After several years of investigations and further scrutiny, the R1 visa is back in the Premium Processing category under certain strict conditions. Only those petitioners who have successfully passed an on-site inspection are eligible to use Premium Processing Service.
Premium Processing Service is only available for R-1 nonimmigrant religious worker petitions at
this time. Such requests are made by religious organizations by filing the Form I-129, Petition for
The analysis of census data from both the U.S. and Mexican governments, being released Wednesday by the Pew Hispanic Center, highlights the impact of the economic downturn on Mexican immigrants, many of whom enter the United States illegally. The study found that immigrants arriving from Mexico fell by 249,000 from March 2008 to March 2009, down nearly 60 percent from the previous year. As a result, the annual inflow of immigrants is now 175,000, having steadily decreased from a peak of 653,000 in 2005, before the bursting of the housing bubble dried up construction and other low-wage jobs.
The total population of Mexican-born immigrants in the U.S. also edged lower in the past year, from 11.6 million to 11.5 million, according to the study by Pew, an independent research group. Up to 85 percent of immigrants are believed to be in the country illegally.
We all know that Asylum is a tough relief to get and one must fit a very strict set of legal standards. Mostly political or related cases. But now the Obama Administration opened the door to a new policy. The government has opened the way for foreign women who are victims of severe domestic beatings and sexual abuse to receive asylum in the United States. The action reverses a Bush administration stance in a protracted and passionate legal battle over the possibilities for battered women to become refugees.
In addition to meeting other strict conditions for asylum, abused women will need to show that they are treated by their abuser as subordinates and little better than property, according to an immigration court filing by the administration, and that domestic abuse is widely tolerated in their country. They must show that they could not find protection from institutions at home or by moving to another place within their own country. We welcome the new policy and will update you of developments in this area.
Read more….
U.S. Department of State’s visa bulletin brought some relief for some EB-2 applicants. The cutoff date for India and China moved forward to October 1, 2003 which had recently retrogressed to January 1, 2000. No explanation was provided for the change to October 1, 2003.
Summary of August 2009’ visa bulletin:
EB-1: This category is current for all countries of chargeability.
U.S. Department of Labor has implemented a new integrated online system – known as the iCert Portal – through which employers can submit applications for permanent labor certification, labor condition applications (LCAs) and other applications for immigration-related DOL programs. In addition, the agency will introduce new editions of Form ETA-9089, the PERM labor certification application, and have already introduced Form ETA-9035, the labor condition application. iCert has already replaced the method of LCA filing for H-1B. The new iCert system begins to accept LCAs as of July 1, 2009. Employer and attorneys as the case may be, can still use the old LCA account but cannot submit new LCA. New LCA has to be filed from iCert.
Following are the new changes which has taken place:
– The new LCA requires writing the SOC (ONET/OES) code and the occupation title for the job.
– The new LCA has a section for basis for the visa classification supported by the application. There are the following categories:
a. New employment;
b. Continuation of previously approved employment without change with the same employer;
c. Change in previously approved employment;
d. New concurrent employment;
e. Change of employer;
f. Amended petition.
– One has to indicate the total number of H-1B/H-1B1 non-immigrant workers.
– The new LCA also requires, in the employer information section, to indicate the Trade name/doing business as (DBA), if applicable, the old LCA does not have this requirement.
– In the new LCA, one is required to write NAICS code.
– There is a new section in the new LCA – Employer point of contact information, which requires to indicate the following: full contact’s name; contact’s job; contact’s address; contact’s telephone number; contact’s e-mail address.
From time to time we publish posts by guest writers, this article is written by Kat Sanders, who regularly blogs on the topic of court reporter school online at her blog Court Reporter Schools. She welcomes your comments and questions at her email address: katsanders25@gmail.com
Obtaining a visa to enter another country is not often an easy job. It involves a great deal of work and numerous formalities before you can are legally allowed to enter the foreign nation. Very often, lawyers who have experience and who are specialized in the visa applications process are able to help you with your visa, especially if you need one to be able to work in a new country or stay there for a while before you decide on your future options. A visa lawyer can help you by:
• Taking care of the paperwork and research: A company that is looking to hire employees from overseas will have to get them special visas that allow them to work for a certain period in their homeland. This means that all applicants and their credentials will have to be screened in order to protect national security and ensure that terrorists and other anti-social elements are not using this visa to enter the country illegally.
The recent steps taken by Obama Administration to zero in on employers with I-9 gross violation, I would like to suggest the employers few measures which I’ve gleaned from assisting employers survive such audits over the years:
– Employers has to make sure that each new hire completes Section 1 of the I-9 form on the first day of employment to avoid paying fines in case the employee’s information is incomplete.
– Need to complete Section 2 of the form by the employee’s third day of employment. Employee can show from the list of documents mentioned at the back of the form List A document/ List B document., and one from List C (Employment Authorization) document. Do not request specific documents or additional documents.
– I-9 forms to be kept separate from employee personnel files.
– Advising employees who check the box in Section 1 to update the I-9 well in advance of the termination of their work permits.
On July 9, the Senate, by a vote of 84 to 6, passed a DHS funding bill which includes a variety of immigration enforcement and benefits measures. The measure now goes to a House-Senate Conference Committee which must reconcile this bill with a funding measure previously passed by the House of Representatives which contains none of the immigration amendments added by the Senate.
Immigration Provisions: The Senate also adopted two amendments. The first would eliminate the “widow’s penalty”. This would allow foreign-born widows and orphans to remain eligible for permanent residence even when the U.S. citizen spouse/parent dies before they achieve such status. The second would extend the “Conrad 30” J waiver program for physicians and the religious worker program for non-ministers until September 30, 2012. Currently, both programs are due to expire on September 30, 2009.
The Senate bill includes an amendment by Senator Patrick Leahy which would make the EB-5 Regional Center Investor program permanent. Currently, the program is due to expire on September 30, 2009.
The government has tens of billions of dollars left in the eye-popping $700 billion bank bailout fund created last fall, prompting a debate in Congress over what to do with it. The question of what to do with the money will grow more pressing in coming months as Congress takes a step back to consider the fate of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP.
Lawmakers had rushed to approve the money in October 2008 as Wall Street sat on the brink of collapse. Since then, even as the economy continues to wobble and high unemployment threatens the prospects for a speedy recovery; major banks have repaid $70 billion in assistance and expressed growing optimism about their ability to function without government assistance.
The Government Accountability Office, the nonpartisan investigative arm of Congress, estimated on Thursday that the government has about $328 billion left in the fund that hasn’t been spent or legally committed. According to GAO, the government has disbursed approximately $339 billion and promised $102 billion more. That leaves some $259 in the fund plus the $70 billion banks have repaid.
USCIS has announced that the H1B cap count continues to inch forward, with an approximate count of 45,000 as of July 3, 2009. This is a slight increase over the last count. As of this writing, both the advanced-degree and regular caps remain open for FY2010.
We will continue to provide updated H-1B cap count information, as and when it is made available.
Employers can still file fresh H-1B petitions considering that H-1 cap is still there.
Visa Lawyer Blog