[author: Jenna Stras Baranko]

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued draft guidance on when to file an amended H-1B petition pursuant to the USCIS Administrative Appeal Office (AAO) precedent decision in Matter of Simeio Solutions, LLC.  The decision held that employers must file amended H-1B petitions when a new Labor Condition Application for Nonimmigrant Workers (LCA) is required due to a change in the H-1B worker’s worksite location.

According to USCIS, you must file an amended H-1B petition if the H-1B employee changed or is going to change his or her place of employment to a worksite location outside of the metropolitan statistical area or an “area of intended employment” covered by the existing approved H-1B petition, even if a new LCA is already certified and posted at the new location.  Once the amended petition is filed, the H-1B employee can immediately begin work at the new location.

For more details and information, please see the USCIS draft guidance here.

Jenna is an Intern with the firm and is not a practicing attorney.