Forum Shopping? Think Again

DOL Region's Advice to Immigration Lawyers

Recently, Region II Department of Labor contacted AILA's DC Chapter to express concern regarding an increasing practice of "forum shopping" to achieve better and more consistent processing times.

DOL's concern is that companies' operations are clearly not legitimate since they are not transacting business in those locations. DOL is aware of incidents of forum shopping--not only in this Region but in others, such as Boston--is going to investigate. The Region II Certifying Officer actually related an incident he personally investigated, in which he visited an alleged worksite and found the cited office in a questionable neighborhood, with no one there and no equipment available for the "immediately available" work. (What was not addressed, however, was the difference between this practice and a legitimate virtual office or future office situation.)

Employers should note that this is not only an issue at the present time, but that with the advent of the "automated" labor certification process (or PERM), with increased investigations likely, the need for complete accuracy on all attestations cannot be overstated.