Bringing people in and keeping them
Companies tend to use several categories at once: the L-1 for transferring managers or specialized staff from a related company abroad, the H-1B for degree-level roles, the E-2 or E-1 where the company and its staff share treaty nationality, and the O-1 for people with notable recognition. Each has a different filing timeline and cost, and some involve annual caps or lotteries. Business visitors can attend meetings and negotiate deals, but they cannot perform productive work for the U.S. operation. Planning green card sponsorship early can keep key employees from running out of temporary status. Spouses and children of transferred staff need their own status planning too.
Compliance obligations
Every employer must complete Form I-9 for each new hire, and many use E-Verify. Employers of H-1B workers take on wage, recordkeeping, and amendment obligations tied to their Labor Condition Applications. Site visits by USCIS can happen without much notice. Labor certification for green cards has its own recruitment and recordkeeping rules, and the costs of that stage belong to the employer. Inconsistent records across these filings are a common source of trouble.
Mergers, restructuring, and layoffs
Corporate changes such as an acquisition, a merger, or a reorganization can affect pending petitions, approved statuses, and labor certifications. Some changes need amended filings, and others carry over if the new entity takes on the obligations properly. Planning before a deal closes lets these questions be handled in the transaction documents rather than afterward. Layoffs involving foreign workers raise questions about withdrawing petitions, final wage obligations, and, in some categories, the cost of return travel. When we first meet, we look at your workforce, the categories in use, and any upcoming changes. We help plan and document, but agency decisions are not ours to promise.
