Visa Lawyer Blog

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Arguing against immigration policies that force foreign-born innovators to leave the United States, a new study to be released on Tuesday shows that immigrants played a role in more than three out of four patents at the nation’s top research universities.

Conducted by the Partnership for a New American Economy, a nonprofit group co-founded by Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York, the study notes that nearly all the patents were in science, technology, engineering and math, the so-called STEM fields that are a crucial driver of job growth.

The report points out that while many of the world’s top foreign-born innovators are trained at United States universities, after graduation they face “daunting or insurmountable immigration hurdles that force them to leave and bring their talents elsewhere.”
The Partnership for a New American Economy released a paper in May saying that other nations were aggressively courting highly skilled citizens who had settled in the United States, urging them to return to their home countries. The partnership supports legislation that would make it easier for foreign-born STEM graduates and entrepreneurs to stay in the United States.

But some worry that the partnership’s ideas for immigration reform would undermine similarly skilled American workers while failing to address broader problems with immigration policy.

“No one is asking what is in their best interest, the American worker,” said Eric Ruark, director of research for the Federal for American Immigration Reform, an advocacy group that is pushing for reduced immigration. “It’s what is best for the employers. What is best for the foreign workers. It’s not as if the foreign workers aren’t skilled. What’s being ignored is we already have a domestic work force that has the same skills.”
The most recent study seeks to quantify the potential costs of immigration policies by reviewing 1,469 patents from the 10 universities and university systems that had obtained the most in 2011. The schools include the University of California system, Stanford and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Patents, the study maintains, are a gauge for a nation’s level of innovation and an important way for the United States to maintain an edge in STEM fields.

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These are major News!! The court struck down three portions of Arizona’s controversial immigration law on Monday, but allowed one of the key provisions to stand in a highly anticipated split decision.

The Supreme Court stated that Arizona overstepped its authority by creating state crimes targeting illegal immigrants. One provision made it a state crime for illegal immigrants who failed to carry registration papers and another created a crime for soliciting work. The third portion of the law struck down allowed state and local police to arrest illegal immigrants without a warrant in some cases.

The court did allow the main component of the law to stand. That requires state and local police to check the immigration status of people they’ve stopped or detained if a “reasonable suspicion” exists that they’re in the country illegally.

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We get a lot of inquiries from individuals interested in applying for green card through EB-2 National Interest Waiver (NIW) category. Attorney Ekaterina Powell from our office has prepared this summary of important considerations when filing EB-2 NIW application.

You may be eligible for an employment-based, second preference green card, if you are a member of the professions holding an advanced degree or its equivalent, or if you have exceptional ability. Normally, an employer must petition for its employees, and each EB-2 petition must be accompanied by an approved individual labor certification from the Department of Labor, which takes a lot of time and effort to obtain.

Instead of going through Labor Certification route, qualified applicants may submit National Interest Waiver request with their EB-2 petition without going through the Department of Labor stages. Qualified applicants may self-petition and do not need an employer to sponsor them for EB-2 category with National Interest Waiver.

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This information may be interesting to people and advocates who are planning on filing for benefits under this program in the near future (hopefully mid August), this is regarding a call we got from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) yesterday. It seems that ICE HQ in Washington are pre-selecting candidates for Deferred action, and are doing so nationwide.

The message from the ICE official was clear, your client was pre selected for Deferred Action under the new order and you will be contacted in the next few weeks with information on how to proceed. We have several clients with cases we managed to close before the Court (all for DREAMERS), and the clients will be eligible for this benefit. With all the confusion on how and when to file, it seems that the system is also working from within to create a list of clearly qualified applicants, I am curious to know if any other practitioners got the same call/contact?

So what do we do now? No one can file anything, but there are things applicants could do in the next few months.

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A memo was released recently through the National Foundation for American Policy which provided a revealing analysis in which data reveals high denial rates for L-1 and H-1b petitions submitted to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Analysis of new data obtained from USCIS reveals the agency has dramatically increased denials of L-1 and H-1B petitions over the past four years, harming the competitiveness of U.S. employers and encouraging companies to keep more jobs and resources outside the United States.

