January 8th H1 B Memo and its Ramifications
I believe all of you
might have heard about the
notorious January 8th Memo
issued by USCIS. We received
few questions and concerns
from some of you regarding
this memo, as to how USCIS
is actually processing the
H1 petitions, in light of
this memo. I am pleased to
inform you that we have been
continuously and
consistently receiving the
H1 approvals, for both H1
transfers and H1 extensions.
End
Client Letters:
However, USCIS has been
looking for letters from end
clients, while processing H1
petitions; they have been
asking for these letters in
fact from June 2009 onwards
itself; and they are asking
for these, regardless of
whether there is direct
business relationship
between the employer and the
end-client or whether there
are intermediate vendors.
I would like to share some
information, regarding this
matter, which could be
useful for those of you in
need of filing H1 petitions
in future. Essentially, it
has become mandatory to
submit the
end-client-letters with all
types of H1 filings - H1
transfers and H1 extensions.
USCIS is looking for certain
key clauses in these
end-client-letters. While
working with one of the best
attorneys in the country, we
have a drafted a very good
"end-client-letter
template", that has
essentially
addressed/eliminated any H1
queries. We are pleased to
let you know that we have
now been receiving H1
approvals without any
queries, when we are able to
submit the end-client letter
with all the right clauses.
While we are noting that
Clients and Vendors are more
receptive than ever before,
to issue the letters in the
required format, we still
see the necessity to counsel
them, time and again,
regarding the importance of
the end-client-letters.
While we are persistently
convincing the clients to
get the letters issued in
the required fashion, we are
seeing good results when an
employee is able to broach
the matter directly with
his/her manager, rather than
depending on the preferred
vendor to approach the
client. We encourage you to
file H1s well in advance and
to get them processed under
Premium processing.
Here are some additional responses to FAQs, composed based on our experiences, that I would like to share with you. I trust that this following information is helpful for some of you.
Q1: Do I still need the end-client letter, even though there are no intermediate layers in my project.
Yes, a letter from the end-client is still required, even under situations in cases where we are the direct vendors to the client.
Q2: Instead of the end-client letter, can I get a letter from the preferred vendor?
No, a letter from the end-client is mandatory.
Q3: Can you document my assignment to be an internal project, in order to do away with the end-client letter requirement?
No, USCIS, in fact, issues more queries on internal project situations than what they do with IT consulting assignments. They can ask for Internal Project details such as, Scope of the project, Ongoing sales of the project, Screen shots of the application, Details of the development and marketing team, List of clients, etc. USCIS is suspicious if someone mentions that the project is Internal Projects. USCIS perceives the mention of internal project as fraudulent excuse to avoid end-client letter.
Q4: Have you been receiving any H1 Queries?
No, we have not been receiving any H1 Queries, because we have always been submitting end-client letters along with every H1 that we are filing. We have been filing all most all of the H1 Petitions under premium processing; and we have been receiving approvals without a query in 2-3 weeks.
Q5: There are multiple layers in my project? Should I be concerned about any complications with my H1 petition?
No, we have been receiving H1 Approvals, without any queries, even under such situations. When an end-client letter is drafted in the specific format requested, to include all the names of intermediate vendors, we have not been seeing any issues.
Q6: My contract is valid for 6 months only. How long can I expect to receive my H1 validity?
Even under such short-term contract situations, as long as we are able to get the end-client letter with the right terminology, we are able to receive H1 approvals with 3 years validity.
Q7: I don’t know how to approach my manager or the client for the end-client letter. Can you help?
Sure, we will send you an email drafting the current regulations associated with submitting the end client letters along with H1 petitions. Please forward that email to your manager. Most clients are aware of these new regulations already. Even if they are not aware of the regulations, they would, after reading our email, to co-operate with us in issuing the letter.
Q8: The end-client has issued a letter, but omitted most of the terminology requested in our drafts. What should I do now?
We shall then draft another email, addressing the importance of the clauses that are missing, which you can forward to your manager. Most managers are willing to re-do their letters, after reading our updates.
Q9: Should I approach the preferred vendor, to request for the end-client letter through the preferred vendor?
We feel that is better for the employee to initiate the matter directly with his/her manager, rather than routing the request through the preferred vendor. We find this approach to be more productive and expeditious.
Q10: Should I file my H1 on premium processing?
We recommend premium processing for all H1 petitions, particularly if any of the following situations are applicable for you.
- If you have less than 2-3 months of validity on your H1
- If your labor certification is pending
- If it is a H1 transfer situation
- If you have immediate travel plans
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