Immigration Visa Attorney Blog

The United States of America is based on basic freedom. If a foreign government, or a group within that country that the government cannot control, jeopardizes that freedom, the person being persecuted can seek asylum. The application process can be difficult and has a high rejection rate. Working with an experienced immigration attorney like Sam Shihab and Associates will improve chances of approval in the shortest time frame possible.

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One possibility of becoming a legal citizen of the United States was introduced to Congress in 2007 as the DREAM act. An acronym for Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors, the DREAM act has been reintroduced and redefined since its inception.

If passed, the DREAM act would enable people who were brought to the United States illegally as minors and have lived in the country for at least five years prior to the bill's enactment to obtain permanent residency. Other conditions apply to the law as well, such as graduating from a U.S. high school and showing good moral character.

The act would also offer a six-year period of temporary residency if those who qualified were to complete two years of service in the military or two years of education at an institution of higher learning. During that six-year period, they may achieve permanent status by acquiring a degree or serving another two years in the military.

Continue reading "A DREAM possibility" »

The USCIS issued a revised "Q & A" regarding the establishment of employee-employer relationship with regards to H-1B. While the Q & A did not change any requirements for H-1B, it clarified that a "consulting company may be able to establish that a valid employer-employee relationship will exist."

This news appears to be in response to a January 2010 memo from Associate Director of Service Center Operations Donald Neufeld, which tackled the issue of H-1B and companies that handle consulting. The memo challenged whether or not a staffing firm could establish H-1B's required employer-employee relationship.

Under this new guideline, consulting firms can demonstrate employer-employee relationship by proving "the right to control the work of the beneficiary." This includes paying the beneficiary's salary, and if they "determine the beneficiary's location and relocations assignments and whether the petitioner will perform supervisory duties."

Continue reading "New H-1B Guidelines for consulting Firms" »

The Press Trust of India (PTI) is reporting that the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) received 22,000 H-1B applications in the first four days of Fiscal Year 2013.

A spokesperson for USCIS said the government has received "approximately 22,000 H-1B petitions" since FY 2013 began on April 2. The spokesperson emphasized to PTI that the numbers are preliminary.

The 22,000 figure counts petitions filed for both the regular (65,000) and advanced degree (20,000) caps.

This number marks a significant increase in first week H-1B petitions over the past few years. If accurate, 22,000 would be highest number of early applications since 2009, when USCIS received 42,000 during the first week.

The U.S. Department of State is expected to retrogress the cutoff for Employment-Based Second Preference (EB-2) for India and China to August 2007. The change could come as early as the May bulletin.

This comes from comments made last month by Charles Oppenheim, who is the Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division for the State Department. Oppenheim mentioned August 2007 as a likely point of retrogression, but did not rule out cut-off dates being retrogressed more than projected. Currently the priority date is May 1, 2010.

Continue reading "'Significant' Retrogression of EB-2 Priority Could Come Next Month" »