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Employer petitions

Employer-filed immigration petitions and labor certification.

IMM-10 · 01

L-1A or L-1B? Corporate Relationships, Qualifying Roles, and the Two Files an Employer Must Build

9 MIN · IMM

An L-1 petition is two cases in one envelope: proof that the two companies are legally related, and proof that the role fits the classification claimed. They fail for different reasons.

  • L-1A covers managers and executives with a seven-year maximum; L-1B covers specialized knowledge with a five-year maximum.
  • Both require a qualifying corporate relationship — parent, branch, subsidiary, or affiliate — resting on common ownership and control.
  • The transferee must have worked abroad for the related entity for one continuous year within the preceding three years.
Read the full brief →

IMM-11 · 02

O-1A and O-1B Petitions: Building Evidence of Extraordinary Ability

8 MIN · IMM

An O-1 record is judged twice — once against a fixed list of regulatory criteria, then again as a whole. This brief maps exhibits to criteria and explains what the second review actually asks.

  • No one self-petitions for O-1. A U.S. employer, a U.S. agent, or a foreign employer acting through a U.S. agent must file the petition.
  • The evidence test is satisfied by one major internationally recognized award, or by evidence meeting at least three of the listed regulatory criteria.
  • Meeting three criteria does not end the analysis. USCIS then makes a final merits determination on whether the whole record shows the required level.
Read the full brief →

IMM-12 · 03

PERM Recruitment Compliance: Timing, Advertising, Applicant Review, and Audit Files

8 MIN · IMM

PERM is a calendar problem before it is a legal one. This brief lays out the recruitment clock, the advertising set, the rejection log, and the audit file an employer must be able to produce years later.

  • Recruitment cannot start until the Department of Labor issues a prevailing wage determination, and the offered wage must meet or exceed it.
  • Every employer must run a 30-day state job order and two Sunday newspaper advertisements; professional positions require three additional recruitment steps.
  • Nothing may be filed until 30 days after recruitment ends, with one narrow exception for a single additional professional step.
Read the full brief →

IMM-25 · 04

Surviving an I-9 Audit: Notices of Inspection, E-Verify, and Penalties

10 MIN · IMM

An inspection notice starts a three-business-day clock and ends the chance to fix anything quietly. This brief maps the violation categories, the cure period, and the rules that constrain every correction.

  • A Notice of Inspection from Immigration and Customs Enforcement normally gives an employer three business days to produce its I-9 forms and supporting records.
  • Substantive violations cannot be cured after the notice; technical or procedural violations get at least ten business days to correct once identified.
  • Employees choose which acceptable documents to present, and demanding specific or extra documents is an unfair documentary practice enforced by the Justice Department.
Read the full brief →

IMM-26 · 05

H-1B Site Visits: FDNS Inspections and the Evidence They Test

8 MIN · IMM

A site visit compares the petition's claims to the facts on the ground: the worksite, the wage, the duties, and the supervision. This brief sets out what is checked and what an adverse report triggers.

  • USCIS site visits are conducted by the Fraud Detection and National Security directorate, usually unannounced and often after the petition is already approved.
  • The officer verifies that the employer exists, that the beneficiary works at the stated location, and that the wage and duties match the petition.
  • Third-party worksites draw heightened attention because the petitioning employer must still show a genuine offer and control over the work.
Read the full brief →

IMM-27 · 06

PERM Audits and Supervised Recruitment: Responding to the Department of Labor

9 MIN · IMM

A PERM audit is a production demand with a hard deadline, not an invitation to explain. This brief covers what triggers an audit, what the response must contain, and what supervised recruitment does to a case.

  • Audit letters are issued at random and for identified triggers, and the response is due within 30 days of the letter, with one extension possible.
  • Failure to respond ends the case: the application is denied without review, and the Certifying Officer may impose supervised recruitment on future filings.
  • Supervised recruitment transfers control of advertising text, placement, and applicant handling to the Certifying Officer and adds substantial time.
Read the full brief →

IMM-28 · 07

EB-2 Classification: Advanced Degree or Exceptional Ability

8 MIN · IMM

EB-2 has two entrances. One turns on a degree or its defined experience equivalent; the other on meeting at least three regulatory criteria for exceptional ability. Choosing wrongly costs a filing.

  • The advanced degree route requires a master's or higher, or a bachelor's degree plus five years of progressive post-baccalaureate experience in the specialty.
  • The exceptional ability route requires evidence satisfying at least three of six regulatory criteria, followed by a judgment on the whole record.
  • The job itself must require what the classification demands; a highly qualified worker in a position requiring only a bachelor's degree does not fit the advanced degree route.
Read the full brief →

IMM-29 · 08

AC21 Portability: Changing Jobs With a Pending Adjustment Application

8 MIN · IMM

Portability lets a sponsored worker leave the sponsoring employer without losing the case, but only after the application has been pending 180 days and only into a same-or-similar job.

  • Once an adjustment application has been pending 180 days or more, the underlying petition remains valid if the new job is in a same or similar occupational classification.
  • The change is documented on Form I-485 Supplement J, which confirms the new offer and the applicant's intention to work in that position.
  • An approved petition that has been approved for 180 days is generally protected from automatic revocation when the employer withdraws it.
Read the full brief →

IMM-30 · 09

EB-1C Multinational Managers and Executives: Proving the Corporate Case

9 MIN · IMM

EB-1C requires no labor certification, which makes it fast on paper and demanding in evidence. The petition stands or falls on the corporate relationship and on what the manager actually does.

  • The beneficiary must have worked abroad for at least one year in the preceding three in a managerial or executive capacity for a qualifying organization.
  • A qualifying multinational relationship must exist — parent, subsidiary, affiliate, or branch — and be proved through ownership and control documents.
  • The U.S. entity must have been doing business for at least one year before the petition is filed, so there is no new-office route here.
Read the full brief →