New Program Aims to Help Employers Comply with Immigration Law
Via HR.BLR.com The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has launched a new initiative to help employers ensure that they are hiring and employing a workforce that is authorized to work in the United States. Called the ICE Mutual Agreement between Government and Employers (IMAGE), the program is designed to build cooperative relationships between government and businesses to strengthen hiring practices and reduce the employment of illegal aliens. The initiative also seeks to accomplish greater industry compliance and corporate due diligence through enhanced enhanced federal training and education of employers . Under the program, the department’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will partner with companies that will serve as charter members of IMAGE and liaisons to the larger business community. As part of this program, businesses must also adhere to a series of best practices, including the use of the Basic Pilot Employment Verification Program, administered by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). To date, more than 10,000 employers are using the Basic Pilot Employment Verification to check the work authorization of their newly hired employees. ICE will provide training and education to IMAGE partners on proper hiring procedures, fraudulent document detection, and anti-discrimination laws. ICE will also share data with employers on the latest illegal schemes used to circumvent legal hiring processes. Furthermore, ICE will review the hiring and employment practices of IMAGE partners. Those companies that comply with the terms of IMAGE will become “IMAGE certified,” a distinction that ICE says could become an industry standard. In order to participate in the program, companies must first agree to a Form I-9 audit by ICE. They must also use the Basic Pilot Employment Verification program when hiring employees. In order to become IMAGE-certified, partners must also adhere to a series of best practices. These include the creation of internal training programs for completing employment verification forms and detecting fraudulent documents. IMAGE partners must also arrange for audits by neutral parties and establish protocols for responding to no-match letters from the Social Security Administration. ICE is also asking employers to establish a tip line for employees to report violations and mechanisms for companies to self-report violations to ICE. A full list of best practices can be found at www.ice.gov .
07/27/2006
Wait for green card gets longer
Via The Times of India
07/23/2006
NEW
DELHI: If the H1B cap wasn’t tough enough to deal with, here’s
another piece of bad news for those dreaming the American dream. The wait for a
green card is only growing longer.
A study conducted by the
National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) estimates that the current wait
in the skilled workers and professional category exceeds five years.
The problem, it states, will
go from bad to worse if Congress doesn’t increase the number of
employment-based immigrant visas. “The problem has got worse in the last few
years.
Now, it takes anywhere
between six to twelve years to get a green card,” says Aman Kapoor, a computer
programmer who moved to the US in 1997.
By December last year, when
Congress killed a budget amendment that would have paved the road for
highlyskilled professionals like him, Aman’s patience had worn thin.
An online message board soon
transformed into Immigration Voice, a non-profit organisation determined to push
for immigration reform. Says co-founder Aman, “We decided to make a collective
change.”
Six months later,
Immigration Voice boasts of 5,000 members and has hired high-profile lobbying
firm Quinn Gillespie to make its voice heard on Capitol Hill.
With
the immigration debate in the US centred around illegal aliens, more than
half-a-million high skilled immigrants a large percentage from India have seen
their applications disappear into a green card black hole.
According to the US department
of labour, there are 3.5 lakh applications pending in the first stage, some
dating back to 1999.
Meanwhile, the applicant
can’t switch jobs, relocate, get a promotion or even a pay hike because
that would mean applying fresh. Swati and Aradhana Srivastava, both software
engineers who aspire to become filmmakers, are at the end of their tether.
“Our aspirations have changed:
we now want to become filmmakers but can’t because of one document. The US
is supposed to be the land of dreams but our dreams are slowly dying here,” says
28-year-old Swati.
VISA BULLETIN FOR AUGUST 2006
Visa Bulletin
Number 95
Volume VIII
Washington, D.C.
VISA BULLETIN FOR AUGUST 2006
IMMIGRANT NUMBERS FOR AUGUST 2006
A. STATUTORY NUMBERS
1. This bulletin summarizes the availability of immigrant numbers during August. Consular officers are required to report to the Department of State documentarily qualified applicants for numerically limited visas; the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services in the Department of Homeland Security reports applicants for adjustment of status. Allocations were made, to the extent possible under the numerical limitations, for the demand received by July 10th in the chronological order of the reported priority dates. If the demand could not be satisfied within the statutory or regulatory limits, the category or foreign state in which demand was excessive was deemed oversubscribed. The cut-off date for an oversubscribed category is the priority date of the first applicant who could not be reached within the numerical limits. Only applicants who have a priority date earlier than the cut-off date may be allotted a number. Immediately that it becomes necessary during the monthly allocation process to retrogress a cut-off date, supplemental requests for numbers will be honored only if the priority date falls within the new cut-off date.
2. The fiscal year 2006 limit for Family-sponsored preference immigrants determined in accordance with Section 201 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) is 226,000. The fiscal year 2006 limit for Employment-based preference immigrants calculated under INA 201 is 143,949. Section 202 prescribes that the per-country limit for preference immigrants is set at 7% of the total annual family-sponsored and employment-based preference limits, i.e., 25,896 for
FY-2006. The dependent area limit is set at 2%, or 7,399.
3. Section 203 of the INA prescribes preference classes for allotment of immigrant visas as follows:
FAMILY-SPONSORED PREFERENCES
First: Unmarried Sons and Daughters of Citizens: 23,400 plus any numbers not required for fourth preference.
