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USCIS Policy Memo for Third Party worksite H1B Petitions – Why, What, Impact ?

USCIS released a new policy memo on Feb 22, 2018 clarifying requirements for the third-party worksite H1B petitions. We will look at the background before the new memo, reason for these new requirements, what is it and who all it will impact.

Background – Employer Employee Relationship Memo:

In the past, there was a lot of abuse of the H1B Program at third-party worksite locations by IT body shop companies some of them ended up in few lawsuits. In response to such abuse, USCIS published a memo on Jan 08, 2010 outlining the guidelines that they would look in a memo called as “Employer-Employee Relationship for Adjudication of H-1B Petitions, Including Third-Party Site Placements”, which is also called Neufeld memo.  This memo back then, had a significant change in the way H1B petitions were filed for third party worksite placement and had many RFEs issued for H1Bs around  Employer Employee Relationship. Now, the current new H1B memo of 2018 clarifies and adds more requirements for third party worksite H1B petitions filed with USCIS.

Why New H1B Policy Memo for Third Party worksite locations ?

There are few reasons for the new policy memo for H1Bs working at client site.

  • To have USCIS H1B adjudication policy in alignment with Trump Administration’s Buy American, Hire American executive order.
  • To stop abuse of the H1B Program filed under third party worksite locations in scenarios when there are one or multiple vendors between employer sponsoring H1B visa and end-client, where the actual H1B employee is working and H1B worker duties are not fully defined as specialty occupation, including how long they would work in that role. Illustrated below is this chain of vendor, client, employee and H1B sponsor that shows how the information is not transparent to USCIS with a vendor(s) in the middle as the full work details are not submitted to USCIS for entire duration of petition.H1B Visa Employer Employee Third Party worksite location New Rules 2018 Memo Details
  • USCIS says that they have seen significant employer(H1B Sponsor) violations in Third-Party worksite scenarios like paying less wage than required, keeping employees on bench and not paying while they are in waiting mode, having H1B employees perform non-specialty occupation tasks/work.

Summary of the New Policy requirements for Third-Party Worksite H-1B Petitions

The changes or the new policy should be read together or added to the current existing requirements that are already in place for H1B petitioner to establish Employer – Employee relationship as per the Neufeld memo from 2010. Below are the additions to clarify guidance regarding the contracts and itineraries that H1B sponsors submit to USCIS for third-party worksite petitions.

  • Proof of Specialty Occupation at End Client – Contracts, Work Orders : The H1B Petitioner or Sponsor ( employer) should provide all the documents and proof that the H1B employee, who will work at Third Party work site location will be employed in a specialty occupation for the entire duration of the petition requested. Basically, the proof submitted should clearly tell that the H1B employee will NOT be involved in some random tasks or non-specialty occupation related tasks during that period of employment.  Below are the List of Contracts/ Documents that H1B Sponsor has to submit.
    • Specific work assignment proof for H1B employee at end client
    • LCA corresponding to the above speciality work at end client
    • Actual work assignment at client done by H1B employee will be speciality occupation, which is based on the work requirements requested by client.
    • Contracts, Work Orders that claim that the actual work at end client would be speciality occupation for entire duration of the petition requested.

Just submitting standard contracts will not be sufficient. There should be additional details regarding work. To prove that, besides the contracts and work order, other things H1B petitioner can submit are:

