Visa Lawyer Blog

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The Department of Labor announced Public Briefings on the Changes to the Labor Certification Process for the Temporary Agricultural Employment of H-2A Aliens in the United States. Members of our office will attend the briefings tomorrow in San Diego.

On February 12, 2010, the Department of Labor (the Department or DOL) amended the H-2A regulations at 20 CFR part 655 governing the certification of temporary employment of nonimmigrant workers in temporary or seasonal agricultural employment. See, Temporary Agricultural Employment of H-2A Aliens in the United States, Final Rule, 75 FR 6884, Feb. 12, 2010 (the Final Rule). The Department’s Final Rule also amended the regulations at 29 CFR part 501 to provide for enhanced enforcement under the H-2A program requirements when employers fail to meet their obligations under the H-2A program. The Department has also made changes to the Application for Temporary Employment Certification, ETA Form 9142.

The Final Rule will become effective on March 15, 2010. All H-2A program users will be required to file their applications under the new regulations, and to comply with all applicable program requirements.

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Here are some important changes to the K visa process, effective February 1st, 2010, when both the I-129F petition for a nonimmigrant K visa and the I-130 petition for an IR-1 (or CR-1) spouse of a U.S. citizen visa have been approved by USCIS and sent to the National Visa Center (NVC), the availability as well as the need for a nonimmigrant K-3 visa ends. If the NVC receives both petitions: The nonimmigrant K visa will be administratively closed.

If the NVC does not receive your I-130 petition and I-129F at the same time, the NVC will process your I-129F petition. Then NVC will send the petition to the embassy or consulate in the country where the marriage took place. If your marriage took place in the U.S., the NVC will send the petition to the embassy or consulate that issues visas in your country of nationality. If your marriage took place in a country that does not have an American embassy, or the embassy does not issue visas, the NVC will send your petition to the embassy or consulate that normally processes visas for citizens of that country. For example, if your marriage took place in Iran where the U.S. does not have an embassy your petition would be sent to Turkey.

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I am proud to say that fellow San Diegans are fighting to keep the Immigration debate alive. A group of about 100 people rallied in front of the San Diego downtown offices of California’s U.S. senators Thursday night, calling for renewed attention to immigration reform.

The group gathered at St. Joseph Cathedral on Third Avenue near Beech Street and marched about two miles to a pair of office buildings on B Street near Seventh Avenue, where the offices of Democratic Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein are located.

There they delivered a message calling on the lawmakers to work on legislation to legalize the millions of illegal immigrants in the country. Their speeches focused on the themes of unity, family and hope. They held signs, in both English and Spanish, with messages like “Don’t destroy more families. Help families” and “God does not separate families. The government does.”

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Mexico’s National Migration Institute published its Manual of Criteria and Migration Procedures. The Manual will be enforced as of 5/1/10 throughout the 32 delegations of the National Migration Institute in Mexico. Courtesy of AILA member Enrique Arellano.

The intention of the National Migration Institute is to clarify, streamline and simplify

processing requirements for each immigration category. Applications currently being

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The Labor Department published in the Feb. 12 edition of the Federal Register, a final rule governing the labor certification process and enforcement mechanisms for the H-2A temporary agricultural worker program.

The H-2A nonimmigrant visa classification applies to foreign workers coming to or already in the U.S. to perform agricultural work of a temporary or seasonal nature. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security may not approve an H-2A visa petition unless the Department of Labor, through its Employment and Training Administration, certifies that there are not sufficient U.S. workers qualified and available to perform the labor involved in the petition and that the employment of the foreign worker will not have an adverse effect on the wages and working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers.

What are the major Features of the Final Rule:

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Can you guess how many illegal immigrants reside in the US at this time? DHS released a report estimating that the unauthorized immigrant population living in the U.S. decreased to 10.8 million in January 2009 and grew by 27 percent between 2000 and 2009.

Between 2000 and 2009, the unauthorized population grew by 27 percent. Of all unauthorized immigrants living in the United States in 2009, 63 percent entered before 2000, and 62 percent were from Mexico. The number of unauthorized residents declined by 1.0 million between 2007 and 2009, coincident with the U.S. economic downturn. The overall annual average increase in the unauthorized population during the 2000-2009 period was 250,000.

In 2009, 61 percent of unauthorized immigrants were ages 25 to 44 years, and 58 percent were male (see Figure 3 and Table 5). Males accounted for 62 percent of the unauthorized population in the 18 to 34 age group in 2009 while females accounted for 52 percent of the 45 and older age groups.

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A client found out the hard way about aggressive debt collectors making harassing phone calls and using abusive language. They would call sometimes three or four times a day. The client bought a fridge on credit and stopped paying when she lost her job. Collection agents said she owed $4,500 and threatened to seize her furniture and car and “send immigration to the house.” They contacted her neighbors and boss about her debt, all in violation of the law.

Attorney Sergei Lemberg, a recognized expert on Fair Debt Collection Practices has written an excellent article on this issue and we are featuring this article below. For more information click here: Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

In today’s economy, it’s all too easy to get behind in paying your bills. For many people, simply juggling living expenses involves racking up more debt. To make matters worse, people with the best of intentions get crushed under the burden of mountains of debt, and then are subjected to calls, letters, and harassment by bill collectors. In these stressful times, it’s more important than ever to understand bill collectors and your rights.

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Most lawyers that are versed in the H1B visa process, are getting busier and busier these days. As we are nearing the April 1, 2010 filing deadline for the H1B visa. Many speculations out there as to when will the Cap be reached this year. The economy is still in recovery mode, and employers are careful before hiring. Yet, many Immigration experts feel the Cap will be met early this year, but when is the big question.

With drastic changes to the Labor Condition Application process (now taking more than 7 days to process), as well as unreasonable denials, planning early is the key to a successful H1B case this year. But in this post, I want to go back to the basics, the Cap and the legislative background.

Background

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From time to time we can provide most up to date information from different Consular Posts across the globe. The following update is from the US Embassy in Istanbul Turkey and is provided by our AILA liaison committee. Here are the questions and answers:

What are the scheduling/interview waiting period for NIV appts (Turks)? Scheduling waiting period for NIV appts (Iranians)? Times of year that waiting generally increases?

Current wait time for an NIV appt. is approx. 15 days for Turkish nationals. Ankara is

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I was recently interviewed by the Latin America News Dispatch about the current situation in Mexico and our work with E2 investors fleeing from that country.

One option available to wealthy Mexicans who flee the violence in their country is to apply for an E-2 or Investor’s Visa. Since 1994, Mexico has been a so-called Treaty Country, making its residents eligible for E-2 visas. While the State Department only says that the investment needed must be “substantial,” based on our experience a recommended investment varies between 50,000 to 100,000 dollars.

According to the article, not many of these visas are granted every year. In 2009, the U.S. granted Mexico only 2,499 treaty investor and treaty trader visas. This is a small number compared to the 7,598 student visas and 6,020 exchange visitor visas approved for Mexicans in 2009, according to State Department statistics. Yet we feel that demand for such visas is only increasing. We will continue to provide guidance to our clients in this complex area of Immigration Law.

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