Second: Spouses and Children, and Unmarried Sons and Daughters of Permanent Residents: 114,200, plus the number (if any) by which the worldwide family preference level exceeds 226,000, and any unused first preference numbers:
A. Spouses and Children: 77% of the overall second preference limitation, of which 75% are exempt from the per-country limit;
B. Unmarried Sons and Daughters (21 years of age or older): 23% of the overall second preference limitation.
Third: Married Sons and Daughters of Citizens: 23,400, plus any numbers not required by first and second preferences.
Fourth: Brothers and Sisters of Adult Citizens: 65,000, plus any numbers not required by first three preferences.
EMPLOYMENT-BASED PREFERENCES
First: Priority Workers: 28.6% of the worldwide employment-based
preference level, plus any numbers not required for fourth and fifth preferences.
Second: Members of the Professions Holding Advanced Degrees or Persons of Exceptional Ability: 28.6% of the worldwide employment-based preference
level, plus any numbers not required by first preference.
Third: Skilled Workers, Professionals, and Other Workers: 28.6% of the worldwide level, plus any numbers not required by first and second
preferences, not more than 10,000 of which to “Other Workers”.
Schedule A Workers: Employment First, Second, and Third preference Schedule A applicants are entitled to up to 50,000 “recaptured” numbers.
Fourth: Certain Special Immigrants: 7.1% of the worldwide level.
Fifth: Employment Creation: 7.1% of the worldwide level, not less than 3,000 of which reserved for investors in a targeted rural or high-unemployment area, and 3,000 set aside for investors in regional centers by Sec. 610 of P.L. 102-395.
4. INA Section 203(e) provides that family-sponsored and employment-based preference visas be issued to eligible immigrants in the order in which a petition in behalf of each has been filed. Section 203(d) provides that spouses and children of preference immigrants are entitled to the same status, and the same order of consideration, if accompanying or following to join the principal. The visa prorating provisions of Section 202(e) apply to allocations for a foreign state or dependent area when visa demand exceeds the per-country limit. These provisions apply at present to the following oversubscribed chargeability areas: CHINA-mainland born, INDIA, MEXICO, and PHILIPPINES.
5. On the chart below, the listing of a date for any class indicates that the class is oversubscribed (see paragraph 1); “C” means current, i.e., numbers are available for all qualified applicants; and “U” means unavailable, i.e., no numbers are available. (NOTE: Numbers are available only for applicants whose priority date is earlier than the cut-off date listed below.)
| Family | All Charge- ability Areas Except Those Listed | CHINA-mainland born | INDIA | MEXICO | PHILIP-PINES |
| 1st | 01JAN97 | 01JAN97 | 01JAN97 | 01JUN92 | 01OCT92 |
| 2A | 08SEP99 | 08SEP99 | 08SEP99 | 08SEP99 | 08SEP99 |
| 2B | 22SEP96 | 22SEP96 | 22SEP96 | 01DEC91 | 01DEC92 |
| 3rd | 08SEP98 | 08SEP98 | 08SEP98 | 01JAN81 | 01DEC85 |
| 4th | 15JUN95 | 01JUL94 | 01JAN95 | 01JAN93 | 15JAN84 |
*NOTE: For August, 2A numbers EXEMPT from per-country limit are available to applicants from all countries with priority dates earlier than 08SEP99. 2A numbers SUBJECT to per-country limit are “Unavailable”.
| Employ- ment Based | All Charge-ability Areas Except Those Listed | CHINA | INDIA | MEXICO | PHILIP-PINES |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | C | C | 01JAN06 | C | C |
| 2nd | C | 01MAR05 | U | C | C |
| 3rd | 01OCT01 | 01OCT01 | 01APR01 | 22APR01 | 01OCT01 |
| Schedule A Workers | C | C | C | C | C |
| Other Workers | U | U | U | U | U |
| 4th | C | C | C | C | C |
| Certain Religious Workers | C | C | C | C | C |
| 5th | C | C | C | C | C |
| Targeted Employment Areas/ Regional Centers | C | C | C | C | C |
The Department of State has available a recorded message with visa availability information which can be heard at: (area code 202) 663-1541. This recording will be updated in the middle of each month with information on cut-off dates for the following month.
Employment Third Preference Other Workers Category: Section 203(e) of the NACARA, as amended by Section 1(e) of Pub. L. 105-139, provides that once the Employment Third Preference Other Worker (EW) cut-off date has reached the priority date of the latest EW petition approved prior to November 19, 1997, the 10,000 EW numbers available for a fiscal year are to be reduced by up to 5,000 annually beginning in the following fiscal year. This reduction is to be made for as long as necessary to offset adjustments under the NACARA program. Since the EW cut-off date reached November 19, 1997 during Fiscal Year 2001, the reduction in the EW annual limit to 5,000 began in Fiscal Year 2002.
B. DIVERSITY IMMIGRANT (DV) CATEGORY
Section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act provides a maximum of up to 55,000 immigrant visas each fiscal year to permit immigration opportunities for persons from countries other than the principal sources of current immigration to the United States. The Nicaraguan and Central American Relief Act (NACARA) passed by Congress in November 1997 stipulates that beginning with DV-99, and for as long as necessary, up to 5,000 of the 55,000 annually-allocated diversity visas will be made available for use under the NACARA program. This reduction has resulted in the DV-2006 annual limit being reduced to 50,000. DV visas are divided among six geographic regions. No one country can receive more than seven percent of the available diversity visas in any one year.
