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Alerts & Publications

Sunday, September 20, 2009

The United States Citizen and Immigration Service is Performing On-site Inspections at the Place of Employment

By Fabian A. Pal

The USCIS has begun surprise on-site inspections to verify H-1B employment. If your company has any foreign nationals employed under an H-1B non-immigrant approved petition, you must be prepared for a possible surprise on-site inspection.

During these inspections, the contractor will ask the employer general questions regarding the company, including, but not limited to, the nature of the company business. how many employees were employed in the company, hours of operation, office locations, number of foreign nationals employed that have an H-1B status, how many employees the company sponsored for permanent residency, and how many of the current employees are legal permanent residents.

Specific questions about the foreign national employee may include, but will not necessarily be limited to, duties of the foreign national, current salary, hours worked, and start date of employment.

The person responding on behalf of employer will be asked to show identification in order to verify who the spokesperson is. In addition, the inspector may ask for a tour of the offices and may take a picture of the building to submit as proof that company is currently operating.

Documents to have ready for inspection may include, but are not be limited to: (i) W-2, pay stub, or a payroll register; (ii) foreign national’s I-9; and (iii) Labor Condition Application public access file as required by the Department of Labor for each H-1B employee.

During these inspections, the contractor will ask the foreign national what his job duties entail, hours worked, and salary received.

The foreign national will be asked to show identification in order to verify the person is in fact the foreign national.

If you have any questions regarding the inspections or other immigration related topics, please contact us.

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