LONG BEACH, CA, October 22, 2010. Immigration Solutions, a leading full service consulting, immigration, and employer compliance organization, announces its new I-9 Employer Resource Center that is uniquely designed to assist businesses in developing and maintaining compliant employment practices.

Reputable industry leaders are being audited, as employer compliance becomes more complex and enforcement (investigations and audits) increase. In order to effectively deal with these issues and avoid the very severe consequences of fines and penalties for non-compliance, employers must take the time to develop a strategy and be prepared in advance with a Compliance Program.

Many companies struggle with determining who to turn to for their I-9 compliance needs. Immigration Solutions approaches its Employer Compliance practice with the same exceptional service level clients have experienced from their other practice areas. Their talented and experienced team offers onsite or offsite in-depth I-9 audits, compliance training, assistance with the development of training manuals and compliance policies and procedures, and on-call consulting services. They additionally assist their clients in responding to government Notices of Inspection and audit requests.

With pricing that is cost-efficient and tailored to the needs of their clients, Immigration Solutions is positioned to offer high touch services and solutions to their clients at affordable prices.

Websites: www.I-9Audits.com
www.immigrationsolution.net

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About Immigration Solutions

Immigration Solutions provides US and Canadian immigration services to individuals and employers throughout the USA and abroad. They specialize in business immigration and have a depth of experience in the IT, health care, arts & entertainment, and sports industries, amongst others. Their services include complex business visas for investors, multinational managers, skilled professionals and outstanding individuals in science, business, education, athletics and entertainment. They additionally provide employer compliance consulting services on proper I-9 (Employment Eligibility Verification) auditing, training, and work with their clients to develop compliant immigration policies and procedures. They offer these services, as well, to government contractors and advise on FAR E-Verify enrollment and compliance issues.

The Justice Dept announced today that it reached a settlement with Catholic Healthcare West (CHW) to resolve allegations that they engaged in a pattern of citizenship discrimination by imposing discriminatory hurdles to employment for work-authorized individuals by requesting that non-US citizen and naturalized US citizens present more work authorization than required by law. CHW is the 8th largest hospital provider in the nation, operating facilities in California, Nevada and Arizona. CHW agreed to pay $257,000 in civil penalties – the largest amount of civil penalties ever paid to resolve such allegations.

This settlement sends a strong message to all employers how vitally important it is to have staff that is charged with the I-9 process properly trained on the laws governing I-9’s and specifically on each section of the form.  All workers who are authorized to work in the USA have the right to look for a job without encountering discrimination because of their immigration status or national origin”, said Thomas E. Prerez, Asst. Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

Fines Based Upon Inadequate Electronic I-9 System used to Track Worker Eligibility

Abercrombie & Fitch has been fined $1,047,110 in a settlement reached today with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ((ICE) for numerous technology-related deficiences in the company’s electronic I-9 system.

Referencing the ICE Press Release, the settlement is the result of a November 2008 Form I-9 inspection of Abercrombie & Fitch’s retail stores in Michigan.  The company was fully cooperative during the investigation and no instances of the knowing hire of unauthorized aliens were discovered. Since the initial inspection, Abercrombie & Fitch has taken measures to revise its I-9 Electronic Compliance Program, and has begun to implement new procedures to prevent future violations of federal immigration laws.

“Employers are responsible not only for the people they hire but also for the internal systems they choose to utilize to manage their employment process and those systems must result in effective compliance,” said Brian M. Moskowitz, special agent in charge of ICE HSI for Ohio and Michigan.  “We are pleased to see Abercrombie working diligently to complete the implementation of an effective compliance system; however, we know that there are other companies who are not doing so. This settlement should serve as a warning to other companies that may not yet take the employment verification process seriously or provide it the attention it warrants.”

With the above being said — this is a definite attention getter!  There’s alot of I-9 software on the market.  Some we’re familiar with – and others we are not.  Electronic I-9 software must adhere to certain recordkeeping standards and technical safeguards in order to ensure that the underlying I-9s are accurate, authentic and trustworthy.  Systems must retain the same sequence of data elements on the paper I-9.