For August, immigrant numbers in the DV category are available to qualified DV-2006 applicants chargeable to all regions/eligible countries as follows. When an allocation cut-off number is shown, visas are available only for applicants with DV regional lottery rank numbers BELOW the specified allocation cut-off number:
| Region | All DV Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed Separately | |
|---|---|---|
| AFRICA | 33,900 | Except: |
| ASIA | 7,700 | |
| EUROPE | 16,000 | |
| NORTH AMERICA (BAHAMAS) | 15 | |
| OCEANIA | 1,115 | |
| SOUTH AMERICA, and the CARIBBEAN | 1,900 |
Entitlement to immigrant status in the DV category lasts only through the end of the fiscal (visa) year for which the applicant is selected in the lottery. The year of entitlement for all applicants registered for the DV-2006 program ends as of September 30, 2006. DV visas may not be issued to DV-2006 applicants after that date. Similarly, spouses and children accompanying or following to join DV-2006 principals are only entitled to derivative DV status until September 30, 2006. DV visa availability through the very end of FY-2006
cannot be taken for granted. Numbers could be exhausted prior to September 30.
C. ADVANCE NOTIFICATION OF THE DIVERSITY (DV) IMMIGRANT CATEGORY RANK CUT-OFFS WHICH WILL APPLY IN SEPTEMBER
For September, immigrant numbers in the DV category are available to qualified DV-2006 applicants chargeable to all regions/eligible countries as follows. When an allocation cut-off number is shown, visas are available only for applicants with DV regional lottery rank numbers BELOW the specified allocation cut-off number:
| Region | All DV Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed Separately | |
|---|---|---|
| AFRICA | Current | Except: |
| ASIA | Current | |
| EUROPE | Current | |
| NORTH AMERICA (BAHAMAS) | Current | |
| OCEANIA | Current | |
| SOUTH AMERICA, and the CARIBBEAN | Current |
D. RETROGRESSION OF FAMILY AND EMPLOYMENT CUT-OFF DATES
For August, it has been necessary to retrogress many of the cut-off dates in the Family-sponsored and Employment-based visa categories. This has been done in an effort to hold the issuance levels within the applicable annual numerical limits for the affected categories. Those retrogressions are listed below:
Worldwide: Family 1st (to 01JAN97)
China: Family 4th (to 01JUL94)
India: Employment 2nd has become “Unavailable”; Employment 3rd (to 01APR01)
Mexico: Family 3rd (to 01JAN81) and Family 4th (to 01JAN93)
Philippines: Family 2B (to 01DEC92) and Family 3rd (to 01DEC85)
E. IMMIGRANT VISA AVAILABILITY FOR SEPTEMBER
Immigrant visa number use is approaching the annual limits for the year in many categories, and the supply of numbers remaining for allocation is limited. Therefore, for September there is increased possibility of additional retrogressions of cut-off dates such as those experienced in August. Readers should not assume visa availability until the cut-off dates are announced. Categories which could experience retrogressions are:
Worldwide: Employment 4th
China: Employment 2nd and 3rd
India: Employment 1st
Mexico: Employment 3rd
F. SCHEDULE A VISA AVAILABILITY DURING FY-2007
A total of 50,000 numbers were provided for use in the Schedule A (EX) visa category which was established last May. Visa demand in this category is approaching that limit, and may require the establishment of a cut-off date as early as October. Once all 50,000 numbers have been made available under the current limitation, processing under this category will end.
G. DIVERSITY VISA LOTTERY 2007 (DV-2007) RESULTS
The Kentucky Consular Center in Williamsburg, Kentucky has registered and notified the winners of the DV-2007 diversity lottery. The diversity lottery was conducted under the terms of section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act and makes available *50,000 permanent resident visas annually to persons from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. Approximately 82,000 applicants have been registered and notified and may now make an application for an immigrant visa. Since it is likely that some of the first *50,000 persons registered will not pursue their cases to visa issuance, this larger figure should insure that all DV-2007 numbers will be used during fiscal year 2007 (October 1, 2006 until September 30, 2007).
Applicants registered for the DV-2007program were selected at random from over 5.5 million qualified entries received during the 60-day application period that ran from 12:00 AM on October 5, 2005, until midnight, December 4, 2005. The visas have been apportioned among six geographic regions with a maximum of seven percent available to persons born in any single country. During the visa interview, principal applicants must provide proof of a high school education or its equivalent, or show two years of work experience in an occupation that requires at least two years of training or experience within the past five years. Those selected will need to act on their immigrant visa applications quickly. Applicants should follow the instructions in their notification letter and must fully complete the information requested.
Registrants living legally in the United States who wish to apply for adjustment of their status must contact the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services for information on the requirements and procedures. Once the total *50,000 visa numbers have been used, the program for fiscal year 2007 will end. Selected applicants who do not receive visas by September 30, 2007 will derive no further benefit from their DV-2007 registration. Similarly, spouses and children accompanying or following to join DV-2007 principal applicants are only entitled to derivative diversity visa status until September 30, 2007.
Only participants in the DV-2007 program who were selected for further processing have been notified. Those who have not received notification were not selected. They may try for the upcoming DV-2008 lottery if they wish. The dates for the registration period for the DV-2008 lottery program will be widely publicized during August 2006.
* The Nicaraguan and Central American Relief Act (NACARA) passed by Congress in November 1997 stipulated that up to 5,000 of the 55,000 annually-allocated diversity visas be made available for use under the NACARA program. The reduction of the limit of available visas to 50,000 began with DV-2000.
