A recent White House news release on the inclusion of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, and South Korea in the Visa Waiver Program announces that in about a month citizens of these nations will be able to travel to the U.S. without a visa.
Soon even more countries will be considered to join, read the press release here Download file
As a lawyer focusing on hospitality immigration, I often educate my clients on immigration issues relating to this industry. The number one concern from most employers is how to hire much needed hospitality workers legally. The often feel that the government is ignoring their needs. I came across this interesting article about a restaurant owner from San Antonio not afraid to raise his voice.
Louis Barrios says that his biggest fear as an employer, a small businessman and an American is that Congress will continue to avoid dealing with immigration reform. Any society with an aging population like ours that doesn’t have a steady stream of immigrant labor is in trouble, he said. By 2016, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of workers between the ages of 16 and 24 will decline, while the number between 25 and 54 will rise only slightly.
That means the only significant growth in the American labor pool over the next eight years will be among those 55 and older. Unless Washington, D.C., expects 60-year-olds to pick crops, wash dishes in restaurants and pound nails in the construction industry, something has to give.
Here is an interesting video one of my readers emailed me yesterday. This is another example how anti immigrants across the country are trying to show that under Obama administration all hell will break loose as it relates to immigration.
Recently, the DOS announced that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) with Korea regarding the WEST (Work, English Study, Travel) Program. The exchange program, to be launched in 2009, will allow up to 5,000 university students and recent graduates from the to enter the U.S. for a period of 18 months on J-1 exchange visitor visas.
The WEST program is an innovative exchange program that will allow up to 5,000 qualifying university students and recent university graduates from the Republic of Korea to enter the United States for a period of 18 months on J-1 exchange visitor visas that will allow them to study English, participate in internships, and travel independently. Participants will devote at least 450 classroom hours to structured English language training and coursework focusing on American business practices and business procedures, U.S. corporate culture, and general office management issues.
Read more here
Several months ago, I consulted with a prospect that got the round around from the LA passport office. They kept sending her application back because her birth certificate was not good enough for them. I thought it was an isolated matter, but today the Washington Post reported on the problem nationwide.
It seems that the State Department is denying passports to people born in southern Texas near the border with Mexico if they were delivered by midwives, citing a history of birth certificate forgeries there for Mexican-born children dating to the 1960s, according to U.S. officials.
The civil liberties group is seeking class-action status on behalf of tens of thousands of Mexican Americans of all ages delivered by midwives in border states, alleging violations of constitutional due process and equal protection guarantees.
Immigration law is important and that is all that we cover most of the time. But our immigrant readers, may be facing other legal challenges from time to time. So we rely on our lawyer friends from across the country, to provide guest articles and reports. This week we are proud to feature Attorney Sergei Lemberg’s Lemon Law expertise.
That new car smell is the best. The feeling of driving around in a new ride is sensational. But what happens when the experience sours and your new car starts smelling like a lemon? California’s lemon law gives you the right to take action – and turn your lemon into lemonade. Sergei Lemberg, an attorney specializing in lemon law, offers an overview of our lemon law, and tips to make sure you can take advantage of your California lemon law rights.
According to Sergei, California Lemon Law is one of the most comprehensive in the country, and covers new and leased vehicles bought for personal, family or household use. It also covers business vehicles under 10,000 pounds, providing that owner or business has no more than five vehicles registered in the state). In addition, the chassis, chassis cab, and propulsion parts of a motor home are covered, as are dealer-owned vehicles, demonstrators, and used vehicles sold with a manufacturer’s new car warranty. Motorcycles and used cars have some protections under the Song-Beverly Warranty Act, which is also includes the state’s Lemon Law.
USCIS finally catch up with Technology. It is now possible to receive alerts to your mobile phone about USCIS Field Office closings. USCIS is posting the alerts using Twitter, an application that limits messages to 140 characters. Click here for more info
Stay tuned for Facebook and MySpace pages!!!
USCIS recently issued new guidance memo on Continuous Residence, Physical Presence, and Overseas Naturalization for a Spouse or Child of a Member of the Armed Forces per Amendments to the Immigration and Nationality Act by the “National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008.
We link to this important Memo here. Download file
Stay tuned for more exciting developments from USCIS.
According to NPR, the answer is yes. They published results of a 10-year study involving more than 3,000 young men and women, most of them in their 20s.
The “second generation” project looked at five groups — Russians, Dominicans, South Americans, Chinese and West Indians — and compared them with U.S.-born whites, Puerto Ricans and African-Americans. Researchers found that most in the second generation were fluent in English and working in the mainstream economy.
We wanted to remind our readers that Operation “Scheduled Departure”, A pilot program allowing illegal immigrants to surrender to authorities to avoid jail and have 90 days to leave the country, end today. According to the USCIS this program can be classified as big failure. In San Diego only 4 people turned themselves in to take advantage of this program.
Let us all hope that this lack of success will result in more raids by ICE, and increased enforcement to find more illegal aliens living among us. Click here for the complete AP story
Visa Lawyer Blog