[3][4] The Consolidated Appropriations Act was signed by George W. Bush, then President of the United States, in early December 2004.
[3] Title IV of the Consolidated Appropriations Act had another component pertaining to immigration regulations, namely the L-1 Visa Reform Act of 2004, that pertained to L-1 visas.
Specifically:[3] The fee structure was changed as follows:[3][6] The Labor Condition Application (LCA) attestations that were introduced for H-1B-dependent employers and those who had committed willful misrepresentations recently were renewed.
[3][4] The DOL was given authority to investigate when the Secretary of Labor personally certifies that there is reasonable cause to believe that the employer is not in compliance and authorizes the investigation, or when a credible source provides information that includes allegations that within the past 12 months an employer has willfully failed to meet an LCA condition, has engaged in a pattern or practice of violations, or has committed a substantial failure to meet an LCA condition that affects multiple employees.
[3][4] Employers were given two recognized, standard lines of defense they could use in case of any investigation or identification of problems with their applications:[4]