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?" »

No doubt in recent days some of our readers here in Columbus have been watching South Carolina as it hosted an important primary as part of the 2012 presidential election process. The state is also the site of one of the more important debates with regard to immigration.

Last month Federal District Court judge Richard M. Gergel decided to block some of the most debated portions of South Carolina's controversial immigration law. The pieces of the law Gergel chose to strike down require the state's law enforcement to check immigration status of any person about which they have "reasonable suspicion" could be in the country illegally.

South Carolina's law, modeled after similar legislation in Arizona, took effect earlier this month. South Carolina's law had been challenged by the A.C.L.U. and Southern Poverty Law Center.

Gergel decided to uphold several other contentious portions of the bill, including one that requires immigrants to always keep their citizenship documentation on their person and another dealing with transporting or harboring undocumented immigrants.

Continue reading "On the South Carolina immigration debate" »

A recent CBS report focuses on the small Alabama town of Thomasville. Thomasville could lose out on a multi-million dollar foreign plant and the corresponding jobs it would create because of the state's new immigration law.

A representative of the Chinese company told Thomasville's mayor he thinks Alabama "shot itself in the foot" in terms of foreign investment:

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" " »

Readers of the blog know that reform with respect to the EB-5 Immigrant Investor and H-1B visa programs are topics we touch on rather frequently. (Entries can be found HERE and HERE.)

Which is why we find a recent speech by Michigan governor Rick Snyder incredibly positive in terms of bringing attention to what those at the state level are seeing. His remarks are especially relevant to our friends in Troy, Michigan, given the importance of job creation in the state.

In an address last week at Delta College, Snyder said he would petition Homeland Security to make permanent the EB-5 program, which is set to expire in September of 2012. "The EB-5 foreign investor program provides international investors the chance to live here by investing in Michigan's economy and creating job," he said.

EB-5 grants permanent U.S. residence to foreign nationals investing at least $1 million into a business that creates or maintains ten jobs. Other components of the program include a $500,000 category for investment in designated areas with high unemployment.

Continue reading "Michigan governor to push for EB-5, H-1B reform" »

A recent report on the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) paints a disturbing picture of the how the organization charged with overseeing lawful immigration in this country operates. We feel it provides some useful insight for our readers and clients in Columbus, Ohio and Troy, Michigan.

In a report dated November 22, auditors from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said that a $1.7 billion project to modernize operations at USCIS has been plagued by unreliability related to cost and planning.

In late 2008 USCIS awarded a technology and services project to IBM that was supposed to "move the agency to a new centralized and consolidated electronic environment that will enable faster, more efficient and accurate immigration benefits determination and processing." The contract was initially given $491.1 million in options for five years.

Continue reading "Columbus, OH attorney on report of USCIS mismanagement" »

An immigration case that has been featured prominently in the news over the past week highlights some of the issues currently plaguing our system. This should help illustrate for our readers here in Ohio just how damaged the investor visa program is at this point.

ABC World News last week reported on the story of 22-year old Israeli national Amit Aharoni. Aharoni, a graduate of Stanford Business School, was able to land more than $1.65 million in capital to launch an online company that helped customers book cruises

Aharoni's company, CruiseWise.com, already employed nine Americans and was mentioned by Business Insider as one of the country's hottest startups. Aharoni said his hope was that CruiseWise could create hundred of jobs in the San Francisco area.

Continue reading "Columbus, OH Attorney: A disturbing visa case gets national attention" »

Earlier this month the "Council on Jobs and Competitiveness" - a group the president charged with looking at ways to stimulate the economy - officially released its suggestions. The council is comprised of a number of business experts, including GE head Jeffrey Immelt and high-ranking executives at Facebook and AOL.

The approximately 50-page report touches on a number of areas, one being the oft-debated and highly contentious issue of immigration reform.

The council suggests that the United States needs to do a better job keeping the world's most talented immigrant entrepreneurs within its borders so the next Google or Intel is not created elsewhere. The report asks the question: "Will the next generation of great companies be started in China and South Korea - or will existing barriers to entry be modified so foreign-born entrepreneurs can create those companies in California and South Carolina?"

Continue reading "Columbus, Ohio immigration attorney questions whether Obama's job council on the right track " »

We've discussed the EB-5 visa in this blog on a number of occasions. Since we've recently been receiving calls in our Columbus and Troy, Michigan offices about the investor program we thought it made sense to revisit it again.

First, a refresher about EB-5 for those not familiar with the program: The EB-5 investor visa is an immigration preference, meaning those who qualify are eligible to stay in the United States permanently.

The EB-5 is available to those who invest at last $1 million in a U.S. business that employs at least ten citizens or otherwise authorized workers. The investment amount comes down to $500,000 if the investment is made in a "targeted employment area," which refers to certain economically depressed regions.

Another component of EB-5 is the Regional Center Pilot Program. This is a more hands-off option, allowing the investor to contribute to a center already dedicated to the promotion of economic growth and job creation. The same financial commitment is present, but the requirements in terms of job creation are not in play.

In recent years a bill has been making its way through Congress that would introduce a branch from the EB-5 program. The "Startup Visa Act"
is a law introduced with bipartisan support that would create a new EB-6 category.

Continue reading "Could an off-shoot to EB-5 be on the way?" »

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? " »

Recently, the Department of State (DOS) has been delaying or denying the issuance of new H-1B visa stamps to H-1B non-immigrants due to questions regarding the existence of the required employer-employee relationship.These delays and denials run contrary to the established H-1B practices and requirements set forth in the law.

Sam Shihab & Associates, LLC will continue to assist its clients in resolving visa-stamp-related issues in the consulate. We believe, though, that these delays and denials are part of a greater war on the H-1B program. Keep reading for our analysis.

As we all know, the United States economy is hurting and jobs are in short supply. Thus, the idea of H-1B non-immigrant workers is very unpopular with many Americans. This unpopularity has caused a policy shift in the H-1B program. The United States Government, through the DOS and USCIS, is attempting to reduce H-1B approvals by increasing the evidentiary threshold to obtain visa stamps and petition approvals.

Much of the increased USCIS scrutiny was manifested in the January 08, 2010 Neufeld Memorandum. The Neufeld memo caused quite an uproar in that it appeared to increase scrutiny on H-1B IT contractors by increasing the amount of documentation needed to prove the existence of the employer-employee relationship required for non-immigrants. (Read some of our previous discussion of it HERE.)

Continue reading "Heightened H-1B Scrutiny Spreads to the Consulates (Part I)" »

Last month the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) director Alejandro Mayorkas and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano unveiled changes to policy and operation the federal government hopes will increase foreign investments and help spur job creation. The moves have been praised in many circles as step in the right direction.

Although the government still hasn't addressed lingering issues with the current system it's worth making note of what to expect with these changes. It's very possible our friends in the Ohio and Michigan area could be impacted.

Though no law has been changed, a few significant differences will come in the operation of three categories -- H-1B, EB-5 and EB-2.

With H-1B, USCIS has updated its FAQs with the clarification that a "beneficiary who is the sole owner of the petitioning company may establish a valid employer-employee relationship for the purposes of qualifying for an H-1B visa."

Continue reading "Will the USCIS Job Growth Visa Initiative Make a Difference? " »

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" »