Visa Lawyer Blog

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In an effort to decrease waiting times at our port of entries, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Field Operations (CBP) has recently enacted a pilot program at the International Bridge at the Sault Ste Marie port of entry. The hope of this program is to bring vehicles to the inspection booths in less time.

“Effficacy in movement is paramount to this project’s success. We are always trying to improve the flow of legitimate traffic while enforcing the laws of the United States,” said Patrick Wilson, CBP Sault Ste. Marie Assistant Director.

The Sault Ste. Marie port of entry has a unique design that separates commercial traffic from car traffic, creating an upper and lower plaza. The focus of this project will be on the upper plaza only and will not affect the flow of traffic on the lower plaza.

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This is a recent update. The State Department announced that the annual limit in the EB-2 category for China-mainland born and India has been reached. The State Department notified USCIS on April 11, 2012, that no further visas for those categories would be authorized. This is the “additional corrective action” that was forecast as a possibility in Section D of the May 2012 Visa Bulletin.

USCIS will continue to accept adjustment applications based upon cut-off dates published in the April and May Visa Bulletins. However, requests from USCIS service centers and field offices for visas in the EB-2 category aliens chargeable to China-mainland born or India will be retained by DOS for authorization in FY2013, beginning on October 1, 2012.

Visa applicants processing in April at consulates abroad will still receive visas, as those numbers were allocated before the cut-off date was established. USCIS will continue to accept applications for adjustment of status for aliens with priority dates prior to the date established in the April 2012 Visa Bulletin. Those cases with priority dates of August 15, 2007, or later, will be processed by USCIS to the point of approval (pre-adjudicated) and a request for a visa number will be forwarded Visa Control at DOS to be held in a “pending” file until new visas are available beginning with FY2013 on October 1, 2012 as we explained above.

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A special Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) program announced last August to reduce the massive backlog of pending matters by identifying those that could be dismissed or put on hold has resulted in the closure of 2,609 cases, according to government data covering the period up to the end of March. The backlog reduction is less than one percent of the 298,173 cases pending before the Immigration Courts as of the end of last September.

“Prosecutorial discretion” is the authority of an agency or officer to decide what charges to bring and how to pursue each case. A law-enforcement officer who declines to pursue a case against a person has favorably exercised prosecutorial discretion. The authority to exercise discretion in deciding when to prosecute and when not to prosecute based on a priority system has long been recognized as a critical part of U.S. law. The concept of prosecutorial discretion applies in civil, administrative, and criminal contexts.

The stated goal of the ICE program was to better prioritize and reduce the backup of pending matters that had led to lengthy delays in the proceedings of noncitizens it wanted to deport. So far, however, the pace of these closures has not been sufficient to stop the growth in the court’s backlog. In fact, as of the end of March 2012, the Immigration Court backlog had risen to 305,556 matters.

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I have been saying for many years that the visa system is unfair for foreign artists. Take the story of Seny Daffe. Daffe was granted a visa that allows culturally unique artists entry to the U.S. In Burlington, he joined the African dance company Jeh Kulu, where he taught drumming. He held dance classes and ran workshops at local schools. He performed with the National Ballet of Guinea and performed at First Night events across the state.

In November, Daffe returned to Conakry, Guinea, to visit his family and brush up on his skills. But when he tried to come back to Vermont, he learned that he was now barred by State Department officials from returning to the U.S.

Daffe says the State Department told him that his ties to this country were too strong – his ties to his own country too weak. The question was whether he intended to eventually return to Guinea. This is a common reason for denials.

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This is the latest update regarding the H1B cap numbers. As of April 13, 2012, approximately 20,600 H-1B cap-subject petitions were receipted. Additionally, USCIS has receipted 9,700 H-1B petitions for aliens with US advanced degrees.

With respect to the H1B Cap, most people only need to be counted against the H1B cap once. The rule regarding the cap references being counted within the six years prior to the petition. However, even those requesting extensions beyond six years do not need to be counted against the H1B cap, if they have previously been counted. This general rule holds true even if one changes to a different no-nimmigrant status in the interim.

