Employers Immigration Guide
This page is an immigration guide for employers, particularly for those who sponsor foreign-born workers for immigration benefits.
We discuss the process of obtaining temporary working visas for employees and converting these to lawful permanent residence. Our law firm represents over 100 corporate clients throughout the United States.
We guide employers in successfully processing visa petitions through the USCIS and in obtaining the approval of PERM applications through the U.S. Department of Labor. We assist both employers and employees in the immigration green card process.
We also represent employers who sponsor employees who are persons of extraordinary ability , outstanding professors and researchers and executives and managers of multinational corporations.
We also advise employers how to comply with the Employee Verification (“I-9″) System, how to respond to “mismatch” letters received from the Social Security Administration, and how to avoid liability under anti-discrimination and “document abuse” laws. We discuss the government’s “E-Verify” program in which our law firm and some of our corporate clients participate.
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Our Employers Immigration Guide is divided into the following subtopics:
- Success Stories
- Obtaining Temporary Working Status for Employees
- Obtaining Permanent Residence for Employees
- How to Avoid Employer Sanctions (I-9′s)
- Social Security Numbers and “No-Match” Letters
- Anti-Discrimination and Document Abuse
- E-Verify Program
- Employer Information from the Government
Related Pages:
- Can Your Company Survive an I-9 Audit?
- Hiring Recent University Graduates
- Premium Processing Program
- Department of Labor Immigration Resources
- Bilateral Social Security Agreements
SUCCESS STORIES
- Showing a Valid Employer-Employee Relationship (August 2010)
- Using E-Verify to Help a Corporate Client (October 2008)
- Employment-Based Immigration: Secrets for Success (September 2004)
OBTAINING TEMPORARY WORKING STATUS FOR EMPLOYEES
- Visitors for Business (“B-1″) or Pleasure (“B-2″)
- Treaty Traders (“E-1″)
- Treaty Investors (“E-2″)
- Professional Employees (“H-1B”)
- Exchange Visitors (“J-1″)
- Intracompany Transferees (“L-1″)
- The “Dual Intent” Doctrine
- Persons of Extraordinary Ability (“O”)
- Athletes and Entertainers (“P”)
- International Cultural Exchange Visitors (“Q”)
- Religious Workers (“R”)
OBTAINING PERMANENT RESIDENCE FOR EMPLOYEES
- Green Cards Through Employment: PERM
- Green Cards Through Employment: An Overview
- Obtaining Wage Data from the Federal Government
- The Foreign Labor Certification Process
- National Interest Waivers
- Persons of Extraordinary Ability
- Outstanding Professors and Researchers
- Multinational Executives and Managers
- Persons of Exceptional Ability
HOW TO AVOID EMPLOYER SANCTIONS
Federal law requires that all employers verify the identity and employment eligibility of all new employees including U.S. citizens within three days of hire. Employers are required to complete a Form I-9, and each employee must provide their employer with documentation establishing both their identity and their eligibility to work in the United States. Failure to follow these rules may result in civil and/or criminal sanctions against offending employers.
- I-9 Central (USCIS)
- Download Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, (USCIS)
- A Two-Headed Monster: The New I-9 Form (June 2013)
- Dealing with the New I-9 Form (4-24-13)
- New Two Page I-9 Form and Instructions (3-8-13)
- USCIS I-9 Handbook for Employers (Effective 3-8-13)
- Audits of Businesses for Illegal Immigrants Rising (12-24-12)
- U.S.A. v. Ketchikan Drywall Services, Inc. (OCAHO) (8-11-11)
- New ICE Audits Target 1,000 Firms (6-16-11)
- U.S. Supreme Court Upholds State Law Mandating E-Verify for Employers (5-26-11)
- USCIS Regulations: Documents Acceptable for Employment Eligibility Verification (4-15-11)
- USCIS Issues Final Rule on Employment Eligibility Verification: Questions and Answers (4-14-11)
- I-9 Regulation re: Electronic Signatures (ICE) (7-22-10)
- ICE Assistant Secretary John Morton Announces 1,000 New Workplace Audits (11-19-09)
- I-9 Audits: 7 Tips for Employers (7-06-09)
- I-9 Audits: Catch-22 for Employers (7-01-09)
- More than 650 U.S. Businesses to Have Employee Work Files Audited (7-01-09)
- 652 businesses Nationwide Served with Audit Notices Today (ICE) (7-01-09)
- USCIS Issues Guidance on Employment Eligibility Verification Form (6-26-09)
- How Do I Complete Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification? (USCIS) (August 2008)
- EOIR Regulation Imposing Higher Civil Fines Against Employers for Immigration Violations (2-26-08)
- INC v. INS – Avoiding Employer Sanctions (1995)
- How to Survive an I-9 Audit (Part I)
In this video, Immigration Attorney Carl Shusterman provides advice to employers seeking to comply with both I-9 laws and complex immigration anti-discrimination and document abuse laws.
