Final Guidance On H-1B Worksite Location Changes Issued By USCIS

In May 2015, in response to the immigration service's Administrative Appeals Office decision in Matter of Simeio Solutions, LLC, USCIS issued draft guidance addressing the need for employers to file amended H-1B petitions when there was a change in the foreign national employee's worksite.  Essentially, the immigration service considers there to be a "material change," thus triggering the need for the filing of an amended petition, when an H-1B employee is going to their place of employment to a new worksite that was not listed in the employer's initial petition and accompanying Labor Condition Application (LCA).

In this draft guidance, USCIS indicated that this new H-1B amendment approach was to be applied retroactively to location changes made prior to the Simeio decision and prior to the issuance of the guidance.  A deadline of August 19, 2015 was given to employers before which to file all necessary amended petitions.  This was met with significant criticism