The high denial rates belie the notion adjudications have become more lenient. Employers report the time lost due to the increase in denials and Requests for Evidence are costing them millions of dollars in project delays and contract penalties, while aiding competitors that operate exclusively outside the United States – beyond the reach of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services adjudicators and U.S. consular officers. (The data in this report include only petitions at USCIS, not decisions made at consular posts.) Given the resources involved, employers are selective about who they sponsor. The high rate of denials (and Requests for Evidence) is from a pool of applicants selected by employers because they believe the foreign nationals meet the standard for approval, making the increase in denials difficult to defend. Denying employers the ability to transfer in key personnel or gain entry for a skilled professional or researcher harms innovation and job creation in the United States, encouraging employers to keep more resources outside the country to ensure predictability.

Among the findings contained in this NFAP analysis of official U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services data:
– Denial rates for L-1B petitions filed with USCIS, which are used to transfer employees with “specialized knowledge” into the United States, rose from 7 percent in FY 2007 to 22 percent in FY 2008, despite no change in the law or relevant regulation. The denial rates stayed high for L-1B petitions at 26 percent in FY 2009, 22 percent in FY 2010 and 27 percent in FY 2011.1 In addition, 63 percent of L-1B petitions in FY 2011 were at least temporarily denied or delayed due to a Request for Evidence.

– Denial rates for H-1B petitions increased from 11 percent in FY 2007 to 29 percent in FY 2009, and remained higher than in the past for H-1Bs at 21 percent in FY 2010 and 17 percent in FY 2011.

– Denial rates for L-1A petitions increased from 8 percent in FY 2007 to 14 percent in FY 2011. L-1A visas are used to transfer executives and managers into the United States.

– The denial rates also increased for O-1A petitions, which are used for “individuals with an extraordinary ability in the sciences, education, business, or athletics.”2 Denials for O-1A petitions rose from 4 percent in FY 2008, to 10 percent just one year later in FY 2009, increased again to 11 percent in FY 2010, and stood at 8 percent in FY 2011.

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The Pew Research Center survey and accompanying report says Asian-Americans now make up 5.8 percent of the nation’s population, up from less than 1 percent in 1965, when the modern immigration wave from Asia began.

Asians recently passed Hispanics as the largest group of new immigrants to the U.S. In 2010, 36 percent of new immigrants to the U.S. were Asian, up from 19 percent in 2000, according to Census figures.

The Pew report, titled “The Rise of Asian Americans,” finds that Asians are the highest-income and best-educated racial group in the U.S. Nearly half (49 percent) of Asian-American adults have a college degree, and they boast a median annual household income of $66,000 (versus the U.S. median of $49,800).

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Very Important information: DREAMers NOT currently in proceedings ( should NOT apply affirmatively for Deferred Action at this time. USCIS has stated that they will begin accepting affirmative applications by mid-August—stay tuned to our Blog for information about when this affirmative process will be available.

USCIS has stated that they will begin accepting affirmative applications by mid-August—stay tuned to this page for information about when this affirmative process will be available. Individuals who are about to be removed and who believe they can demonstrate that they satisfy the eligibility criteria should immediately contact either the Law Enforcement Support Center’s hotline at 1-855-448-6903 (staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week) or the ICE Office of the Public Advocate through the Office’s hotline at 1-888-351-4024 (staffed 9am – 5pm, Monday – Friday)

Be careful of non lawyers trying to push you to file as you may be putting yourself at risk.

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The American Immigration Lawyers Association released a great point by point discussion list for the new Policy, here is something to consider:

This action by the Department of Homeland Security stops the unjust deportation of promising youth—

These are some of the most compelling victims of our broken immigration system.

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Since President Obama signed the E2 Investor Visa Bill with Israel, we get a lot of questions from prospective applicants as to when can they start applying for the Visa.

The most updated information on this subject was provided at the American Immigration Lawyers Association National Conference in Nashville, TN, that I attended as well. The information was presented at the Department of State open Forum by Mr. David S. Newman, Director, Office of Legal Affairs, Visa Services based in Washington DC. Mr. Newman stated that reciprocity must be established at this time between Israel and United States before the Visa filing can take effect.

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The implementation of the Investor Visa with Israel will not be effective until the terms and conditions of the final agreement are determined between the two countries, issues of binding commitment from Israel on all terms of the agreement.

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We just got the word that a major announcement will be made shortly. DHS will formally announce this morning that it will offer deferred action to DREAMers.

Who are these DREAMers? These are kids who were brought to this country illegally by their parents or perhaps another relative. They had no choice in entering America, but they were raised as Americans with American dreams. And they did what was expected of them to achieve that dream — stayed out of trouble, studied hard, got good grades. But as they look forward to college many of them won’t be able to pursue the career they want because of the actions of an adult in their lives years ago.

Preliminary information indicates that eligible applicants must:

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