The main point here is to recognize that your I-9 system is a compliance system which must serve a unique  compliance function.  Yes, we know that you want the fancy tools and flagging systems, but the essential fundamentals are critical. We like the following questions provided by LawLogix’ electronic I-9 team:

1. Will the vendor provide third party independent evaluation of the system (preferably by an attorney with deep I-9 experience)?
2. What type of guarantees does the vendor provide in the contract (e.g., indemnification for gross negligence)?
3. Is the vendor able to provide 5 similarly situated client references that use the same I-9 system?  This is an important one and will speak directly to how well the vendor is supporting their product, releasing  updates, responding to constant changes in I-9 policy and procedure.  You should ask the references whether or not they have been subjected to an ICE audit using the vendor’s system and how quickly the vendor was able to respond to ICE demands.

Conducting your due diligence goes without saying – don’t believe all the hype re bundled in legal services.  LawLogix, who we are familiar with and highly recommend, state that there is no “one size that fits all”.  Careful planning is required and discussion with trusted immigration counsel advisable prior to any decisions being made.

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If you’d like to schedule a time to discuss your I-9s, whether that be a randomly selected or full audit, staff training or working with you to establish a set pf policies and procedures around handling your I-9 compliance, we offer solutions and services both onsite or offsite by our talented and trained legal compliance team.  Give us  a call.  562 612.3996 – www.employer-compliance.com

1. Want to stay in touch?  The InFOCUS Immigration Solutions August newsletter is available for your viewing here.
2. We link to an interesting letter to President Obama on Immigration Reform that says it all very well
3. USCIS to permit EAD (Employment Authorization Documents) to be expedited through the Nebraska Service Center (NSC) if they have been p ending for more than 60 days under particular circumstances.  Please contact our office for more information on this should you require assistance with expediting your case.
4. Department of State announces that they will phase in the implementation of an online, electronic Immigrant Visa form, the DS-260 that will eventually replace the DS-230 form. Federal Register 75 FR 45475.
5. Just yesterday, the US Senate passed a border security spending bill containing a provision that will be paid for by increasing fees for employers that have a large H-1B or L-1 foreign worker presence in their workforce. Specifically, the bill would increase total filing and fraud prevention fees by an incredible $2000 or more for petitioners with a U.S. workforce of more than 50 percent H-1B or L-1 nonimmigrants. The provision would be applicable to employers with 50 or more employees in the United States. The bill would also provide $600 million in emergency funds to increase security along our borders with Mexico by hiring more than new 1,000 border patrol and immigration enforcement officers, and increasing unmanned drone surveillance operations in the region.  For more on this
6. The USCIS will start receiving email inquiries on I-90 and N-400 forms if the wait time has exceeded the designated processing times.
7. The Department of Labor (DOL) bans the Asian Journal from the H-1B Program and agrees to pay $516, 500 in back pay to 32 employees plus a $40,000 penalty.

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Immigration Solutions has thousands of worldwide subscribers interested in our news and services who are visiting our website and Blog daily.  We invite you to take advantage of this additional targeted exposure and strongly consider advertising your product or service with us.  Contact us through our website or give us a call to discuss your needs and advertising requirements.  We’ll walk you through a very affordable process that will give you the extra edge that you’re looking for.

DHS finalized a regulation that provides greater flexibility for employers to electronically sign and store I-9 forms, which are used by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to verify employment eligibility-eliminating the need for paper filing and streamlining efforts to ensure a legal workforce nationwide.

Employers—who complete and retain the Form I-9 (Employment Eligibility Verification)—may sign the form electronically and retain the form in an electronic format.

More in the final rule:

1)  DHS will allow competing paper and electronic systems:  This clarifies that an employer moving to an electronic system need not create digital images/data related to historical paper forms. However, from some employer’s perspective monitoring two distinct verification systems for compliance may be too difficult a logistical challenge. These particular employers have elected to go entirely electronic to take advantage of the ability to monitor compliance and provide for electronic reminders. We strongly recommend that employers should continue to approach converting paper I-9s to electronic images very carefully, first discussing the benefits as well as the concerns (in particular audit related and privilege issues) with their immigration attorneys.

2)  The final rule reaffirms that employers will not be required to use a specific technology to complete and store I-9 information, so long as the system they use ensures accessibility and they are able to produce a reasonable facsimile or copy of the I-9.

