Starting April 3, employers must use a revised Employment Eligibility Verification form I-9 which is dated February 2, 2009.
Until such time, employers must continue to use the I-9 form dated June 5, 2007.
The most significant changes in the new form are:
Yesterday, the House and Senate delivered yet another signal that the political tide for immigration reform is getting stronger with their introduction of the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act [Senate] and the American Dream Act [House]. The bill is a strong bipartisan effort and a sign that the muscle for comprehensive immigration reform is getting stronger on both sides of the aisle as momentum builds.
The bill would would provide a path to U.S. citizenship for undocumented immigrants who entered the country more than five years ago while they were under the age of 16 and who complete two years of college or 2 years of military service. It aims at giving hard-working undocumented children who have always considered America “home” the opportunity to fix their status and contribute to our economy and their communities.
Senate leader Harry Reid (D-NV) praised the bill:
As I am writing this post, my fingers are hurting from the amount of H1B forms I had to sign today. We are almost ready with our cases. Yet, last minute clients are calling in need of our services. Tomorrow will be the last day we accept cases (I promised my wife:))
The H-1B filing season is upon us once again, fiercer than ever. The first day to file cap-subject petitions for FY 2010 is April 1, 2009. In the event that more petitions are received than the annual cap, USCIS will conduct a lottery to pick petitions to be adjudicated. Additionally, employers that are recipients of TARP funding have new requirements when filling out the newly revised Form I-129 and additional attestation requirements for the Labor Condition application.
USCIS has confirmed that if USCIS determines that they have received a sufficient number of cases in the first five business days of April to reach the cap, then the “lottery” will be based on petitions received all five days. USCIS will not begin to issue receipts, however, until a determination is made that sufficient H-1B petitions have been received within the first five business days of April, ending April 7, 2009.
We are reporting constantly on this program. As many of you know, On 23 February the United States Army initiated a pilot test that allows the enlistment of certain legal non citizens with foreign language abilities under the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest
(MAVNI) Recruitment Pilot. This test is for individuals who live in New York City area.
We now have the official questions the Military is sending as part of the initial screening for MAVNI. In the mean to initiate faster processing of requests, applicants are encouraged to answer the following qualifying questions that will assist in expediting the records.
The Texas Border Sheriff’s Coalition (TBSC) has installed video cameras mostly on private properties on the Texas border and made the streaming video on its BlueServo.net website. People can register on the site for free as “Virtual Texas Deputies” to monitor the live video and anonymously report suspicious activities via e-mail to border sheriffs.
Thousands of people are now virtual Border Patrol agents — and they’re on the lookout for drug smugglers and illegal immigrants.
On Blueservo’s Web site, each camera focuses on an area that’s known for illegal crossing. Next to a real-time view of a grassy meadow is the message: “Look for individuals on foot carrying backpacks.” A shot of a border highway says, “If you see movement from the right to the left, please report this activity.”
Recently President Obama told the lawmakers that he will travel next month to Mexico to discuss escalating violence from drug cartels and immigration with Mexican President Felipe Calderon, White House officials said. During the campaign, Obama supported a comprehensive overhaul of immigration policy, including creation of a possible path to citizenship for illegal immigrants who are otherwise law-abiding.
President Obama has yet to tackle the issue, as his administration has grappled with the economic crisis and an increasingly crowded agenda in his two months in office. Obama said that he will work immigration system in a similar way that he has rolled out other major policy initiatives. There will be a public forum on immigration, possibly within the next two months. At that forum, key principles of a legislative package would be unveiled. We will keep our readers posted.
Read more here…
Most H1B applicants assume that as long as they mail the cases on April 1, USCIS will consider it filed. Well today we have some new clarifications from USCIS. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced that it will begin accepting H-1B petitions subject to the fiscal year 2010 (FY 2010) cap on April 1, 2009. Cases will be considered accepted on the date that USCIS takes possession of the petition; not the date that the petition is postmarked. Make sure to have it sent by March 31, 2009 the latest to avoid any delays.
Read more here…
We post a practice tip from AILA member Jill Bussey at Baker and McKenzie, very useful
A close review of Paragraph E of the April 2009 Visa Bulletin, issued March 9, 2009, reveals the Employment Third Preference Worldwide and Philippine cut off of March 1, 2003 was effective immediately upon issuance of the Visa Bulletin. This has been confirmed by communications with Charles Oppenheim of the State Department. Mr. Oppenheim indicated he attempted to stave the cut-off through March, however the demand for EB3 numbers was too high. Mr. Oppenheim reiterated the information found in the Bulletin, “since over 60 percent of the Worldwide and Philippines Employment Third preference CIS demand received this year has been for applicants with priority dates prior to January 1, 2004, the cut-off date has been retrogressed to 01MAR03 to help ensure that the amount of future demand is significantly reduced. As indicated in the last sentence of Item A, paragraph 1, of this bulletin, this cut-off date will be applied immediately. It should also be noted that further retrogression or “unavailability” at any time cannot be ruled out.” Mr. Oppenheim advised 85-95% of Employment Based adjudications occur through USCIS, which has been expediting the processing of Third Preference cases. He also shared that he has seen increased demand in First Preference cases from 2007. It is highly unlikely the Third Preference category will remain available in the near future. Further retrogression or “unavailability” may occur at any time.
In previosu Blog posts I reported the growing concerns from employers and workers with respect to the new H2A regs. The Department of Labor (DOL or the Department) now proposes to suspend for 9 months the H-2A regulations published on December 18, 2008, which became effective on January 17, 2009, that amended the rules governing the certification for temporary employment of nonimmigrant workers in agricultural occupations on a temporary or seasonal basis, and the enforcement of contractual obligations applicable to employers of such nonimmigrant workers. A suspension would provide the Department with an opportunity to review and reconsider the new requirements in light of issues that have arisen since the publication of the H-2A Final Rule, while minimizing the disruption to the Department, State Workforce Agencies (SWAs), employers, and workers.
To avoid the regulatory vacuum that would result from a suspension, the Department proposes to reinstate on an interim basis the rules that were in place on January 16, 2009, the day before the revised rules became effective.
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