "Democrats On Immigration"
    Democrats On Immigration
    Denial Of Immigration Benefit Application
    De Niz Robles V. Lynch
    "Department Of Homeland Security"
    Department Of Homeland Security
    Department Of Justice
    "Department Of Labor"
    Department Of Labor
    "Department Of State"
    Department Of State
    Depends On Experience
    Deportation
    Deportation President
    Deporter In Chief
    Deporterinchief84df2adda9
    Deporting Us Citizen Child Or Children
    Derivatives
    Detainers
    Deter
    De Tocqueville
    Dhanasar
    DHS
    Dhs New Rule On Hardship
    Dhs Office Of Inspector General
    Dhs Office Of Inspector General Report On Effects Of Adjudication Procedures And Policies On Fraud
    Dick Durbin
    Dickinson V. Zurko
    Dillingham Commission
    Diminished Capacity
    Din V. Kerry
    Director Mayorkas
    Discouraging Future Immigrant Crime Victims
    Discrepancies
    Discretion In Immigration Policy
    Discrimination
    Disney
    Disruption
    Disruption Of Continuity Of Residence
    Distinction
    Diversity Immigrants
    Diversity Visa Lottery
    DOL
    DOL Investigation
    DOL Prevailing Wage Guidance
    Doma
    Donald Trump
    Dream9
    "DREAM Act"
    Dream Act
    Dream Dream Actd977e910f6
    Dreamers
    Drivers License
    Driver's Licenses
    Drones
    Drop The Iword57cb7ffa6e
    Drug Cartels
    Drugs
    D/S
    Dsk
    Dual Citizenship
    Dual Dates
    Dual Intent Rule
    Dual Nationality
    Due Process
    Due Process Violation
    Duration Of Status
    Dusty Feet Court
    Duty Of Confidentiality
    Dv Lottery
    Dzhokhar Tsarnaev
    E-2
    EAD
    Early Adjustment Of Status Application
    Early Voting
    EB-1
    EB-2
    EB-3
    EB-3 India
    EB-3 To EB-2
    EB-5
    Eb-5
    EB-5 China Retrogression
    EB-5 Green Card
    EB-5 Independent Fiduciary
    EB-5 Insurance
    EB-5 Investor Visas
    EB-5 Letter Of Credit
    EB-5 Letters Of Credit
    EB-5 Policy Memorandum
    "EB-5 Program"
    EB-5 Program
    "EB-5 Regional Center"
    EB-5 Regional Center
    EB-5 Regional Centers
    "EB-5 Visa"
    EB-5 Visa
    EB-5 Waiting Line
    EB Backlogs
    Ebola
    Economic Policy Institute
    EDGE
    Edward Snowden
    Edwards V. California
    EEOC V. Arabian American Oil Co.
    Efstathiadis V. Holder
    Egregore
    El Badwari V. USA
    E L Doctorow35aebd6002
    Election 2012
    Elections
    Electronic I-9
    Eligible Immigration Statuses
    El Salvador
    Emma Willard School
    Employability
    Employed At Institution Of Higher Education
    Employee
    Employee Complaint
    Employee's Benefit
    Employer Business Expense
    Employer-Employee Relationship
    Employer-employee Relationship
    Employer-Employee Relationship For H-1B Visas
    Employer Sanctions
    Employment Authorization
    Employment Authorization Document
    Employment Based Document
    Employment-based Fifth Preference EB-5
    Employment-based First Preference EB-1
    Employment Based Immigration
    Employment-based Immigration
    Employment-Based Immigration
    Employment-based Preferences
    Employment-based Second Preference EB-2
    Employment-based Third Preference EB-3
    "Employment-Creation Immigrant Visas"
    Employment-Creation Immigrant Visas
    Employment Eligibility Verification
    Employment Training Administration
    Encourage Global Corporate Activities
    Enforcement
    Enforcement/USICE
    Entrepreneur
    Entrepreneurial Immigrants
    Entrepreneur Parole Rule
    Entrepreneur Pathways
    Entrepreneur Pathways Portal
    Entrepreneurs
    Entrepreneurs In Residence
    Entrepreneurs In Residence Initiative
    Entry Level Position
    Entry Level Wage
    Eoir
    Epithets
    Essential Function
    Esta
    Establishment Clause
    Esther Olavarria
    Eta
    Eta 9035
    ETA 9089
    ETA Form 9089
    Et Al. V. Her Majesty The Queen
    Ethical Considerations
    Ethics
    Ethics For Immigration Lawyers
    Everfyb99de80646
    E-Verify
    Everify Lock5c940d7f14
    E Visa
    E Visas For Entrepreneurs
    "Executive Action"
    Executive Action
    "executive Authority"
    Executive Authority
    Executive Branch
    Executive Office For Immigration Review
    "executive Order"
    Executive Order
    "Executive Orders"
    Executive Orders
    Executive Power
    Exempt Employee
    Exempt Investment Advisers
    Expanded DACA
    Expanded Definition Of Public Charge
    Expedited Removal
    Expert Immigration Attorney On The Case
    Expert Opinion
    Expert Opinions
    Experts
    Expiration
    Extended DACA
    Extension Of Status
    Extraordinary Ability
    Extraordinary Ability Aliens
    Extraordinary Achievement
