DHS Launches Program to Pre-Qualify Employers – Immigration Attorney Stewart Rabinowitz

Dallas immigration lawyers – Rabinowitz & Rabinowitz, P.C.

Dallas, TX (Law Firm Newswire) April 21, 2016 – The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has launched the Known Employer Pilot Program (KEPP), to evaluate a new process for employers for employers who want to hire certain foreign national workers in employment-based visa categories.

The Known Employer Program would require an employer to pre-qualify first by setting up an online profile in a Web-based Known Employer Document Library. The employer would then upload documents to that library. USCIS would evaluate eligibility requirements and once approved, permit an employer to file foreign national eligibility documents without company supporting evidence. The pilot would cover certain workers under both immigrant and non-immigrant employment-based visas. The pilot program will be overseen by USCIS and is in conjunction with the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the DHS Office of Policy.

“In efforts to streamline immigration processing, pre-registering and pre-qualifying employers in this DHS’ pilot program is a baby step forward,” said prominent Dallas immigration attorney Stewart Rabinowitz. “The devil will be in the details, though: how much data will be required, what the scope and length of the approvals will be, and how much data will have to accompany the specific foreign national filing. Still, an initial filing with company data — akin to a blanket L petition — is long overdue, especially from an agency that recently has been increasing, not decreasing, the length of its paper-filed required documents.”

DHS said that added benefits of the program would be to reduce paperwork, to promote consistency in the adjudication of applications and petitions, to streamline the adjudication process, and to provide greater efficiency and consistency at consular posts and ports of entry.