The following is the statistical breakdown by foreign-state chargeability of those registered for the DV-2007 program:
| AFRICA | ||
| ALGERIA 912 | ERITREA 582 | NAMIBIA 8 |
| ANGOLA 13 | ETHIOPIA 6,871 | NIGER 62 |
| BENIN 218 | GABON 42 | NIGERIA 9,849 |
| BOTSWANA 1 | GAMBIA, THE 50 | RWANDA 41 |
| BURKINA FASO 95 | GHANA 3,088 | SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE 2 |
| BURUNDI 16 | GUINEA 146 | SENEGAL 228 |
| CAMEROON 1,461 | GUINEA-BISSAU 5 | SEYCHELLES 4 |
| CAPE VERDE 3 | KENYA 2,337 | SIERRA LEONE 540 |
| CENTRAL AFRICAN REP. 13 | LESOTHO 0 | SOMALIA 160 |
| CHAD 28 | LIBERIA 734 | SOUTH AFRICA 287 |
| COMOROS 7 | LIBYA 37 | SUDAN 569 |
| CONGO 687 | MADAGASCAR 21 | SWAZILAND 5 |
| CONGO, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE 42 | MALAWI 18 | TANZANIA 148 |
| COTE D’IVOIRE 308 | MALI 76 | TOGO 1,592 |
| DJIBOUTI 11 | MAURITANIA 17 | TUNISIA 122 |
| EGYPT 7,229 | MAURITIUS 8 | UGANDA 213 |
| EQUATORIAL GUINEA 1 | MOROCCO 4,922 | ZAMBIA 92 |
| MOZAMBIQUE 4 | ZIMBABWE 73 |
| ASIA | ||
| AFGHANISTAN 80 | IRAQ 8 | NEPAL 1,529 |
| BAHRAIN 1 | ISRAEL 126 | OMAN 1 |
| BANGLADESH 5,901 | JAPAN 333 | QATAR 1 |
| BHUTAN 2 | JORDAN 63 | SAUDI ARABIA 27 |
| BRUNEI 0 | NORTH KOREA 6 | SINGAPORE 46 |
| BURMA 651 | KUWAIT 42 | SRI LANKA 383 |
| CAMBODIA 177 | LAOS 9 | SYRIA 40 |
| HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMIN. REGION 81 | LEBANON 86 | THAILAND 81 |
| INDONESIA 245 | MALAYSIA 76 | TAIWAN 398 |
| IRAN 1,361 | MALDIVES 0 | UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 19 |
| MONGOLIA 113 | YEMEN 43 |
| EUROPE | ||
ALBANIA 1,988 | GERMANY 1,047 | NORTHERN IRELAND 42 |
ANDORRA 0 | GREECE 41 | NORWAY 21 |
| ARMENIA, 691 | GREENLAND 3 | PORTUGAL 29 Macau 8 |
ARUBA 5 | HUNGARY 138 | ROMANIA 1,255 |
AUSTRIA 74 | ICELAND 13 | SAN MARINO 0 |
AZERBAIJAN 125 | IRELAND 160 | SERBIA & MONTENEGRO 505 |
BELARUS 705 | ITALY 214 | SLOVAKIA 171 |
BELGIUM 57 | KAZAKHSTAN 177 | SLOVENIA 7 |
BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA 90 | KYRGYZSTAN 123 | SPAIN 97 |
BULGARIA 1,674 | LATVIA 75 | SWEDEN 121 |
CROATIA 40 | LIECHTENSTEIN 0 | SWITZERLAND 104 |
CYPRUS 7 | LITHUANIA 298 | TAJIKISTAN 84 |
CZECH REPUBLIC 85 | LUXEMBOURG 6 | TURKEY 1,418 |
DENMARK 50 | MACEDONIA , FORMER YUGOSLAV REP. | TURKMENISTAN 59 |
ESTONIA 40 | MALTA 4 | UKRAINE 7,205 |
FINLAND 33 | MOLDOVA 273 | TUNISIA 124 |
FRANCE 380 | MONACO, 1 | UZBEKISTAN 1,536 |
GEORGIA 323 | NETHERLANDS 88 Netherlands Antilles 8 | VATICAN CITY 0 |
| NORTH AMERICA | ||
BAHAMAS , THE 12 |
|
|
OCEANIA | ||
AUSTRALIA 532 Christmas Islands 0 Cocos Islands 1 | NAURU 1 | SOLOMON |
| FIJI 514 | NEW ZEALAND 205 Cook Islands 3 | TONGA 109 |
KIRIBATI 0 | PALAU 3 | TUVALU 7 |
MARSHALL ISLANDS 1 | PAPUA NEW GUINEA 6 | VANUATU 0 |
MICRONESIA , FEDERATED STATES OF 4 | SAMOA 10 |
|
SOUTH AMERICA, CENTRAL AMERICA, AND THE CARIBBEAN | ||
ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA 2 | DOMINICA 12 | PERU 1,274 |
ARGENTINA 86 | ECUADOR 170 | SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS 4 |
BARBADOS 9 | GRENADA 6 | SAINT LUCIA 4 |
BELIZE 5 | GUATEMALA 43 | SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES 3 |
BOLIVIA 88 | GUYANA 17 | SURINAME 3 |
BRAZIL 488 | HONDURAS 28 | TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO 85 |
CHILE 42 | NICARAGUA 19 | URUGUAY 4 |
COSTA RICA 18 | PANAMA 14 | VENEZUELA 226 |
CUBA 427 | PARAGUAY 20 |
Natives of the following countries were not eligible to participate in DV-2007: Canada, China (mainland-born, excluding Hong Kong S.A.R., and Taiwan), Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Pakistan, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and Vietnam.