    • Evidence of work assignments, technical documentation, milestone tables, marketing analysis, funding documents, etc.
    • Copies of Signed contractual agreements between all vendors and client.
    • Copies of detailed SOW ( statement of work), Work orders at the end client, which includes the duties of H1B workers, duration of job, hours, etc.
    • Original letter signed by authorized person at end-client where the H1B holder will work, which includes details of specialised duties of H1B holder, qualifications, duration of job, salary or wages paid, hours, benefits and details of supervisor.
  • Employer-Employee Relationship for Entire Duration – Contracts Evidence, Itinerary : The H1B petitioner should ensure that the Employer Employee Relationship is maintained for entire duration of the requested validity period in H1B petition.  This has to be as per the requirements in 2010 Employee-Employer Relationship Policy aka Neufeld Memo . In addition, submitting itinerary is a regulatory requirement. Details such as below should be included as part of itinerary
    • Itinerary with exact dates and exact locations of the services provided by H1B holder. These should be detailed and include all the locations, exact dates and cannot be generic or estimated dates.
    • Itinerary should also contain details that demonstrate that the H1B holder will be employed in a speciality occupation at all the third-party worksites with details like below with proper evidence.
      • Dates of each service or work done
      • Names and address of the end client(s)
      • Names and address including floor, suite, office details and phone number of locations where services will be performed.
      • The H1B sponsor can choose to sanitize the contracts, if there are any trade secrets or sensitive information. But, that should not result in proving the evidence, in such cases USCIS can deny, if they are not convinced with these changes to the contracts.
  • Validity Period of Approved H1B Petitions : All of the above have to be submitted for the entire duration of the requested H1B validity period. Even though H1B can be approved for 3 years, if the H1B sponsor does not provide all the above details for the entire duration, USCIS can choose to give approval for only certain period of time, instead of all three years.
  • H1B Visa Petition Extensions – Consular Processing, if not met for initial term: If a H1B employee was placed at third party location and applied for extension, the H1B Sponsor has to establish proof that all the above conditions were met for the previous period of working before the H1B extension. Especially, the conditions like speciality occupation work, wages, right to control H1B holders employment clause was maintained. If the above listed terms and conditions were not met for the initial period of approval before extension, but the H1B sponsor submits all proofs for the current extension of H1B, then USCIS may approve the petition, but will not give I-94 for extension of stay. The H1B employee would have to leave the country and apply for visa using consular processing.  This applies to petitions filed for same location or different location for the H1b employee.

Impact of the New H1B Policy Memo for Contracts & Itineraries :

Trump Administration has been putting many policies in place to reduce H1B fraud since they took office last year and make sure US workers’ rights are protected. Also, USCIS mission statement has changed recently, where they removed “nation of immigrants” line and says “administers nation’s lawful immigration system… protecting Americans”. All of these changes indicate the steps USCIS have taken to be in-line with current Trump Administration priorities on protecting American workers.  All the above requirements are going to be a problem for all the IT Body shop and contract workers, but it should not really impact all the full time employees, who work directly for the H1B sponsoring company and have no concept of vendors, prime vendors, etc.  Also, it will be more overhead for the current MNCs and outsourcing IT services companies to provide all of these extensive documents, where they are anticipating a new project or to provide all of the project details 6 months before the start date of the project. We can expect to see more and more RFEs for small IT body shop companies and even large outsourcing IT Services companies with the new memo. One of the bigger problems is for extensions to prove and submit all these documents, also they have to prepared to leave the country and get H1B stamped for extension, if they cannot provide all the proof.  Also, with more documentation, the processing time can take more time than current processing time for these kind of third party location petitions.

What are your thoughts ? How will it impact ?

Reference :

   

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81 Comments

  1. Hi Kumar,

    My H1 got approved recently.

    When I filled my H1, i was with my Employer(H1B Sponsor)-A, Vendor-B, PrimeVendor-C And Client-D.

    A —–> B —–> C——-> D

    Now I am planing to go to India for stamping, but my middle vendors are got changed due to project issue. Vendor-B changed to Vendor-E and PrimeVendor-C changed to primeVendor-F and But my employer-A and client-D are still same and working in same location.

    A —–> E—–> F——-> D
    

    Now my client letter will print with new vendor details(E,F). Is it okay to go to India for stamping with new client letter? Or it causes any issues? do I need to file any amendment? Please give me some suggestions.

    Thank you.

    Reply
    • Venu,
      If there are any changes in the work or contracts, depending on how it was filed, you may need to file an Amendment. You need to check with your attorney on this and make a decision. If needed, you need to file amendment and then travel. If your attorney says no need and your documents are good, then you should be fine. Your chain of vendors is long, so work with your attorney.

