Visa Lawyer Blog

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Two bills in Congress would gut the H-2A visa program, replacing it with one more open to abuses.

Few would dispute that the existing system is broken. Its failure can be seen most clearly on farms: An estimated 70% of all agricultural workers in the U.S. are here illegally. However, without undocumented workers, crops would rot in the fields. Skeptics need only consider the plight of growers in Alabama and Georgia, who say that new anti-immigrant state laws have put their harvests at risk. Latino migrant workers have fled those states because they fear being deported, and few documented workers or U.S. citizens have applied for the jobs even though they pay above minimum wage.

It is also not difficult to understand why farmers are reluctant to use the existing guest-worker program that allows them to apply for H-2A visas for temporary foreign workers. Growers say the program is expensive and cumbersome, and requires them to predict harvest schedules and labor needs a year in advance. Such requirements make it difficult for them to determine if they have the need for such laborers or not.

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So what is a U visa? The U visa is designed for noncitizen crime victims who (1) have suffered substantial physical or mental abuse from criminal activity; (2) have information regarding the criminal activity; (3) assist government officials in the investigation or prosecution of such criminal activity; and (4) the criminal activity violated US law or occurred in the United States (including Indian country and military installations) or the territories and possessions of the United States.

The U-visa program got off to a sluggish start, with advocates complaining that immigration officials were slow to approve applications. It grew quickly, however, with the help of outreach efforts, including local visits by officials with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

But with increasing awareness has come increasing demand. In the three years that the program has been in place, more than 30,000 applications have been filed and more than 25,600 have been approved. Soon after a visit to Los Angeles this month to promote the program, immigration officials announced that all 10,000 available U-visas had been issued for the fiscal year, which ends Friday.

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Florida Marlins closer Leo Nunez admitted Friday to using fake documents and a fake ID to sign a professional contract more than a year ago. Central Electoral Commission President Roberto Rosario said at a press conference that Nunez signed a sworn statement saying he is not the person identified in official documents. Dominican authorities also have arrested Hector Pena Diaz, who is accused of falsifying Nunez’s documents. Nunez returned to his native Dominican Republic on Thursday amid accusations that he was playing under an assumed name.

A person familiar with Nunez’s immigration status told The Associated Press on Thursday that his real name is Juan Carlos Oviedo, and he’s 29, a year older than listed in the team media guide. The person also said the Marlins have been aware of the issue for several months. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because team officials haven’t made any public comment on the case.

The future consequences for providing false documentation to obtain work in the U.S. is severe. Juan Carlos Oviedo’s actions constitute fraud, which will always come up whenever he will apply for a new visa for any reason to come to the U.S. Although there are no statements by him to clarify why he chose to use false documents to come to the U.S. as an athlete, his actions have certainly cost him hundreds of thousands of dollars and many opportunities. That is why it is always important to provide your proper and accurate documentation when you apply for any visa in the U.S.

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This is interesting. An illegal immigrant who filed a civil lawsuit over the ownership of a $750,000 lottery ticket has won the right to stay in the country to fight his legal battle. His lawyer, successfully sought a deferred action on Cua-Toc’s removal order from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The deferred action allows Cua-Toc to temporarily remain in the U.S. to have his day in court.

Deportation, also known as removal, is the process of expelling a foreigner from the country. Because it can be tough to fight your case when you’re no longer living in the United States–and because deportation can cause tremendous stress to you and your family–you should ask to have your deportation postponed while pursuing all legal avenues. This postponement is called a stay of deportation or stay of removal. A stay is a temporary suspension of an action. When we talk about a stay of deportation or a stay of removal, it means that the judge or court has postponed a scheduled deportation.

Different government agencies are involved in the immigration process. Each agency handles requests for a stay of deportation differently. Typically, a stay of deportation would be requested while you are appealing your case. An appeal occurs when you ask a higher court to review the decision of a lower court in hopes that the higher court will decide that the lower court made a mistake in its decision.

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Below is the story of several individuals who were able to come to America through asylum. These individuals have built families here, have jobs and contribute to America by doing their duty like any American citizen. Unfortunately, these individuals have not been able to gain permanent residency since coming to the United States….

Nassir Al-Rifahe never thought his love for America would be questioned.

As a member of the Iraqi National Congress, he worked for years to topple Saddam Hussein before being granted political asylum in the United States in 1997.

But for the last decade, while Mr. Rifahe, 57, lived quietly with his family in Texas and Minnesota, the Department of Homeland Security has refused to grant his application for a green card, instead letting the case languish unresolved.

Under a sweeping section of federal immigration law, the government considers Mr. Rifahe to have engaged in terrorist-related activity, making him ineligible to live here permanently. That the group Mr. Rifahe worked for was once supported by the United States and tried to overthrow Saddam Hussein matters little.

“It is not fair; I want to stay here,” Mr. Rifahe said. “How come they helped me before, but now they say I am a terrorist? I can’t believe this. Never would I do this.”
An estimated 4,000 cases similar to Mr. Rifahe’s are on hold around the country. Some have dragged on for years as immigration officials wrestle with how to handle people previously granted political asylum or refugee status in this country, but whose past affiliations technically bar them from permanent residency.