H. DETERMINATION OF THE NUMERICAL LIMITS ON IMMIGRANT REQUIRED UNDER THE TERMS OF THE IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY ACT (INA)
The State Department is required to make a determination of the worldwide numerical limitations, as outlined in Section 201(c) and (d) of the INA, on an annual basis. These calculations are based in part on data provided by the Citizenship and Naturalization Service regarding the number of immediate relative adjustments in the preceding year and the number of aliens paroled into the United States under Section 212(d)(5) in the second preceding year. Without this information, it is impossible to make an official determination of the annual limits. To avoid delays in processing while waiting for the CIS data, the Visa Office (VO) bases allocation on the minimum annual limits outlined in Section 201 of the INA.
- Worldwide Family-Sponsored preference limit: 226,000
Worldwide Employment-Based preference limit: 143,949
Under INA Section 202(A), the per-country limit is fixed at 7% of the family and employment annual limits. For FY-2006 the per-country limit is 25,896. The dependent area annual limit is 2%, or 7,399.
I. OBTAINING THE MONTHLY VISA BULLETIN
The Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs offers the monthly “Visa Bulletin” on the INTERNET’S WORLDWIDE WEB. The INTERNET Web address to access the Bulletin is:
http://travel.state.gov
From the home page, select the VISA section which contains the Visa Bulletin.
To be placed on the Department of State’s E-mail subscription list for the “Visa Bulletin”, please send an E-mail to the following E-mail address:
listserv@calist.state.gov
and in the message body type:
Subscribe Visa-Bulletin First name/Last name
(example: Subscribe Visa-Bulletin Sally Doe)
To be removed from the Department of State’s E-mail subscription list for the “Visa Bulletin”, send an e-mail message to the following E-mail address :
listserv@calist.state.gov
and in the message body type: Signoff Visa-Bulletin
The Department of State also has available a recorded message with visa cut-off dates which can be heard at: (area code 202) 663-1541. The recording is normally updated by the middle of each month with information on cut-off dates for the following month.
Readers may submit questions regarding Visa Bulletin related items by E-mail at the following address:
VISABULLETIN@STATE.GOV
(This address cannot be used to subscribe to the Visa Bulletin.)
Department of State Publication 9514
CA/VO: July 10, 2006.
Backlog holds up legal path into U.S.
Via The Charlotte Observer
07/15/2006
Millions forced to wait for thousands of visas
Members of the Morales family have been waiting almost two decades for green cards.
Family patriarch Miguel Morales Alcala gained legal permanent residence through a 1986 amnesty. He has since tried to get residency for his wife and six of his children.
But the wait became such an ordeal that he ended up paying a coyote $7,000 to smuggle his family into the U.S. from Mexico.
“It’s such a long time,” Morales, 66, said from his Charlotte home. “They told me I could bring my children, but we’re still waiting and wondering when we can get the papers.”
Often lost in the debate over illegal immigration is the massive list of applicants waiting to legally move to the United States.
The wait for a visa can take years, even decades, as several million people worldwide petition for limited spots.
Many immigration lawyers and advocates argue that immigration limits are too restrictive and it should be made easier for people to come here legally.
At the same time, advocates for more restrictive immigration rules acknowledge the process is cumbersome, but say limits benefit the country.
“There are way too many people than we can absorb,” said Ron Woodard, director of NC Listen, an immigration reform group. “Would-be immigrants need to understand that just because you’re a nice person willing to work hard doesn’t mean you can come to America.”
Continue reading
New US law could cripple Indian hospitals
Via Rediff.com The irony is that Tamil Nadu is running short of nurses because nursing graduates from the state — and from across India — are bound for greener pastures in the US. In the last few years, nursing has become the easiest route to the US Green Card as American hospitals are frantically scouting for nurses from developing countries, especially India and the Philippines. Every year, India produces more than 30,000 nursing graduates. Nursing school authorities say almost all of these nursing graduates are also training to take the CGFNS (Commission of Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools), TOEFL (Test of English as Foreign Language), TWE (Test of Written English) and TSE (Test of Spoken English) examinations. To be considered for nursing assignments, Indian nurses have to take the above mentioned four tests, and must have valid nursing licences from recognised institutes. In the last one year, scores of American hospitals have put in requests with manpower consulting agencies and nursing schools across India for recruiting nurses. A number of nursing colleges in India are also tying up with hospital groups in America for supplying nurses. As a result, the quality of health services across Indian hospitals is suffering because of shortage of nurses. “Every nursing graduate wants to go abroad. They do not want to serve the country. The rush of Indian nurses to countries like the US is putting our healthcare system in malady,” says Annamma Mathew, a nursing superintendent who earlier worked with St John’s Medical College, Bangalore. Mathew, who now works in a private hospital in Coimbatore, says Tamil Nadu is one of the worst hit by the shortage of nurses. “Last year the Tamil Nadu government advertised for some 1,500 nurses in the primary health centres. But the Health Department did not get enough applications,” says Mathew. “Indian nurses want to go abroad, especially to Europe, the Gulf and the US because the pay packets there are very good compared to the pitiable salaries that Indian hospitals offer to nurses,” Mathew adds. A nurse in an Indian hospital earns a starting salary of less than $2,000 a year. In the US, that figure is at least $36,000. Vineeta Ramachandran, director of Kochi-based nursing recruitment agency Nurses Abroad, says the sad state of Indian hospitals and poor pay are the main reasons for the