Audits, records, and what follows a sponsored hire.
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A Southern District of Georgia H-2A indictment gives sponsors a five-point filing audit: fees, worksite accuracy, documents, coercion, and expiry.
The 30-day DOL review turns past LCAs and layoff records into the next compliance surface.
A defensible H-1B file ties the LCA wage level to the same duties, experience, and classification in the petition, with the reasoning preserved in the public access file.
A field check or whistleblower tip makes the worksite file the first document an inspector will test.
A practical checklist for HR leads to log service, escalate, notify all employees, and prove delivery after an ICE I-9 inspection notice.
A defensible H-1B worksite file proves the address is operating, the worker is there, and the pay matches the LCA.
Plan each sponsored hire against the current PERM filing-month line and PWD lead time, not the monthly average alone.
Use this pre-filing checklist to see whether an H-1B or L-1 extension on or after Sept. 9, 2026 triggers the 9-11 biometric fee.
Triage I-485 public charge cases by postmark or e-file date, map means-tested benefits, and align I-864 support with a possible I-945 bond.
Build each labor condition application as an audit file before an inspection, with retention clocks and penalty tiers mapped.
A DOL OIG subpoena tests whether your H-1B and PERM file can prove wages, duties, recruitment, and broker arrangements.
A revoked EAD in the Status Change Report starts the clock. Use this I-9 reverification workflow to finish Supplement B and document the decision.
Pull both DOL H-1B debarment and willful-violator lists before approving a sponsorship, because the second can add five-year LCA attestations and audits.
Run this intake checklist before filing or supplementing; incomplete cases can be denied without a first RFE.
The PERM suspension is a compliance warning that should trigger an exposure checklist and tighter H-1B evidence now.
Before the next filing window, use a five-point stress test to protect business need, wage compliance, and retention risk.
A 2025 Department of Labor campaign is opening H-1B investigations without waiting for a worker complaint, and the early numbers show it is not symbolic.
A recent final rule tightened what counts as a genuine H-1B job, opened a real path for founder-owners, and set a form deadline with no grace period.
E-Verify employers can skip in-person document checks for new hires, but the option comes with a strict all-or-nothing rule at each hiring site.
The same H-1B role can be filed at four different wage levels depending on experience and duties, and where most sponsors actually land says a lot about the program.
USCIS can send an officer to confirm a filing after approval, without advance notice, and refusing to cooperate carries real consequences of its own.
A simple ratio between total staff and H-1B headcount decides whether a sponsor faces extra attestations, and two narrow exemptions can remove a filing from that scrutiny.