- How to Survive an I-9 Audit (Part II)
This segment continues to explain how to file Form I-9 and avoid anti-discrimination and document abuse violations and provides advice to employers seeking to minimize their liability under the law.
SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS AND “NO-MATCH” LETTERS
- Social Security Online: Immigration Information (English)
- Social Security Online: Immigration Information (Spanish)
- Social Security Number Verification Service (SSNVS)
- INS General Counsel on Responding to a Social Security Administration No-Match Letter (4-12-99)
- INS General Counsel on Responding to a Social Security Administration No-Match Letter (12-23-97)
ANTI-DISCRIMINATION/DOCUMENT ABUSE
Office of Special Counsel (OSC)
- Office of Special Counsel, Department of Justice (Enforces Anti-Discrimination and Document Abuse Laws)
- Look at the Facts, Not the Faces – Your Guide to Fair Employment – “Office of Special Counsel, Department of Justice”
- Employer Best Practices During Worksite Enforcement Audits
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- Types of Immigration Related Unfair Employment Practices Discrimination
Anti-Discrimination
Document Abuse
E-VERIFY PROGRAM
E-Verify is an Internet database operated by the Department of Homeland Security which allows participating employers to electronically verify the employment eligibility of newly hired employees, regardless of whether they are U.S. citizens or foreign nationals. Most federal contractors and companies located in certain states are required to participate in the E-Verify program.
- E-Verify Page (USCIS)
- E-Verify Self-Check (USCIS)
- E-Verify: How to Create a Case (USCIS)
- E-Verify: Employer Rights and Responsibilities (USCIS)
- E-Verify: How to Respond to a Tentative Nonconfirmation (TNC) Result (USCIS)
- E-Verify: Employee Rights and Responsabilities (USCIS)
- E-Verify: Derechos y Responsibilidades del Empleado (USCIS)
- E-Verify Employers Search Tool (12-19-12)
- E-Verify Employee Rights Toolkit (11-28-12)
- USCIS Announces Expansion of E-Verify Self Check (2-9-12)
- The Basics of E-Verify, the US Employer Verification System (July 2011)
- E-Verify User Manual (Updated May 2011)
- E-Verify Employer DOs and DON’Ts (Justice Department) (Revised 3-21-11)
- E-Verify Redesign (6-14-10)
- Findings of the E-Verify Program Evaluation (December 2009)
- Federal Contractors Required to Use E-Verify Beginning September 8, 2009 (USCIS)
- Final Rule Requiring Mandatory E-Verify Use for Government Contractors (6-05-09)
- Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2009 (H.R. 2638) – (Signed by President on 9/30/08)
- How Do I Use E-Verify? (USCIS)(August 2008)
- Employees — You Should Know Your Rights and Responsibilities Under E-Verify (1-18-08)
EMPLOYER INFORMATION FROM THE GOVERNMENT
- “How Do I?” Guides for Employers (USCIS)
- NAICS Look-Up
- Fact Sheet: USCIS Notifies Employers of Filing Changes (3-24-06)
- Business Visa Center (State Department)
- Business Visa Center: Frequently Asked Questions (State Department)