A recent release from USCIS, stated that foreign workers may apply for parole and an employment authorization document or EAD to remain in the CNMI and continue working while awaiting a decision on a petitioning employer’s Form I-129 Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker requesting a grant of status in the CNMI for them.
These nonimmigrant classifications, USCIS stated, include H-1B Specialty Occupation, E-1 Treaty Trader, E-2 Investor, L-1 Intra-Company Transferee and R Religious Worker.
“With parole and an employment authorization document or EAD they will be able to remain in the CNMI and continue working while awaiting a decision on the I-129 Petition (which is what the employer files for H and other categories,” said USCIS regional media manager Marie Therese Sebrechts.
She said petitions must be filed before Nov. 28, 2011 in order to benefit from this policy.
In an email to Variety, Sebrechts also cited USCIS Q&A where the agency stated that, “People who already have parole and an I-94 document can apply for an extension of parole. People who have parole should look at the expiration date on their I-94 and, based upon that date, consider applying for parole. This includes those with any parole that is expired or expiring on or before Nov. 28, 2011.”
Saipan Chamber of Commerce Douglas Brennan welcomed this latest development regarding H-1B petitions.
“SCC gladly accepts this change in practice by USCIS. Many of our employers were extremely concerned with having to exit their specialized personnel if their visa applications had not been processed by November 28, 2011. Some of our educational institutions would have had to literally remove teachers from their classrooms mid-term, so this is welcome news,” Brennan said.”
Chamber executive director Richard Pierce said, “We spent considerable time with USCIS Acting Deputy Chief Counsel Philip B. Busch discussing this oversight by USCIS. He reported they had not even considered the implications where enough time was not available to process H-1B applicants so as to avoid exiting current employees from the CNMI. We’re satisfied there has been a decision based upon those exchanges we had September 21st.”
Some of those that will directly be benefitting from this USCIS decision are clinics and the Commonwealth Health Center whose employees are eligible for H1-B petitions.
Variety tried but failed to receive a response from CHC last weekend.
Dr. David Khorram of Marianas Eye Institute, in an email, said, “We do have a small number of staff who are non-resident workers. They are very valuable to our business, and there are no qualified U.S. workers to replace them at this time. The fees and the visa filing process is a bit of work, and there is some additional expense involved with it, but we view it as just part of the cost of doing business.”
Khorram said it would be nice if the additional costs do not exist. “But at the moment we’re happy that with the promulgation of the regulations and the informational sessions provided by USCIS, clarity finally exists and we can plan and move forward.”
Another weight lifted off the shoulders of the business community is the release of the prevailing wage survey results.
Prior to filing of H1-B petitions, employers or petitioners must file a labor condition application or LCA with the U.S. Department of Labor attesting that the wage offered equals or exceeds prevailing wage for the job.
According to California-based lawyer James Ronald Gotcher who’s handling H1 petitions in an opinion he issued in an online forum, “Whether the employer gets a formal prevailing wage finding or not, the employer is still bound by whatever the DOL determines the prevailing wage to be. If the employer obtains a formal prevailing wage determination, then that acts as a ‘safe harbor’ for the employer and the DOL cannot come back and second guess the salary later. If the employer does not get a PWD, the DOL may come in at any point and make a formal determination. If that figure is higher than the actual wage, then the DOL will order the employer to pay the difference, plus interest.”
Prevailing wage survey results
Last week, the Saipan Chamber of Commerce released the results of the prevailing wage survey it conducted.
“SCC is anxious and confident that the concluded prevailing wage survey will enable individual CNMI employers to apply for prevailing wage determinations and ultimately petition USCIS for H-1B employment visas. We know employers that are processing their documents now utilizing our summary reports,” said Pierce.
He also said, “SCC, through our contracted survey experts, conducted the survey and issued the summary reports. It would be presumptuous of SCC to maintain what prevailing wage rates should be, as U.S. Labor makes that call. We trust our survey accurately reports what current salaries are in the CNMI, but that determination is made by U.S. Labor in the end.”
He added that the chamber stands ready to communicate with US should any additional information regarding the survey, its methods and the final analysis be needed.
Prior to the release of the survey results, many employers raised issue with the lack of prevailing wage forcing them to refer to Guam’s or Hawaii’s prevailing wages which the local businesses cannot afford to pay.
The survey revealed that construction and extraction occupations pay from $4.50 per hour for carpenters to $18.46 for electricians. Under this category are stonemasons, electricians, construction laborers, sheet metal workers, construction and building inspectors, helpers and other related jobs.
On Guam, a carpenter gets $11.75 an hour while in Hawaii the average wage is $34.83.
Hawaii’s average construction wage of $33.71 is 100.7 percent higher than Guam’s maximum construction wage of $16.80, according to a report on construction wages.
Hawaii’s average construction wage of $33.71 is $168.8 percent higher than Guam’s average construction wage of $13.68.
Based on the CNMI prevailing wage, lawyers here are paid from $13.63 to $57.69 an hour while legal assistants are paid from $8.93 to $21.92 an hour.
In the U.S. the mean annual wage estimates for this profession is $129,440: $104,480 in Hawaii; $155,740, California; $123,700, Nevada; and $118,040 in Florida.
In the CNMI, the salary range for teachers, training and library occupations — which covers preschool, elementary, middle school and secondary school teachers, instructors, librarians, teacher assistants and related jobs — is from $3.46 to $23.80.
In other states where wages for these occupations are reported on an annual basis, the mean annual wage is $54,330: $49,030, Hawaii; $63,010, California; $49,450, Nevada; and $49,820, Florida.
Health care practitioners and technical occupations which include dentists, pharmacists, physicians, physical therapists, registered nurses, opticians and related jobs are paid from $5.05 to $100 in the Northern Mariana Islands.
In the U.S., registered nurses have a mean annual wage of $67,720: $82,130, Hawaii; $87,480, California; $75,320, Nevada; $63,010, Florida.
Food preparation and serving related occupations like chefs, cooks, bartenders, dishwashers and similar posts pay from $4.62 an hour to $24.56 for chefs and head cooks in the CNMI.
In the U.S. food preparation occupations command a mean annual wage of $18,610: $19,410 in Hawaii; $20,310, California; $20,020, Nevada; and $18,200, Florida.
The wait staff are paid $24,890 annually in Hawaii, $20,670 in California, $22,260 in Nevada and $20,610 in Florida.
Such disparity in wages is what concerns the employers in the Northern Mariana Islands prior to the release of the prevailing wage survey results.
For the complete survey results, go to www.saipanchamber.com.
In filing for H-1B petitions, the checklist includes:
All checks or money orders must be signed and made payable to U.S. Department of Homeland Security. As has been pointed out by USCIS in its outreach sessions, petitions with wrong filing fee will be rejected.
All sections of the Form I-129, H Classification Supplement to Form I-129 and H-1B Data Collection and Filing Fee Exemption Supplement are completed.
Form I-907 is completed.
A certified Department of Labor Labor Condition Application is signed by petitioner.
Petitions must be mailed with appropriate labels.
For a complete checklist and for more information, go to uscis.gov.