      Reply
  2. I have seen this first hand, working for a major US tech company in the last 20 years. Once Indian hires reach managerial level, only Indians are hired and trained. I had to pay for my own training in the last 10 years, since none of the native US based workers receive paid software training. Nepotism runs amok, brothers, sisters and nephews are hired, and resumees from all other applicant groups are discarded. Work quality tanks, many more workers are hired to deliver the same product that a much smaller group of older and skilled workers would deliver, but this is company policy.
    The decline of the female workforce in IT is a direct consequence of Indian hiring and outsourcing, since mostly Indian men are hired, and US-native women and men are laid off. The remaining women have to survive in an atavistic environment of cultural misogyny. I witnessed countless conference calls where openly dismissive comments were made about female participants. Especially Asian (Chinese- Japenese – Vietnamese- )Americans are pushed out due to racism. I witnessed the relentless bullying of a Pakistani American Manager by Indian engineers on one of my projects. He left and couldn’t find an IT job afterwards.

    Reply
    • if you have a problem someone took your job for a lower wage then you are overvalued. it is a free market and companies are profit driven so your argument is baseless. if you were on the hiring end and you could find someone willing to do the same job for 20% less, who would you hire? Think that first. Nothing will change there is always a way out.

      Reply
  3. The H1-b visa program has been abused by us corps, Indian Agencies, and Indian mangers in the US. This have resulted in thousands of US tech workers being laid off of permanent positions and like myself, have had to seek contract positions or change industries.
    Your sons nor daughters will be able to obtain these 100k plus positions out of college, but the current position of Indians in the us corps will allow them to obtain positions for their family members, friends and spouses, whether qualified or not.
    I have been in meetings at major corps.; Directv, Bank of America, Farmer’s Insurance,s Kaiser Permanente, where there are 80 to 90% Indian employees in 100k plus positions. However, American’s like myself are often not even able to obtain an interview with these companies, as they have already incorporated a discriminatory hiring practices.
    I have had to work with incompetent developers, who just copy code form libraries, QA leads who were someone’s spouse who ever had training, but are always cuddling up with groups of Indian employees to help with their work responsibilities. There needs to be an end to this direct discrimination, and legislation that ensures that Americans are hired first in this country.

    Reply
    • I have been working one company in west coast. Citizens and GC holders are not loyal. They re very greedy. Once they get 5-10 bucks more, they leave company. I am not an Indian but, I have to share same fate because h1b policy. H1b workers don’t leave company middle of project. If US shut down H1b, there will be no competition. Eventually, citizens and gc holders will just start messing around the companies. Trust me it will force to big companies move out from US. America is the economical lead of world because of H1b. I agree with you Indian case. I worked with many no skill Indians. They always find someone can back up their mess. However, my case even I am skillful enough MS in USA plus 3 years experience in big companies, I am still getting rfes. You know what I got letter from my dean of faculty. It’s too much. They can easily filter who is good who is bad. If someone like me was graduated from top 20 rank university and still getting rfes, it is not fair.

      Reply
  4. One of the biggest food companies from Omaha laid off 750 people on one single day and replaced by about 150 offshore consultants who came to US over 6 weeks.The laid off workers were really really good with excellent business process knowledge.The serverance package included that the laid off workers train Indian consultants over 6 months .The consulnatnts who worked with me we’re mostly with an average experience of 3-5 years. The laid off workers had mortgages ,student loans,car payments etc.Most of them found jobs or switched fields or just quit working.After 2 years the whole operation including customer service and infrastructure was handed to an Indian company.The contract stipulates certain positions to be available every year so that the offshoring company makes a profit.The layoffs are happening every 6 months in the name of reorg.
    It is greedy corporations nothing to do with best and Brightest’ , no ethics no patriotism.The CEOs will pimp their own mother’s and sisters if it brings them a big bonus payout .

    Reply
  5. Yup, I’ve been interviewed for Google and Amazon over the phone and it was very clear that I was not being interviewed by a US citizen, let alone a speaker of English, in both cases. Which I felt was disgustingly unprofessional of them in and of itself.

    Microsoft apparently fills its website full of fake job ads, and then has its internal people (ie: Indians) guide their friends to the few actual requisitions that will actually legitimately be recruited for. Usually some rather unexciting job description. Voila, its full of Indian resumes, and the outcome of such recruitment process is almost assuredly the hiring of an Indian national. Meanwhile their HR staff and even their engineers are honestly convinced that there’s a ‘shortage’ of US workers because all they see are the Indian resumes. Not realizing that HR policy has systemically excluded the resumes of US citizen applicants.

