Computer World just released a comprehensive list of the employers who received approval from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for new H-1B visas in federal fiscal year 2009. Indian outsourcing companies still dominate the list. If you compare to last years numbers, we can see a sharp decline in sponsoring workers.
Click here for the complete list
After health care, Immigration is going to be the next big thing. On Tuesday, December 15, Congressman Luis V. Gutierrez (D-IL) will introduce new legislation, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America’s Security and Prosperity Act of 2009 (CIR ASAP), to the U.S. House of Representatives. Gutierrez will be joined by members of many different faiths and backgrounds, including the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Black Caucus, Asian Pacific American Caucus and Progressive Caucus.
“We have waited patiently for a workable solution to our immigration crisis to be taken up by this Congress and our President,” said Rep. Gutierrez. “The time for waiting is over. This bill will be presented before Congress recesses for the holidays so that there is no excuse for inaction in the New Year. It is the product of months of collaboration with civil rights advocates, labor organizations, and members of Congress. It is an answer to too many years of pain —mothers separated from their children, workers exploited and undermined security at the border— all caused at the hands of a broken immigration system. This bill says ‘enough,’ and presents a solution to our broken system that we as a nation of immigrants can be proud of.”
We will follow the Bill’s progress and update our readers.
The Department of State has just released the new visa bulletin for January 2010 on December 10, 2009.
Last month, the EB-2 category for both mainland Chinese and Indian nationals remained unchanged from the November visa bulletin. In addition, the EB-1 category stayed current for worldwide applicants. Cut-off dates in the EB-3 category moved forward nine days from April 22, 2001 to May 1, 2001 for Indian nationals and did not change for mainland Chinese nationals.
Based on the January 2010 visa bulletin, USCIS reports that the EB-1 category is still current in all countries. In the EB-2 category, cutoff dates for mainland Chinese nationals progressed one month from April 1, 2005 to May 1, 2005, but remained the same for Indian nationals. In the EB-3 category, the cutoff dates for mainland Chinese nationals progressed 2 months from June 1, 2002 to August 1, 2002 and progressed 53 days for Indian nationals from May 1, 2001 to June 22, 2001.
USCIS has just released the latest H-1B visa information on December 9, 2009. As of December 8, 2009, USCIS reported that 61,500 cap-subject petitions had been filed.
On December 4, 2009, USCIS reported that 61,100 cap-subject petitions had been filed. From December 4 to December 8, 400 more applications have been filed. As mentioned in previous H-1B updates, spots for advanced degree holders have been satisfactorily met; all other advanced degree holders approved will be counted towards the general cap. Remember, those who receive a job offer from a governmental or non-profit organization will not count towards the general H-1B cap.
Because 6,800 out of the 65,000 regular spots are kept for citizens of Singapore and Chile, this only leaves 58,200 spots for other nationals. Bear in mind that USCIS takes into account the fact that some of these applications may be revoked, withdrawn by applicants, or denied. As such, USCIS will continue to accept both cap-subject petitions and advanced degree petitions until they specify otherwise.
Effective December 21, 2009, the Nursing Relief for Disadvantaged Areas Reauthorization Act will sunset. The Nursing Relief for Disadvantage Areas Act (NRDAA) established the H-1C Program in 1999 to reduce the shortage of qualified nurses in health professional shortage areas. The Program was reauthorized until December 20, 2009 under the Nursing Relief for Disadvantage Areas Reauthorization Act of 2005 which became effective in December 20, 2006.
Under the H-1C Program, eligible hospitals filed attestations with the Department of Labor’s, Employment and Training Administration (ETA) to support nonimmigrant worker petitions filed with the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Absent further legislative action, Congress has not elected to reinstate the H-1C Program and will no longer accept H-1C Attestations on Form ETA 9081 for foreign nurse positions effective December 21, 2009. The hospitals utilizing the H-1C Program may continue to file applications with the Department of Labor through its other programs including the H-1B Program and the PERM Program, as appropriate.
Please note that nurses still have other visa options, like the H1B visa as well as Permanent Residency.
