Don’t forget immigration issues when making employment changes

Immigration

by Leigh Cole

Employment-based immigration status generally is specific to the employer and the position. When employees are terminated or promoted or their job description changes, you should expect their employment-based immigration status to be affected. Tensions can run high when an employee’s personal and family immigration status is put at risk, regardless of whether the change is a termination, a voluntary departure, or even a promotion. Employers should identify employees’ immigration status as an issue with an employment change as early as possible.

Record immigration status in personnel files

When an employment relationship isn’t going well or is in transition, it’s important to identify immigration issues as early as possible as you consider how to proceed. Poor performance, termination, job changes, layoffs, and even promotions can be particularly stressful for employees whose permission to live and work in the United States is based on their employment. Also, it’s possible that an employee’s spouse could lose his right to work in the United States if the employee’s job changes or ends. Employers are not required to base employment decisions on immigration considerations or continue employment because of immigration sponsorship. Even so, the dynamic should be brought into the discussion at the outset so the employer isn’t caught off guard by the employee’s questions and concerns regarding job changes and his immigration status.

It’s not unusual for a manager or supervisor who is dealing with changes or HR issues not to know or to forget that an employee’s immigration status is sponsored by the employer. It’s easy to lose track of the immigration element if there’s no mention of it in an employee’s personnel file. I-9s and other immigration records, such as public access files for H-1B cases, should be kept entirely separate from personnel files so they can be readily shared in accordance with lawful requests from government officials (for I-9s) or inquiring members of the public (for public access files). Personnel files should contain copies of the employer’s immigration applications for the employee, including I-129 petitions for nonimmigrant status, Program Electronic Review Management (PERM) applications for labor certification, I-140 petitions for immigrant status (green card), and TN letters of support. If adding copies of immigration applications to personnel files isn’t feasible or practical considering your record-keeping practices, a reasonable alternative is to at least mention in an employee’s personnel file that he has an employment-based immigration case.

Best practice: Keep files for I-9s and public access files for H-1B cases separate from personnel files. Place copies of immigration applications in the employee’s personnel file for future reference.

Ensure counsel is aware of immigration angle

Be sure to bring the employee’s immigration status to the attention of employment counsel advising you on the situation. Employment lawyers aren’t always given the full personnel file for review, and they won’t necessarily know that you sponsored the employee for immigration status. Even if the same law firm handles your immigration and employment matters, employment counsel initially will focus on the facts you share with them and may not identify immigration status as a key issue for preliminary analysis unless you share it. Employees may react differently to employment actions if they believe their immigration status may be in jeopardy. Employment and immigration are related but separate areas, so employment counsel may need to consult with immigration attorneys about the immigration consequences of an employment action.

Best practice: When consulting with employment counsel about job changes, tell your attorneys if an affected employee has employer-sponsored immigration status at the outset.

Consider whether the job change is ‘material’

For all employment-based immigration categories, a material change in employment will likely require an amendment to the employee’s immigration approval. That general principle applies to all employment-based nonimmigrant categories, including E-1 treaty investor, E-2 treaty trader, E-3 specialty occupation worker from Australia, L-1 multinational transferee, O-1 extraordinary ability, P-1 performer/athlete, TN professional under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and others. It also can apply to permanent residency cases, depending on the facts and the status of the application process. Any job change for sponsored employees must be considered in this light.

Under U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) guidance issued in May 2015 in light of the Simeio decision, employers are required to file an amended H-1B petition if there is a “material change” in employment (see “DHS clarifies ‘material change’ in work location for H-1B employees” on pg. 3 of our June 2015 newsletter). Filing an H-1B amendment triggers a new prevailing wage analysis (and potentially a higher prevailing wage), a new worksite posting regarding the H-1B sponsorship, and the expense and administrative burden of preparing and filing a new petition. An amended H-1B petition must be filed before the employee moves to a different work location outside the area of intended employment covered by the existing H-1B approval. Filing an H-1B amendment after the location of employment changes is not sufficient. So, to maintain H-1B compliance, employers must be vigilant about even seemingly minor changes in the location of employment.

If there is a permanent residency case in process, ultimate approval of the case may be jeopardized if the position changes in material ways and no longer matches the position described in the labor certification or I-140 immigrant petition. For successful approval, the qualifying offer of employment must continue until the employee’s I-485 adjustment application is approved (after labor certification approval, if required, and I-140 approval) or until the I-485 adjustment application has been pending at USCIS for at least six months. The timing of termination or a job change has direct consequences on a pending permanent residency case and should be carefully considered when taking employment actions. Losing the benefit of a permanent residency case in process can have drastic effects for both the employee and the employer, which will have devoted significant time and resources to a case that is no longer viable.

Best practice: Consider potential immigration consequences of any job change for a sponsored employee, and determine whether it’s a material change that will have immigration consequences.

Early termination of H-1B employment has consequences

When H-1B employment ends before H-1B approval expires, the employee’s H-1B status and the H-4 dependent status of her derivative family members are terminated. The employer’s duty to pay the wages set forth in the approved H-1B petition continues until H-1B approval expires or the employer notifies USCIS of the early termination and withdraws the labor condition application approved by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). Employers have been held liable for back pay to former H-1B workers for periods beginning with early termination and lasting until the mandated notifications are provided to USCIS and the DOL. Also, if an employer terminates an H-1B employee before her H-1B approval expires, it must offer to pay the costs of return transportation to the worker’s home country and pay the costs if she actually returns to her home country.

Best practice: Identify early H-1B terminations as soon as possible so your required compliance steps can be completed on a timely basis.

USCIS adjudication times for employment authorization

As a general rule, once an employment authorization document (EAD) expires, the person can’t work until a new EAD from USCIS arrives in the mail. On December 31, 2015, USCIS proposed eliminating the requirement that it issue an interim EAD if it takes more than 90 days to approve the I-765 application for employment authorization. For years, employers and employees have been able to count on receiving EADs within 90 days or, if not, obtaining an interim EAD promptly from a local USCIS office.

USCIS hasn’t issued the final rule yet, but employers should expect it soon. I-765 applications for employment authorization should now be filed 120, not 90, days in advance. The change is most relevant to employees who are permanent residency applicants with pending I-485 applications for adjustment of status and beneficiaries of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). If you have employees who renew their EADs each year, please share this information with them so they will know to apply earlier going forward.

The author can be reached at lcole@dinse.com or 802-859-7035.