3)  The final rule will also relax the audit trail requirement from the interim rule so that employers no longer have to keep records of when the information is accessed or viewed. Instead, an audit trail will only need to include information on the the initial completion and any subsequent modification to the I-9.

4)  The final rule will also relax the interim rule’s requirement to provide a transaction record to the employee at the time the electronic I-9 is created. Under the rule to be published tomorrow, the employer may “provide or transmit a confirmation of the transaction only if an employee requests it . . . within a reasonable period of time.” Finally, the final rule will remove the mandate that the electronic storage system be searchable “by any data element,” requiring only an indexing system that “permits the identification and retrieval for viewing or reproducing of relevant documents and records maintained in an electronic storage system.”

5) Indexing does not require all fields:   The final rule identifies that not all of the “data element(s)” must be searchable, but that the system must provide a sense of “searchability” consistent with the amended 8 CFR Sec. 274a.2(e)(6).

More information about I-9 forms and Employment Eligibility Verification is available on the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website at www.uscis.gov/I-9.

For further guidance on the electronic signing and storage of the I-9, and the changes to the current regulations to assist businesses in complying with the requirements of the law, please visit www.ice.gov or view the Federal Register at www.gpoaccess.gov.

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What can Immigration Solution do for you?

Our firm’s years of experience and knowledge with employer compliance and worksite enforcement issues can assist your business in offsetting the extent of sanctions and other ICE enforcement threats.  Because of this, employer compliance is becoming more complex and enforcement (investigations and audits) is increasing.

In order to effectively deal with these issues and avoid the very severe consequences for non-compliance, employers must take the time to develop a strategy and be prepared in advance with an Immigration Compliance Program. Immigration Solutions has created a package of services and solutions to assist you with your compliance procedures that can be tailored to your specific needs and concerns.  Contact our office should you wish to discuss your audit, training and compliance needs.

ICE has filed a 60-day notice for a new information collection application with the OMB (Office of Management and Budget) for their IMAGE Program (ICE Mutual Agreement between Government and Employers) that is the education component of the Office of Investigations (OI) Worksite Enforcement program.  The Notice is available here.  Comments will be accepted for 60 days until August 10, 2010, and should be sent to the person named in the Notice.

In an article published on ILW.com on the subject, the author states:

In July of 2006, ICE announced two measures billed as “voluntary partnerships with the government.” The first is a list of what the agency considers to be “Best Hiring Practices.” The second is a voluntary program entitled the “ICE Mutual Agreement between Government and Employers,” also referred to as IMAGE , which it has been working on since at least July of 2005. The government is actively promoting these programs to employers.

What are considered Best Hiring practices?

As part of the ICE Mutual Agreement between Government and Employers, the (IMAGE) program, DHS recommends the following “best hiring practices” as follows:

• Use E-Verify to verify the employment eligibility of all new hires.
• Use the Social Security Number Verification Service (SSNVS) and make a good-faith effort to correct and verify the names and Social Security numbers of the current workforce.
• Establish a written hiring and employment eligibility verification policy (I-9 policy)
• Establish an internal compliance and training program related to the hiring and employment verification process, including completion of the I-9 form, how to detect the fraudulent use of documents in the verification process, and how to use E-Verify and SSNVS.  Require the I-9 and E-Verify process to be conducted only by an individual who has received appropriate training, and include a secondary review as part of each employee’s verification “to minimize the potential for a single individual to subvert the process.”
• Arrange for annual I-9 audits by an external auditing firm or a trained employee not otherwise involved in the I-9 process.
• Establish a procedure to report to ICE credible information of suspected criminal misconduct in the employment eligibility verification process.
• Establish a program to assess subcontractors’ compliance with employment eligibility verification requirements. Encourage contractors to incorporate IMAGE Best Practices and when practicable incorporate the verification requirements in subcontractor agreements.
• Establish a protocol for responding to letters received from federal and state government agencies indicating that there is a discrepancy between the agency’s information and the information provided by the employer or employee (for example, “no-match” letters received from the Social Security Administration).
• Establish a tip line mechanism (e.g., inbox, e-mail) for employees to report activity relating to the employment of unauthorized workers, and a protocol for responding to employee tips.
• Establish and maintain appropriate policies, practices, and safeguards against use of the verification process for unlawful discrimination, and to ensure that U.S. citizens and authorized workers do not face discrimination with respect to hiring, firing, or recruitment or referral for a fee because of citizenship status or national origin.
• Maintain copies of any documents accepted as proof of identity and/or employment authorization for all new hires.