    Extraterritoriality Of Immigration Law
    Extreme Hardship
    Extreme Vetting
    F
    F-1
    F-1 Visa
    Fair
    Fair Criminal Trial
    Fairness
    Fairness For High Skilled Immigrants Act
    False Stereotyping
    FAM
    Familybased Preferences9c4ff7f5f7
    Family First Preference
    Family Fourth Preference
    Family Immigration
    Family Offices
    Family Second Preference 2A And 2B
    Family Unity
    Fareed Zakaria
    Farm Workers
    Faustian Bargain
    FDNS
    Fdns Site Visit
    FDNS Site Visits
    Federal Immigration Court
    Federal Immigration Unions
    Federal Judge John A. Mendez
    Federal Judge John Mendez
    Federal Judge Mendez
    Federal Law
    Federal Preemption
    Fed. Reg. Vol. 80 No. 251
    Fee Splitting
    Fiance Visa
    Fifth Circuit
    Filibuster
    Filibuster Reform
    Filing Date
    Final Acceptance Date
    Final Action Date
    Final Guidance
    Final High Skilled Worker Rule
    Final Merits Determination
    First Amendment
    Flat Fees
    Flat Organizations
    Fleuti Doctrine
    Flores V. USCIS
    Fogo De Chao V. DHS
    Forced Migration
    Foreign Affairs Manual
    Foreign Chefs
    Foreign Cooks
    Foreign Earned Income Exclusion
    Foreign Employment Law
    Foreign Entrepreneur
    Foreign Language
    Foreign Law
    Foreign Migration Agent
    Foreign National Entrepreneurs
    Foreign Policy
    Foreign Specialty Chefs
    Foreign Specialty Cooks
    Foreign Students
    Foreign Support Personnel
    Foreign Trade
    Form 2555
    Form-i130
    Form I130862b02b70d
    Form I13169350c78aa
    Form I-485
    Form I601a86f76fbc24
    Form I-601A Waiver
    Form I765wsa6c10c7761
    Form-i800
    Form I821d14be16bf36
    Form I-864
    "Form I-9"
    Form I91b22a1589f
    Form I9242eea98cb70
    Form I942333509f53
    Form I94w5e6bfb52b7
    Form I-983
    Form I-983 Training Plan
    Form-i9-compliance
    Form I9 Employmenteligibility Verification7ddbfbc6b4
    Form-n400
    Fourth Amendment
    Fragomen On Immigration
    Fraud
    Fraud Detection And National Security
    Fraud Detection & National Security (FDNS)
    Fred 26 Imports
    Free Trade
    Function Manager
    Fusion
    Future Flows
    Future Immigration
    Future Of Preemption
    Future Position
    Fy14 H1b Visa Capcf6496c9e4
    Fy2014 H1b Filingsae2c14d3f1
    FY 2015
    FY 2018 H-1B Cap
    Gang Of 8
    Gang Of Eight
    Gang Violence
    Gender Bias
    Genocide
    Georgia
    Georgia Legislature
    Georgia Legislature Antiimmigration Legislation Everify8d746ab340
    Georgia Legislature; Immigration; Anti-Immigration Legislation; Immigration Reform
    Georgia Legistlature
    Georgia Restaurants
    Gideon V Wainwrightba979e7bac
    Giovanni Peri
    Gladysz V. Donovan
    Global Cities
    Global Detroit
    Global Entrepreneur In Residence
    Globalization
    Global Michigan
    Global Mobility
    Global Sourcing
    Global Trade
    Godot
    Golick
    Gonzales-Marquez V. Holder
    Good Faith
    Good Moral Character
    Good Old Days
    GOP
    "GOP On Immigration"
    Gop On Immigration
    Government Data Collection
    Government Employee Discipline
    Governor Brewer
    Grassley-Durbin Bill
    Greencard
    Green Card
    Green Card Lottery
    Green Cards
    Green Card Stories
    Grounds Of Inadmissibility
    Growing Up
    Guest Columns
    Guest Workers
    H-1B
    H-1b
    H-1B1 Visas
    H1b And L1 Visa Provisions984af42aac
    H-1B Auction
    H-1B Cap
    H-1B Cap Exempt Employer
    H-1B Cap Exemption
    H1b Cap H1b Visas Increased Visa Numbers1210555f7b
    H-1B Denial
    H-1B Denials
    H-1B Dependent Employer
    H-1B Entrerpreneur
    H-1B Extensions
    H-1B FY 2018 Cap
    H1b H1b Fraud Grassley Foia Training Memo Fdns Vibe Csce504cf6c27
    H-1B Lottery
    H-1B Lottery Illegal
    H-1B Portability
    H-1B Premium Processing
    H-1B Reform
    H1b Skilled Worker Dependent Employer7361d653a8
    H-1B Spouse
    H-1B Visa
    H-1B Visa Cap
    H-1B Visa Denials
    H-1B Visa Extension By Spouse
    H-1B Visa For Entrepreneurs
    "H-1B Visas"
    H-1B Visas
    H1b Visasfb0ea78c4c
    H1b Visas For Entrepreneurs And Owners3399e25691
    H-1B Wage
    H-1B Worksite
    H2b Visas79f843cb2c
    H-4
    H-4 And Work Authorization
    H56
    Hack
    Hague-adoption-convention
    Haiti
    Halt Act
    Hamilton Project
    Hana V Gonzales75adc25254
    Happy-lawyers
    Happy New Year
    Hardship Waivers
    Harry Reid
    Haruki Murakami
    Hateful Rhetoric Against Immigrants
    Hate Speech
    Hb 87
    HCL America
    Head Of State
    Healthamerica
    Helen Chavez
    Herman Cain
    Higher Wages
    High Skilled Worker Rule
    Hillary Clinton
    Hinojosa V. Horn
    Hispanic Immigrants
