{"id":2298,"date":"2018-02-26T11:49:51","date_gmt":"2018-02-26T18:49:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swlgpc.com\/eng\/?p=2239"},"modified":"2018-02-26T11:49:51","modified_gmt":"2018-02-26T18:49:51","slug":"new-policy-h-1b-third-party-placement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swlgpc.com\/eng\/new-policy-h-1b-third-party-placement\/","title":{"rendered":"New Policy on H-1B Third Party Placement"},"content":{"rendered":"

On February 22nd<\/sup>, the USCIS issued a new policy memo on 3rd<\/sup> party placement. The new guidelines have immediate effect and will apply to this year\u2019s H-1B cap petitions as well as H-1B extension requests. Generally speaking, petitioners planning third-party placements of H-1B employees will be asked to submit contracts, specific itineraries, and detailed information from end-clients covering the entire period of employment. Adjudicators will be looking at contractual relationships between petitioners, subcontractors and end-clients to assess right to control issues during employment. USCIS may limit H-1B approval periods to the length of time indicated by contracts and other end-client documentation, or deny cases if documentation is deemed insufficient.<\/p>\n

The new policy will require H-1B employers to disclose detailed information about vendor and end-client relationships when petitioning for employees who will be placed at third-party sites.<\/p>\n

In the past, our firm has always recommended that H-1B petitioners provide information about third-party assignments since this has been a longstanding practice as set out by various USCIS memos. The new guidelines indicate that the agency will scrutinize relationships among petitioners, subcontractors and end-clients even more closely than in the past, and will seek direct confirmation of H-1B assignments from end-clients in initial petitions and extensions.<\/p>\n

Further, the new guidelines will require petitioners to document that there are specific H-1B-qualifying assignments for the entire period of an H-1B worker\u2019s employment.<\/p>\n

Adjudicators will require evidence submitted by end-client\u2019s to determine if the work performed by the H-1B employee at a third-party worksite will be in a specialty occupation. USCIS will also use contracts and related documentation to determine whether the petitioner will maintain an employer-employee relationship with the H-1B worker throughout the period of employment.<\/p>\n

The USCIS Memo offers a list of possible evidence including:<\/p>\n