Visa Lawyer Blog

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USCIS announced the launch of a federal initiative to raise awareness about the rights, responsibilities, and importance of U.S. citizenship. USCIS Director Mayorkas will launch the initiative online on 5/25/11.

The initiative will run during the summer across the country on more than 250 radio stations, 400 websites, and through national and local print advertisements, in this first phase of a planned multi-year effort. Messages will run in Spanish, English, Chinese and Vietnamese – languages spoken in the top 10 countries of origin for permanent residents. Nearly 8 million permanent residents are currently eligible to apply for citizenship and most reside in California, New York, Texas and Florida.

The initiative will promote awareness of the rights, responsibilities, and importance of United States citizenship, and the free resources available to permanent residents and immigrant-serving organizations. Immigrants will be invited to learn more about citizenship and directed to the USCIS Citizenship Resource Center, a one-stop web portal offering free educational tools to support immigrants and immigrant-serving organizations at www.uscis.gov/citizenship.

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TN Visa Seminar Details

Start Working in the U.S. within 30 Days

This tele-seminar will provide you with the information you need to start working in the U.S. It for Canadians and Mexicans who wish to work in the U.S. It’s free and informative. This will be a live web presentation and seating is limited so register quickly.

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The Immigration and Nationality Act (Act) provides for the admission of different classes of nonimmigrants who are foreign nationals seeking temporary admission to the United States. The purpose of the nonimmigrant’s intended stay in the United States determines his or her proper nonimmigrant classification. Some classifications permit the nonimmigrant’s spouse and qualifying children to accompany the nonimmigrant to the United States or to join the nonimmigrant here. To qualify, a child must be unmarried and under the age of 21.

F-1 nonimmigrants, as defined in section 101(a)(15)(F) of the Act, are foreign students coming to the United States to pursue a full course of academic study in SEVP-approved schools. An F-2 nonimmigrant is a foreign national who is the spouse or qualifying child of an F-1 student.

M-1 nonimmigrants, as defined in section 101(a)(15)(M) of the Act, are foreign nationals pursuing a full course of study at an SEVP-approved vocational or other recognized nonacademic institution (other than in language training programs) in the United States. An M-2 nonimmigrant is a foreign national who is the spouse or qualifying child of an M-1 student.

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CPB released a report on 5/19/11 of statistics on U.S. Border Patrol’s total apprehensions of undocumented individuals by fiscal year, from FY1999 through FY2010. The report also includes a breakdown of such apprehensions from Mexico, and from countries other than Mexico.

* U.S. Border Patrol agents apprehended 463,382 individuals smuggled across the border, including 8,905 smugglers. (3,027 of the smugglers apprehended were deemed “deportable.”)

* U.S. Border Patrol agents apprehended 59,017 “Other Than Mexican” illegal aliens through October 7, 2010.

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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today proposed significant enhancements to the administration of the USCIS Immigrant Investor Program, commonly referred to as the EB-5 Program—transforming the intake and review process for immigrant investors as part of the Obama administration’s continued commitment to improve the legal immigration system and meet our economic and national security needs for the 21st century.

The EB-5 Program makes 10,000 visas available annually to immigrant investors who invest in commercial enterprises that create at least 10 U.S. jobs. EB-5 investors may petition independently or as part of a USCIS-designated Regional Center.

“Congress created the EB-5 Program in 1990 to attract investors and entrepreneurs from around the globe to create jobs in America,” said USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas. “We are dedicated to enhancing this program to ensure that it achieves that goal to the fullest extent possible.”

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Attorney Habib Hasbini from our TN department just came back from the border with a client, he put in writing his most recent impressions and frustrations.

Heading to the U.S./Mexican border in San Diego, arriving at the immigration, U.S. port of entry, Tijuana, depending on when you arrive, you witness a long trail of people, possibly and easily topping two or three hundreds, again depending on the hour you arrive, attempting to enter the U.S. soil.

