Please join us for a two-part complimentary immigration seminar in which we will discuss:
1) Visa Basics for High-Tech Foreign Workers
Healthcare, high-tech, and mining companies are increasingly turning to the global labor market to find the right talent. In 2010, Colorado employers sponsored 19,700 temporary foreign workers, including many computer software developers and engineers from China and India. Many of these workers are entering the U.S. on the H-1B specialty occupation visa. The current economic downturn presents a rare opportunity for employers to take advantage of this underutilized visa. In previous years when the economy was booming, the H-1B visa quota filled within days of the April 1 deadline, limiting many employers' ability to hire these skilled workers. In the past three years, the recession has caused a dramatic drop in H-1B filings, enabling all employers who properly filed complete H-1B visa petitions in April to obtain them. In preparation of the April 1st H-1B filing date Holland & Hart's Roger Tsai will discuss the fundamentals of the H-1B visa process, including:
- Jobs that qualify for the H-1B visa
- H-1B cap and cap exempt employers
- Recent changes in the Labor Condition Application process
- Documents that must be retained after filing an H-1B petition
- Transitioning H-1B workers to permanent residency
- New Export Controls Compliance Attestations Required in the H1-B Process.
2) I-9 Audits, E-Verify, and Immigration Compliance for Employers
Nearly five years after the Swift & Co immigration raid in Greeley, Colorado employers are still concerned about immigration raids and audits. In an effort to deter the employment of undocumented immigrants, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted I-9 audits on 2,496 companies nationwide in 2010. These audits have resulted in more than $10 million of fines against 385 employers. Locally, Colorado enacted two laws that has resulted in immigration audits of 3,800 Colorado employers since 2007.
Peter Wingate, Deputy Director of Colorado's Division of Labor, and Roger Tsai will present on:
- The federal I-9 immigration audit and investigation process
- Industries targeted for immigration investigations
- Changes in the Obama Administration's immigration policies
- Concerns to be aware of before implementing E-Verify
- Audits conducted by the Colorado Division of Labor
AGENDA - Wednesday, March 7, 2012
7:30 - 8:00 a.m. Breakfast and Registration
8:00 - 9:00 a.m. Visa Basics for High-Tech Foreign Workers
9:00 - 10:00 a.m. I-9 Audits, E-Verify, and Immigration Compliance for Employers
LOCATION - Holland & Hart
555 Seventeenth Street
Suite 3200
Denver, CO 80202
Click here for a map and directions
Speakers:
Roger Tsai, Immigration Attorney, Holland & Hart LLP
Peter Wingate, Deputy Director of Colorado's Division of Labor
Lizbeth Rodriguez, Of Counsel, Holland & Hart LLP
CLE & HRCI CREDITS PENDING
To register online please click here.
Please respond by Friday, March 2, 2012.
Contact Paige Blair at 303-295-8277 or pablair@hollandhart.com.