PERM under audit

[sid1980]

Friends, My employer applier for PERM on 7th March 2012. Last week I got to know from the attorneys that my application has been randomly selected for audit. I asked our HR whats the audit about and they said they have to provide proof of the entire recrutiment process that they had to undergo before applying for the PERM. They also said that most of the PERM applications these days are undergoing audit. Does some one know if thats the case elsewhere as well. How long does the company have to respond to the audit. What are the chances of the audit passing through smoothly?

[crackerjack]

Hi sid1980,

I am also in the same situation. I mean, we received the same kind of audit for my PERM application that was filed in September-2011. My Employer says that:

"The Audit of your case was requesting Employer Specific details regarding the recruitment cycle that was completed for this past PERM cycle."

My Employer has received the audit notice in November-2011 and responded to DOL in December-2011. So far we have not received any response from DOL and still waiting for the audit to complete.

Experts and Seniors....could you please tell how complex is this kind of audit and the possibility of passing the audit without any issues. Thanks in advance!!

[krishsm]

Hi,

I have applied for PERM on Apr 27th 2012 and I heard the audit note from attorney on July 5th (7/5/12) that DOL is requesting information about employer's recruitment process by 7/30/12. Looks like DOL is selecting more applications for audit this year.

Can anyone please provide some insight when to hear back from them? My H1B is valid till 9/30/2013. Is there a way to speed up the PERM process in this case? Can I get extension even on audit phase? I know we can get extension once we get labor approval but I'm not sure in the audit phase.

Kindly advice.

[crackerjack]

krishsm,

You can apply for extension if your PERM application was filed before 365 days of H1B Visa expiry. As per the rule:

1. if the PERM application is filed before 365 days of H1B Visa expiry and the PERM is approved or in pending status (audit) by the time of H1B expiry, then you will get an extension for 1 year.

2. if the PERM application is filed before 365 days of H1B Visa expiry and the PERM & I-140 are approved by the time of H1B expiry, then you will get an extension for 3 years.

[kala403]

krishsm,

You can apply for extension if your PERM application was filed before 365 days of H1B Visa expiry. As per the rule:

1. if the PERM application is filed before 365 days of H1B Visa expiry and the PERM is approved or in pending status (audit) by the time of H1B expiry, then you will get an extension for 1 year.

2. if the PERM application is filed before 365 days of H1B Visa expiry and the PERM & I-140 are approved by the time of H1B expiry, then you will get an extension for 3 years.

What about if

PERM is filed not before 365 days of H1B Visa expiry and it is still pending?

PERM is filed not before 365 days of H1B Visa expiry and it is still approved but waiting for I-140?

[sid1980]

Folks,Does anyone know how long does it take for DOL to respond once audits are responded.

[crackerjack]

sid1980,

I have asked the same question to my Employer about the aduit response time and received a message saying that, once a case has received an audit it can take about 2 years to get adjudicated. It depends up on the type of audit and DOL's processing times for these type of audits.

kala403,

Please see the answers below. What about if:

PERM is filed not before 365 days of H1B Visa expiry and it is still pending?

In this case, you should leave United States until the PERM is approved or one year is passed (while pending) since the day your PERM was applied so that you will get qualified for one year extension based on pending status.

FYI...I relocated to India last month as because of the same situation. My H1B Visa expired in June-2012, but the PERM was filed in September-2011. My Employer received the audit notice from DOL in November-2011 and reponded to the same in December-2011. My PERM is still in audit process. Since my PERM was not filed before 365 days of H1B Visa expiry and still in pending status, I have had to leave United States and relocate to India. Now I am waiting for September (2012) end so that we can file for extension based on one year pending status. If my PERM is approved by September (2012) end, then also I will get qualified for one year extension. So I am looking for any one of these to happen.

PERM is filed not before 365 days of H1B Visa expiry and it is still approved but waiting for I-140?

Iam not sure, but I think you must get the PERM and I-140 approved in case your PERM was not filed before 365 days of H1B Visa expiry.

Experts and Seniors....please correct me if my understanding is wrong. Also could you please let me know how severe is the audit type requesting the Employer Specific details regarding the recruitment cycle that was completed for the past PERM cycle. Thanks in advance.

[kala403]

@crackerjack: thanks for the info. Pretty informative if it is correct. I am wondering you could apply(during march/april 2012) for a new H1B(which starts from spet 2012) as well since you are out of US for 1 year(?) so that you will get again another 6 years of H1b.

[krishsm]

Thanks all for posting your inputs.