How will the ‘Matter of Dhanasar’ affect Immigration?
December 27th, 2016 was a landmark day for immigration policy in America. It was on this day that the Administrative Appeals Office of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service issued a decision on the issue of Matter of Dhanasar. The decision set a new outline for permanent labor certifications that will benefit a number of US employers, especially small businesses and digital start-up firms. There has been much talk in recent years about the problems with PERM, the permanent labor certification process through with employers can sponsor foreign nationals to live in America by offering them employment. Employers and employees have spoken out for years about how slow and pointless a lot of the steps in PERM are. To give an example to illustrate their point, PERM requires that an employer conduct a job search in America, before hiring a foreign national, by posting the position in a local weekly newspaper. That is certainly no longer the way to find qualified Americans,
The Matter of Dhanasar ruling pertains directly to these critiques of PERM. Here is quick rundown of the implications that this ruling will have for permanent labor certification (perhaps no more mandatory newspaper ads?
- Small businesses and start-ups have a leg up: Employees with an EB-2 employment visa can be hired without the firm having to prove their recruitment efforts. The Dhanasar verdict makes it easier for employees to apply for an EB-2. This is a great time saver for smaller firms that are designed to innovate quickly and stay on the cutting edge of trends. Before these firms had to prove that they looked for an American worker but could not find one. Now they can just state that hiring this foreign national is in the national interest.
- Small businesses and startups no longer have as much paperwork: These firms will no longer have to show how hiring a foreign national will bring immediate or quantifiable economic benefit to the United States. The government is essentially saying that they understand that hiring foreign nationals is intrinsically important in that they can fill a specific role effectively, immediately. This saves companies thousands of dollars in training fee’s or lost revenue because they lacked the skilled employee based to maximize revenue.
- Entrepreneurs can now get residency faster: Foreign national entrepreneurs also benefit from the broadening of the application process. They no longer will be tested against the old framework of market analysis for the specific job they do, which was contradictory and confusing. All they must now show is that their business ventures have significant national importance because they contribute to the betterment of the national interest.
These are all positive openings for business and technology to develop at a faster rate in America. It is hoped that further loosening of administrative requirements will make America even more accessible to foreign nationals that can bring added value to the nation.