Along the trail, you witness the Mexican officers as they oversee, standing by, the free and smooth operation of the steps into U.S. territory.

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We have been following the Visa Waiver Adjustments crisis since it started in July 2010. In a recent meeting between local AILA lawyers and the USCIS San Diego office the following question was raised by the local AILA lawyers:

USCIS Headquarters meeting on April7,2011 relating to adjustment following a Visa Waiver Overstay, AILA minutes distributed indicating ” AILA requests that USCIS immediately issue guidance to the field clarifying that an alien admitted under the Visa Waiver program may adjust status as an immediate relative notwithstanding the filing of form I-485 after the expiration of the Visa Waiver period of admission.

USCIS National Response: All field offices have been instructed to adjudicate I-485 applications filed by individuals who last entered the US under the visa waiver program and overstayed on their merits, UNLESS, the potential beneficiary is the subject of INA section 217 removal (deportation) order. Additionally filed office have been instructed to hold in abeyance all visa waiver adjustment applications for potential beneficiaries who have been ordered removed under section 217 INA. We are drafting final guidance including an AFM (Adjudicator Field Manual) update on this topic we expect to issue soon.”

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In a recent Article by David Leopold, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Asscoaition, published in the May issue of Bloomberg Law Journal exploring three concepts — prosecutorial discretion, deferred action, and parole — that are being discussed in public debates but are frequently misunderstood.

According to David Leopold, Only President Obama knows for sure whether he will act on any of the options described in his article—be it on an individual basis or on behalf of a larger category of individuals. One thing we can be sure of is that, if he does implement a major executive action, he will be promptly accused for transgressing the limits of his legal powers. Such allegations would be baseless.

The executive branch has well‐established authority as well as the duty to exercise prosecutorial discretion at all times in the enforcement of our immigration laws. Whether it is deferred action, parole, or something else, these concepts are grounded in statute, regulations and sound principles of law enforcement. Those who assail the President will no doubt have lots of arguments to draw upon. But the President’s lack of executive branch power is not one of them.

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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) published on its website an expanded list of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) degree programs that will qualify eligible foreign national students for extended optional practical training (OPT). All foreign students in F-1 nonimmigrant status who have been enrolled on a full-time basis for at least one full academic year in a college or University certified by the ICE Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVIS) are eligible for up to 12 months of OPT to work for a U.S. employer in a job directly related to the student’s major area of study.

However, under an interim regulation published in 2008, F-1 students who graduate with a degree in one of the approved STEM degree programs are eligible to remain in the U.S. and extend the OPT period for an additional 17 months. The Revised STEM degree list, available on the ICE website at http://www.ice.gov/doclib/sevis/pdf/stem-list-2011.pdf, adds 50 degree programs which will now qualify for the 17 month OPT extension. Degree programs in agricultural and nutrition sciences, neuroscience, mathematics and computer science, psychology, pharmaceutics and drug design, and business statistics are among those that have been added to the list of approved degree programs. The ICE announcement indicates that the expansion of the degree list is part of the administration’s effort to address shortages of scientists and technology experts in certain STEM fields.

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Much has been said about the Management Consultant TN category, some classify it as the most difficult to obtain. In this installment of the TN Visa coverage, Attorney Andrew Despositio we will go over what it takes to be a Management Consultant for a company.

The Management Consultant is a great way to work with almost any company, since companies are constantly seeking consultations on how to best manage their business. The Management Consultant is perfect for the professional who has a lot of experience working for different types of businesses or just one business. It is a great position for a person who wants to help a fledgling company increase their revenue, or for a well-established company seeking new ways to generate more revenue. If you have a background in Physics, you can be a Management Consultant. If you have a background in Engineering, you can be a Management Consultant. If you have a background in Internet Marketing, Public Relations, or Social Media even, you can be a Management Consultant. The Management Consultant is the most versatile TN position available. However, there are a few parts of the Management Consultant TN visa that must be addressed before applying as one.

What it means to be a Management Consultant

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