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General Processing and Compliance Guidance

 
Employment-based immigration to the United States is governed by a complex set of laws, regulations, agency policy memoranda, court decisions and other interpretive guidance. Three cabinet-level agencies are prominently involved in implementing the immigration laws enacted by Congress: the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Department of State (DOS) and the Department of Labor (DOL). 
 
Within DHS, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) processes most immigration paperwork, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) greets foreign nationals at our Ports of Entry (POE) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) enforces immigration laws at the worksite.
 
DOS issues visas abroad at U.S. consulates, and the DOL ensures that foreign workers are not adversely impacting opportunities for U.S. workers. 
 
Other federal agencies foreign national employees often interact with are: the Department of Commerce, if they will be working with sensitive technologies, as well as the Internal Revenue Service and Social Security Administration for tax issues. For further information, see ACIP’s primer on the U.S. immigration system.