    Historic Exercise Of Discretion
    "homeland Security"
    Homeland Security
    Home Office
    Homosexual
    Honduras
    Hot Questions
    House Gop
    House On Immigration Reform
    Hr 3012
    Hr 3012c279c52631
    HR 4038
    Hr 4970
    Humane-treatment
    Humanitarian Parole
    Humetis
    Hurricane Sandy
    Hybrid
    I130-petition
    I130 Petition2b14f0b880
    I-140 EAD Rule
    I-140 Petition
    I-485 Supplement J
    I5268d5986011e
    I-539
    I601a46afd40326
    I601 Waiversa737e3d6da
    I-9
    I9-compliance
    I9 Compliance725c781af2
    I9 Compliance Checklist3909ef569e
    I9-errors
    I9-fines
    I9 Paperwork Violations24d1cb2cb9
    Ibrahim El- Salahi
    ICE
    ICE Arrests
    ICE Detainers
    ICE Notice Of Inspection
    ICE Notice Of Suspect Documents
    Ice Union
    Identity Theft
    IIRIRA
    Illegal
    Illegal Alien
    Illegal Aliens
    Illegal Conduct
    Illegal Immigrant
    Illegal Immigration
    Illegal Immigration; Immigration Reform; ESTA; Visas
    Illegals
    Immi Awards
    Immigrant
    Immigrant Achievement
    Immigrant Detention
    Immigrant Investor
    Immigrant Investor Program
    "Immigrant Investors"
    Immigrant Investors
    Immigrant Investor Visa
    Immigrant Rape Victims
    Immigrant Rights
    Immigrants
    Immigrant Visas
    Immigrant Worker Protection Act
    Immigration
    Immigration Abandonment
    Immigration Accountability
    Immigration Accountability Executive Actions
    Immigration Act Of 1990
    Immigration Adjudications
    Immigration Agencies
    Immigration Agency
    Immigration Agency Expertise
    Immigration-and-demography
    Immigration And Identity Theft
    Immigration And Nationality Act
    Immigration And Privacy
    Immigration And Terrorism
    Immigration And The Arts
    IMMIGRATION ATTORNEY
    Immigration Attorneys
    Immigration Auction
    Immigration Awards
    Immigration Benefits
    Immigration Bureaucracy
    Immigration Bureaucrats
    Immigration Cases
    Immigration Chain Of Command
    Immigration-compliance
    Immigration Court Backlog
    Immigration Courts
    Immigration Data Collection
    Immigration Decentralization
    Immigration Devolution
    Immigration Discretion
    Immigration Discrimination
    Immigration Enforcement
    Immigration Entrepreneurship
    Immigration Fantasies
    Immigration Forgiveness
    Immigration Forms
    Immigration Gamesmanship
    Immigration Gender Bias
    Immigration Inconsistency
    Immigration In Film
    Immigration Innovation Act Of 2015
    Immigration Inspections
    Immigration Inspectors
    Immigration Instructions
    Immigration Insubordination
    Immigration Interviews
    Immigration Intrigue
    Immigration Judges
    Immigration Judge Tabaddor
    Immigration Justice
    Immigration Justice System
    Immigration Language
    Immigration Law
    Immigration Law Absurdity
    Immigration Law Careers
    "Immigration Law Complexity"
    Immigration Law Complexity
    Immigration Law Extraterritoriality
    Immigration Law Humor
    Immigration Law Practice
    IMMIGRATION LAWYER
    Immigration Lawyer Atlanta Immigration Lawyer Immigration Reform Belief Believing704942b6fd
    Immigration Lawyers
    Immigration Legal Representation
    Immigration Legal Services
    Immigration Legal Services Delivery
    Immigration Lessons
    Immigration Memes
    Immigration Officers
    Immigration Officials
    Immigration On Tv
    Immigration Policies
    Immigration Policy
    Immigration Politics
    Immigration Portfolio Management
    Immigration Power
    Immigration Practice
    Immigration Profiling
    Immigration Protectionism
    Immigration Quotas
    "immigration Reform"
    Immigration Reform
    Immigration Reform Act Services
    Immigration Regulations
    Immigration Reporters
    Immigration Reporting
    Immigration Simplicity
    Immigration Status
    Immigration Terminology
    Immigration Themes
    Immigration Transition Team
    Immigration Transparency
    Immigration Truths
    Immigration Untruths
    Immigration Writing
    "Immigration Year In Review"
    Immigration Year In Review
    Immis
    Imperfect Immigration Past
    Impermissible Fee Splitting
    Improper Payments
    Imputed Intent
    INA 203(d)
    INA 203(h)(3)
    INA 204(j)
    INA 208(a)(2)(A)
    INA 212(f)
    INA 214(i)(1)
    INA 217(b)(12)
    INA § 240(b)(4)(B)
    INA 244(f)(4)
    INA 245(a)
    INA 245(k)
    INA 274(a)(1)(A)(iv)
    INA 274A(h)(3)
    INA § 274B
    INA 275
    INA § 301(g)
    Inadmissibility
    Ina Section 101a350fbc5520b3
    Ina Section 203d40da1fbde2
    Ina Section 204l15b30a9fb6
    INA Section 212(a)(2)(G)
    INA Section 301(g)
    INA Section 322
    Inc.
