Tara J. Goldsmith Immigration Law Blog on Lawyers.com

Some of our clients who sponsored foreign nationals for H-1B visas are getting “site visits” from the government and an increasing numbers are receiving “Notices of Intent to Revoke” (“NOTICE") their H-1B approvals. These site visits were initiated by the government to help relieve their concern about fraudulent applications. I’d like to tell you about one situation which was recently handled by our office and make some suggestions.

During Christmas week (actually one day before New Year’s) an unexpected site inspection took place at an employer who sponsored its Chief Financial/Marketing Analyst. The investigator was told that neither the sponsored worker nor the President (who signed the petition) was in the office because they were away on vacation. The inspector (they are usually private contractors, not government employees) became suspicious about this and asked to speak with someone else. The selected employee who was totally unfamiliar with the petition confirmed the employment of the foreign national and indicated she was a manager of the company. The inspector seemed satisfied but shortly thereafter the employer received a “Notice” calling into question many of the assertions made in the supporting petition which were accepted by USCIS when the petition was approved, questioning whether the foreign national was actually employed in the proffered position and seeking detailed financial information about the employer and the foreign national. By submitting affidavits, employment records, financial records, etc which took many hours to assemble, we subsequently received a decision wherein the government cancelled its Notice of Intent to Revoke.  

Needless to say, the employer and employee were very relieved but the anxiety they suffered and the legal fees they incurred perhaps could have been avoided by taking certain precautions:

1.Make sure the employment confers to that articulated in the submitted petition. If the employee’s job changes, if there is a change in the location of the employment, or if there is a significant change in compensation, note these changes in the company profile or when necessary, file an amended petition.

2. Make sure all responsible staff (not just the signer) are aware of the terms and conditions of employment as described in the petition and warn other staff to not volunteer testimony. As with our case mentioned above, sometimes issuing summary statements such as our other employ did who simply called the sponsored employee a manager because of her relatively high level position within the company, can be misleading and cause suspicions about the bona fides of the sponsorship.

3. If you receive a “Notice of Intent to Revoke” do not view this as a final denial  or actual revocation. If the terms and conditions of employment were accurately described and continue to be true, you should spend whatever time is necessary to gather documentation to overcome the charges raised in the “Notice.”. Furthermore, should you decide to simply not fight the government and accept their decision, it could have a negative impact on future petitions you might want to file for employment of other foreign nationals. 

For more than 30 years, the law firm of Garganigo, Goldsmith & Weiss has been assisting people with immigration, green card or visa issues. For more information on how our immigration attorneys in NY can help, please call us at 212-643-6400, email us online, or visit our office at 14 Penn Plaza, Suite 1020, New York, NY 10122.