H1B Teleconference – Thurs. 2.18.10 @ 2 p.m.

February 10, 2010 in Immigration Law | Leave a comment

The H-1(B) Visa. Only 65,000 will be released October 1st, 2010. The time to file, April 1st, 2010 is approaching quickly.

The H1B Teleconference, presented by Attorney John Wilson of GoffWilson, P.A., will address the many aspects of filing the H-1(B) visa including challenges, and tips for successful visa approval. Following the discussion, Attorney Wilson will take questions from participants. Register online.

Topics Include:

  • 2010 H1-(B) Visa Cap
  • OPT to H1-(B), gap coverage, and STEM
  • New problems & issues for certain industries (prevailing wage changes, licensing problems, limitations on contract employees, who pays the fees, stricter scrutiny of documents, etc)
  • Frequent Site visits by the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration & Customs Enforcement
  • H1(B) extensions

Date & Time:
Thursday, February 18th, 2010
2:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.    Presentation by Attorney Wilson
2:30 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.    Participant Q&A

Registration:
Please register online by Wednesday, February 17th. You will receive a call-in number and access code upon registration. Registration is free to the first 100 participants.

Notice of Inspection? Subpoena? Lots of Documents, Little Time

November 24, 2009 in Form I-9 Compliance, worksite enforcement | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

As we reported last week, Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) recently issued 1,000 Notices of Inspection to employers across the US. It appears that in many instances, these Notices are accompanied by a subpoena. Whereas the Notice requires employers to present only their I-9 forms, the subpoenas are much more comprehensive and require employers to produce the following:

 

  • Original I-9 forms and copies of supporting documents
  • Employee roster or payroll
  • Monthly payroll reports
  • Copies of State Wage Detail Reports and Unemployment Insurance Quarterly Tax Reports
  • Copies of Quarterly Tax Statements
  • Independent Contactor Rosters including dates of hire and termination
  • Copies of Tax Form 1099 for all independent contractors
  • Lists of all individuals employed on a sporadic, irregular or intermittent basis and not deemed to be an employee
  • Copies of Social Security Administration Employer Correction Requests
  • Copies of petitions filed with the Immigration Service on behalf of employees
  • Copies of the business’s articles of incorporation, business license and annual reports
  • Employer Identification Number (EIC) and Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) documentation
  • Copies of all company procedures and/or policies regarding Form I-9 preparation

Employers are also being asked to provide information about use of temporary staffing agencies, participation in E-Verify, and any previous I-9 inspections by the Department of Labor. Employers typically have less than a week to gather, prepare and present all of these items.

If your company receives a Notice of Inspection with or without a subpoena you must act immediately. Contact us, we can help.

If you’d like help getting your files, Form I-9s and policies in place before there is a knock at the door, we can help with that too.

Form I-9 Reverification Clarification

November 24, 2009 in Form I-9 Compliance | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

An employee must be reverified only if his/her employment authorization expires. In most cases, if an acceptable document is valid on the day it is presented, then it fulfills the I-9 requirement and there is no requirement for employers to update the I-9 even if that document subsequently expires. For example, if a U.S. Passport is valid on the day the I-9 is completed, but subsequently expires, there is no need to reverify. List B documents do not need to be reverified.

There are specific situations when an employer must reverify an employee’s work authorization. When an employer reverifies an employee it is the employee’s work authorization that is reverified and not the document presented. When an employee first completes the I-9 form, the employer should review it carefully and note if the employee’s work authorization will expire.

  • In Section 1, note if there is an expiration date listed in the “…alien authorized to work until _________” portion of the attestation. If so, then this individual will need to show you evidence of continued work authorization prior to the date they listed in Section 1.
  • In Section 2, note whether the employee has presented a document that indicates a date when work authorization will end. Documents that have work authorization expiration dates include Employment Authorization Documents and some I-94 cards.

If you note that an employee’s work authorization will expire, set a reminder for yourself to reverify the employee before their authorization expires. Typically, we advise employers to contact employees and alert them of the expiration of their work authorization 120 days in advance of that date. This should allow employees enough time to procure and present evidence of continued authorization.

If you have any questions about the Form I-9, please contact us.

1,000 Notices of Inspection Issued by ICE This Week

November 19, 2009 in Form I-9 Compliance, worksite enforcement | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

According to today’s announcement by USCIS Assistant Secretary John Morton, 1,000 employers will receive Notices of Inspection (NOIs) from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) this week. These employers will have to undergo a complete audit of their I-9 forms and were selected based on “investigative leads and intelligence and because of the business’ connection to public safety and national security—for example, privately owned critical infrastructure and key resources.”

