USCIS ISSUES H-1B FILING GUIDANCE
Press Office
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Public Notice March 24, 2006
USCIS ISSUES H-1B FILING GUIDANCE
Employers may begin filing petitions for FY 2007 on April 1st Washington, D.C.– USCIS will begin accepting filings for the FY2007 H-1B cap on April 1, 2006. In anticipation of this event, USCIS is reminding the public of important regulatory requirements. H-1B petitioners should keep this emphasis in mind as they prepare petitions in order to avoid delays in processing and possible Requests For Evidence (RFE).
8 CFR 214.2(h)(2)(B) requires that petitioners provide a detailed itinerary of the dates and places where work will be performed if those services will be provided in more than one location. For example, a labor contractor or consultant who hires H-1B workers to work at client sites must provide in advance an itinerary with dates and places where the worker will perform that work.
In addition, 8 CFR 214.1(c)(4) requires that an applicant for extension of status have maintained his or her nonimmigrant status. In situations in which an H-1B worker is changing to an employer other than the one for which the initial H-1B petition was approved, USCIS will require that the worker changing employers demonstrate that he or she actually did perform work for the original petitioning employer for a significant length of time. In situations in which the H-1B worker is processing abroad, USCIS will work closely with the Department of State to ensure that this same level of integrity is applied to consular processed H-1Bs.
USCIS – On March 1, 2003, U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services became one of three legacy INS components to join the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. USCIS is charged with fundamentally transforming and improving the delivery of immigration and citizenship services, while enhancing the integrity of our nation’s security.
Hispanics march in Milwaukee against immigration bills
March 23, 2006
(CNN) — Thousands of demonstrators
marched in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Thursday to oppose tough
anti-immigration legislation sponsored by their Republican Congressman
Jim Sensenbrenner.
House Resolution 4437 would make all
undocumented immigrants felons and require all employers to verify the
immigration status of its employees.
The House already has passed
Sensenbrenner’s bill, and Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tennessee, has introduced
a companion bill in the Senate that also would make it a felony to be
in the United States without the proper paperwork.
Sensenbrenner
said in a statement last year that his bill would help “regain control
of our borders and prevent illegal immigration” as well as “help
strengthen and promote our compassionate and welcoming legal
immigration system.”
About 30,000 protesters on Thursday marched
into downtown Milwaukee as part of a demonstration titled “A Day
Without Latinos” in which Latinos were encouraged to take time from
their jobs to march, according to Voces de la Frontera, which organized
the event. Dozens of Milwaukee businesses also closed Thursday in
protest.
“A Day Without Latinos,” the theme of the Milwaukee
protest, borrows its name from a 2004 comedy called “A Day Without a
Mexican,” in which California wakes up one day to find that it’s
Hispanic residents have inexplicably disappeared.
The Milwaukee
march was one of several recent protests organized across the nation by
groups opposed to immigration bills considered by Congress.
The
Senate Judiciary Committee has until Monday to vote on the competing
legislation, but one Senate aide said the prospects on Senators taking
action did not seem bright. The aide called negotiations in the Senate
“slow going” and predicted a showdown over the bill.
Critics of
the legislation say Sensenbrenner is trying to deport the 11 million to
12 million people who are in the United States illegally. Proponents
say keeping tabs on immigrants is vital to national security. President
Bush echoed that sentiment in comments to reporters Thursday.
“Part
of enforcing our borders is to have a guest-worker program that
encourages people to register their presence, so that we know who they
are and says to them, ‘If you’re doing a job an American won’t do,
you’re welcome here for a period of time to do that job.’ “
But Democrats are saying the Frist and Sensenbrenner measures go too far.
“This
bill would literally criminalize the Good Samaritan and probably even
Jesus himself,” said Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-New York.
The Web
site for Voces de la Frontera, which in Spanish means Voices from the
Border, states that in addition to turning immigrants into felons and
pressuring employers, Sensenbrenner’s bill also could affect
immigrants’ driving privileges and emergency medical care.
Bush urges ‘civil’ immigration debate
VIA CNN
March 23, 2006
WASHINGTON (AP) — Anticipating
turbulent debate over immigration, President Bush urged Congress on
Thursday to grapple with the emotional issue in a way that avoids
pitting groups against each other.
The Senate is to take up
immigration next week — and the president and the leader of his party
are starting out with different ideas about the best way to address the
estimated 12 million illegal immigrants already in the country.
Bush
wants Congress to create a program to allow foreigners to gain legal
status in the United States for a set amount of time to do specific
jobs. When the time is up, they would be required to return home
without an automatic path to citizenship.
Bush said Thursday
that his message is: “If you are doing a job that Americans won’t do,
you’re welcome here for a period of time to do that job.”
The FY2007 H-1B Season Is Upon Us – By Ashwin Sharma, Esq.
