Audit Unnerves Green Card Applicants

The department says that the New York law firm of Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy, whose clients include General Electric, IBM, Cisco, and Intel, may have improperly advised clients to contact a Fragomen attorney before hiring “apparently qualified” U.S. workers.
It said Fragomen advised its clients: “After an interview, should any of the applicants appear to be qualified for the position, please contact a Fragomen attorney immediately to further discuss the candidate’s background as it relates to the requirements stated for said position.”

The department is auditing the company’s applications on behalf of thousands of immigrants for permanent foreign labor certification, or PERM, which is used to sponsor workers for green cards. The process requires a company to advertise and seek to find qualified U.S. workers for the job. A company may fill a position with a foreigner only if it is unable to recruit a U.S. citizen.
Fragomen denies the charges and says its lawyers can offer its clients “critical legal advice they need to navigate and comply with this complex regulatory process.”

Fragomen is the largest law firm handling PERM cases, filing 3,600 labor certifications in 2004, twice the number of the next largest company, the vast majority from Indian citizens.