This latest development is in keeping with the updated ICE worksite enforcement guidance released by the Department of Homeland Security in April. “In this strategy, ICE identified form I-9 audits as the most important administrative tool in building criminal cases and bringing employers into compliance with the law.” Indeed, in the last six months ICE has initiated more than double the number of I-9 inspections than it initiated in all of FY2008. We expect this trend to continue and cannot stress strongly enough the need for all businesses of all sizes and across all industries to make sure they have comprehensive I-9 training and policies in place before ICE knocks on the door. For compliance strategies, or to learn more about our digital I-9 solution, please contact us.

Worksite Enforcement Continues, Only Now it is Quieter.

November 16, 2009 in Form I-9 Compliance, worksite enforcement | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

ShhhAs reported in local news, the crackdown on employers continues. In Minnesota 1,200 employees of ABM were fired in October. ABM is a large U.S. company who contracts to provide janitorial services to large office buildings; the fired employees all worked as janitors for the company. The firings came about as the result of a government audit of the company’s I-9 forms. It appears the company has cooperated fully with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, though ABM’s cooperation does not mean they will avoid civil or criminal charges. This quieter type of immigration raid is in keeping with the stated intention of this Administration to focus its efforts on employer compliance.

For a full report of the ABM firings, please see the following Minnesota Public Radio article. Additional reporting can be found in this article from the Minnesota Star Tribune.

If you have questions or would like to learn more about GoffWilson’s comprehensive I-9 services, please contact us.

It’s Official: E-Verify Extended until September 30, 2012

October 30, 2009 in e-verify | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

E-Verify 2012On October 28th, President Obama signed the Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill for fiscal year 2010, extending E-Verify through September 30, 2012. The bill passed the house on October 15th and the Senate on the 20th.

Passage of this bill is consistent with the Administration’s stated intention to eventually make E-Verify mandatory for all employers (as we reported in April of this year).

E-Verify is an online system dependent upon the Form I-9 that is intended to allow employers to verify the employment authorization of newly hired employees.

I-9 Challenge: Companies with Employees in More than One State or Location

October 26, 2009 in Form I-9 Compliance, Frequently Asked Questions | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

License PlatesCompleting I-9s correctly when there are out-of-state employees or employer locations in different states is a challenge for many companies. Unfortunately, there is no easy answer to this problem. The solution that will work best for your company depends upon the company set up and practices. To restate the I-9 basics, the employer must review original documents and complete the I-9 correctly and in a timely manner – there is no way around these requirements even for out-of-state offices or employees. If new out-of-state hires are not brought to a main office to complete paperwork, you must have an out-of-state employer representative or agent reviewing original documents. The completion timeline still holds as well; employees must complete Section 1 of the I-9 by the close of business on their first day, and employers have until the third business day to review original documents and complete Section 2. Is your company compliant? If you have concerns, or questions about instituting policies and procedures that will work for your company, please contact us – we would be happy to help.

E-Verify: Extension through 2012 Likely

October 19, 2009 in e-verify | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

2012It appears that the E-Verify program is here to stay – at least until 2012. Last Thursday, the House of Representatives passed the $44.1 billion Department of Homeland Security budget for fiscal year 2010 (HR 2892). Funding for E-Verify was set to run out at the end of this month, but the 307-114 vote extends funding for E-Verify through September 2012. The budget is expected to pass the Senate this week and will then be passed on to the President for signature.

If you have questions about E-Verify, the I-9 Form or your company’s compliance responsibilities, contact us.

E-Verify for Federal Contractors – Supplemental Guidance and Enrollment Questions

September 30, 2009 in e-verify | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Supplemental GuideIn case you haven’t seen it yet, the USCIS released supplemental E-Verify guidance specifically for Federal Contractors. This 22-page document can be found here.

Also, we have received inquiries from companies who don’t want to wait to enroll in E-Verify until they receive their new or amended contract. Please be advised that while any company is allowed to enroll in E-Verify at any time, companies cannot enroll in E-Verify as a Federal Contractor until they receive a new contract that contains the E-Verify clause or an existing contract is amended to include this clause. This is an important distinction to make, since the requirements and allowances for Federal Contractors and voluntarily-enrolled E-Verify users are different. Employers who voluntarily enroll in E-Verify before they receive a federal contract must amend their status within E-Verify after the contract with the E-Verify clause has been awarded. If you have questions, please contact us.

Letter from Social Security? Proceed with Caution.

September 17, 2009 in Form I-9 Compliance, Immigration Law, worksite enforcement | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

CautionRecent reports indicate businesses have been receiving a new type of letter from the Social Security Administration. These letters state that the business has been selected randomly to take part in a Social Security Administration study and request information about specific employees. The letters include questions about the employees’ original employment applications, Social Security Numbers and documents. If your company receives one of these letters, please proceed carefully and consult with legal counsel before responding. In addition to labor law and immigration law considerations, privacy issues and potential fraud should also be considered.