exodus of Indian nurses abroad. “Added to this, the new Immigration Bill in the US would open throw open the gates to Indian nurses. I am getting 15 applications every day from nurses who want to go abroad,” Ramachandran says. Last month, Kansas Republican Senator Sam Brownback sponsored a proposal in the US Senate that aims to remove the limit on the numbers of nurses who can immigrate to America. Moving the new provision in the Immigration Bill, Brownback said it was needed to help America cope with a growing nursing shortage. Health experts in India say the new, relaxed US immigration provisions for nurses would have an impact on countries like India and the Philippines, which are already sending thousands of nurses to America every year. Says Dr Paul Abraham, who heads a Bangalore-based non-governmental healthcare organisation called Centre for Health and Social Action: “The exodus of nurses from countries like India to the US will surely strain the health systems (in those countries).” “In India, already many hospitals are reeling under severe shortage of nurses. Now I think every Indian nurse would try to go to the US if the new immigration rule comes into force,” Dr Abraham says. He says international standards prescribe the nurse-patient ratio per shift to be 1:5 in a general ward and 1:1 in the intensive care unit. “But in India, the nurse-patient ratio is pitiable. For instance, the J J Hospital in Mumbai has a 1:70 nurse-patient ratio. That is, one nurse is forced to take care of an average of 70 patients who visit the hospital daily,” he says. What is the way out? “(There are) no short cuts,” says Dr Abraham. “The government has to sanction more nursing colleges. And a condition has to be laid down that a nurse should work compulsorily five years in India before she goes abroad,” he says. Agrees Madhu Devan, member, Trained Nurses Association of India: “The pay scales of nurses in India also have to go up. The government should also increase the number of nursing institutes across the country.” Some states are waking up to the crisis. Kerala — that has produced more nurses than any other state in India — now has 85 nursing schools. In 1991, it had only 45. The Maharashtra Nursing Council has granted official recognition to 70 more nursing colleges in the last two years. More and more young men are also opting for a nursing career because of the bright job prospects abroad. Suju Mathew, son of a Kerala school teacher, opted for nursing studies. “I have joined for the three year nursing degree course in a Mangalore college. In my class, there are 10 boys and 30 girls,” he says. Does Suju like to work as a nurse? “Yes, but not in India,” says the 19 year old. “I want to go to America. And nursing is the only solution.”
July 05, 2006
The GOP’s immigration shame
Republicans choose divisive campaign politics over urgently needed policy.
HOW CAN YOU TELL WHEN a governing party is running out of steam? When
it controls all branches of government yet abandons even the pretense
of addressing an issue most members claim is a “crisis.”
That’s what the GOP-led House did Tuesday in announcing that
discussions over reconciling its enforcement-centric immigration bill
with the Senate’s legalization-focused version will be pushed back to
September at the earliest, and only after completing more hearings.
Instead of naming negotiators and attempting in good faith to bridge
the chasm between the bills, House leaders are busy naming locations
for “field meetings” that can deliver maximum demagogic effect in the
run-up to the November election.
These meetings are nonsense. Congress held more than a dozen hearings
on immigration last year before passing HR 4437. That punitive bill
filled the streets with millions of protesters angry that it did little
to address the nation’s need for a legal supply of labor or the
estimated 11 million-plus illegal residents of this country, besides
turning them into felons.
The
Senate version, a flawed piece of work in its own right after too many
compromises, at least offered a system (however torturous) by which
millions of underground workers could finally come into the open
without fear of immediate incarceration or deportation. Most of the
last-minute amendments to the Senate bill brought the legislation
closer to the version passed by the House. But Republicans there prefer
clinging to the dangerous fantasy that a massive, militarized wall must
be approved before discussions can even begin over what to do with the
millions of indispensable, but vilified, workers already here.
House
GOP leaders can barely conceal their preference for divisive politics
over sound policy. Speaker J. Dennis Hastert of Illinois has reportedly
conveyed to President Bush that hard-line enforcement politics is
polling particularly well this season. One Republican congressional
aide told the Associated Press: “The discussion is how to put the
Democrats in a box without attacking the president.” This is what
passes for Republican leadership nowadays.
Summer and fall will
be gut-check time not just for Bush, who has tried in his vague though
periodically eloquent way to make immigration reform his signature
domestic accomplishment this year, or for pro-reform GOP senators such
as John McCain of Arizona, but for the American people. When the
vulnerable party in power chooses to adopt a campaign strategy that
demonizes a class of people, how it fares will say much about who we
are.
Twelve years ago, Republicans were swept into Congress on
a platform bursting with energy and ideas, with many measures enacted
within the GOP’s first 100 days in power. If inaction and xenophobia
are all the party has left, this could be its last 100 days.
Skilled immigrants wait on Congress
Via Yahoo.com
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The latest fights over immigration have focused on
who should get a place in line for a legal life in the United States.
But the real agony, says Tien Bui, comes when you finally get in line.
Bui, who came to the U.S. as a Vietnamese refugee and is now an
engineer for Boeing Co., can’t take the career-boosting position he’s
been offered because his citizenship application is lodged somewhere
inside the Department of
Homeland Security.
With green card in hand, Bui has waited patiently since 2003 for his
fingerprints to clear background checks, a process that’s become more
involved since Sept. 11.