    This is how tech workplaces end up looking like this (shot of a SV tech company’s on-site gym recently):

    Reply
  6. The sense of entitlement is irritating. When I graduated college I worked in Finland for two years on a temporary work visa. I understood that Finland literally meant temporary when they granted me a temporary work visa. I never thought about protesting or whining about my inability to stay there forever. I loved Finland and its people. I appreciate the opportunity they gave me. They owe me nothing.

    Reply
  7. All of these people are here on temporary visas. They knew that when they applied for the visas and when they left their native countries to come here *temporarily.* Why do foreign nationals think that once they set foot in the USA, they suddenly acquire an entitlement to legally remain here for the rest of their lives? How is it that they all rapidly forget the meaning of temporary? I’m not sure that deportation is the proper term for being required to return to their own countries when their visas expire or when they can no longer fulfill the terms of the visa. Certainly they knew the day would come when they were no longer able to legally remain here.
    They also knew that their visas were not green cards when they decided to start families. Most nations will extend citizenship to the children born in foreign nations to its citizens. So they can all lawfully return to their own countries and all be citizens there. Why are they acting so shocked? Surely they knew when they left their own countries that they did not have permanent visas, and at some point they would have to return to their own nations.
    While many are certainly highly educated, productive persons, we have immigration caps for good reasons. We simply cannot admit every foreign national who wants to live here. If we adopt a merit based immigration system they will probably have a better chance of obtaining permanent status. But we must still have limits on how many can be admitted annually, and we are all bound to obey laws that are in effect.
    If they thought the law and rules unfair, why did they apply for something they thought was unfair?

    Reply
    • No one said/implied that they want to stay beyond their visa period. Everyone here discussing about the change in laws currently and how that might affect them. If there is no valid visa, they cannot get a job. If they are getting jobs, that means they have a valid visa

      Reply
    • You have very less knowledge about VISA. Atleast these Indian have valid visa. What about illegal people. Check the crime rate of African – American, Why does america give them VISA. They get Work Permit and they have full right to work here. Who are you to judging them. I think you or your parents come here illegal from Mexico . Those illegals come in American and get 10 to 12 kids . Who is going to pay for them. We ( Indian) are paying taxes.

      Reply
  8. AG jeff sessions is fully aware of the fraud being committed in the name of h-1b visa and huge fraud in backlog of EB2 and EB3 petitions after 2002. There are huge chances that more than half of them would be rejected outright and USCIS is working on that to provide guidelines to case officers to reject or seek further evidence or cal for interview each and evey one of these fraud EB2 and EB3 visas. These 300 something reps dont have a say in which bill passes the house. it is the 30 plus house freedom caucus that is totally against this bill unless 218 republicans support this bill which is not goingot happen. so stop DREAMING .

    Reply
  9. If the workers being laid off are “Obsolete”, why are the layed off workers training their replacements? You see that is the essential flaw. No in fact, the workers being laid off are fully qualified and up-to-date. They just have families to support and they can’t go to India and take the final resulting jobs, which pay 10$/day.

    Half the H-1b visas are used by Offshore Outsourcing companies, that never give the American worker a chance to compete for the jobs, if they can avoid Americans via the H-1b visa.

    The truth is, Offshore Outsourcing companies, personnel agencies should be barred from the H-1b program. And the program should be reserved only to technology originating countries.

    A different program can be created to deal with any general labor shortage, such as a shortage of trainees.

    Such a change should actually greatly benefit Silicon Valley companies. But it won’t help hiring manager and companies only seeking to people from South Asia.

    Reply
  10. looks like more scrutiny coming towards Day-1 CPT now,
    http://immigrationgirl.com/new-interpretation-of-cpt-curricular-practical-training-for-f-1-students/#comments

    Reply
  11. Sadly Indian companies abused the system so much that they have made this program an easy target for anti-immigrant crowd in this country but the rules for H1-B make it easy for outside companies to game the system. They can apply for an H1-B visa even with highly padded or outright fake resumes from imaginary Indian schools and companies with so many years of experience and expertise that one would have to be born with a computer to gain that much experience. On the other hand, companies look for unreasonable amount of experience even for entry level jobs so they deserve each other.

