How to manage immigration compliance
| Published date | 09 April 2018 |
| Pages | 103-104 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/SHR-11-2017-0078 |
| Date | 09 April 2018 |
| Author | Jamie Gilpin |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Employee behaviour |
How to...
How to manage immigration compliance
Jamie Gilpin
Whether your business has
sent American workers
abroad or you employ
foreign nationals at a US office, you
know that handling employee
immigration is complex. But if youare
not well versed in US immigration law,
you may be inadvertently failing to
complete tasks or update paperwork
that could put your business at risk of
noncompliance.
These five strategies can help ensure
your business remains compliantwith
all relevant laws and avoids the fines
and penalties associated with
breaking the rules.
1. Keep up with changing
immigration policies
It is no secret that the Trump
administration has made immigration
enforcement a priority. To date, the
change that stands to have the
greatest impact on businesseswas
the announcement of a “more
targeted approach” to compliance
checks for companies that employ
H-1B visa holders.
Announced in April, the new
approach essentially means that the
US Citizenship and Immigration
Services (USCIS) will be more likely
to inspect workplaces that it
considers more likely to be out of
compliance, including those with a
high ratio of H-1B workers to those
without H-1Bs.
For now, the best way to prepare for
this new policy is to have all
documentation for foreign workersin
place and easily accessible. New
rules permit digital storage of public
access files, which helps simplify
management of these files –a
welcome upgrade for documents
known for their complexity. It is also
wise to make sure someone in your
HR department is staying abreastof
policy changes.
2. Do not try to “set it and forget it”
Think of managing employee
immigration as a bit like fitness: it is
something you have to put time into
on a regular basis. In addition to
changing federal policies, it is
important to remember that your
employees’ personal status may
change: they may get married,
finish school, come to the end of a
visa or otherwise do things that
could change their immigration
status.
Make it a point to check in regularly
with foreign national employees about
life changes and be sure you have a
point person who is tracking visa
renewal dates.
3. Know which organizational
changes might affect your
compliance requirements
One reason managing immigrationis
so complex is that it is affected by so
many moving pieces. If your company
undergoes structural reorganization
or change, you may be legally
required to update or resubmit
immigration paperwork.
Common changes that require action
around immigration status includethe
following:
Jamie Gilpin is CMO at Envoy Global,
Chicago, Illinois, USA.
DOI 10.1108/SHR-11-2017-0078 VOL. 17 NO. 2 2018, pp. 103-104, ©Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1475-4398 jSTRATEGIC HR REVIEW jPAGE 103
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