USCIS Issues Policy Memo on H-1B Placement at Third Party Worksite
February 26, 2018
On February 22, 2018, USCIS issued a policy memorandum which requires that all employers filing H-1B petitions on behalf of employees who will work at a third party location or multiple locations must provide:
- An itinerary detailing the dates and locations of the H-1B services to be completed, and
- Copies of contracts which cover the amount of time requested in the H-1B petition (typically 3 years) and which demonstrate that the H-1B employee will be employed in a specialty occupation
Furthermore, the policy memo reiterates that the petitioning company must demonstrate that it will maintain an employer-employee relationship with the employee during the time requested in H-1B status.
This policy memo is aimed in particular at IT outsourcing companies who, the USCIS believes, may abuse prevailing wage and other requirements of the Labor Condition Application (LCA) and therefore undercut U.S. wages or employment opportunities of U.S. workers. Unfortunately, the memo is likely to lead to additional Requests for Evidence, even for non-IT outsourcing employers who may assign H-1B employees to client or customer sites and who have filed and complied with LCA requirements for all locations.
This new policy memo takes effect immediately and will impact the Fiscal Year H-1B Lottery filings as well as any H-1B extensions of status or change of employer requests. It is possible that a full 3 year period will not be approved, if the contracts and documentation provided do not cover the full period of dates requested by the employer.
