Immigration Law for Business

Immigration Compliance for Florida Businesses

I-9 Compliance

The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), established that every employer must complete the Employment Eligibility Verification form (I-9 Form) and keep appropriate record of it. This document is used for verifying the identity and employment authorization of individuals hired for employment in the United States. This must be done for all employees, both citizens and non-citizens.

The I-9 can be audited by officers from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), personnel from the Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices at the Department of Justice (DOJ), and employees from the Department of Labor (DOL).

Unfortunately, many employers are not in compliance with I-9 regulations. This is due to employer not properly completing the I-9 or because the employer is not keeping record of it as prescribed by the governmental authorities. Failure to comply with I-9 regulations is against the law and carries the imposition of civil fines and criminal penalties.

The employer may be exposed to pay up to $16,000 per violation and up to 6 months in prison. Let us help you to keep on track with I-9 compliance! Call us for an orientation and in-house I-9 compliance analysis.

Employment Based Visas

– EB-5: This is known as the investor visa. The EB-5 Program (EB-5 comes from employment fifth preference visa) was created by the U.S. Congress as a means to stimulate the economy through job creation and capital investment from foreign investors. The investor visa allows the investor to apply for the green card (and for his/her spouse and dependents under 21 years of age).

There are two basics conditions to apply for the EB-5:

The investor must invest the minimum require capital in an enterprise in the U.S. and

The investor must create or preserve the equivalent of 10 full-time jobs for qualified U.S. workers.

There are specific conditions that the alien entrepreneur must meet in order for this visa be granted. Contact us for an orientation.

– EB-1, EB-2, EB-3 & EB-4 – There are an additional four preferences categories for the employment based visas. Nevertheless, in most cases a Labor Certification must be approved by the Department of Labor (except for EB-1) before filing the appropriate documents to the USCIS for approval. The spouse and minor unmarried children (younger than 21) of an EB visa employee, may apply for immigrant visas as well.

Non-Immigrant Visas

Depending on their business needs, employers may seek to apply for other non-immigrant visas in order to bring the qualified personnel into the U.S. Some of these non-immigrant visas are:

L – Intra-company transferee

H-1B – Specialty occupations in fields requiring highly specialized knowledge

H-2A – Temporary agricultural workers

H-2B – Temporary worker performing other services or labor of a temporary or seasonal nature.

The application of employment based visas or non-immigrant visas for employees, entails a very detailed process that involves presenting documents in several governmental institutions. When planning hiring alien employees and getting them into U.S., the employer needs to take into account not only its business needs but must know and understand the visas approval process and the role each governmental entity plays in the approval process. Each of this visas have its particular requirements and complexities in order to be approved. We can help you in every step of the process. Call us for an in-house orientation.