Abhinandan H.K

Team Lead

Operations Management:

· Successfully managed the H-1B and L1 processes for IBM Corporation, overseeing US work permit operations and leading seasonal H1B campaigns and L1 A/B programs.

· Demonstrated expertise in ensuring compliance with immigration policies and procedures, consistently delivering within agreed Service Level Objectives (SLO's).

· Led improvement initiatives to enhance operational efficiencies and maintained smooth operations for Non-US business visas and US B1 operations.

· Reviewed operations reports to analyze numbers and trends, effectively handling escalation management.

· Represented the immigration team in various business connects, providing solutions to business challenges related to immigration and offering updates to management through operational reviews.

· Regularly liaised with management, provided process-related updates, and participated in operational reviews. - Handled the interview process for hiring, coordinated with the vendor, and managed end-to-end H-1B amendment and extension processing.

· Coordinated with employees and managers to resolve issues in applications and analyze root causes to avoid recurrences. - Ensured service level agreements were met

· Played a key role in the interview process of hiring, collaborating with vendors, and establishing the H-1B and L1 process on the IBM Internal portal.

Team Management:

· Led and managed repartees, providing functional and operational guidance to ensure high-performance standards.

· Spearheaded departmental training programs to enhance employee performance and increase productivity.

· Reduced process bottlenecks through comprehensive training and coaching, enabling employees to manage activities independently with minimal supervision.

· Trained new hires and contract staff on processes and ensured their ability to handle activities autonomously.

· Provided guidance to the team on processes, immigration requirements, and mentoring, ensuring daily tasks were completed within established timelines.

· Encouraged a collaborative team environment, fostering idea sharing and best practices.

· Regularly connected with the team to boost confidence, recognized their work to maintain motivation during challenging times, and encouraged participation in Operational Excellence interventions and special projects.

Vendor Management:

· Acted as a functional bridge between external vendors (FGI and Fragomen) and internal stakeholders, providing operational guidance and identifying improvement areas.

· Collaborated closely with internal stakeholders to prepare solutions and enhance vendor performance.

Achievements:

· Utilized Watson for automating the determination of the Specialty occupation category and automated recapture of stay periods.

· Provided requirements to the technical team to build a tool for the H1B registration process, contributing to process efficiency improvements.

Immigration Specialist Consultant

· Managing end to end H-1B amendment and extension processing

· Creating the record for the employee who are Amending and Extending their stay in US by either material changes or just extending their petition.

· Verifying and processing applications for IBM employees who are eligible to travel from India to US and for the employees who are at onsite wanting to re-locate and extend their H-1B petitions.

· Involved in filing of the LCA with the Department of Labor

· Processing the applications and ensuring the service level agreements are met.

· Updating the tool when the case is created, processed and approved.

· Coordinating and interacting with employees and their managers to resolve the issues in the applications as well as analyzing the root causes to avoid recurrence.

· Working as a core team member in H-1B CAP projects

· Handling H-1B transfer and conversion to H-1B from various other visa types

· Determining Standard Occupational Classification of the nominated employees

· Certifying Labor Condition Applications according to US rules and regulations

· Evaluating the documents and advising the eligibility for employees

· Preparing forms and support letters

· Filing the case with the USCIS

· Coordinating with Evaluators, Attorneys, Associates and Branch Office

· Performing quality audit of the petitions drafted by the peers

· Training teammates

· Tracking the errors and taking action to minimize the errors

· Report and query handling

· Driving the development of superior customer service and high performance

· Ensuring adherence to agreed SLO in processing the case

· Providing expert advice for automation

· Advising US Immigration Laws and Compliance to the employees nominated for US travel

· Reporting to the management about status quo and new challenges

· Highlights of Achievements

· Worked on transition of various processes from US to India and streamlined these processes

· Ensured error rates slashed from 90% to 5%

· Single handedly managed LCA process for CAP 2019

· Awarded every year with the Manager's Choice Award.

· Manager's Choice Award IBM • 12/2018

· Manager's Choice Award IBM India Private Limited • 12/2017

Manager's Choice Award IBM India Private Limited • 12/2016

• Project Responsibilities
• Managing end to end H-1B amendment and extension processing
• Working as a core team member in H-1B CAP project
• Certifying Labor Condition Applications according to US rules and regulations
• Evaluating the documents and advising the eligibility for employees
• Preparing forms and support letters
• Filing the case with the USCIS
• Coordinating with Evaluators, Attorneys, Associates and Branch Office
• Performing quality audit of the petitions drafted by the peers
• Tracking the errors and taking action to minimize the errors
• Report and query handling
• Driving the development of superior customer service and high performance
• Ensuring adherence to agreed SLO in processing the case
• Advising US Immigration Laws and Compliance to the employees nominated for US travel

Reporting to the management about status quo and new challenges

• Project Responsibilities
• Managing end to end H-1B amendment and extension processing
• Working as a core team member in H-1B CAP project
• Certifying Labor Condition Applications according to US rules and regulations
• Evaluating the documents and advising the eligibility for employees
• Preparing forms and support letters
• Filing the case with the USCIS
• Coordinating with Evaluators, Attorneys, Associates and Branch Office
• Performing quality audit of the petitions drafted by the peers
• Tracking the errors and taking action to minimize the errors
• Report and query handling
• Driving the development of superior customer service and high performance
• Ensuring adherence to agreed SLO in processing the case
• Advising US Immigration Laws and Compliance to the employees nominated for US travel

Reporting to the management about status quo and new challenges