    Reply
  12. really hope these body shops/indian consultancies are closed. They will literally abusing the whole system .
    Appreciate the administration for making the process more strenuous

    Reply
  13. The number one importer of H1-B visas is an Indian company that is simply an outsourcing middleman for placing Indians into US companies. When the article says that there are 140,000 Indians with these visas, it ignores the fact that many of these visas are gotten through illegal or corrupt practices. This is an important reason to limit any one country to 7%.
    We need to significantly reduce the use of employment visas. After reducing the numbers of visas, the holders need to be sent back after their visa expires. That’s why they visa expires, so that they can return back to their home country and help it to prosper and buy products made in America.
    These visas are abused by the big, lefty tech companies like Apple, Google, Facebook and Qualcomm. In my area Qualcomm is notorious for firing Americans and hiring foreign workers. Around noon near the main Qualcomm facility in San Diego, it looks like Bombay.

    Reply
  14. Hello,

    I filed for H1B transfer from a EV model employer to a EVC model employer in Premium processing.
    The transfer got approved in 7 days.
    I think as long as employer is able to provide all the documentation there should not be issues with approval. In my case i did not have a client letter but my employer was able to provide rest of relationship documentation.

    Thanks

    Reply
  15. Hi admin,

    Could you pls clarify when all these new documents (to support a client assignment ) need to be submitted by a petitioner. Is it as part of the packet when the petition is originally sent or after an RFE is received or when the beneficiary appears at a consulate for stamping ?

    Reply
    • It should be sent at the time of petition filling along with your visa application and after approval should be taken for visa interview too.

      Reply
    • You should send them when you apply the petition. If they are missing, you will be issued RFE and then you have to submit. It totally varies by case and you should submit them at the filing of H1B to avoid issues.

      Reply
  16. FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Raids.

    http://www.rnlawgroup.com/immigration-news

    USCIS has been raiding all desi fake consultancies which are filing H1B with fake documents and non-existent in-house projects

    Reply
  17. My Extension is due in 2 months. I’m working and Client location and there is one vendor in between my employer and end client.
    My employer provides client letter only stating this employee is working with us on so and so project with some duration and never provides anything in detail. ( they never gives details of JObs i’m performing, or project details, or skill set required to do this job)

    Will this impact my extension with new rules changed?

    Reply
    • Your client letter seem to meet all the requirement. Mine is the same case and I was told by many that it fits the case of approval with 90 % chances. Since it has all the details it needs , except the skillset details, this point is only point of my concern.

      Reply
  18. 1 You have to check the instructions. In the case where a copy is required, we normally only include the photo/bio page and the pages that have stamps. 2 You can travel to your home country, but if you do, there is some risk of losing your status here or having other troubles. If you do travel home, make sure to have evidence so you are ready to explain why you went home. 3- We have never seen a problem for people who travel to countries not listed on the form, but these days, USCIS is being more strict, so if you do travel to a different country, you should be prepared to explain why you did not list that country on the form, just in case they ask. Take care, Jason

    Reply
  19. Hi kumar,

    There is news going on about dual petition (from different employer), that they might cancel initial petition if uscis found the another application on same name (Employee).

    Thanks,
    Venkatesh

    Reply
    • There is no new official rule as such. If the companies are related in some way like subsidiary or if they are apply to same position at same client, then they will. This has been abused by employers filing for same client but by different body shop vendors for the same position and looked very closely.

      Reply
  20. The next likely memo will require end client to furnish letter stating no American worker was displaced due to H1b hire. This law is already on the books, just not enforced.

    Reply
    • Until now it’s just been lip service for 2018 elections. There has been no concrete change in how things are functioning. Citizens continue to be discriminated against, in favor of cheap H1B holders. H1B consultants continue to get stamped after a nominal admin processing period.

      Reply
  21. Hi Kumar

    My question,

    Am currently working in TCS for Client X and moving to Client Y. Do I need to go back to India and come back to new project for new Client Y?

