Best Practices for a Corporate Immigration Program

A world famous software company mishandles its American H1-B visa applications and their product delivery schedule slips. The bad press they catch exacerbates the problem. At an apparel company, several workers visiting for extended training overstay their visas when a good-faith administrative error surfaces. Now the company faces fines more than enough to cancel any expected savings.

Lost deals. Underperforming operations. Bad PR. Preventable fines. The stakes surrounding your company’s handling of its immigration needs grow as its efforts to compete on a world stage intensify. Avoiding potential outcomes like these motivates companies to take a strategic view of their immigration management activities.

Towards this end, we offer 7 best practices from immigration professionals at five global corporations. We order them from the lowest threshold to implement to the highest.

1. Put Your Immigration Policies in Writing

Anna Amato, Immigration Manager at The Coca-Cola Company suggests creating a written immigration policy. Some topics to include in your policy: under what circumstances will your company sponsor a non-immigrant visa and permanent resident status, engage outside counsel and pay fees related to the visa process including the use of premium processing.

For a sample immigration policy, visit http://www.immigrationtracker.com/sample-policy.htm, or contact your immigration attorney.

2. Get Your Message Out and Never Stop

Candace Harvey, Immigration Specialist at one of the most successful independent production companies in the history of film proposes attending new hire orientation to speak with foreign nationals and ensure legal work authorization status. Hold informal brown bags monthly to discuss current immigration issues. Ask your immigration attorney to formally present at least twice a year to keep everyone informed. Add immigration language to your job application forms, offer letters, internal job transfer requests and termination packets.

3. Invest in Training for Your Immigration Management Staff

Develop instructor-led and/or self-paced online training courses covering immigration- specific topics like “the green card process” or “getting a visa.” If possible, collaborate with Legal and HRD to encourage attendance and align training with employee development requirements. Create separate courses for foreign nationals, managers of foreign nationals and HR/recruiters.

4. Partner with other Stakeholders in Your Organization

Bruce Larson, Director, International Personnel Office and Senior Immigration Counsel for Mayo Clinic recommends developing relationships with other key partners and setting up notification systems based on business rules. Again, cultivate their trust so they bring you into meetings as a strategic consultant. This way, you can proactively offer guidance and insight before “the deal is done” rather than having to resolve an otherwise preventable issue after the fact. Some key partners to consider include:

• HR: How will this promotion, transfer or other job change affect current work authorizations and/or pending green cards?
• Export Control: Will we need an export license for this foreign national now or when they change levels of responsibility and access in the future?
• Recruiters: What are the projected hiring demands? Have we reached the H1 cap? Will this new hire require sponsored work authorization? Have we discussed permanent residency sponsorship?
• Legal: Will they provide assistance in drafting and/or enforcing the immigration policy? How will a Reduction in force affect foreign national employees? How will mandatory days off affect H1 workers?
• Merger & Acquisition Teams: Is the company prepared to assume the Public Access file liability? Are all workers in current legal status? Will they qualify for work authorization with the new company when, for example, changing from an E-2 visa to an H-1B?
• Relocation and International Tax: When is this employee traveling/arriving in the country? Is this a temporary assignment? Will this assignment last for more than 90 days? Will a spouse and/or other dependents be accompanying the employee?
• Travel: Will this international travel invalidate the current and/or pending status? Do we have “stealth expatriates?” (for example, employees who should be getting work permits instead of entering countries repeatedly as Business Visitors). When must we notify the tax department?
• Executive staff: How many foreign nationals will reach their 5-7 year limit in the U.S. before filing for a green card? How will this affect their departments long-term?

5. Create an Immigration Intranet

Eryn Potempa, Immigration Specialist at Nike, Inc. advises establishing an internal immigration department website. Include sections on:

• policies
• visa requirements
• questionnaires
• case status
• travel tips
• contact information

See the sample screen below showing a near maintenance-free website content for a Global Immigration Intranet.

6. Make Case Status Information Available Online

Invest in a self-service tool to provide immediate answers to your employees, managers and HR team when asked questions like:

• “What is the status of my case?”
• “Has my case been approved yet?”
• “When can this person start working?”

Many immigration software programs provide a web portal interface individuals can use to retrieve their case details from a database.

7. Automate Every Manual Task You Can

“Automation is key!” says Lisa Claypool, Assistant Counsel for University of Pittsburgh Physicians, the physician practice plan for University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

“Eliminate as many manual routine tasks as possible so that you can focus more on your strategic role.” She recommends investing in a software management program that will:

1. Stay on top of the process - automatically send reminders such as, “I-94 expires in 6 months”, “PERM recruitment period ending” or “Conduct an I-9 re-verification”
2. Save time - generate online questionnaires and forms to auto-populate data
3. Avoid duplicate data entry - export/import among your HRIS and immigration systems

If you cannot bring an immigration management system in-house, find out if your outside legal counsel has one with a web portal so you can view key information, generate reports and possibly export data to your HRIS.

Manage Case Details
Track every process detail; let employees and managers view selected data

Wrap up

The specter of lost deals, underperforming operations, bad publicity and preventable fines is prompting many companies to treat their immigration management activities more strategically than in the past. With some planning, teamwork and an informed investment in the practices and tools best suited to your company’s needs, you can defuse the immigration compliance issues facing your business. Clearly, the peace of mind for all concerned is priceless.

Michelle Penoli was Immigration Manager at a Fortune 200 company and is now Corporate & Global Manager of ImmigrationTracker, the leading immigration management software among America’s top 200 law firms and F-1000 companies. Tracker is the only immigration software offered online (ASP) and as a server-based platform. Adopters of Tracker enjoy true security and maximum compatibility with future technology trends. Based in San Francisco, CA, ImmigrationTracker currently supports more than 4,000 licensees in the United States, Canada, and the UK. For more information, visit www.immigrationtracker.com or send an email to info@immigrationtracker.com