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3/6/2008 - Department of Labor Announces Move to Centralized Filing of LCAs and PERM Applications
The U.S. Department of Labor has announced that starting in June, all PERM labor certification cases will be processed in the Atlanta National Processing Center while all paperwork for temporary visa matters (H-2A, H-2B, H-1C, and D-1 paperwork plus those few LCAs not filed electronically for H-1B/H-1B1, TN and E-3 cases) will be handled by the Chicago National Processing Center. The transition will begin on June 1 and as of June 15, all cases must be filed at the proper location under this new system or risk rejection.
DOL appears to be mimicking USCIS' move towards greater specialization - handling specific types of applications only at certain Service Centers, in the hope that focusing the attention and experience of the staff at each location on one type of case will help develop greater competence and lead to greater efficiency and consistency in adjudications. The jury is still out on whether this has worked with USCIS.
Employers that file Labor Condition Applications in conjunction with H-1B filings and those that file PERM labor certification cases for their employees, as well as beneficiary foreign national employees of these petitions and applications.
3/1/2008 - New Employee Verification Act Introduced in House
The New Employee Verification Act was introduced on February 27 by Representative Sam Johnson of Texas. The proposed legislation would eliminate the current I-9 requirement and the E-Verify system and replace them with a new mandatory electronic system comparing employee data to the Directory of New Hires - a database currently used for the purpose of tracking "Deadbeat Dads" in connection with child support enforcement. The data would also be compared to the Social Security Administration and Department of Homeland Security Databases.
This is yet another enforcement-only program which provides no means of addressing the reasons why U.S. business have such great difficulty in locating sufficient U.S. workers or legally employing willing non-U.S. workers. It would, however, manage to provide significant additional burdens to U.S. employers already struggling with an unstable economic climate and cause for fear to legal U.S. workers who might lose their jobs for no other reason than a missed keystroke during data entry.
All U.S. employers and U.S. workers!
2/29/08 - UK Implements New Points-Based Immigration System Effective Today, As Australia Adds 6,000 Skilled Worker Visas
Effective today, the United Kingdom has begum implementing a new points-based system which much simplifies the permanent immigration regime and makes it easier for highly skilled specifically allows for employment authorization for spouses, and mimics one already in place in Australia.
It is becoming increasingly more difficult for U.S. employers to complete for skilled labor - often skilled labor which is the product of U.S. educational institutions - when the rest of the developed world keeps adapting its immigration laws to the reality of a tight labor market for the most talented foreign workers while the U.S. remains inflexible.
Not only U.S. employers, but anyone concerned with America's long-term competitiveness.
2/25/2008 - Attorney General Announces Higher Fines Against Employers for Violation of Immigration Laws
On February 22, Attorney General Michael Mukasey announced a rule that will increase the civil fines assessed against employers for violations of various immigration provisions - in some cases the increase can be as much as $5000 per incident (effectively, per foreign national). The rule implementing the new fines becomes effective March 27, 2008.
Getting caught for immigration violations is about to get much more expensive for employers. While some of the penalties (discrimination in particular) are easily avoided with proper training and good faith, this will increase the downside to the Catch-22 in which many employers already find themselves - severe penalties for employment of those without authorization but no path in existing law to sponsor workers in many positions for valid employment-authorized visas.
U.S. employers which cannot locate sufficient qualified and willing U.S. labor and are resisting off-shoring the work.
2/22/2008 - USCIS Expected to Release New H-1B Rule
USCIS is expected to release a rule soon which would limit employers to one H-1B filing per foreign national in an effort to eliminate the practice of seeking multiple chances under the H-1B lottery.
The new rule should serve to make the lottery process somewhat more fair - especially for smaller petitioners who cannot afford to prepare and file multiple petititions.
H-1B petitioning employers, potential H-1B sponsored employees.