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THE NEUFELD MEMO REVISITED AND THE H-1B VISA CLIMATE: The New Face of Enforcement in the H-1B World, Part III - By David Nachman, Esq. & Michael Phulwani, Esq.
Posted by: euser
November 30, 2011

This is the concluding part of a series of articles on the Neufeld Memo, published on January 8, 2010, which radically changed the way that H-1B's were adjudicated. The Neufeld Memo put enormous pressure on employers to satisfy additional evidence requirements justifying any work performed by an H-1B visa holder off to the H-1B visa petitioner's premises.

As previously pointed out, H-1B nonimmigrant professional and specialty occupation worker employers will have an extra burden proving the Employer-Employee relationship on initial H-1B petitions.

The Neufeld Memo states that the prospective H-1B nonimmigrant petitioner can demonstrate an employer-employee relationship by providing a combination of the following or similar types of evidence:

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THE NEUFELD MEMO REVISITED AND THE H-1B VISA CLIMATE: The New Face of Enforcement in the H-1B World, Part II - By David Nachman, Esq. & Michael Phulwani, Esq.
Posted by: euser
November 03, 2011

This is the continuation of a series of articles on the Neufeld Memo, published on January 8, 2010, which radically changed the way that H-1B's were adjudicated. The Neufeld Memo put enormous pressure on employers to satisfy additional evidence requirements justifying any work performed by an H-1B visa holder off to the H-1B visa petitioner's premises.

The USCIS has specifically stated that the following scenarios are now NOT acceptable to meet the "control" issue with regard to H-1B employment:

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THE NEUFELD MEMO REVISITED AND THE H-1B VISA CLIMATE: The New Face of Enforcement in the H-1B World, Part I - By David Nachman, Esq. & Michael Phulwani, Esq.
Posted by: euser
November 03, 2011

As a result of increased site visits and a general inclination to decrease the number of H-1B's approved, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services ("USCIS") published a watershed memo on January 8th, 2010 ("the Neufeld Memo"). The Neufeld Memo radically changed the way that H-1B's were adjudicated. The Neufeld Memo also put enormous pressure on employers to satisfy additional evidence requirements justifying any work performed by an H-1B visa holder off of the H-1B visa petitioner's premises. Additionally, the Neufeld Memo added additional requirements for H-1B petitioners to obtain H-1B extensions. It is this author's opinion that as a result of this Neufeld Memo, employers will see automatic requests for evidence in any case where the beneficiary may be performing off-site work and for any H-1B visa extension petition. It continues to be our strong recommendation that employers add a section to their H-1B petitions which cover the issues addressed by the Neufeld Memo. Even one and one half years after this Memo was promulgated.

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