Visa Lawyer Blog

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So verification systems are back. E-Verify (formerly known as the Basic Pilot/Employment Eligibility Verification Program) is an Internet-based system operated by the Department of Homeland Security in partnership with the Social Security Administration that allows participating employers to electronically verify the employment eligibility of their newly hired employees.

Few federal agencies are using the government’s own employment-verification system designed to prevent hiring illegal aliens, with just the Department of Homeland Security and a few other scattered offices having signed up.

That all changes next month, when the federal government takes the lead in trying to prove the system is user-friendly and works. Under a new directive, every new federal hire is required to be checked against E-Verify, the new name for a decade-old system known as the Basic Pilot Program that has become the backbone of many companies’ hiring process as they try to weed out illegal aliens.

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The Freedom of Information ACT allows every American Citizen the right to know what the government is doing. In my Immigration practice we often file FOIA requests to receive copies of clients older immigration files, to allow us to plan future filings more carefully. In recent years this tool has become a waste of time. FOIA applications are now pending for more than 12 months in some cases even years.

Congress is closer than ever to enacting the most important legislation to ensure open government and access to public institutions in over a decade — thanks to the perseverance of two leading members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sens. Patrick Leahy and John Cornyn.

The Senate approved the Openness Promotes Effectiveness in our National Government Act, or OPEN Government Act, and the House passed its own version of FOIA reform. Advocates are encouraging Congress to send a bill to President Bush as soon as possible.

The OPEN Government Act contains a number of important provisions, but three problems addressed by the legislation are worth highlighting.

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Non-citizens who reside in the U.S. for more than 183 days [generally] meet the definition of a ‘tax resident,’ or a ‘resident for tax purposes.’ They are subject to the tax laws as if they were citizens.

This appeared in the Wall Street Journal Today:

“… Illegal aliens probably pay very little state

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Visa issues have seemingly become the No. 1 reason for overseas artists to stop their tours lately. The Wall Street Journal took a look at the increasingly difficult process they have to go through to get their paperwork in order. This fall, Immigration restrictions are stopping some popular United Kingdom acts from reaching U.S. borders. At least three anticipated tours by British artists scheduled for this month alone have been called off or pushed back because of musicians’ visa problems.

It seems that processing artist visas like the P’s and the O’s is becoming more and more difficult in the age of the internet. I see this in my practice representing young artists coming to perform in America. YouTube and myspace evidence is what I use, but it is not always easy to convince the USCIS adjudicators not familiar with these popular mediums.

Here is an example, Last fall, the British band Klaxons landed a spot at the CMJ music festival in New York, an annual showcase of new talent. But its visa request was delayed when immigration officials said they needed more evidence of the band’s longevity. About a week before its scheduled trip to the U.S., the band pulled the plug on the tour. The group waited another seven months to enter the U.S. Can you blame them!

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It looks like the DREAM Act is on the agenda again. Each year, thousands of ambitious immigrant students who graduate from U.S. high schools are unable to pursue their dreams of going to college or serving in the U.S. military because they lack legal immigration status. This amendment would remedy this injustice by providing deserving immigrant students with a six-year path to permanent residence, provided that they complete their high school education and either pursue higher education or serve in the armed forces.

The DREAM Act will be offered by Senator Durbin (D-IL) as an amendment to the Defense Authorization bill that the Senate will consider this week! Call your Senators today and ask them to help immigrant kids achieve their dreams by supporting the DREAM Act!

If passed, the “Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act” would facilitate access to college for immigrant students in the U.S. The “DREAM Act” would also provide a path to permanent residence for ambitious immigrant youth who were brought to the U.S. as young children and who want to pursue higher education or military service, enabling them to contribute fully to our society.

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Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) has become the seventh US Senator to co-sponsor the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA). The legislation, introduced in the Senate (S. 1328) and House (H.R. 2221) earlier this year would amend current US immigration law and give same-sex binational couples the same immigration rights as their heterosexual counterparts to stay together legally in the United States.

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One industry that has seen a rise of available jobs is the hospitality industry in the US, primarily hotels and Restaurants. Although many Hospitality workers wait months or even years for permission to live and work in the US legally, a small but growing number have found a legal path that is relatively simple and fast: come with LOTS OF MONEY to buy businesses here. As the Hospitality business is booming in the US, more and more Hospitality professionals in Europe are coming to the US and starting their own businesses via the E2 visa investment.

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According to the USCIS fact sheet, the average annual number of persons naturalizing increased from less than 120,000 during the 1950s and 1960s to 210,000 during the 1980s, 500,000 during the 1990s and to 625,000 during 2000 to 2006.

Citizenship Day itself has its roots in President Woodrow Wilson’s efforts in 1915, where as part of what he called National Americanization Day, the President himself, cabinet members, administration officials as well as prominent public figures such as Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, gave speeches at naturalization ceremonies throughout the nation.

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L’Shana Tova to our Jewish readers and Ramadan greetings to our Muslim audience. Shalom …. Salaam. May this new beginning bring us all togehter and may you have a relaxing celebrations.