    Inclusive Speech
    INc. V. DHS
    Inc. V. USCIS
    Independent Contractor
    Independent Fiduciary
    India
    India And China
    India Inc.
    India IT
    Indian Citizens
    Indian IT Firms Or Companies
    Indian Prime Minister
    Indian Supreme Court
    Individualized Determinations
    Individual Shared Responsibility Provision
    Indonesian Christians
    Indophobia
    Ineffective-assistance-of-counsel
    Infected
    Infosys
    Infosys Immigration Settlement
    Infosys Settlement
    Infosys Visa Rules
    Inherent Skill
    Inhouse Counsel51701e4a40
    Innovation
    Insightful Immigration Blog
    Intending Immigrant
    Interior Immigration Enforcement
    International Criminal Court
    International Entrepreneur Parole
    International Entrepreneurs
    International Union Of Bricklayers And Allied Craftsmen V. Meese
    Internet Marriages
    Internment
    Interview
    Intracompany Transferee Visas
    Investigations
    Investment
    Investors
    Investor Visa
    Iran
    Iraq
    Iraqis
    Irca
    IRS
    Irs Form 2555
    Irs Publication 519
    I-Squared Act
    Italian Immigrants
    IT Consulting
    It Consulting Companies
    IWPA
    J1 Waiver3fd1477d5d
    J1 Waivers6f3dd388e8
    Jaen V. Sessions
    James McHenry
    Jan Brewer
    J And M Nonimmigrants
    Janet Napolitano
    Japanese American Internment
    Jared Kushner
    Javier Becerra
    Jeff Sessions
    Job Advertisements
    Job Creation
    Job Flexibility
    Job Portability
    Job Shops
    Joe Arpaio
    John A. Mendez
    John Doe Et Al. V. Canada
    John Mccain
    John Roberts
    Johnson V. United States
    John Yoo
    Joint-representation
    Jordan V. DeGeorge
    Jose Ines Garcia Zarate
    Josh Mckoon
    Journalism And Immigration
    Judge Hanen
    Judicial Deference
    Judicial Review
    Julia Preston
    July 1
    July 2007 Visa Bulletin
    Jus Soli
    Justice
    Justice Brandeis
    Justice Department
    Justice For Immigrants
    Justice Sotomayor Dissenting Opinion
    K-1 Visa
    K3 Visa37acf4a9cf
    Kansas
    Kate Steinle
    Kauffman Foundation
    Kazarian
    Kazarian V. USCIS
    Kellogg Language
    Kellogg Magic Language
    Kenneth Palinkas
    Kerry V. Din
    Khaled V Holder982a962865
    King V. Burwell
    Kleindienst V. Mandel
    Known Or Suspected Terrorist
    Know Nothing
    Kobach
    Korematsu V. United States
    Kovacs-v-united-states
    Kris Kobach
    Kris Koback
    Kst
    Kurupati V. USCIS
    L-1
    L-1A
    L-1A Visa
    L1a Visas537fc94d3f
    L-1B
    "L-1B Visa"
    L-1B Visa
    L1b Visaffc1d0a913
    "L-1B Visas"
    L1b Visas705e041a79
    L-1 Visa
    L1 Visa8e59dfe5b4
    L-1 Visa For Entrepreneurs
    L1-visa-intracompany-transferee-visa-intracompany-transfer-l1a
    L1 Visas291f967a4b
    Laboratories Of Democracy
    Labor Certification
    Labor Certification And Balca
    Labor Condition Application
    Labor Condition Applications
    "Labor Department"
    Labor Department
    Labor Market Testing
    Labor Shortages
    Labor Unions
    Lack Of Experience
    Lamar Smith
    Lameduck Congress2bd365b0dc
    Laos
    Lateef V Holder04525394c8
    Latino
    Law
    Lawfully Present
    Lawful Permanent Resident
    Lawful Permanent Resident Status
    Lawful Rejection
    Lawrence Fuchs
    Lawrence H Fuchs8538bb8495
    Lawsuit Against Daca
    Lawsuit Against Immigration Executive Actions
    Lawyers
    Lawyers Arguing
    Lawyers Debating
    Lawyer-suicide
    Layoffs
    LCA
    LCA Audit
    LCA/Labor Condition Application
    Leave Of Absence
    Ledbetter V. Goodyear Tire
    Legal Analysis
    Legal Ethics
    Legal Immigration
    Legalization
    Legal Limbo
    Legalnet
    Legal-status
    Legislative Updates
    Leon Rodriguez
    Less Flexibility
    Level 1 Or Entry Level Wage
    Level 1 Wage
    Level 1 Wages
    Lexmark Int’l Inc. V. Static Control Components Inc.
