Visa Lawyer Blog

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The State Department has advised AILA liaison that due to the large number of approvals issued in the past few weeks, employment-based visa numbers are no longer available for this fiscal year that concludes on September 30, 2009. This affects all categories of employment based immigrant visas. Numbers will become available again on October 1, 2009, as stated in the October 2009 Department of State Visa (DOS) Bulletin.

USCIS will continue to accept I-485 applications in categories showing visa availability based on the September Visa Bulletin, USCIS will not able to approve pending I-485 applications unless a visa number was previously captured. Where a USCIS officer adjudicated or pre-adjudicated a case and it was in the DOS “pending” queue and DOS has sent the electronic notification allocating a number to the Service Center, USCIS should issue the approval.

For those consular processing, because visa numbers for scheduled cases have already been allocated as part of the scheduling process, scheduled immigrant visa appointments at consulates for September will continue and immigrant visas may be issued.

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Ever since the President was elected, the hope for Immigration reform was on the rise. In fact, we were all hoping for something to happen by the end of this year. Now we know this is not going to happen.

Ruben Navarrette Jr. from the San Diego Union Tribune wrote an excellent piece today about this issue.

President Obama has placed the immigration reform community at the back of the bus.

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The Cap seem to be moving slowly in the past few months, but something is different with the release of the new count this week.

As of September 18, 2009, approximately 46,000 H-1B cap-subject petitions and approximately 20,000 petitions qualifying for the advanced degree cap exemption had been filed. It seems that some employers are hiring again and willing to file for H1B visas for specialty workers. This is a good sign, but this also means that visas may run out sooner than expected.

USCIS will continue to accept both cap-subject petitions and advanced degree petitions until a sufficient number of H-1B petitions have been received to reach the statutory limits, taking into account the fact that some of these petitions may be denied, revoked, or withdrawn.

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Since the last fee hike in 2007, it was only a question of time until discussion about more Immigration fee increase will be a hot topic. U.S. immigration officials are considering another possible round of fee increases and budget cuts next year, prompting concern among immigrant rights groups.

The agency is facing a $118-million revenue shortfall this year in part because applications for citizenship and skilled worker visas are below projections, according to officials. Citizenship applications plunged to 58,000 last year from 254,000 the previous year in the Southern California district. Most experts blame the decline on a fee increase of 69% to $675 in 2007.

Immigrant advocates said, that any additional fee increase would severely hamper legal immigrants from pursuing citizenship. “Right now the high cost of citizenship is putting the dream of naturalization out of reach of low- and moderate-income legal permanent residents, and any future increase will just make the situation worse,” said Rosalind Gold of the National Assn. of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund in Los Angeles.

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Most Immigration Lawyers that care for their work are tired of Mr. Dobbs. Mr. Leopold from AILA posted a valid statement about Dobbs’ campagin of Hate:

CNN has a journalistic obligation to dump Lou Dobbs and his campaign of hate against immigrants.

It is unthinkable that a major network would permit someone to build a career based on fear and hatred of human beings. Why the double standard when it comes to immigrants?

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Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said that on September 15, 2009, the worst recession since the 1930s is probably over, although he cautioned that pain – especially for the nearly 15 million unemployed Americans – will persist. Bernanke said the economy likely is growing now, but he warned that won’t be sufficient to prevent the unemployment rate, now at a 26-year high of 9.7 percent, from rising. The recession, which started in December 2007, has claimed a net total of 6.9 million jobs.

With expectations for a lethargic recovery, the Fed predicts that unemployment will top 10 percent this year. The post-World War II high was 10.8 percent at the end of 1982. Some economists say it will take at least four years for the jobless rate to drop down to a more normal range of 5 percent.

Analysts predict the U.S. economy is growing in the current quarter, which ends Sept. 30, at an annual rate of 3 to 4 percent. It shrank at a 1 percent pace in the second quarter, much slower than in previous quarters. While many on Wall Street have been encouraged by early signs of stabilization in U.S. home prices and hope the housing market may have hit bottom, others aren’t so sure.

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Four hundred twenty-three criminal aliens from 36 different countries were removed last month by deportation officers from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Miami Field Office of Detention and Removal. The Miami Field Office oversees operations in Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The individuals who were removed had a variety of criminal convictions including assault, burglary, drugs, fraudulent activities, larceny, robbery, sexual assault and weapons offenses.

Michael Rozos, field office director for the Miami Field Office of Detention and Removal said “These recent removals are an example of ICE’s commitment to remove those who pose a public safety threat and that these removals will continue taking place as we enforce our nation’s immigration laws.”
ICE’s Office of Detention and Removal (DRO) promotes public safety and national security by ensuring that all removable aliens are removed from the United States as expeditiously as possible. As an integral component of the ICE DRO aviation strategy, ICE employs special air charters when removing aliens to countries outside the western hemisphere. Staffed by ICE officers, these air charters repatriate large groups of removable aliens in an expeditious, safe and humane manner, thus reducing detention periods.

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The owner of a southwest Missouri roofing company pleaded guilty in federal court Monday to hiring illegal aliens as a result of a worksite enforcement investigation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Assistant U.S. Attorney Robyn L. McKee, Western District of Missouri, is prosecuting this case.

Russell D. Taylor, 31 of Bolivar, MO admitted that from August 2006 through April 2008, he hired, contracted and sub-contracted for hire to obtain illegal aliens to work for him. By pleading guilty, Taylor also agreed to forfeit to the government $185,363, which represents the amount of proceeds obtained as a result of the offense. Under the terms of the plea agreement, the government and Taylor agreed that a fine of $36,000 is appropriate, representing a $3,000 fine for each of the 12 illegal aliens who worked under the supervision of Juan Pacheco-Herrera. Pacheco-Herrera pleaded guilty in a separate but related case to harboring illegal aliens.

Taylor has waived his right to a grand jury and was pleaded guilty on Sept. 14 before U.S. Magistrate Judge James C. England, Western District of Missouri. The government and the defendant also agreed that five years of probation is a reasonable and just sentence in this case. As a condition of his probation, Taylor must implement an employment-compliance plan and pay the $185,363 money judgment in monthly installments during the first 30 months of probation.

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On September 22nd a redesigned USCIS.gov web site will be launched. In response to customer feedback, from March to June 2009, USCIS conducted focus group discussions, usability tests, and surveys regarding general functionality of the website with a broad cross-section of users.

Based on the findings, a design has been approved and is currently in development. The improved design of USCIS.gov follows four core principles:

* A customer-centric homepage that provides applicants with a “one-stop shop” of immigration services information.

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I recently came across a posting by fellow lawyer Chris Musillo, he wrote about an interesting point that is often asked by our clients, the Health Care recruiters and Healthcare providers. The question is do H1B workers that are not yet licensed, need to be paid. Here is Chris’ opinion, and I agree:

First a little background. The National Physical Therapy Exam (NPTE) is not offered overseas. Accordingly, all PTs must enter the US in order to sit for the licensing exam. The USCIS often approves unlicensed PTs for H-1B visa status, and there is ample Guidance to support these decisions.

My client’s approved PTs must then come into the US, sit for the NPTE, and then obtain their state license. Once they obtain the state license, they can begin their PT work.

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