Immigration Visa Attorney Blog

Earlier this month the Obama administration announced it was going to try and tweak the process surrounding federal immigration law in the hopes of positively impacting thousands of American families. It is a story our readers in Troy, Michigan and Columbus, Ohio should follow closely.

As announced by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Alejandro Mayorkas, the change involves how undocumented immigrants with American family members will be able to apply for a green card. Undocumented immigrants would be able to remain in the U.S. while waiting for the visa application process to be completed.

Under current law U.S. citizens can submit green card applications for spouses and children, whether or not those family members entered the country legally.

However, as it currently stands, in most cases those family members have to return to their home country to receive their visas. But leaving the country triggers an automatic policy where they cannot return to the U.S. for upwards of a decade, even if they are eligible to become legal resident.

The new proposal provides that undocumented immigrants receive a waiver before leaving the country to get their visa. The idea is that this will cut down on delays for their return.

Continue reading "A more sensible path to green card?" »

In a down economy with higher unemployment, it is easy for programs like H-1B to be cast as standing in the way of Americans finding new and higher paying jobs. Our readers here in Columbus, Ohio have heard us challenge that narrative on a number of occasions.

And that is why a recently released study by the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research has the potential to be of significant benefit in terms of public opinion on the issue.

AEI's study contains a number of eye-opening findings, foremost among them that an average of 262 new jobs for Americans can be linked to every 100 foreign-born workers graduating from U.S. universities with advanced degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The study looked at the eight-year period between 2000 and 2007.

"Immigrants with advanced degrees boost employment for US natives," the report says in its executive summary.

Continue reading "Columbus, OH Attorney: Study Details Benefit of Skilled Immigrants to Job Creation" »

A somewhat unusual idea for sidestepping U.S. visa practice has been making headlines the past few weeks. Regardless of whether it ends up becoming a reality, the existence of the plan does an excellent job of framing the modern immigration debate.

The program in question is called Blueseed. The brainchild of CEO Max Marty and President Dario Mutabdzija, the idea is a living and office space located in a large boat or barge approximately ten miles off the coast of Northern California.

It would house individuals or corporations of all nationalities and provide the ability to take day trips to California using temporary visas. "Existing visa policies were designed for a different era," Marty told the New York Times.

Continue reading "Columbus, OH Attorney on the floating, "technology incubator" " »

Wednesday the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that the H-1B visa cap number for FY 2012 has been reached.

The final receipt date for cap-subject H-1B petitions was Nov. 22, meaning new applications will not be considered. The USCIS said only petitions physically received by that date will be evaluated; postmark dates do not impact the process.

H-1B's regular cap number of 65,000 was the number reached Tuesday. The 20,000 cap master's exemption was attained in October.

The Nov. 22 date represents an almost two-month difference from FY2011. The regular cap for the previous fiscal year was reached on Jan. 26.

The USCIS' release stated that the following non-cap petitions are still being accepted:

-to extend the amount of time a current H-1B worker may remain in the U.S.;
-to change the terms of employment for current H-1B workers;
-to allow current H-1B workers to change employers; and
-to allow current H-1B workers to work concurrently in a second H-1B position.

The Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals (BALCA) recently ruled on a case related to the confirmation of an employer's sponsorship of a foreign worker. We think it is an interesting decision, one that our friends here in central Ohio should pay attention to as they work on these kinds of application.

Four years ago a company filed for Permanent Employment Certification (PERM) for a landscaping/grounds keeping-related position. The Certifying Officer (CO) in the case denied the application on the grounds that they could not verify the employer's sponsorship of the candidate.

When applying, the Employer included a signed "declaration under of penalty of perjury" from the company president attesting to the conditions of employment. In the denial, the CO stated it tried unsuccessfully to reach the president by phone on five separate occasions over a one-month period.

Continue reading "PERM Judge rules on telephone verification " »

We wanted to touch on a national initiative that the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has undertaken to combat fraud related to immigration services provided by non-attorneys.

Malfeasance related to immigration services provided by those not licensed to practice law is a serious issue and it's important our readers are aware of what the government is doing to tackle the problem.

This year the USCIS has launched a program that aggressively targets scam agencies which prey on the immigrant community by promising unrealistic servicers. Unusually fast acquisition of green cards and work permits are offered using email and word mouth, among other means.

The initiative focuses on enforcement and education, along with collaboration with those in the community. USCIS is targeting unauthorized practice of immigration law and is setting up a database to better manage consumer complaints.

Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division of the Department of Justice Tony West said: "This coordinated initiative targets those who prey on immigrant communities by making promises they do not keep and charging for services they are not qualified to provide."

Continue reading "Columbus, OH immigration attorney on the unauthorized practice of law" »

In recent weeks our office has been getting a number of inquiries into the EB-5 program. We thought this would be a good opportunity to review some recent information related to the program.

As many of you are aware, EB-5 is an immigration investor visa program that was created as part of the Immigration Act of 1990. It grants lawful permanent residence to foreign nationals who invest $1 million into a U.S. business that either creates or preserves ten American jobs.

