A common question among H-1B holders is whether they can start their own company and work for it, rather than for an existing employer. The answer is: It depends. It depends on your degree, the nature of the company you want to create, your experience and expertise, the capitalization of your proposed business, your country [...]
More bad news for Indian EB-2 category green card hopefuls – the long-awaited Oct 1 release of the new priority date for filing applications is estimated to be for a much older date of 2006, rather than the previously predicted 2007, liaison officers of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) announced this week. Worse, the [...]
If you are an H-1B worker and have been reading our blog regularly, by now you probably know that your employer must pay you a required wage even if benched, you must do the work when available for which you were hired, and you cannot move from one location to the next without the employer [...]
The run on H-1Bs using up the allotment for new visas for this year has left many scrambling for an alternative authorization to live and work in the United States until more H-1Bs become available again next year. In this article, we discuss alternatives to the H-1B visa for those who cannot apply for an [...]
A few weeks ago we wrote about a legal complaint against an H-1B body-shop employer that highlighted a unique process for American citizens or green-card holders to contest unscrupulous employers who exploit the H-1B program. In our prior story, we discussed the complaint process within the Department of Justice (DOJ), in which American citizens and green [...]
Has your H-1B employer promised you a wage that is based on a percentage of project work? If so, read on, as this article discusses some common issues and important considerations for H-1B workers offered percentage-based pay. The attorney-authors encounter many H-1B workers whose H-1B sponsor employers promised them percentage-based wages for work projects, such [...]
We have written quite a bit about using Department of Labor and USCIS tools to stand up to exploitative H-1B employers, but there is another agency that is also pursuing them: the Department of Justice. The Department of Justice (DOJ) enforces immigration related anti-discrimination provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act in the employment world. [...]
Due to a new requirement by at least one U.S. consulate in India, H-1B employees now face a new risk of a permanent bar from the United States for unlawful actions by their H-1B employers. The U.S. Consulate in Hyderabad, as shown in a document obtained by AILA, is now requiring H-1B employees who will be [...]
In the wake of Maryland’s Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) settlement agreement involving H-1B wage violations, questions have been raised about the unfair effect this is having on the victims, the teachers who will be forced to leave their jobs and the United States once their H-1B time runs out. As part of the [...]
Image by john_a_ward via Flickr If you are an H-1B worker in search of new work, especially in the IT sector, you must scrutinize the relationship with your prospective H-1B employer to make sure the proposed employment relationship is acceptable under USCIS criteria. If you don’t compare the proposed employment conditions with USCIS requirements, you [...]
