Employer Immigration and Compliance Services
Immigration related compliance is an increasing concern for U.S. employers, who are often caught between two federal agencies with opposing interests: ensuring that all workers are authorized for employment in the U.S. and protecting those who are lawfully here from discrimination. Careful what you ask for The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (“IRCA”) [...]
Although the Form I-9 may on its face appear to be simple, it is imperative for employers and their human resource departments to ensure accuracy and full compliance with the Form I-9. Last year, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) inspected the I-9 Forms of 3,127 employers and issued over $15 million in fines. One [...]
H-1B visa holders are allowed to work temporarily in the U.S. for sponsoring employers and they often comprise of highly skilled professionals working in the difficult to fill positions in the tech, medical and education industries. In most business circumstances, hiring an H-1B visa holder is a successful and thriving event for both the employer [...]
OCAHO reduced fine for a mom and pop family business, from $14,025 to $1,650, stating in the decision that “ICE overreaches when it issues a NIF and files a complaint containing allegations that the government actually knows to be false.” (U.S. v. Crescent City Meat Company, Inc., 4/22/14) This recently published case appears to demonstrate [...]
Every company's hiring objective is to find the best-qualified candidate, and in today’s global economy, often that candidate will be a foreign national who requires visa sponsorship. And employing a foreign national, even temporarily, requires a commitment of your company's Human Resources department, administrative time and financial resources. For this reason every employer, whether it [...]
We are frequently asked by our corporate clients what obligations an employer has when it terminates a foreign national employee who is an H-1B visa holder, and what options are available to the foreign national employee if he is terminated. Employers can terminate an H-1B visa worker at any time without penalty as long as [...]
The process of hiring foreign workers is complicated and time-consuming thus many employers find it necessary to have a dedicated staff with expertise in making strategic decisions regarding hiring foreign nationals. The immigration function is typically housed in various departments at different organizations but most commonly within the HR department. With proper planning and follow [...]
The start of the new year is a perfect time to assess corporate compliance with U.S. immigration laws. As Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) and the Department of Labor (“DOL”) increase the number of company audits and fines each year, it is important for employers to perform annual audits of their employment law and immigration [...]
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) pursuit of employers who violate federal immigration compliance laws is expected to be moving full speed ahead in 2014, and in some instances accelerating in comparison to prior years. As a result of both substantially increased funding for enforcement actions and an outcome of the public debate about illegal [...]
Are you looking to replace your error-prone I-9 paper process with an electronic system in 2014? Companies that are considering transitioning to electronic I-9s should be aware that there are significant issues related to legal liability, security, functionality, and cost. There are benefits and disadvantages to both approaches. Some advantages of using electronic I-9 [...]