A recent Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) decision, Administrator, Wage & Hour Div. v. Itek Consulting, Inc. 2008-LCA-00046 (5/6/09), found an H-1B employer, Itek Consulting Inc. liable for back wages for periods of time when the employee was in nonproductive status. In its decision, the ALJ references the pertinent part of the Regulations, writing “Employers are […]

The Department of Labor has informed AILA liaison that they will keep the old LCA system operational through June 30, 2009. The DOL has implemented fixes to many of the issues brought to their attention by AILA and other stakeholders thus far. The decision to keep the old LCA system operational will allow the DOL […]

The Dept. of Labor’s Administrative Review Board (ARB) has released a decision, reversing the Administrative Law Judge’s (ALJ) decision, finding that Pegasus Consulting Group, an IT consulting company, had “willfully violated the INA’s H-1B wage requirements”, by failing to comply with the H-1B program’s requirements. The ARB found that the evidence presented showed that Pegasus knew […]

In a decision released April 23, 2009, the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit questioned the USCIS standards on the issue of the ability to pay.  The Court stated, ” We were thrown by the government’s brief”. The Court stated that the position of the USCIS “makes no sense” and was even renounced by the […]

With sadness, we post the June 2009 Visa Bulletin just released by the U.S. Department of State.  Most of the bulletin is the same as May 2009 — EB-3 remains “unavailable” for all countries and EB-2 China is still February 15, 2005.   However there are further set backs for EB-2 India which rolled back approximately 4 […]

The Pentagon recently announced plans to open military enlistment to nonimmigrants legally present in the United States.  Previously only U.S. Citizens and Permanent Residents could enlist in the military.  However the government now recognizes a specific need in strategic areas, languages, and skill sets and will actively recruit students and professionals in temporary nonimmigrant status […]