Note:  It is important to notice that some of these points listed above have critical content.  We link to the ILW.com excellent analysis of Best Practices and the IMAGE program for employers to carefully consider prior to enrolling in these programs.

Should you require further assistance or consultation regarding these programs, please contact our office.

We have been advised that for employers enrolled in E-Verify that, in conjunction with the redesign of the E-Verify web interface, employers will be required to complete the new on-line tutorial before being able to E-Verify new workers.

You will note, that there will be a sneak preview presentation (registration required) on Thursday June 10th.

For those of you who participated on the Listening Session conference call, USCIS has released the Executive Summary follow-up and recap of the call.  In the Summary, links are provided to a List of Federal Contractors that are enrolled in the FAR E-Verify Program, a link to the revised FAQ’s that can be found on the same page under links and resources.

A Self-Check Initiative will be introduced in December. This initiative will enable anyone to go to the website and run a verification query on him/herself and determine the accuracy of  his/her government record.

The Summary further states that USCIS has surpassed 200,000 registrants for E-Verify, which encompasses over 700,000 worksites nationwide, and:

•  A strong employee rights initiative has been created and a partnership with the Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Office of Special Counsel has been formed, resulting in the introduction of an employee hotline and the release of videos, both for employees and employers, to guide them through the Tentative Nonconfirmation (TNC) process. These videos can be viewed on the USCIS website and YouTube and are also available on DVD.
•  The E-Verify public web pages have been redesigned and features an expanded employee support section.

Big changes are coming to E-Verify in June that will enhance its usability, security, accuracy and efficiency. The USCIS has announced that its newly redesigned E-Verify web interface will go live on June 13, 2010. As previously reported, the new E-Verify look (internally called E-Verify 3.0) promises to offer “a clean and modern design, easy and intuitive navigation, and clear and simple language.  A new home page, a new case alerts feature, improved case management and a streamlined tutorial are among the dozens of improvements coming to E-Verify.

Check out the new E-Verify Redesign section of the website to learn more about what’s coming and what E-Verify users can do to prepare.

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USCIS Revises EAD Card (Employment Authorization Document) – Effective June 4th

What does this mean in the I-9 context?   The EAD Card (or Form I-766) is an acceptable List A document, which establishes both identity and work authorization. It’s important to note, however, that the EAD is evidence of temporary work authorization which expires at some point in time. Before that expiration occurs, employers need to re-verify the employee’s continuing eligibility to the work in the US. (in Section 3 of the form) in order to avoid penalties and other issues.  Most employers storing pen & paper I-9s utilize a ticker or calendar system for reminders, while those with electronic I-9 systems will receive automatic email reminders and prompts for re-verification.

The EAD is also noteworthy for employers participating in E-Verify, since it is one of two documents (the I-551 green card being the other) which must be photocopied and retained by the employer during the I-9 process. This photocopy requirement, outlined in the E-Verify Memorandum of Understanding, enables employers to use the E-Verify photo matching tool to compare the document against DHS records. For more information on the photo tool, please visit this brief outline here.

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Immigration Solutions has created a package of services and solutions to assist you with your compliance procedures that can be tailored to your specific needs and concerns.  Today is the time to develop a strategy and be prepared in advance with an Immigration Compliance Program that simply outlines how your company will manage its employer compliance responsibilities.

In this economy, we’ve received countless phone calls asking about this issue.  Putting an employee on leave (or “benching”) because you have no assignment for them does not relieve the employer from continuing to pay salary.  Doing so will expose you and your company to some very heavy-handed judgments, such as being assessed to pay back wages, benefits, and penalties on top of this.

As contract work becomes harder in this economy, particularly for those that work in the IT sector for an IT consultant or staffing agency, employers must protect themselves, even if it means that sometimes you must let a valuable employee go.

Per H-1B reguations, employers are required to pay full salary to the employee even during non-productive time.

If you have questions concerning this issue or require the expert services of our firm, please contact us today.

Leslie Davis, Managing Director

Immigration Solutions |  info@immigrationsolution.net |  562 612.3996