But if Congress approves a new guest worker program, the overall
waiting period for Bui and the millions of legal immigrants like him
could grow even longer, says a report by the
Government Accountability Office.
President Bush
mandated that by September of this year, the immigration backlog should
be eliminated and DHS should start processing all cases in six months
or less, a deadline the agency is optimistic it can meet.
But a spider web of agencies — including the
Department of Labor,
the Department of State and the Federal Bureau of Investigation — is
also involved in evaluating and approving legal immigration
applications.
If there are more petitions to process, the overall delays could
increase, experts say. At DHS alone, some skilled foreign workers must
wait five years to apply for a green card, something American
engineering companies say is harming their competitive edge.
“I truly think if Albert Einstein were in my office in 2006, he
would be saying ‘I’m going to Canada rather than wait any longer,'”
said Judy Bourdeau, a Kansas City immigration attorney who is filing
employment petitions for several Fortune 500 companies.
Celebs bend visa lines like Beckham
Via Miami Herald.com
Accommodating U.S. State Department officials bend over backward to grant visas to elite figures in sports, science, arts, education and business.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – International soccer star David Beckham and wife Victoria, formerly Posh Spice of the Spice Girls, don’t wait months or years to enter the United States legally.
Beckham’s status, bankroll and his attorney see to that. He receives approval for his visa within two weeks. Accommodating U.S. State Department officials grant him after-hours appointments and have asked him to pose for photos.
As an ”alien of extraordinary ability,” Beckham is eligible for an O-1 work visa reserved for elite figures in sports, science, arts, education and business.
These and companion visas for family and support personnel have no caps on the number who can arrive. Their numbers have more than doubled over the past decade.
Meanwhile, specialty workers with four-year degrees can’t always bend the bureaucracy like Beckham. Demand for visas from these workers, with professions such as computer programming, engineering and
accounting, has surged. But the cap, briefly raised a few years ago, remains at 65,000 — what it was in 1992. The 2007 cap was filled May 26, a record four months before the fiscal year begins.
Currently, Congress is debating whether to increase these visas to help relieve the backlog, as well as granting legal status to some of the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants.
Immigration ”law is really geared toward helping the rich and famous,” says David Whitlock, a partner who heads immigration practice at Fisher & Phillips in Atlanta.
Most industrialized countries have an immigrant pecking order, notes Alan Gordon, a Charlotte, N.C., immigration lawyer who recently helped a Canadian racing phenom enter the country.
DEPP SKIPPED LOTTERY
”How did Johnny Depp get to live in France? Did he go through a lottery system?” asks Gordon. “No. It’s because he’s spending money.”
Indeed, countries have always welcomed the elite.
”And maybe rightly so,” says Steve Hader, a lawyer with the Charlotte office of Moore & Van Allen who helped set up Beckham’s upcoming visit to the United States. “Maybe you want the best and the brightest.”
The Beckhams stand to make money on their upcoming summer trip, so they are required to secure work visas, not tourist credentials. He launched a youth soccer academy in Los Angeles last year, with the hope
of identifying talent to compete for U.S. teams on the world stage. Victoria has a fragrance and clothing line ”and still performs,” Hader says.
Some 11,960 esteemed scientists, doctors, musicians, professors, athletes and captains of industry and their family and support personnel arrived in 2005, up more than 145 percent since 1995, according to the State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs.
Hader has prepared O-1 visas for A-list singers, actors, actresses, scientists and even a celebrity chef. Client confidentiality precludes him from revealing names. Beckham gave the OK because he wants the
press for his academy.
O-1 applicants must be international superstars in their professions. The State Department recognizes Academy Awards, peer adulation, press coverage in ”major newspapers,” and/or ”a high salary . . . in relation to others in the field,” among other factors.
Beckham plays for the Spanish club Real Madrid and is captain of England’s national team in this year’s World Cup. Beckham was memorialized in the 2002 movie Bend It Like Beckham for his signature long kick, with the ball curving in flight. The fact Beckham is married to one of the Spice Girls is an added bonus, or curse, depending on which side of the paparazzi you’re standing.
US immigration bill rattles Aussies
Via DNAIndia.com
06/19/2006
MELBOURNE:
Australia’s problem of skill workers shortage would take another blow
if the US proposal to increase the migrant intake is implemented,
experts have warned. Australian policy makers and experts have
expressed fears that the US would lure away the best of the skilled
workforce away from the South Pacific country.
The US Senate has recently passed a Bill to increase annual
employment-based migration from 140,000 to a whopping 650,000. If the
proposals are approved by the US lower house, the maximum limit on the
high-skilled H1-B working visas would jump from 65,000 a year to
115,000. This would direct skilled migrants’ movement away from
countries like Australia.
The booming Australian economy is feeling the skills crunch as the
insatiable Chinese demand for its resources is not showing any sign of
petering out in the near future. Indian demand for Australian
resources is also on the rise and would ensure the Australian
economic prosperity for years to come. The Senate Bill to increase the
migrant intake reportedly also includes proposal to allow
international students in the US to be given work and residency rights
after they complete their studies.
These proposals have alarmed Bob Birrell, Director of the Centre for Population and Urban Research at Monash University here.