    Lexmark Int’l V. Static Control Components
    Lgbt
    Liberty
    Libya
    License
    Limited Representation
    Lindsey Graham
    List All Requirements
    Litigation
    Li V Renaudd8a40b72af
    Loan Model
    Loretta Lynch
    Loss Of Revenue
    Low Income Non-citizens
    Low Priority And Discretion
    Low Priority For Removal
    Lpr
    Lugo V. Holder
    Luis Gutierrez
    Lujan V. Defenders Of Wildlife
    Luna Torres V. Holder
    L Visa
    M274f95947aeb8
    Mad Men
    Maintenance Of Status
    Managerial Capacity
    Managerial Duties
    Mandamus Actions
    Mantena V. Johnson
    March 4
    Marco Rubio
    Maria Popova
    Marijuana Activities
    Mario Diazbalarta47ad78f9c
    Mario Rubio
    Marketbased Immigration Reformsac2c6c563f
    Marketing Fee
    Martinez-de Ryan V. Sessions
    Mary Yahya
    Massachusetts
    Master
    Matter New York State Department Of Transportation
    Matter Of AB
    Matter Of A-B
    Matter Of Acosta
    Matter Of Alyazji
    Matter Of ARCG
    Matter Of Arrabally And Yerrabelly
    Matter Of Avetisyan
    Matter Of B-C- Inc.
    Matter Of Cantu
    Matter Of Castro-Tum
    Matter Of Cognizant Technology Solutions
    Matter Of Credit Suisse Securities
    Matter Of Douglas
    Matter Of Ecosecurities
    Matter Of Emma Willard School
    Matter Of E.W. Rodriguez
    Matter Of Fpr515c6b2578
    Matter Of G- Inc.
    Matter Of G-J-S-USA Inc.
    Matter Of Hashmi
    Matter Of Hira
    Matter Of Horizon Computer Services
    Matter Of Izummi
    Matter Of J-R-R-A-
    Matter Of Karl Storz Endoscopyamerica6e946ac639
    Matter Of Koljenovic
    Matter Of L-A-B-R-
    Matter Of Lovo
    Matter Of M-A-M-
    Matter Of Marcal Neto
    Matter Of MEVG
    Matter Of Mississippi Phosphate
    Matter Of O. Vasquez
    Matter Of O Vazquez0fffb5957e
    Matter Of Rajah
    Matter Of Siemens Water Technologies Corp
    Matter Of Silva-Trevino
    Matter Of Simeio Solutions
    Matter Of Simelo Solutions
    Matter Of Skirball
    Matter Of Skirball Cultural Center
    Matter Of Symantec Corporation
    Matter Of The Clariden School
    Matter Of V-S-G- Inc.
    Matter Of WGR
    Matter Of Z-A-
    Matter Of Zamora
    Matter Of Zeleniak
    Matt Ramsey
    Mccain
    Medicaid
    Mehta Declaration
    Mehta V. DOL
    Meissner Memo
    Melania Trump
    Melissa Harrisperrye735025247
    Meme
    Memorandum Of Understanding
    Mental Competency
    Meritorious Claims
    Meritsbased Systemdcb9af44f1
    Mexico
    Michelle Malkin
    Michigan
    Micron Technologies
    Middle Vendor Arrangements And H-1B Visa
    Migrant Manifesto
    Military Families
    Military Service
    Minimum Requirements
    Misclassification
    Misinform
    Misprision-of-felony
    Miss Minnesota
    Mistakes By DSO
    Mitch Mcconnell
    Mitt Romney
    Modular Container Systems
    Moin V Ashcroft3374c3ffaa
    MOMA
    Moncrieffe V Holder2a74c71b8b
    Montana Campaign Finance Law
    #MoreThanALabel
    Morton June 17 Memo
    Morton Memo
    Morton Memo On Discretion
    Motion For Continuance
    Motion For Reconsideration
    Motions For Continuance
    Mou
    Msnbc
    Museum Of Modern Art
    Muslim Ban
    Muslim Travel Ban
    NAFTA
    Narendra Modi
    Narratives
    National Citizenship And Immigration Services Council
    National Day Of Action
    National Id Card
    National Immigration And Customs Enforcement Council
    National Interest Waiver
    National Interest Waivers For Entrepreneurs
    National Interest Wavier
    National Origin
    National Security
    National Security Concern
    Nation Of Immigrators Awards
    Nativism
    Nativist
    Naturalization
    Negotiable
    Neufeld Memo
    New I9268baceca5
    New International Legal Norm
    New Office L19f5f4f35f9
    New Rule Of Professional Conduct 7.2(b)
    Newspaper Of General Circulation
    News & Politics
    New State Ice Co V. Liebmann
    New Travel Ban Executive Order
    New York Constitutional Convention
    New York Daily News Op Ed
    New York State Bar Ethics Opinion 1116
    New York State Bar Opinion 1132
    New York Times
    Next Generation Tech Inc. V. Johnson
    Nexus Requirement
    Nfl
    Nguyen V. Holder
    Nicaragua
    Nicholas Colucci
    Ninth Circuit
    NIV
    NIW
    NOI
    NOIR
    Non-citizens
    Non-compete
    Non-existent USCIS Entrepreneurs Pathway Portal
    Nonfrivolous Application
    Nonimmigrant
    Nonimmigrant Visas
    Nonimmigrant Visa Status
    Non-justiciable
    Nonknown Or Suspected Terroristd52dcd7966
    Nonkst248c8faee5
    Nonprofit Affiliated Or Related To University
    Nonprofits And H-1B Cap
    Non-refoulement
    Non-work Activities
    Nostalgia
    Not Counting Derivative Family Members
    Not Counting Family Members
    Notice Of Intent To Revoke