The numbers are running fast, so our advice is to apply as soon as possible. Email us with any questions.

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In an interesting article from the N.Y. Times, more children of U.S. immigrants are moving back to their ancestral countries to pursue opportunities. In growing numbers, experts say, highly educated children of immigrants to the United States are uprooting themselves and moving to their ancestral countries. They are embracing homelands that their parents once spurned but that are now economic powers.

Enterprising Americans have always sought opportunities abroad. But this new wave underscores the evolving nature of global migration, and the challenges to American economic supremacy and competitiveness.

In interviews, many of these Americans said they did not know how long they would live abroad; some said it was possible that they would remain expatriates for many years, if not for the rest of their lives.

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Recently, the drug cartels have taken to placing ads in the newspaper to find drivers to transport drugs across the border into the U.S. Ads that say things like “Would you like to work in San Diego?” or “A company that is a leader in its field is looking for male employees.” may seem innocuous to the casual reader, but these job offers come with a major hitch: smuggling narcotics.

The scenario has become increasingly familiar to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at the San Ysidro and Otay Mesa border crossings. Over the past year, more than three dozen drivers caught with drug loads claimed that they had answered want ads, and were simply complying with their new employer’s request that they drive a vehicle across the border.

“It’s all centered around employment,” said Lester Hayes, a group supervisor for ICE Homeland Security Investigations at the San Ysidro border crossing. “We see hard-working people that are just trying to provide for their families who get caught up in this game.”

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A lot has been said about this story, and it seems the wrong point keep coming back. The workers is not able to find work because of the H1B visa. This is a myth and a wrong statement.

This is the story to recap. Two days after Obama talked with the wife of the engineer during an online town hall and offered to take a look at her unemployed husband’s resume, the wife said the president has followed through.

The wife told The Associated Press that she got a call from a White House deputy chief of staff, who told her Obama had made a personal point of making sure the matter was taken care of. The deputy said the resume was sent to contacts in the Dallas-Fort Worth area where the couple lives.

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As he gathers with other movers and shakers at the White House on Thursday afternoon to witness President Barack Obama’s signing of the Jobs Act, AOL Inc co-founder Steve Case is already thinking ahead to the next cause he can help champion behind the scenes: immigration reform.

“Our work’s not done,” Case told Reuters in an interview, adding that he would still pause to celebrate the passage of the Jobs Act, intended to help start-up companies raise money and hold initial public offerings. Case lobbied heavily for the new law, milking his connections in the Washington area to build consensus around the legislation.

Now that the Jobs Act is completed, making it easier for highly skilled immigrants to work in the United States is one of the most important issues facing the startup community, said Case, who runs Revolution LLC, a Washington-based venture investment firm. Revolution focuses on Internet plays and has backed companies ranging from deals company LivingSocial to short-term car-rental service Zipcar Inc.

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I always counsel Lawful Permanent Residents with past criminal convictions to be careful before traveling abroad. Before the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA) took effect on April 1, 1997, lawful permanent residents (LPRs) with criminal convictions who traveled abroad did not, upon their return, face inadmissibility – then called excludability – if their trip was brief, casual and innocent.

After IIRIRA, however, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) determined that the new law eliminated this Fleuti exemption for LPRs who had committed a criminal offense that fell within the grounds of inadmissibility. On March 28, 2012 in Vartelas v. Holder, the Supreme Court held that the Fleuti doctrine still applies to LPRs with pre-IIRIRA convictions who travel abroad.

The Court did not reach the question of the continued viability of the Fleuti doctrine for LPRs with post- IIRIRA convictions. Under its retroactivity jurisprudence, the Court found that the legal regime in force at the time of a person’s pre-IIRIRA conviction governs. As a result of the Supreme Court’s decision, Mr. Vartelas’ removal proceedings should be terminated on remand. This decision directly impacts other Green Card holders with pre-IIRIRA convictions who have been placed, or are at risk of being placed, in removal proceedings after a brief trip abroad.

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