There are other components to EB-5, such as a $500,000 category for investment into so-called Regional Centers, Targeted Employment Area (TEA) areas where unemployment is at least 150 percent the national average, or in rural areas. In recent years much of the EB-5 visas have been centered around the real estate industry, but the visas impact other industries such as clean technology and finance.

Continue reading "EB-5: The Latest" »

A few years back this blog touched on a few of the specifics connected with extending an H-1B visa beyond six years. Given how many of our clients here in the Columbus, Ohio community work closely with the visa we thought another look at this aspect would be helpful.

What is the history of 7th year H-1B extension?

Prior to 2000, if a foreign national here on an H-1B visa could not reach I-485 (permanent resident) status within six year they were required to leave the U.S. What would often happen is that delays in the permanent residence application process meant H-1B visa holders would reach the end of their six years before completion. Since the situation meant employers often lost the investment they had made in skilled employees, Congress elected to introduce AC21.

What is AC21?

In 2000 Congress passed the "American Competitiveness in the Twenty-First Century Act," or AC21. Among other things, AC21 allowed for H-1B workers to begin working for a new employer upon filing the petition instead of waiting for approval. It also provided the ability to extend the H-1B visa beyond six years if an ongoing PERM Labor Certification began at least 365 days prior to the end of the sixth year.

Continue reading "FAQ: H-1B Extensions Beyond Six Years (Part I) " »

One of the hottest immigration topics over the past few weeks is the administration's announcement that it plans to change how it treats the hundreds of thousands of deportation cases currently in the system. For good reason this has stirred controversy from both sides of the political isle as people try to make sense of what the policy will mean.

And though we realize most of our readers are not involved with an active deportation case, it's important to look at the change as it may impact the speed of the federal system as a whole. How the government elects to allocate resources could have an affect on the entire immigration system.

First, some quick background: On Aug. 18 the administration announced it would be reviewing the deportation cases already within the system -- more than 300,000 in total -- with the goal of prioritizing those involving felony cases. The idea being that with limited financial and legal resources the most efficient way to attack the backlog problem is to target those situations most likely to pose a threat to the community.

Continue reading "The administration changes course on deportation: What does it mean? " »

Sometimes family members get left out of the immigration process. Costs, logistics, family obligations and other inconveniences can prevent a family member from coming to the United States.

There's no need to worry, though, United States Immigration officials have anticipated this situation. We'd like our friends here in Columbus to make sure they're aware of a potentially helpful tool.

Following to join allows a spouse or child of a principal immigrant to immediately obtain a visa to immigrate to the United States any time after the principal immigrant becomes a lawful permanent resident of the United States. There are, though, some major limitations of following to join.

Following to join is only available to immigrants in categories that give derivative status to spouses and children. Such categories include family-preference immigrants and employment-based immigrants. Further, following to join only applies to preexisting spouses and children. Spouses and children added after an immigrant becomes a permanent resident cannot follow to join. Finally, children can "age out" of eligibility to follow to join.

In spite of the above limitations following to join is far more versatile than one might think. A family member that is following to join doesn't have to literally follow the principal immigrant to the United States. Spouses and children that are inside the United States as nonimmigrants can "follow to join" and adjust status through a principal immigrant, even if they precede the principal immigrant in entrance into the United States.

Considering its limitations, following to join is not for everybody. That being said, following to join is still a valuable and important part of the immigration toolbox. Using following to join to immediately obtain an immigrant visa for a spouse or child is an excellent way to avoid the long waits that can be associated with family based immigrant petitions.

Late last month the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services released the most recent count for its H-1B visa. These numbers represent what the USCIS has received since the the FY2012 schedule began in April.

As of July 22 there have been 21,600 regular petitions accepted by the USCIS out of a total cap of 65,000. That is an increase of 1,000 from the previous week's total.

The Master's Exemption category has had 13,300 petitions accepted out of hits total cap number of 20,000. On July 15 the USCIS reported 12,800 petitions were accepted for this advanced degrees category.

These numbers are somewhat low, perhaps reflecting the economy's sluggish recovery. The positive is that it means there is still ample opportunity to qualify for a visa that begins in October of this year.

A Form-129 needs to be completed in the most complete manner possible for an applicant to have his or her best chance for the petition to be approved. Because of the emphasis the process places on accuracy we recommend seeking experienced counsel for help working through the forms.

Here is some of the most recent information regarding the controversy surrounding Indian IT giant Infosys. The actions of a large company based overseas may not initially seem relevant to the average employer or worker here in Columbus, but the way Infosys may or may not have manipulated the U.S. immigration systems could certainly have ramifications at home.

In May an attorney employed by Infosys named Jack Palmer Jr. filed a civil suit alleging his superiors at the company tried to get him to circumvent U.S. regulations regarding visas. Additionally, Palmer claimed that when he informed his employer of illegal activity it did nothing to correct the problem.