Many of the cases involve people who belonged to groups in their homelands once backed by Washington, immigration lawyers and human rights advocates say. Often, it is their connection to those groups that allowed the immigrants to come here in the first place.

The situation has created a conundrum for United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, which acknowledges that the individuals pose no threat to national security. But the agency says existing law would force their green card applications to be denied and has instead placed the cases on hold until special exemptions can be created.

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As you all know H1B workers that are working in the United States can get a Social Security Number as a result of having that visa. The law also allows the H1B workers to only work for the sponsoring employer. In reality many H1B workers hold side jobs using that SSN number, that is illegal. A September 2011 OIG audit report on the use of Social Security Numbers (SSNs) by H-1B workers. The report claims that 18% of H-1B cases audited by SSA involved elements of fraud.

Each year, the Department of State (State) issues thousands of H-1B visas for temporary workers. Employers use the H-1B visa program to employ foreign workers in jobs that require theoretical or technical expertise in a specialized field. Specialty occupations include, but are not limited to, architect, engineer, computer programmer, accountant, doctor, and college professor. An individual in H-1B status may only work for his/her sponsoring employer after approval by the Departments of Labor and Homeland Security (DHS). The original period of admission for an H-1B nonimmigrant is 3 years, with optional extensions that cannot exceed 3 additional years.

Under the Social Security Act, the Social Security Administration (SSA) assigns SSNs to all nonimmigrants, including H-1B workers, who enter the United States with work authorization. To obtain an SSN, H-1B workers must provide SSA acceptable proof of age, identity, and lawful alien status/current authority to work.

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In this article, attorney Ekaterina Powell from our office provides a summary of the key issues and analyzes the best practices for employers to follow in their immigration compliance efforts.

The Office of Special Counsel for Immigration Related Unfair Employment Practices (OSC) of the Department of Justice protects the rights of individuals from employment discrimination based upon citizenship or immigration status and national origin, unfair documentary practices when verifying the employment eligibility of employees, and retaliation. OSC enforces the anti-discriminatory provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). Individuals discriminated against may file charges with OSC and be awarded back pay and reinstatement, among other remedies.

The INA prohibits employers from knowingly hiring undocumented workers and requires employers to verify their employees’ work eligibility as specified on the I-9 form. The employees must present documentation to their employers to establish both identity and employment eligibility. The I-9 form must be completed for every employee, regardless of national origin, and whether or not the employee is a U.S. citizen.

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Recently we have been getting calls from undocumented immigrants suffering from abuse by their employers. Some US employers think that just because a person has no status, that person has no rights. Well they are wrong! The main focus of this article is the rights of undocumented and illegal immigrants in work place.

Contrary to widespread misconception, illegal and undocumented aliens in California are protected from unfair and illegal practices in the work place. Attorney Habib Hasbini from our office specializes in representing and advocating the legal rights of undocumented immigrants and illegal aliens in work place.

The issue of undocumented immigrants and illegal aliens in the work place has been on the rise recently. Various cases in California have been developing and evolving that provide protection for undocumented immigrants and illegal aliens in the work place and establish their right to sue for damages for harassment, discrimination, and establish their right to be compensated for overtime wages and breaks.

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As part of an ongoing commitment to promote diversity and legal excellence efforts in the legal community, Jacob J. Sapochnick, PC and Higgs Fletcher & Mack, have forged a strategic alliance to further provide clients with a diverse pool of legal professionals and high-quality legal services, as well as to reinforce ties within the region.

The new, shared business platform is one of only a few such alliances in the legal industry and will become a platform for innovative legal services delivery. Jacob J. Sapochnick, PC and Higgs Fletcher & Mack will maintain their separate identities and independence, but will also work as a team on specifically identified litigation, labor and employment, public finance, business and Immigration matters.

Law offices ofJacob J. Sapochnick, PC , which was established in 2004, is a respected Immigration Law firm that has quickly made its mark in the Immigration Bar and among practitioners nationwide. The alliance is designed to assist both firms in meeting designated client service needs, while providing quality legal work.

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We all share the frustration of dealing with VIBE (Validation Instrument for Business Enterprise) requests for evidence. At this point many employers are wondering if this system is really that beneficial to accomplish the Government’s goal to verify employers. Some argue it is time to get rid of this program once and for all.

Validation Instrument for Business Enterprises (VIBE) utilizes information contained in the Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) database to verify evidence submitted with I-129 petitions. VIBE is being used for verifying all I-129 petitions, except Os and Ps. Evidence submitted with the petition is given deference, and VIBE information is not reviewed independently of evidence submitted. However, any contradictory information will lead to the issuance of an RFE. VSC has indicated that its database is updated when contradictory information gets resolved.

VIBE RFEs indicate that petitioners may wish to update their information in the D&B database. Given that D&B is a commercial database, there is a very real concern that information offered by petitioners to D&B may be sold or otherwise misused by D&B for commercial gain. Also why give only one commercial system the power to verify all employers filing for visas?

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