    Notice Of Suspect Documents
    Notice To Appear
    November 2014 Midterm Elections
    NSD
    NSEERS
    NTA Policy
    Numbersusa
    NYSDOT
    O-1
    O-1 Visa
    Oath Of Allegiance
    Obama
    "Obama Administration"
    Obama Administration
    Obama Amensty Immigration Deferred Action81e6468f69
    Obama August 18 Announcement
    Obamacare
    Occupational Outlook Handbook
    Occupy Wall Street
    Ocrcl
    October 2012 Visa Bulletin
    October 2015 Visa Bulletin
    Offered Wage
    Office Of Civil Rights And Civil Liberties
    Office Of Foreign Labor Certification
    Office Of Inspector General
    Office Of Special Counsel
    Office Of Special Counsel For Unfair Immigration-Related Employment Practices
    Oig Report
    Olivia Sanson
    Omission
    One Labor Certification
    Opposition To Corruption
    OPT
    Optional Practical Training
    OPT Optional Practical Training
    Opt Out
    Opt Practical Training
    Osama Bin Laden
    Osc
    Oscar De La Hoya
    Osorio V Mayorkas806a9e9fb4
    Outrage
    Outsourcing
    Overqualification
    Overt Act
    O Visas
    O Visas For Entrepreneurs
    Ownership And Control
    P3 Visa72357cd170
    Padilla V Kentucky200410eaa5
    Paperwork Reduction Act
    Parole
    Parole For International Entrepreneurs
    Parole In Place
    Paroleinplace3a3ddef22b
    Particular Social Group
    Parviz Tanavoli
    Pat Buchanan
    Path To Citizenship
    Paul Ryan
    Peggy Noonan
    Penalties
    PERM
    Permanent Residency Options
    Perm-audit-triggers
    Perm-faqs-round-10
    PERM Labor Certification
    Person Of Extraordinary Ability
    Persons Of Extraordinary Ability
    Phantom Visa Status
    Physical Presence In A Foreign Country
    Piepowder Court
    Piers Morgan
    Pinochet
    Plain Language
    Plain Language Of Regulation Regarding Compelling Circumstances
    Plenary Power
    Plyler V. Doe
    Points System
    Policy
    Political Correctness
    Political Opinion
    Pope Francis
    Port
    Portability
    Portfolio Management
    Porting
    Porting Off Unadjudicated I-140
    Post Graduate Diploma
    Potential Court Challenge To Unlawful Presence Memo
    Potted Plants
    Preemption
    Premium Processing
    Premption
    Preponderance Of The Evidence
    Preponderence Of Evidence Standard
    President
    Presidential Debates
    Presidential Elections
    Presidentil Proclomoation 9645
    President Obama
    President Obama Executive Actions
    President Trump
    President Tump
    Presumption Of Fraud Or Misrepresentation
    Prevailing Wage Determination
    Prevailing Wage Determination Validity Period
    Primary And Alternate Requirements
    Printz V. United States
    Priority Date
    Priority Date Retrogression
    Priority Dates
    Private Employment Firms
    Pro Bono
    Pro-bono-legal-services
    Processing Times
    Procurement
    Prodsecutorial Discretion
    Prodsecutorial Discretion Morton Memo James Madison6c95a0548c
    Professional-responsibility
    Proper Signature
    Proposed Rule
    Prosecution For Illegal Entry
    Prosecutorial Discretion
    Protect And Grow American Jobs Act
    Protectionism
    Protests
    Provisional Waiver
    Provisional Waiver Of 3 And 10 Year Bars
    Proxy Marriage
    Public Charge
    Public Health Significance
    Public Service
    Puleo Memorandum
    Puppets
    P Visas
    Qiaowai
    Qualified Candidates
    Qualified Worker
    Quota
    Racial Profiling
    Racism
    Ragbir V. Homan
    Ragbir V. Sessions
    RAISE Act
    Ramirez V. Brown
    Ramirez V. Reich
    Rand Paul
    Range Of Experience
    Raud Detection And National Security
    Raul Hinjosaojedab7c338ba6c
    Ravi Ragbir
    Real Id Act
    Record Deportations
    Recruitment
    Recruitment Report
    Recusal
    Redcarpet Immigrationecf057f251
    Reentry Permit
    Reflecting On September 11
    Refoulement
    Refugee
    Refugee Convention
    Refugees
    Regional Center
    Regional-centers
    Regulations
    Regulatory Flexibility Act
    Regulatory Reform
    Reinterpretation
    Reinterpretation Of INA
    Religion
    Religious Freedom
    Religious Freedom Ground Of Inadmissibility
    Religious Workers
    Relinquish Us Citizenship25cc75ef5e
    Removal Orders And Work Authorization
    Removal Proceeding
    Removal Proceedings
    Render Unto Caesar
    Republican
    Republican Party
    Republicans
    Republicans On Immigration
    Requests For Additional Evidence
    Requests For Evidence
    Required Wage
    Rescission Of Deference Policy
    Residential Fiance Corp V. USCIS
    Resident Vs. Non-Resident Alien
    Restaurant Immigration
    Restrictive Covenant
    Resume Review
    Retention Of Priority Date
    Retroactive Application Of Agency Decision
