Andrew Wilson Quoted in Recent SHRM Article
January 24th, 2014 by SRW Lawyers
Andrew Wilson was recently quoted in a SHRM article titled, Prep Now for H-1B , as saying “you want to make sure you don’t have any prevailing wage determination issues, and if so, that you give yourself enough time to seek an alternate wage source to the Department of Labor’s (DOL) online wage data, such as an appropriate survey. If you do need to utilize an alternate survey, you need time to properly research which ones are available, and which ones meet DOL criteria.” He goes on to say “in some cases, the LCA can be delayed because the DOL requires additional information and documentation to confirm the proposed employer’s operations. This is particularly true for newer and smaller businesses. Also, if you’re using an alternate source for the prevailing wage determination, the LCA can be delayed as the DOL reviews that information”.
If the H-1B visa option becomes unavailable, Wilson advised employers to consider these alternatives:
- For Canadian and Mexican professionals, TN visas under the North American Free Trade Agreement.
- For intracompany transferees, L-1 visas. If an organization has foreign operations, this visa permits employees to transfer to the U.S.-affiliated company in a similar position if they have worked abroad for the foreign parent, subsidiary or affiliate continuously for at least a year within the preceding three years as an executive, manager or in a specialized-knowledge capacity
- If the employer is enrolled in E-Verify and the individual has a degree in a science, technology, engineering or math field, the 17-month optional practical training (OPT) extension.
- For those who may qualify under extraordinary ability criteria, the O-1 visa.
- For nationals of Australia, the E-3 visa.
- For nationals of Chile or Singapore, the H-1B1 visa.
- For essential employees if the company and foreign national share the same nationality, the E-2 visa.
- For those in F-1 status, continue with F-1 studies and look at internship opportunities under curricular practical training (CPT).
- For those that may qualify under EB-1 extraordinary ability, EB-1 outstanding researcher and/or EB-2 national interest waiver (NIW) criteria, pursue concurrent I-140/485 green card process.