    Reply
    • Your employer needs to amend your petition when that change occurs and before you *officially* start working at different client location.
      USCIS people does a random visit to a client sites these days and verify all the facts.

      Reply
    • It depends on the approval status. As per new rules, your location has changed and if your duties change at employer, your employer need to file LCA and other paper work and do Amendment as needed. If you apply for amendment to USCIS, then depending on the decision, you may or may not have to leave the country. Speak to your immigration attorney, they are the best ones to guide you.

      Reply
  22. All US is saying is that we want Phds or high skilled immigrants ( AI , Robotics ) who create jobs but NOT some one with skills in ( sharepoint , testing or for that matter low level programmers ) who work in third party sites with hardly any communication skills and claim themselves as HIGHLY skilled techies. Yes most of hundreds of thousands who already received GCs precisely from these categories. But TIME changes everything. Its best stay in our countries and fight rather than begging around to make a case. I am going back after my H1 expiry.

    Reply
  23. Hi Kishore,

    I recently got offer from Deloitte Consulting and I have yet to transfer my H1B. I am currently with a product based company (fulltime).I want your advise after this new memo as most of these big consulting companies have short term projects (3 months) with a particular client. SOWs & client letters would be for that duration.Is it safe now to jump the ship ? It will be impossible to join any consulting company if that is the case.

    Reply
    • Ankur,
      This policy is very new and we do not know the full implications on IT services companies or business consulting companies . As per the rule, they ( Deloitte) need to submit details of all the assignments and locations, itinerary, etc. We do not know how companies will handle all of these. As things are changing rapidly with immigration and rules, it maybe better idea to stay put and wait, unless you have a compelling reason to move. It is your personal risk appetite and discretion, take an informed decision.

      Reply
  24. It will be good if the USCIS grants Have 1B visas on the basis of merit (qualifications, experience and clean background) and preference to Indian applicants who have studied in American universities. This will help deserving applicants and prevent misuse of the visa and also ensure security. The selection process should be speeded up so that applicants may not suffer from anxiety and tension.This suggestion may please be conveyed to the USCIS for consideration.

    Reply
    • do you think an Indian graduated in IIT/REC, or a professional with 10 years exp is lesser qualified than an Indian done MS in some junk US university ?? this is clearly an illusion.. at least Software Industry does not work like that..
      i have worked with a PhD candidate, who struggled so much to cope up with his duties and had to leave after few months..
      if a person is really “highly” qualified, it will be shown in their salary.. dot..

      Reply
    • To Mr M.G.Narasimha Murthy:

      I have seen students studied in the US universities doing some delivery job after their education and attending interviews thru proxies in Hyderabad. Since, the proxy was not able to pronounce the state name “Massachusetts”, he was not able to help the so called US university-studied student to get a job.

      Reply
  25. I am planning to go for H1B transfer this week from company A to company B. I work in a third party client location and client doesn’t want to give any letter. My current Visa is valid till July 2019. Does the new rule apply for the transfer I am looking or I can go for a transfer? Please suggest.

    Reply
    • Yes, it applies to every type either new or transfer, including extension of H1B petition, where a third party client is involved. So, applies to your case too for transfer.

      Reply
  26. I have petition approved till June 2019 and have not travelled yet. Mean while my promotion has happened. So it will go for an amendment. So is the update applicable to amendment cases as my roles, responsibility and client will change as-well.

    Reply
    • If your H1B is not sponsored directly by the client, the above requirements in new memo apply to you. Basically, if you do not work at your H1B Sponsor( employer) office location and perform work at any client, then all the above applies to you. All these apply for New and Extensions.

      Reply
  27. There is no doubt that body shop companies must be regulated. But the rules must be practical, clear and less subjective.
    For eg., my friend got an offer directly with the client, but the client simply are afraid of taking up all the pains for H1b. So, they suggested her to apply through a preferred vendor. If H1B process is simple and straightforward, she would have got direct employment.
    USCIS must make sure they do not throw the baby out with the bathwater.