The result of Palmer coming forward is that federal prosecutors are currently assembling a case against Infosys. So far Infosys has not publicly responded to the charges, though it denied Palmer's claims in court filings. Late last month the company filed a motion compelling arbitration in the case, the result of which would be to have the case heard behind closed doors.

In his suit Palmer alleges that Infosys wanted him to help them "creatively" navigate around restrictions put in place to make acquiring H-1B visas more time-consuming. According to Palmer Infosys made the decision to use B-1 visas - easier to obtain but used primarily for shorter visits - to game the system.

Infosys, Palmer says, asked him to write letters on behalf of the workers to be used in the B-1 application process. In those letters he was to state the employees were only visiting for short periods of time, when the truth was they had full-time employment waiting in the U.S.

Palmer refused to write the letters, after which he says he was told he was "not being 'a team player.'"

Continue reading "Columbus, OH Attorney Updates the Infosys Investigation" »

The U.S. Open golf tournament took place last month at Congressional Country Club just outside of Washington D.C. It is considered among the most prestigious tournaments in the world. This year it also had a connection to the world of immigration.

While we don't imagine many among our readership are members of the PGA tour, we thought those here in the local community would appreciate a story about the hurdles everyone has to jump through.

Robert Rock, a professional golfer from England, qualified for the tournament two weeks prior to the event, which began play on June 16. But traveling to Bethesda, MD for the event meant Rock would have to acquire a visa.

And though he started the process on May 30, a driving-under-the-influence offense committed as a teenager would delay the proceedings for 34-year old Rock and create one of the tournament's more interesting sub-plots.

After winning the Italian Open on June 12 (the first victory of his career), Rock found he was not approved to travel and couldn't fly from Turin to the U.S. So instead he flew back to London. In England he met with U.S. immigration officials, approximately 72-hours before his tee time at the Open.

Rock's visa was finally approved at about 4pm on Wednesday, meaning he had approximately 22 hours to get himself to the states or lose his place in the field. The golfer was complimentary of the U.S., saying afterwards he thought "(The US Embassy) rushed it through as fast as realistically you can do . . . they did a great job for me."

Continue reading "Professional Golfer Faced Visa Struggles to Play American Tournament" »

Readers of this blog are aware Shihab & Associates supports reforming immigration, specifically lifting the cap on visa programs like H-1B. We feel the United States and its economy will benefit in numerous ways from the addition of more of these kinds of skilled workers.

A component of the visa debate that seems to get less discussion has to do with the families the workers bring to the U.S. To that end, the nonprofit National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) released a policy brief last month entitled: "The Impact of the Children of Immigrants on Scientific Achievement in America."

The brief focused on the Intel Science Talent Search, a 69-year old research competition that allows high school seniors to present original scientific research. Each year a small group of students are chosen as finalists, with the top-three awarded prizes totaling more than $225,000.

NFAP found that "while only 12 percent of the U.S. population is foreign-born, 70 percent of the finalists in the 2011 (Intel competition) were the children of immigrants." Additionally, 60 percent of the 40 finalists were children of parents who entered the country on H-1B visas, despite former H-1B holders making up less than one percent of the country's population.

China was the country of origin for 16 of the finalists, with ten hailing from India, one from Iran and one from South Korea. The information came from a series of interviews and follow-up interviews conducted by NFAP.

Continue reading "Study Shows Children of Immigrants Among America's Brightest." »

This is another interesting decision handed down recently by the Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals (BALCA). In May the Department of Labor's appeals arm handled a case which spoke to the importance of clearly providing evidence for why local recruitment efforts came up short. For our friends in and around Columbus it is yet another instance of why expert counsel is so critical in the employment certification process.

In September of 2007 a company filed an Application for Alien Employment Certification for a position titled "Software Engineer." According to the Employer, the position required a Master's degree in Computer Science and either two years experience in the specific job offered or a "suitable combination of education, training, or experience."

Later that year a Certifying Officer (CO) issued an audit that requested all recruitment documentation, including a report required by the Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.). The response from the Employer stated that two candidates were evaluated for the position. But based on the resumes submitted, their experience with respect to key web-related software "indicated a serious gap in the skill sets required to meet the goals and objectives of the company."

In September of 2009 the Employer's request was denied by the CO on five separate grounds. The CO felt the recruitment report made only a "generalized statement" about the U.S. workers not meeting the position's minimum requirements. A failure to include an "unaltered" copy of the notice of filing, wage determination and web advertisement was listed, as were three cases where the Employer's paperwork was inconsistent or lacking a requisite piece of information.

In October the Employer requested reconsideration. With that request the Employer attached an amended report explaining its rejections of the two U.S. candidates, as well as information clearing up the issues with its paperwork.

And while in June of 2010 the CO found the information regarding wage determination and job order to be acceptable, they still did not find the recruitment report met C.F.R. standards. The CO stated it did not even consider the amended recruitment report.

Continue reading "BALCA: Local Recruiting and Labor Certification" »