Your bench period just ended. The staffing coordinator says you start Monday at a client site two states away. You ask the obvious question: does paperwork need to happen before you go, or can it catch up later?
For H-1B consultants, this is not a paperwork afterthought. Depending on where that new site sits relative to your current Labor Condition Application, the move can trigger a legal requirement to file a new LCA and an amended H-1B petition before you report to work there.
This is the Simeio rule, and it governs almost every bench-to-project, project-to-project, and client-to-client move that consulting-model H-1B employers make. Here is how it actually works.
Matter of Simeio Solutions: the case that set the standard
In 2015, the USCIS Administrative Appeals Office decided Matter of Simeio Solutions, LLC, 26 I&N Dec. 542 (AAO 2015). The case involved an H-1B worker whose employer moved him to a new job site in a different metropolitan area without filing a new LCA or amended petition first.
The AAO held that a change in the worker's place of employment to a geographic area not covered by the existing LCA is a material change in the terms and conditions of employment. Because it is material, the employer must:
- Obtain a new, certified LCA covering the new area of intended employment, and
- File an amended or new H-1B petition reflecting that change, before the employee begins work at the new location.
USCIS followed this decision with guidance directing petitioners to comply going forward, and it set up a transition period for employers who needed to come into compliance for worksite changes that had already occurred. The exact dates and scope of that transition period are specific and worth confirming directly on uscis.gov or with counsel rather than relying on secondhand summaries, since the details matter if your case touches that window.
The real test: area of intended employment, not mileage
There is no bright-line mileage rule. Josh Pros LLC will not tell you "50 miles is safe" because that is not the standard USCIS applies, and neither should anyone else.
The test is whether the new job site falls within the area of intended employment already certified on your LCA. The Department of Labor defines this using the federal government's Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) concept and normal commuting distance, not a fixed radius. Two sites can be 15 miles apart and sit in different labor market areas; two sites can be 60 miles apart and sit in the same one. What matters is whether the prevailing wage data, commuting patterns, and MSA boundaries treat them as the same labor market.
Practical implication: every time your staffing or project team proposes a new site, someone has to check the LCA's certified area of intended employment against the new site's MSA, not just eyeball a map.
Timing: before the move, not after
The sequence matters as much as the determination itself.
- Identify the new worksite and confirm whether it sits outside the current LCA's area of intended employment.
- If it does, the employer files a new LCA with the Department of Labor (Form ETA-9035/9035E) for the new area, including the required wage attestations.
- Once certified, the employer files an amended H-1B petition with USCIS (Form I-129, H Classification Supplement) referencing the new LCA.
- The employee may begin working at the new location once the petition is filed, under the long-standing "same or similar" USCIS guidance for amendments — but the filing itself has to happen first, not after the fact.
Filing after the employee has already started at the new site is exactly the fact pattern that produced the Simeio decision. It exposes the employer to compliance findings in a Department of Labor wage-and-hour investigation and can complicate the worker's own record if USCIS later questions the petition's accuracy.
Where short-term placement and non-worksite rules fit
Not every trip to a different city requires this full process. DOL's H-1B regulations include a short-term placement provision that lets an employer send a worker to a location outside the current LCA's area for a limited number of workdays in a calendar year, without first obtaining a new LCA, provided specific conditions in the regulation are met. The allowance is capped and comes with its own recordkeeping and notice obligations — it is meant for brief, non-recurring assignments like a short client engineering sprint or a training session, not a disguised permanent relocation.
DOL regulations also exclude certain locations from counting as a "worksite" at all. A conference, a seminar, a brief customer meeting, or an employee's home used only incidentally and not as a regular reporting location generally does not trigger area-of-employment analysis the same way a day-to-day assigned job site does.
Both of these carve-outs are narrow and fact-specific. They are not a general substitute for an amendment when a placement is open-ended. If your coordinator says "we'll just call it short-term," ask for the specific regulatory basis and the day count being tracked — not a verbal assurance.
Quick reference: common consulting scenarios
| Scenario | Likely treatment |
|---|---|
| New client site, same MSA as current LCA | Usually no new LCA/amendment required, but confirm the MSA boundary with your employer |
| New client site, different MSA, open-ended assignment | New LCA and amended petition required before the move (Simeio rule) |
| Short project trip, limited days, meets short-term placement conditions | May proceed under DOL's short-term placement allowance — day limits apply |
| Occasional home-office day, not a regular reporting site | Generally not treated as a separate worksite requiring an LCA |
| Permanent transfer to a new employer entirely | Separate process — a full H-1B transfer petition, not an amendment |
What to check before you pack your bag
- Ask your employer or staffing coordinator whether the new site has been checked against your current LCA's area of intended employment.
- Ask whether a new LCA has already been filed and certified, and whether an amended I-129 has been filed with USCIS.
- Keep a copy of your current LCA and petition approval notice — you are entitled to see the documents that govern your own status.
- If the assignment is described as "short-term," ask which DOL provision applies and how many days have already been used this year.
- Confirm premium processing status if timing is tight — check current fees and timelines directly on uscis.gov, since both change periodically.
None of this replaces individualized legal advice. This article explains the general mechanism; your own facts — prior filings, timing, site history — can change the analysis. Confirm your specific situation with a licensed immigration attorney before you rely on it.
The Josh Pros LLC team works through these worksite questions with consultants and clients regularly, and we are glad to walk through what a specific move looks like on paper. Reach out at contact@joshpros.com or visit https://joshpros.com.
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This is general information, not legal advice. Immigration rules change and outcomes depend on your individual circumstances. Confirm anything that affects your case with a licensed immigration attorney.
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