    Reply
    • I guess, the whole point of memo is to make sure the end client is fully aware of the H1B process and is using the resource as speciality occupation. As you said, there will be much pushback from many employers as they may not want to deal with extra burden, but I guess USCIS is pushing for it to stop abuse and position H1B as a pure speciality occupation and the clients fully understand their H1B workers immigration restrictions. It will be a tough journey for EVC model kind of scenarios where client does not understand and does not want to take the extra burden…

      Reply
      • there are lot of things to it.. lets say, Apple or google hires an Indian techie in H1B.. after an year, if the employee has to be laid off, there is way to deal with this situation.. the employee is at a greater risk of losing job in US and India, jeopardizing his entire career… so, the brighter people would obviously try to stay away from h1, is it not ? no doubt that violations must be stopped.. would be happy, as long as it helps companies to hire the best talents, without the need of middlemen..

        Reply
        • This Body shop consultancy came up with new funda “DNC” agreeement , so that sign DNC agrrement and get $$ cut from the H1B employer amd allow to do direct contact with the prime vendor of client.
          when this shit will stop not sure.

          Reply
      • So the new policy says to i) provide Client letter while filing H1B extension ..and 2) H1B will be extended only for the duration of assignment and it can be less than 3 yrs also, is that correct? these are the only 2 clauses in new policy?

        Reply
        • Not just client letter, but details as they ask in the letter with all the info of what will be done by the H1B employee. It is up to the discretion of USCIS and they may only give only until the contract is on the letter or details. Read the article again, you will find all the clauses.

          Reply
      • You are right. All USCIS is doing is basically bringing in end client into this picture and making them accountable for this engagement.

        Reply
    • These body shops made our life difficult. The intend of the H1b visa was to hire folks where it difficult to hire Americans. These outsourcing companies destroyed the entire culture. I work full time for my employer, still I am scared to go for stamping.

      Reply
      • It doesnot matter if you work for google or fb or fulltime.
        Racism will get people rejected for sure. Jobs are taken from americans

        Reply
      • All those Indians are classified as highly skilled individual by the news media. These are paid bashers by those Indian out sources companies. Guess what, once those Indians get a position in any company, in turn they bring more Indians. Go and have a look in those telecom companies, full of Indians. Hardly, you will see any Americans. What a disgrace, our greedy politicians sold the country to the Indians. If things are not controlled now, in next 10 years, you will not see any American working any of the IT company. Recently, my manager who is also an Indian let my go to hire couple of young Indians. I do not have a job now. My sorrow knows no bound. But, nothing I could do.

        Reply
  28. Sensible initiative. Should have been introduced and enforced long time ago. Now, hopefully these fraudulent IT body shops will go out of business. Increased documentation and scrutiny will result in many end clients reducing their requirement of 3rd party H-1B employees. This reduction in numbers will hopefully result in the prime vendor being able to supply all the employees itself rather than having to rely on other vendors. Ultimately, the elimination of all these middlemen vendors will be beneficial for both the end client and the H-1B employee.

    Reply
  29. Should not be a problem , Every company should be fair infront of USCIS , it will ease most employees life in a broader sense ,,,

    No need to worry at all!

    Reply
  30. Hi , is this applicable even to big companies like Cognizant , Infy etc? I have never seen them approaching the end clients for a client letter for the employee, as they ll be filing for 100s of ppl and it ll be a total embarrassment for the client. Please clarify.

    Reply
    • Yes, these rules apply to every company, including CTS, Infy. Well, we will have to see how it will work out and how these companies will handle the new requirements from USCIS.

      Reply
        • It’s not going to be that easy even for big players. USCIS will handle each petitioner with same way.
          Only benefit for big players is that they can handle H1 rejections & employ more GC/Citizens (That’s what the govt wants), but small players will have huge impact & personally I see many closing shops.

          Reply
          • At some point there will be a bottleneck.
            Any GC/Citizen will be demanding for higher salaries and Employer/EndClient cannot pay those rates consistently. This will force EndClients to use offshore resources more than hiring in US. Which will inturn increase the Jobs in India and other developing countries

            If I am an EndClient, I would get a very strong FTE for 25000 USD at offshore, whereas I have to pay atleast 125000 USD for GC/Citizen

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