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Employers should prepare for a DOL audit at the start of the Employer-sponsored Permanent Residency Process:
We are seeing a significant increase in DOL Audits of PERM applications and recruitment process. We are not surprised by this recent trend and we were not caught off guard, because our practices has always been prepare, prepare, prepare. When we prepare recruitment instructions and PERM applications, we prepare for these assuming we will be audited. We provide our Employer clients step by step instructions on how to comply with regulations, and we also ensure our clients are properly and timely saving the recruitment evidence. Our practice is to have a fully completed Recruitment Report before we proceed to filing a PERM application.
We previously reported on President Trump’s June 22 proclamation on Immigration HERE. That June 22 Proclamation specifically addressed limitations on H-1B, H-2B, J, and L visas for workers who were outside the US. That proclamation also mentioned additional measures to limit employment based immigration, specifically Employer-sponsored Lawful Permanent Residency, that were in the works under Section 5 of the proclamation, excerpt copied below:
(b) The Secretary of Labor shall, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, as soon as practicable, and consistent with applicable law, consider promulgating regulations or take other appropriate action to ensure that the presence in the United States of aliens who have been admitted or otherwise provided a benefit, or who are seeking admission or a benefit, pursuant to an EB-2 or EB-3 immigrant visa or an H-1B nonimmigrant visa does not disadvantage United States workers in violation of section 212(a)(5)(A) or (n)(1) of the INA (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(5)(A) or (n)(1)). The Secretary of Labor sha
ll also undertake, as appropriate, investigations pursuant to section 212(n)(2)(G)(i) of the INA (8 U.S.C. 1182(n)(2)(G)(i)).
Today we are reporting that indeed, we are seeing examples of these additional measures to limit employment based immigration in our practice: we are seeing a significant INCREASE in DOL Audits of PERM Applications. PERM is one of the first steps in the Employer-sponsored permanent residency process – employers must conduct recruitment for the position before filing a PERM application with Department of Labor. This is a mandatory step that must take place before an employer can begin applying for their employee’s permanent residency, and this is a step of a very long process that is being scrutinized and challenged more than before.
For more information on the Employment based permanent residency process, please consider registering for a live training by one of our experienced business immigration lawyers here: https://www.usimmigrationcompliance.com/bookings-checkout/employment-based-green-card-training/book
Leyla McMullen
Business Immigration Attorney MDIVANI CORPORATE IMMIGRATION LAW FIRM
NOT LEGAL ADVICE: This article is for educational purposes only, it is not legal advice that may be applicable to our situation
The information provided here does not constitute legal advice. It is general information regarding law and policy that may be applicable to your particular HR issue or legal problem. Information provided in this blog, or any of our other public posts, does not create an attorney-client relationship. For specific advice you can rely upon, please contact your attorney.