Visa Lawyer Blog

by

To ensure that the mailroom does not erroneously reject your non-subject H-1B, make sure the cover letter emphasizes in Bold, 14 point font, colors, etc., that the petition is NOT subject to the cap. Make clear why the petition is not subject to the cap, and state it as simply as possible. In addition, double check that the correct H-1B petition type is indicated on the certified LCA and all accompanying documentation (be consistent!).

Also, remember that when filing H-1B extensions for the same employer, the $500 fraud prevention fee does not need to be paid. Make sure to highlight this in your cover letter to avoid rejections. Provide proof of the prior H-1B petition approved on the beneficiary’s behalf by the same petitioner, highlight the petitioner and beneficiaries’ names, highlight the instructions to the form I-129, indicating that such fee is not required, and provide a statement (in bold) stating why the $500 fee does not apply. Taking such steps will definitely minimize the chances of such filing being rejected.

by

It seems that the prediction of more and more enforcement before the elections is true. Federal agents swept through a chicken processing plant today, detaining more than 300 suspected illegal immigrants, sending panicked workers running and screaming through the hallways. Worried relatives collected outside, fearful their loved ones would be deported.

It is a clear message sent by the government – if you are hiring illegals, we will raid you and make sure the rest of the world will know about it. Employers desperate for workers, will find it more and more difficult to hire legally. Those that will hire illegally will pay the price. It is time for our immigration system to change.

Read the full raid story here

by

The death last year of Boubacar Bah, a Guinean tailor held in a New Jersey jail for overstaying his visa, showed immigration detention to be one of the most secretive corners of American life. But now Mr. Bah’s story is being retold in an unusually public way: in an online video game.

The game — created by Breakthrough, an international human rights organization in New York that is trying to get the public behind efforts to strengthen oversight, due process and medical help in immigration detention

Read More here

by

Due to limited resources the government is using private contractors to secure and run immigration jails. The abuse and terrible conditions in these jails is beyond unreasonable. Many detainees from California are being sent to Arizona and Washington state jails for lack of detention space. Federal authorities are taking a second look at security guards at the Northwest Detention Center, a privately run immigration lockup in Tacoma, after finding that some were hired without preliminary background checks, The Associated Press has learned.

“Clearly this is a cause for concern,” said Virginia Kice, a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Read more here

by

As a lawyer focusing on hospitality immigration, I often educate my clients on immigration issues relating to this industry. The number one concern from most employers is how to hire much needed hospitality workers legally. The often feel that the government is ignoring their needs. I came across this interesting article about a restaurant owner from San Antonio not afraid to raise his voice.

Louis Barrios says that his biggest fear as an employer, a small businessman and an American is that Congress will continue to avoid dealing with immigration reform. Any society with an aging population like ours that doesn’t have a steady stream of immigrant labor is in trouble, he said. By 2016, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of workers between the ages of 16 and 24 will decline, while the number between 25 and 54 will rise only slightly.

That means the only significant growth in the American labor pool over the next eight years will be among those 55 and older. Unless Washington, D.C., expects 60-year-olds to pick crops, wash dishes in restaurants and pound nails in the construction industry, something has to give.

Continue reading

by

The process of International Adoptions has become more complex since the passage of Hague Intercountry Adoption regulations. USCIS released questions related to the new Hague intercountry
adoption process and the orphan adoption process since the implementation of the Hague Adoption Convention on April 1, 2008.

We link to the questions below.

Continue reading

by

Here is an interesting video one of my readers emailed me yesterday. This is another example how anti immigrants across the country are trying to show that under Obama administration all hell will break loose as it relates to immigration.

by

Recently, the DOS announced that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) with Korea regarding the WEST (Work, English Study, Travel) Program. The exchange program, to be launched in 2009, will allow up to 5,000 university students and recent graduates from the to enter the U.S. for a period of 18 months on J-1 exchange visitor visas.

The WEST program is an innovative exchange program that will allow up to 5,000 qualifying university students and recent university graduates from the Republic of Korea to enter the United States for a period of 18 months on J-1 exchange visitor visas that will allow them to study English, participate in internships, and travel independently. Participants will devote at least 450 classroom hours to structured English language training and coursework focusing on American business practices and business procedures, U.S. corporate culture, and general office management issues.

Read more here

by

It seems that the current H1B visa shortage is not enough for the anti immigration groups. Critics of the H-1B program have long argued that it has created unfair competition for jobs in America. A recent lawsuit claims that the administration’s extension of the time that foreign nationals who graduate from U.S. colleges with science or technology degrees can work on their student visas from one year to 29 months is unfair and illegal. They challenged this in court.But U.S. District Judge Faith Hochberg, who is hearing the case in New Jersey, is pushing back.

The student-visa extension is intended to take some of the pressure off of the annual H-1B cap. Demand for H-1B visas greatly exceeds the total of 65,000 visas that are available each year. The plaintiffs argued that increasing the number of job seekers in the same fields as plaintiffs will limit the opportunities open to U.S. tech workers. We will let the court decide.

Read the ComputerWorld article here

by

As we are coming close to the elections, with talk of a possible immigration reform, scams targeting immigrants will be on the rise. The latest is from my own city, San Diego. A Chula Vista man who posed as an immigration official, telling people he could quickly process their citizenship papers for a fee, was sentenced Friday to five years in state prison. He got lucky, people like that must be sentenced to longer jail time and be forced to pay back the fees.

If you were a victim of this scam, please let me know.

Read more about this story here