    Retrogression
    Return Transportation Cost Or Payment
    Retweets
    Reverse Migration
    Revocation
    Revocation Of I130 Petition29e2465d50
    Reza Derakshani
    Rfe
    Rfes
    Rights Of Defendants
    Right To Counsel In Removal Proceedings
    Right To Protect
    Risking Lives
    Rnc Immigration Resolution
    Robert Bosch
    Robert Delahunty
    Robert Zimmerman
    Rod Serling
    Role Of Lawyers
    Romney
    Rosenberg V. Fleuti
    Roving Employee
    Roxana Bacon
    Ruben Navarette
    Rule 1648282cc144
    Rule 3369c1f5dca4
    Rulemaking
    Rule Of Law
    Rules
    Ruqiang Yu V Holder112d7eccb6
    Rusk V. Cort
    Russia
    Rust Belt
    Rust Belt Economies
    S 744388557e228
    Safe Third Country Agreement
    Salary
    Salas-v-sierra-chemical-co
    Same-or-similar
    Same Sex
    Same Sex Marriage
    Samesex Marriagea1a4c1687a
    Same Sex Relationships
    San-berardino-attacks
    Sanctuary
    Sanctuary Cities
    Sanders
    San Francisco
    San Francisco V. Trump
    Saturday Night Live
    Sayfullo Saipov
    Sb 1070
    Sb 170
    Sb 458
    SB 54
    Sb6
    SB 785
    Scales V. INS
    Scialabba-v-cuellar-de-osorio
    Scope Of Representation
    Scotus
    Second Amendment
    Second Circuit
    Second Class Citizenship
    Section-245i
    Section 377 Indian Penal Code
    Section-911
    Section-k
    Security Council
    Self Employment
    Self Referral
    Sen Al Franken8d17f34572
    Senate Bill 54
    Senate-homeland-security-and-governmental-affairs-committee
    Senate Immigration Reform Proposal
    Senate Judiciary Committee
    Senator Grassley
    Senator Hatch Legal Immigration Reform07d2d1ba79
    Senator Mccain
    Senator Rubio
    Senator Schumer
    Sen-coburn
    Sen Cornynb4913b20f7
    Sen Mccain70a20820e6
    Sen Reidd251095d63
    Sen Schumered4af5bde9
    Sen-tom-coburn
    Separating Children From Parents
    Separation Of Children
    Separation Of Powers
    September 11
    Sergio Garcia
    Sessions V. Dimaya
    Settlement Agreement
    SEVP
    Shabaj V Holdercba68a701d
    Shameful Adults
    Shortage Occupations
    Short-term Placement
    Show Me Your Papers
    Shyima Hall
    Siblings
    Simeio
    Simon Winchestor
    Singapore
    Singh V Reno628d251f29
    Site Visit
    Skidmore Deference
    Skilled Immigrants
    Skilled Legal Immigrants
    Skilled Workers
    Skype
    Slavery
    Smartzip
    Soccer
    Social Distinction
    Social Media
    Social Security Administration Ssa No Match Letterf1d55fcc30
    Sole-representation
    Solis-Espinoza V. Gonzales
    Somalia
    Sophie Cruz
    Sought To Acquire
    Sought To Acquire Lawful Permanent Residency
    Southern Border Enforcement
    Special Counsel
    Special Enrollment Period
    Special Immigrants
    "Specialized Knowledge"
    Specialized Knowledge
    Specialty Occupation
    Specialty Occupations
    Spouse Of H1b153354d1c2
    Staffing Companies
    Stakeholders
    Stalin
    Standard Occupational Classification
    Standing
    Startup
    Startup Visa
    Startup Visa31494d637e
    State Bar Of California
    "State Department"
    State Department
    State Department Advisory Opinion
    State Department Visa Bulletin
    State Enforcement Of Immigration Laws
    State Immigration Law
    State Immigration Laws
    State Law
    State Legislation
    State Rights V. Federal Preemption
    States
    States Refusal
    States Rights
    Status
    Status Violations
    STEM
    STEM 24-month OPT Extension
    Stem Green Card
    Stem Immigration
    Stem Jobs Act
    STEM OPT
    STEM OPT Employer Attestations
    STEM OPT Extension
    Step By Step Day Care LLC
    Stephen Miller
    Steve King
    St. Louis Ship
    Stories
    Storytelling
    Strauss Kahn
    Strausskahn00f7a82137
    Strausskahn0c784e0777
    Strickland-test
    Students And Scholars
    Stylebook
    Subcommittee On Immigration Policy And Enforcement
    Subhan V. Ashcroft
    Substantial Presence Test
    Success Stories
    Sudan
    Summary Removal
    Sunday Ads
    Super Fee
    Supervised Recruitment
    Supporting US High Skilled Business And Workers
    Supremacy Clause
    Supreme Court
    Supreme Court Of The United States
    Suresh Kumar Koushal V Naz Foundation0c35ab381e
    Surrogate Arrangements
    Surviving Spouse Immigration Benefits
    Suspension Of Premium Processing
    Suspension Of Prevailing Wage Determination
    Swde
    Syria
    Syrian Refugees
    Tabaddor V. Holder
    Take Care Clause
    Tamerlan Tsarnaev
    Tani Cantil-Sakauye
    Tapis International V. INS
    Taxes
    Tax Return
    Tax Treaty
    Teaching
    Techorbits
    Ted Cruz
    Ted Cruzs Canadian Citizenship97b85977cd
    Ted J Chiapparid1be1c2015
    Tek Services
    Telecommuting
    Temporary Labor Certification