Update from our local AILA office. This morning Christopher D. Matson was sworn as the new port director for the San Ysidro and Otay Mesa Ports of Entry. Mr. Matson most recently served for the past two years as the Port Director at Miami International Airport Mr. Matson succeeds Interim Port Director David Murphy, who filled the position for the past six weeks while a replacement was found for former Port Director Oscar Preciado.
Mr. Preciado recently assumed the position of liaison to the U.S. Government Services Administration during the port’s upcoming $577 million reconstruction project.ÿ For additional information, please see CBP’s press release: Here
Great story from the ABA Journal about this not so covered visa option for victims of crime.
This is the story of Sud.
Sud was trapped—literally and figuratively. Hers was an arranged marriage. She had immigrated to the United States after her marriage in 2005 on an H4 visa. The visa made her ineligible to work, unable to get a Social Security number and completely dependent on her abusive husband.
Sud thought she had little choice but to endure the domestic violence if she wanted to stay in the United States. But she learned that she was eligible for a little-known visa available to otherwise undocumented immigrant crime victims called a U visa. The visa blocks the deportation of people like Sud if they cooperate with law enforcement.
With predictions that the H1B cap will be reached any day now, employers and employees are rushing to beat the cap. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that, as of December 4th, it had received approximately 61,100 H-1B petitions counting toward the congressionally-mandated 65,000 limit. Additionally, USCIS has approved sufficient H-1B petitions for foreign nationals with advanced degrees to meet the exemption of 20,000 from the fiscal year 2010 cap. Any H-1B petition filed on behalf of a foreign national with an advanced degree will now count toward the general H-1B cap of 65,000.
So why are they still accepting cases? Well not all filed H1B petitions will be approved so the final count will not be known until USCIS will clear all denials. We will keep you posted.
Excellent article from Businessweek, instead of encouraging the first brain drain in U.S. history, the country should create a program to welcome funded startup entrepreneurs.
Vivek Wadhwa argues that
It’s time to bring the immigration question squarely into the debate over jobs. A change to immigration policy could help create jobs and rev up economic growth. It’s a change that wouldn’t be hard to bring about. I’m talking about the establishment of a Startup Founders Visa program.
The program would make it easier for those with great ideas and the desire to start a company to live and work in the U.S. The idea is simple, yet powerful. By letting in company founders, the U.S. would bring in risk-takers who want to create jobs and potentially build the next Google (GOOG), Cisco Systems (CSCO), or Microsoft (MSFT). This is an excellent idea, as such founders will create jobs for Americans. Currently, only the E2 non immigrant visa and EB5 Immigrant visa allow self starters to create compnaies by investing funds. While the E2 and EB5 are good options, they are not addressing the need for a specific visa for brainy individuals that have great ideas, but are lacking funds. We still need them to fuel the next big discovery that will lead to that start up creation.
So we thought the new ntroduction of ICERT was bad, listen to this upcoming change. In accordance with its PERM labor certification regulations, the Department of Labor (DOL) has provided notice that the Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) National Prevailing Wage and Helpdesk Center (NPWHC) will receive and process prevailing wage determination (PWD) requests for use in the H-1B (specialty occupations), H-1B1 (Chile/Singapore nationals), H-1C (registered nurses), H-2B (temporary and seasonal workers), E-3 (Australian nationals), and permanent labor certification programs starting January 1, 2010.
Under the new centralized process, PWD requests will be filed using Form ETA-9141 and submitted by mail or courier to the NPWHC in Washington, D.C. State Workforce Agencies will continue to process any PWD requests (as well as subsequent prevailing wage challenges) received in their offices through December 31, 2009.
Now for those of you familiar with the H2B process, form 9141 is already being used to obtain the PWD. My experience with H2B processing since the new change is nt positive. Sometimes we have to wait for 30 days to get the PWD. Imagine same story with future H1B cases, nightmare!!! The federal prevailing wage process is likely to result in delayed issuance of wage determinations. Most State Workforce Agencies (SWAs) currently accept and issue PWD requests electronically within 7 business days.
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