The ever-changing landscape of employment-based immigration continues to pose challenges for U.S. employers. With increased scrutiny on foreign national workers, compliance audits, and evolving nonimmigrant visa policies,...more
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently updated its Occupational Information Network (O*NET), resulting in readjustments to the “Job Zones”—five articulated categories correlated with the levels of education, training,...more
Employers seeking to hire a non-US worker on a permanent basis are generally required to undertake a lengthy, complex sponsorship process involving both the Department of Labor (“DOL”) and the United States Citizenship and...more
Equal Pay Transparency (EPT) laws have been passed in several states and localities, potentially impacting the permanent employment certification (PERM)/H-1B labor condition application (LCA) process for employers conducting...more
On December 14, 2021, the Department of Labor (DOL) published a final rule that rescinds a previous DOL regulation implemented in January 2021. The January 2021 regulation would have led to a dramatic increase in prevailing...more
On October 7, 2020, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced an Interim Final Rule titled, “Strengthening Wage Protections for the Temporary and Permanent Employment of Certain Aliens in the United States” would go into...more
Federal agencies are providing leniency in light of the significant impact of Hurricane Ida on government operations, corporations, and those residing in the United States. Below we provide a summary of the flexibility that...more
With the consent of the U.S. Department of Labor, a federal judge in San Francisco has vacated final regulations issued by the Trump Administration that would have significantly increased the “prevailing wage” that would...more
The effective date of the “Strengthening Wage Protections for the Temporary and Permanent Employment of Certain Immigration and Non-Immigrants in the United States” (Prevailing Wage Rule) related to H-1B, H-1B1, and E-3 work...more
The Department of Labor (DOL) has further postponed the effective date of its prevailing wage final rule to November 14, 2022. The final rule significantly increases prevailing wage requirements for permanent resident and...more
On February 1, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) formally proposed delaying the implementation of its final rule, entitled “Strengthening Wage Protections for the Temporary and Permanent Employment of Certain Aliens in...more
On Thursday, January 14, the Department of Labor (DOL) published a regulation which will significantly increase prevailing wage requirements effective July 2021....more
After federal courts blocked their first attempt in December, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) recently published a new final rule seeking to again increase the minimum wage paid to foreign workers when sponsored for an...more
On January 12, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced an updated final rule designed to increase prevailing wages required for certain visa processes. The updated rule, entitled “Strengthening Wage Protections for...more
Effective June 30, 2021, the US Department of Labor will determine the prevailing wage for permanent labor certifications and labor condition applications based on a new formula for computing prevailing wage levels, resulting...more
Courts again have thwarted the Trump Administration's efforts to change H-1B rules and to increase the required wages that U.S. employers must pay to foreign workers. On December 1 and 3, 2020, a federal court order in...more
As a positive development for H-1B employers, on December 1, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California issued a final ruling in Chamber of Commerce, et al., v. DHS, et al. set aside the Interim...more
On December 1, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted a motion for summary judgment in favor of the plaintiffs that had requested to set aside two new regulations from the U.S....more
On October 8, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published the “Strengthening Wage Protections for the Temporary and Permanent Employment of Certain Aliens in the United States”interim final rule, amending the existing...more
The U.S. Department of Labor recently announced changes that will make it harder for employers to meet the prevailing wage standard to bring in temporary professional workers under H-1B visas. The changes are also likely to...more
President Trump’s Buy American, Hire American Executive Order encouraged the United States Department of Labor (DOL) and the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to propose new rules and guidance that will...more
In its continuing effort to limit legal immigration, the Trump Administration announced two rule changes last week to radically limit H-1Bs and the most common employment-based permanent residence process. The first rule...more
The Trump administration published two new regulations on October 8, 2020, that make significant changes to the H-1B visa rules and to the prevailing wage requirements for PERM labor certification applications as well as...more
In June, President Trump issued a proclamation that suspended the issuance of certain nonimmigrant visas and required the Secretaries of Labor and Homeland Security to provide recommendations on measures to protect the U.S....more
Effective October 8, 2020, the US Department of Labor will determine the prevailing wage for permanent labor certifications and labor condition applications based on a new formula for computing prevailing wage levels,...more