If your organization employs foreign nationals, it’s crucial to ensure compliance through mergers & acquisitions, reductions in force and other company changes.

Here are immigration considerations for three of the most common company restructurings, and how you can support your foreign national employees through the changes.

1. Expanding or reducing operations in the U.S.

If your company is expanding its operations in the U.S. due to a merger, acquisition or new office location, consult with legal counsel to ensure continued work authorization for your foreign national employees.

For reductions in force, it’s important to understand the impact on your PERM program. If an employer conducts layoffs, then within six months files a PERM application for a similar role that was impacted, the PERM application is highly likely to be audited or denied.

Immigration counsel can provide guidance to ensure compliance and explore viable alternatives in these situations.

2. Expanding or reducing operations globally

Every country will have a unique process and set of requirements for operational changes, but there are some general considerations you should take into account when expanding into a new country or conducting layoffs.

For example, some acquiring businesses may need to maintain the legacy sponsoring entity in the country, and some expanding businesses may staff their new location through an Employer of Record rather than creating an actual entity in the country they’re branching into. Either situation impacts sponsorship activity. Employers should work with counsel to make sure these actions are compliant or appropriate.

When conducting layoffs, companies need to know the timeline for their country’s exit procedures, including how long the process takes and how quickly the sponsored employees need to leave the country. In some countries, employers have only 10 days to file the relevant cancellation or termination notification.

3. Maintaining immigration support through internal restructuring

When internal company changes impact your immigration program — transitioning immigration responsibilities to another individual or department, tightening a team’s resources, high attrition within a team, etc. — companies can outsource immigration services to help fill in the gaps of their program.

An outsourced paralegal or immigration specialist can help manage ticketing systems, build reports and support case management services. Ultimately, they can take on some of the administrative burden so the rest of the team can focus on program strategy.

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