News Update - February 21, 2009

By Alan Lee, Esq.^†‡

Institutions Taking TARP Funding Link

As readers know from our news blurb last week, there are new restrictions for H-1B sponsorship for all organizations that have taken TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) funds. The restrictions on new hires include the employer taking good-faith efforts to recruit U.S. workers for the position for which the H-1B worker is sought at the wage which is required under law to be offered to the H-1B worker, attesting that it has offered the job to any U.S. worker equally or better qualified for the position, and that it has not laid off and will not lay off U.S. workers in a job essentially equivalent to the H-1B position in the area of intended employment within the 90 day period before and after filing the H-1B petition.

We are now providing a link in the above box which lists organizations which have either received or been approved for TARP funding. Please note that we do not vouch for the accuracy of the linked information, but provide such as a convenience to our readers.

† The author is a 26+ year practitioner of immigration law based in New York City. He was awarded the Sidney A. Levine prize for best legal writing at the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in 1977 and has written extensively on immigration over the past years for the ethnic newspapers, World Journal, Sing Tao, Pakistan Calling, Muhasha and OCS. He has testified as an expert on immigration in civil court proceedings and was recognized by the Taiwan government in 1985 for his work protecting human rights. His article, "The Bush Temporary Worker Proposal and Comparative Pending Legislation: an Analysis" was Interpreter Releases' cover display article at the American Immigration Lawyers Association annual conference in 2004, and his victory in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in a case of first impression nationwide, Firstland International v. INS, successfully challenged INS' policy of over 40 years of revoking approved immigrant visa petitions under a nebulous standard of proof. Its value as precedent, however, was short-lived as it was specifically targeted by the Administration in the Intelligence Reform Act of 2004.

‡ This article © 2009 Alan Lee, Esq.

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The information provided here is of a general nature and may not apply to any particular set of facts or circumstances. It should not be construed as legal advice and does not constitute an engagement of the Law Office of Alan Lee or establish an attorney-client relationship.