EMPLOYER-DRIVEN GREEN CARD
Case Study - Financial Services Firm Hiring Data Scientists
Business Problem
An employer in the financial services industry had a Data Scientist working for them on H-1B status. The H-1B Data Scientist has been contacted by a competitor who said that they had a process for keeping their international employees long term and would begin the employer-driven green card process for her is she joins the competitor.
Business Goals
The employer wanted to retain the individual long-term and be competitive on the labor market. The employee was interested in staying with the employer but, thinking about her long-term future, was considering an offer from the competitor who had a long term retention process for international personnel.
Strategy + Solution
The employer’s HR Manager reached out to Mdivani lawyers to decide next steps. We determined that the next step should be for the employer to pursue the employment-based green card. We explained that this is an Employer-driven process. The process as requires that the employer demonstrate that there are no minimally qualified and available American workers for the position through a complicated proceed established by the Department of Labor. However, if the employer succeeded, the long term goal of retention was achievable since the worker would have a green card to work permanently in the United States.
Execution
We first worked with the Employer on identifying the occupational classification for the future job offer. From there, we had to prove our candidate is qualified. Then, we guided the Employer through the 4 steps of the process: (1) filing a prevailing wage application, (2) conducting the test of the labor market, and since there were no applications, filing with DOL for PERM Labor Certification, (3) DOL Certified the PERM Labor Certification application, and we prepared the Employer’s I-140 petition for filing with USCIS for permanent employment, and once USCIS approved (4) the international employee was eligible to file an I-485 adjustment of status to permanent resident green card application to enable visa-free employment with the Employer.
Planning Ahead, Short Term + Long Term
Throughout the employment-based green card process the Mdivani attorneys monitor agency decision times, the visa bulletin, and other critical changes that may come down from the administration. It is important for employers to trust the process and their counsel to get to the finish line and achieve that long-term retention tool of the employment-based green card. It is also important for employees to have rolling Prevailing Wages for critical positions as it drastically reduced the wait time.
The information on this website is for general information purposes only, it is not legal advice applicable to a specific situation. Viewing it does not create an attorney-client relationship.
© Mdivani Corporate Immigration Law Firm
