U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services recently announced that it is using a new tool, the Validation Instrument for Business Enterprises (VIBE), to assist in the adjudication of certain employment-based immigration petitions.

VIBE uses commercially available data provided by Dun & Bradstreet (such as the company's financial standing, number of employees, relationships with other entities, date of establishment and current physical address) to validate basic information about companies or organizations petitioning to employ foreign nationals. Most employment-based petitions will be validated by VIBE, including: Petition for a Nonimigrant Worker (Form I-129) (used for sponsoring H-1B and L-1 employees, among others); Immigrant Petition for an Alien Worker (Form I-140); and Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant (Form I-360). At this time, VIBE will not be used for employment-based petitions requesting classification as an alien of extraordinary ability, a national interest waiver, EB-5 (immigrant investor), or O or P classifications.

A final decision on an immigrant petition will not be made solely on information obtained by VIBE. Any application which has derogatory or contradictory information found by VIBE will be issued a Request for Evidence (RFE) or Notice of Intent To Deny (NOID) notifying the petitioner of the VIBE deficiency to allow the petitioner an opportunity to respond to USCIS's concerns. The Immigration Services Officers (ISOs) will make a decision based on the totality of the circumstances.

There are no additional fees or documentary filing requirements for VIBE. Additionally, VIBE will have no impact on USCIS's overall processing time goals. However, if a company receives an RFE or NOID based on VIBE results or for other reasons, they may experience increased processing times.

To ensure the most expeditious handling of employment-based petitions in the future, it is recommended that prospective employment-based petitioners ensure that their information is updated and correct with Dun & Bradstreet before filing any employment-based petitions with the immigration service. Employers may request a copy of their Dun & Bradstreet report by calling 1-800-234-DUNS (3867). New and smaller companies particularly should ensure that they have a D-U-N-S number by calling D&B's customer support to request the assignment of a number in order to head off an RFE or NOID for an employment-based petition. Assignment of a D-U-N-S number may take from two to seven business days.

For additional information on VIBE, click here.