    Temporary Nonimmigrant Waiver
    Temporary Protected Status
    Temporary Waiver
    Tenrec
    Tenrec Inc. V. USCIS
    Tenyear Bare5cfe49a0e
    Terminatiion
    Termination Of TPS
    Terrorism
    Tesla Motors
    Texas Anti-Sanctuary Law SB 4
    Texas V. United States
    Texas V. USA
    Thanksgiving Turkey
    That Was The Week That Was
    The Iword925fa53b25
    The Philippines
    The Snake
    The Tyranny Of Priority Dates
    Third Circuit
    Third Party
    Third-Party Arrangements
    Third Party Client
    Third Party Client Site
    Thomas Jefferson
    Threeyear Barca4ce1adbf
    Three Year Indian Degree
    Three Year Old
    Thrust Upon Conflicts
    Time
    Tina Turner
    TN Visas
    Tolling
    Tom Lehrer
    Top 10 Most Viewed Posts
    Torture
    Totality Of Circumstances Test
    TPP
    TPS
    Trade In Services
    Trade Policy
    Trade With India
    Trafficking
    Trafficking; VAWA
    Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act
    Training Plan
    Training Plans
    Transparency
    Travel
    Travel Authorization
    Travel Ban
    Travel Ban Executive Order
    Travel Ban Waivers
    Trayvon Martin
    Tribunal
    Truax V. Raich
    Trump
    Trump Immigration Policies
    Trump V. Hawaii
    Tseung Chu V. Cornell
    Turner V Rogerse0e2213e28
    TVRPA
    Tweets
    Twitter
    Two Priority Dates
    Tyranny Of Priority Dates
    "U"
    Unaccompanied Children
    Unaccompanied Minor
    Unaccompanied Minors
    Unauthorized Employment
    Unauthorized Immigrants
    Uncategorized
    Uncommon H-1B Occupations
    Unconstitutional
    Undamental Fairness
    Undocumented
    Undocumented Immigrant
    Undocumented Immigrants
    Undocumented Lawyer
    Undocumented Student
    Undocumented Workers
    Unhappy-lawyers
    United States Citizenship And Immigration Services
    United States Trade
    United States V. Bean
    United States V. Texas
    United States V Windsord2b852bf02
    United States V. Wong Kim Ark
    University Of Miami Law School
    Unlawfully Present
    Unlawful Presence
    U Nonimmigrant Visa
    Unsuccessful Prosecution
    USA V. California
    USA V. Olivar
    USA V. Texas
    US-Canada Border
    Us Chamber Of Commercea7b71cf5ba
    USCIS
    USCIS California Service Center
    USCIS Deference Policy
    USCIS Director
    USCIS Director Francis Cissna
    Uscis Economists
    USCIS Guidance
    Uscis Immigration Attorney Attorney At Immigration Interview Frauda4f5dad76b
    USCIS Listening Session
    "USCIS Ombudsman"
    Uscis Ombudsman
    "USCIS Policy Memorandum"
    Uscis Policy Memorandum
    U.S. Citizen Parent
    U.S. Citizenship
    Us Constitution
    Us Consulate
    Us Consulate081a8a95d6
    Us Consulates64f4af575b
    Us Customs And Border Protectione83df9ce06
    U S Immigration And Customs Enforcementca915606c7
    U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement
    Us Immigration Policy18cc81545d
    Us Tax Guide For Aliens
    Us V Arizonaa89601cba1
    U.S. V. California
    US Worker
    US Workers
    Us Workersbab035371d
    Utah
    U Visa
    U Visa Category
    U Visa Eligibility
    U Visa Status
    "U" Visa; U Visa
    Vartelas V Holdera1ea23ce84
    Vawa
    Velasquez-Garcia V.Holder
    Velasquez-Garcia V. Holder
    Vendor Management
    Vendor Relations
    Vera
    Vera V Attorney Generalaf3a90412f
    Vermont Service Center
    Viability
    Viability Of Fleuti
    Victims Of Abuse
    Victims Of Crime
    Victims Of Domestic Abuse Or Sex Crimes
    Victims Of Domestic Violence
    Villas At Parkside Partners V. Farmers Branch
    Vinayagam V. Cronous Solutions
    Violation Of Status
    Violence Against Women Act
    Vip Immigration
    Visa Application
    Visa Availability
    Visa Ban
    Visa Bulletin
    Visa Denials
    Visagate2015
    Visa Modernization
    Visa Revocation
    Visas
    Visa Voidance
    Visa Voidance 3year Bara99b8dc197
    Visa Waiver Admission
    Visa Waiver Program
    Vivek Wadhwa
    Vladimir Putin
    Void For Vagueness
    Voting
    Vwp
    Waiting In The Immigration Line
    Waiting Line
    Waiting List
    Waiver
    Waiver Of 10 Year Bar
    Waiver Of Inadmissibility
    Waivers
    Wall
    Washington Alliance Of Technology Workers
    Washington Alliance Of Technology Workers V. DHS
    Washington V. Trump
    WashTec
    Wealthy Travelers
    White House
    Work Authorization
    Work Permits
    Worksite
    Workspace
    Work Visas
    Worst Of The Worst
    Xenophobia
    Yemen
    Yerrabelly
    Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. V. Sawyer
    Youseff V Renaud
    Youth
    Zombie Precedents
    Zone Of Interest
    Zone Of Interests

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
Photo from Mrs Logic