Today is a milestone - my first blog post about case law affecting nonimmigrant employment-based visas - hold your breath, folks and let's see if I can adequately explain the Administrative Appeals Office's (AAO) decision in Matter of Simeio Solutions.
The beneficiary was approved for H-1B status for work performed in Long Beach, California. After a few months, he traveled to India an sought an H-1B visa at the consulate. Upon further investigation, the consulate determined that the beneficiary was providing services outside the scope of the original petition. It notified United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), who conducted a site visit to the beneficiary's workplace in Long Beach. There, USCIS learned that the beneficiary was actually working from Camarillo, California and Hoboken, New Jersey. Both of these locations were outside the geographic area covered the original labor certification filed in support of the H-1B petition. USCIS determined that the changes in the beneficiary's places of employment constituted a material change to the terms and conditions of employment as outlined in the original petition.
On appeal, the AAO agreed with USCIS's position, noting that the prevailing wage the employer was required to pay differed in the three geographic areas, and that the beneficiary's current salary did not meet the prevailing wage requirements in Camarillo or Hoboken. As such, this change in locale required the filing of an amended petition along with a new labor certification.
You can find the full text of Matter of Simeio Solutions here: http://www.justice.gov/eoir/vll/intdec/vol26/3832.pdf