Visa Lawyer Blog

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A U.S. citizen held at a border immigration center for 15 days has been released after an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer showed a birth certificate to federal authorities. Guillermo Olivares Romero, who has robbery and forgery convictions and has been deported twice, was taken into custody at San Diego’s Otay Mesa detention center on Sept. 25.

The 25-year-old Los Angeles man was released Oct. 9 when an ACLU attorney presented birth, school and vaccination records. Olivares told the Los Angeles Times immigration authorities don’t believe him when he shows his birth certificate.

Read the story here….

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Sarah Palin was very silent on the topic of immigration right up until her first interview with a Spanish-language network. Her views on immigration were kept confidential by her team for the past several weeks. Anchor Jorge Ramos sat down with the Republican vice presidential candidate to finally shed some light on Palin’s views on immigration.

Here are a few key points from the interview:

The interview was aired on October 21, 2008 during the broadcast of “Aquí y Ahora” on Univision Network. The following excerpt was taken from that interview:

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Department of Labor released very interesting statistics about PERM cases filed during 2008. Here are some highlights:

Approximately 49,205 cases were certified during the first quarter of FY 2008; 63% of foreign workers on H-lB visas. The top 5 states of intended employment for these permanent labor certifications were California (11,835), New York (5,049), New Jersey (4,503), Texas (3,816), and Florida (2,709);

Alien beneficiaries representing 179 different countries were certified for permanent employment in the u.s. The top 10 countries of citizenship of alien beneficiaries included India (16,569), Mexico (3,444), China (3,328), South Korea (3,119), Philippines (2,995), Canada (2,539), United Kingdom (913), Pakistan (887), Taiwan (821), and Ecuador (811); and

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Ruben Navarrette Jr., writing for the San Diego Union Tribune, published an excellent editorial about the declining support for McCain from the Hispanic voters.

McCain’s following among Latinos is evaporating. A poll by Zogby International found that 21 percent of Latinos support McCain, compared with 70 percent for Democrat Barack Obama; the Pew Hispanic Center ranked it 23 percent McCain and 66 percent Obama.

Navarrette asked McCain what in the world is going on. He blamed part of it on “heavy negative advertising” by his opponent.

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According to Law.com Bianca Jagger and other foreign nationals who are in the United States on tourist visas (B2 Visas) cannot meet New York City’s “primary residence” requirement entitling them to rent-stabilized apartments, the New York Court of Appeals ruled Thursday.

Jagger, a human rights activist and the first wife of Rolling Stones’ frontman Mick Jagger, has been fighting ejection from her $4,600-a-month Manhattan apartment for more than three years.

Read the story here

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The Department of Homeland Security just released an advance copy of the supplemental final rule on safe-harbor procedures for employers who receive an Social Security Administration No-Match letter.

The No Match Rule decribes the “constructive knowledge” that indicates an employee has provided a false SSN to his/her employer. It also outlines the process the DHS wants employers to use to respond to the SSA no-match letters.

While the new No Match Rule does not give the DHS access to the list of employers that received the no-match letters, the DHS will send general notices to employers telling them what their obligations are to follow immigration laws, and how they must be able to prove they are in compliance.

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According to a recent BusinessWeek article, A new U.S. government report confirms that companies are using the visas to hire illegally. I am shocked, really, I thought all employers are following the law and abiding by the visa rules.

U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) found that 13% of the requests for H-1B visas were fraudulent and 7% contained technical violations. In one case, when a company requested a visa for a “business development analyst,” USCIS found the person would be working in a laundromat, doing laundry and maintaining washing machines.

Bill Wright, a spokesman for USCIS, says the agency is already weighing adjustments based on the report’s findings. It’s developing a new risk-assessment program that, among other things, would closely examine requests from companies with 25 or fewer employees, since that category was found to have a higher rate of violations.

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A recent White House news release on the inclusion of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, and South Korea in the Visa Waiver Program announces that in about a month citizens of these nations will be able to travel to the U.S. without a visa.

Soon even more countries will be considered to join, read the press release here Download file

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The Visa Bulletin for November 2008 was published. This Visa Bulletin reflects slight forward movement in the employment-based (EB) cutoff dates.

The EB1 category is current for all countries of chargeability. EB2 category remains current for all countries, except for India and China. The cutoff dates for both India and China moved forward slightly. India’s cutoff date moved forward by two months, to June 1, 2003. The cutoff dates moved forward by several months in all EB3 categories. The worldwide category (for all countries except those specifically listed) as well as the Philippines, in the EB3 has a cutoff date under the November Visa Bulletin of May 1, 2005. The cutoff date for Mexico moved to September 1, 2002. EB3 for China moved forward by four months, to February 1, 2002. EB3 for India moved forward by three months, to October 1, 2001.

Click here for the November Visa Bulletin