“There’s already significant competition for skilled migrants,
especially persons who have work experience in skills relevant to an
advanced economy like that of Australia or the United States,” Dr
Birrell told The Age newspaper recently. “There’s already a problem and
if the US upped its level to 600,000, then it would make it
considerably more difficult,” he said. The Age newspaper has also
quoted an American expert in stressing the point that Australian and
the US skill shortage is bound to come worse as the traditional
sources of skilled migrants like India are also keeping their
brightest at home.
“The situation in India has radically changed. It is no longer a
must that to be successful you have to leave India,” the American
expert was quoted as saying.
U.S. said helpless in hiring of aliens
Via The Washington Post
06/19/2006
The federal government is not capable of helping employers determine
whether workers in the U.S. are illegal aliens, a government official
will testify before a Senate subcommittee this afternoon.
Richard M. Stana, director of homeland security and justice
for the Government Accountability Office, said that two decades after
Congress ordered the government to create a program to prevent the
hiring of illegals, such a program still doesn’t exist.
Immigration specialists have “found that the single most
important step that could be taken to reduce unlawful immigration is
the development of a more effective system for verifying work
authorization,” Mr. Stana said in prepared testimony obtained by The
Washington Times.
Guidance on Use of Revised Alien Fiance(e) Petition (NEW Form I-129F)
06/16/2006
USCIS published a revised form of the Alien Fiance(e) Petition (Form
I-129F) which complies with the requirements of the International
Marriage Brokers Regulation Act of 2005 (IMBRA). AILA’s VSC Liaison has
learned that, although the Service will accept the old form through
July 14, 2006, it is strongly encouraged that new form be used
immediately. If the old form is used between now and July 14, RFE’s may
be issued in order to collect the additional information required
pursuant to the new statutory and regulatory requirements. Beginning
July 15, the old form will be rejected.
The U.S. Immigration Law Blog by Ashwin Sharma 
Jobs that get you US visas (NEWS.COM.AU)
Via News.com.au
07/17/2006
By Tara Weiss
WHAT is the easiest way to legally enter the US? Love. Fall in love with an American citizen, get married and you’re in. Unfortunately, not everyone can rely on romance. Only select few like Australians can breeze into the country.
Most people have to work their way into the US. But to do that, you need to find a job, a company willing to sponsor you and then apply for one of the country’s precious H1B visas.
With up to 100,000 applications filed each year (that’s where the US Government cuts it off), getting one of the 65,000 H1Bs given out annually is a bit like winning the lottery.
The same is true for other highly coveted visas like the L1 work visa, which enable multinational firms to transfer employees and executives to the US. For would-be immigrants, such visas can often lead to the ultimate golden ticket: a US green card, 140,000 of which are available each year.
Clearly, there just aren’t enough visas or green cards to go around. “Those caps are both backed up,” says Crystal Williams, deputy director for programs at the American Immigration Lawyers Association. That means it can take years to legally enter the US workforce.
That is unless you happen to be a university professor, nurse, physical therapist or work in any one of several professions that are in such great demand you’re practically guaranteed a US visa. It also helps if your home nation has signed a free trade agreement with the US.
“(But) need is the very first step,” says Chris Bentley, a spokesperson with US Citizenship and Immigration Services.
“We’re looking for people that have some type of skill and whose job is in demand here in the US.”
In the late 1990s, software engineers and other IT specialists were in demand. Now, immigration lawyers say, they’re a dime a dozen and aren’t usually successful getting into the country.
Topping America’s most wanted list these days: academics. Bentley says that someone petitioning to teach Medieval History is more likely to get approved than an accountant because the professor position is specialised and more difficult to fill.
“With other professions, employers have to test the labour market to see if someone else is qualified and willing to do the job that’s offered,” says Elizabeth Kirberger an immigration attorney who practices in New York.
“With a college professor, the standard is different. Employers get to pick the most highly qualified, but there’s no particular standard for that. You flesh out (the argument for that) in the application.” That’s because there aren’t enough American professors to fill the available jobs.
The same goes for nurses and physical therapists. According to The American Hospital Association, the country will need 2.8 million nurses by 2020, but only 2 million will be available.
Still, foreign nurses should be mindful of a few caveats. According to Greg Siskind , founding partner of the immigration law firm Siskind Susser, nurses aren’t eligible for temporary work visas. They can only enter the country as green card applicants; a process that can take two years. While that may sound like an eternity, foreign nurses have a relatively easy time finding hospitals and companies willing to sponsor them.
“As an employer, hiring two years ahead of time is not ideal. But because of the shortage, employers are willing to do it,” says Mr Siskind.
You’re also in luck if you’re especially talented in the arts or in sports. Artists and athletes can get in with virtually no hold-up. But you can’t just brag your way into the US.
But remember, immigration is ultimately a numbers game. The limited number of H1Bs and green cards available each year is first divvied up into categories and further divided among certain nationalities. Immigration officials can reconfigure the numbers based on need and demand. For instance, the quota for nurses from India may get maxed out before the quota set for Scandinavian nurses.
Aside from professions, some nationalities have a breeze coming into this country.
“If you’re Australian you’re sitting pretty,” says Mr Siskind. “They can bypass the whole H1B process.”
Last year, Congress created a new visa class: the E-3, which is solely for Australian workers. That means there are up to 10,000 slots for our friends down under – that’s separate from the 65,000 cap. There’s also an exemption for workers from Singapore and Chile because of the free trade agreements with those countries.
While the demand will continue to exceed the supply of US visas and green cards, achieving the “American Dream” is still possible. But working toward that goal is a lot easier when you know which jobs can get you in the country to begin with.