U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Honolulu District Director David Gulick, who was yesterday’s guest at the Saipan Rotary Club meeting at the Hyatt, said they will not check how many times or for how long employers have advertised vacancies, but companies will have to attest that there are no qualified U.S. workers for those positions.
He said employers have to make reasonable efforts to determine whether there are eligible workers who are U.S. citizens, green card holders, or FAS nationals.
“When employers sign the attestation, they can, in good faith, say and if necessary show us what actions they have taken and how they have determined that there is no qualified U.S. worker available for the position or the job,” Gulick said.
He said if employers deliberately lie to get approval for a CW petition, they will be penalized.
“If employers also deliberately create fictional jobs then that is something that they could ultimately be prosecuted for,” Gulick said.
He said nonresident employees could also face liabilities.
“USCIS may revoke the petition and he or she will become an alien without status…in the CNMI and could be placed under removable proceedings,” he added.
Gulick said USCIS will conduct random checks from time to time to verify if the advertised jobs really existed and that no qualified U.S. workers were available for the jobs.
He said USCIS team conducting the outreach meetings regarding the new CW rule will be leaving on Friday, but he will stay until Oct. 9 to help resolve other issues about the transitional worker regulations.
