In This Alert:

H-1B Cap Will Be Reached Soon; Holiday Alert for Foreign Travel; BALCA Rejects DOL’s Restrictive “Affiliation” Requirement and Expands Eligibility to ACWIA Wages for Hospitals and Other Health Care Facilities; USCIS Adopts Procedures for “Bundling” L-1B Petitions Related to the Same Project; ICE Issues a New Round of Form I-9 Audit Notices; DOS Designates U.S. Consulate General in Chennai as Sole Post in India with Authorization to Process “Blanket L” Applications; and, DOS Issues December 2011 Visa Bulletin.

Excerpt from ICE Issues a New Round of Form I-9 Audit Notices:

The Obama administration has continued its stealth crackdown on employers by issuing audit notices to another 500 employers that seek access to their Form I-9 and other hiring records. The surge in these audits reflects the importance that this administration places on getting employers to comply with Form I-9 and other worksite obligations. During the last fiscal year, Immigration Customs Enforcement (“ICE”), the agency within the Department of Homeland Security responsible for worksite enforcement, issued close to 2,500 audit notices. This exceeds the previous year’s total of nearly 2,200 audit notices. Since January 2009, when President Obama took office, ICE has conducted more than 5,900 audits.