At the October 28, 2010, stakeholder meeting with the U.S. Department of Labor, DOL discussed their increased staffing capability and a corresponding increased scrutiny of cases where the employer fails to respond to an Audit Notification letter or submits an incomplete response to such a letter. Where DOL identifies a substantial failure by the employer to provide required documentation in response to an Audit Notification letter, DOL indicated that we can expect to see more debarment and/or revocation proceedings.

Here is a commonly encountered situation for AOS applicants (I-485 pending) from our clients-only extranet:

USCIS and allied agencies responsible for immigration are using information on social networking sites (such as Facebook) to track the activities and postings made by immigration benefits applicants/beneficiaries for evidence of fraudulent activity. While, on principle I agree with deterring fraud, but the "big brother" stance of USCIS is deplorable. Beware folks - big brother is watching. Something you post even in jest may not be that funny in the hands of a govt. officer whose career is dedicated to finding fraud.

On August 13, 2010, President Obama signed Public Law 111-230, which contains provisions to increase certain H-1B and L-1 petition fees. The law, which already in effect, requires the submission of an additional fee of $2,000 for certain H-1B petitions and $2,250 for certain L-1A and L-1B petitions.vUSCIS has clarified certain matters that employers should bear in mind.

Questions and Answers
Q. To which petitioners does the new fee apply?

Here is a question from one of our corporate clients:

Let's say hypothetically an employer hires someone for 20 hours a week for clerical office work who is in the U.S. on a student visa.

H.R. 6080 has been passed and is expected to be signed by the President today, 13 August 2010. This Bill raises The H-1B and L-1 application filing fees (fraud prevention and detection) by $2,000 for companies with 50 or more employees in USA if more than 50% of the employees are on H/L status. The fees are to be effective upon enactment (when the President signs and USCIS can implement) and will end on September 30, 2014.

The Bill states:

This week, we have received an Oustanding Researcher approval in one day. I hope and wish we could see more of this lacrity in USCIS adjudications. Details of the case are here:
http://www.immigration.com/sample-ca...proved-one-day

7. What documentation and/or notice is needed when an employer undergoing Supervised Recruitment changes its attorney/agent?

In a recent meeting, Nebraska Service Center has clarified why, some times, in cases of pending I-485 applications, USCIS approves AOS interchanging the applications of the derivative and principal applicant:

USCIS is launching a pilot program in July 2010 that will use Dun & Bradstreet databases to verify business information of employers who submit immigration related petitions. "Verification Instrument for Business Enterprises" (VIBE) is a tool intended to help combat immigration fraud, and to minimize RFE's regarding petitioners' business data and eventually to make submission of routine documentation unnecessary.