March 20, 2006
By Ashwin Sharma
The FY2007 H-1B visa quota opens Saturday April 1, 2006. There is no way to predict how long the quota will last with any degree of accuracy, therefore, it is adviseable to file petitions as soon as possible. Last year’s quota ran out Mid-August 2005 – it was expected by many to last until at least September or October 2005. Since the IT market is booming, it is expected that this year’s quota will run out faster than last year.
Employers can petition for H-1B nonimmigrant workers as early as six months prior to the employee’s anticipated start date. Therefore, if an employer wishes to have an employee start on October 1, 2006, the earliest date that the employer may file the petition with the USCIS is April 1, 2006.
This year I urge those of you who hold a US Masters degree or higher to file only for one of the 20,000 visas available for holders of advanced degrees. Ensure that your attorney has selected this exemption, and not the regular 65,000. This will obviously increase the number of visas for other applicants who only hold an undergraduate degree.
Some pointers to maximize your success of obtaining an H-1B this year:
-
File early.
-
Ensure that you have compiled all of the documentation that your employer or attorney has requested. Missing, incomplete, or unlegible supporting documentation will contribute to higher than normal processing delays due to the hectic filing period immediately following April 1, 2006. On a related note, confirm that your employer has also put together all necessary documentation. Following up with employers is crucial, especially those who are not familiar with the H-1B process.
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Make legible copies of all documents. Always include photocopies of both sides of your SSN and I-94 (if applicable).
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Again, if applicable, be sure to get your educational evaluations completed early.
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Include documentation showing your valid status until at least October 1, 2006. If you are presently in H4 or other dependent status, obtain documentation showing that your spouse is in valid status until at least October 1, 2006.
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Make certain that your job title matches your educational and/or work experience background. Consult the Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH), 2006-07 Edition to investigate the correlation between your job title, job duties and skill sets with your qualifications.
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Make sure that your employer is offering the prevailing wage for your job and job location.
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Discuss any past visa denials with your attorney.
Click here to view our firm’s H-1B page, or call us at 904-779-0111 if you have any questions about H-1B processing.
Market Is Hot For High-Skilled In Silicon Valley
By PUI-WING TAM
February 28, 2006; Page B1
Five years after the dot-com bubble burst, job growth has returned to Silicon Valley. But it’s a different kind of growth than in past recoveries, favoring higher-skilled workers.
Netflix
Inc.’s hiring shifts are typical. During the tech boom, the online movie-rental service created 100 customer-service jobs near its Los Gatos, Calif., headquarters in the heart of Silicon Valley. After the tech bust in 2000, Netflix eliminated half of those positions. But the total headcount at Netflix’s Silicon Valley offices has grown 20%, to nearly 200 staffers in the last few years.
That’s because Netflix, while shedding some lower-end jobs, has aggressively created new, higher-level jobs. It’s adding jobs in departments such as Web engineering and product development: That groups’ hiring of engineers jumped 20% to more than 50 people in 2005 alone. “Our new engineers have an average of seven to 15 years experience,” says Patty McCord, Netflix’s chief talent officer. “Five years ago, we hired people with three to five years of experience.”
![[Turning Around]](https://i0.wp.com/online.wsj.com/public/resources/images/MK-AF854_VALLEY_20060227193308.gif)
Past tech recoveries tended to bring new lower-skilled jobs as well as high-skill jobs. This time, tech firms — from big companies like Hewlett-Packard Co. to mid- and small-size firms such as Netflix, Adobe Systems Inc., and SanDisk Corp. — have moved lower-skill jobs out of the Silicon Valley area to cheaper locations, or outsourced them to foreign countries. The new
jobs they are creating locally often require specialized skills in engineering and design. Young companies like Google Inc. are simply starting out hiring at the high end, further shifting the overall balance.
A study last month by Joint Venture Silicon Valley, a nonprofit group representing businesses and government agencies in the area, found the nation’s tech capital had a net increase in jobs in 2005 for the first time in four years. Most of the growth came in the category of creative and innovation services, including firms in research and development, scientific and technical consulting and industrial design. In total, the number of Silicon Valley jobs in these areas grew 4% from 2002 to 2005, reaching 72,734. At the same time, the number of jobs in electronic-component manufacturing — which tend to involve assembly and other repetitive tasks — dropped 28% to 23,772, while jobs in semiconductor-equipment manufacturing fell 23% to 58,133. Overall, 14% of all the jobs in Silicon Valley today
belong to a sector called core design, engineering and science. That exceeds the comparable 9.3% slice of the work force in Austin, Texas; 8.7% in Seattle; and 8.3% in San Diego, according to the study.
Bill Gates is for big raise in H-1B visas
S Rajagopalan
Washington, March 21, 2006
VIA http://www.hindustantimes.com
Flying into Washington DC on a rare visit, Microsoft chief Bill
Gates has added his powerful voice to the demand that US Congress clear
the decks for a hefty increase in the number of H-1B visas.
Gates,
faced with the shortage of Indian and other foreign techies, decided to
come down to the US capital and personally lobby for an end to visa
woes that have affected the operations of Microsoft and other US giants.
The
visit came amid moves to come up with a legislation in the Senate to
raise the H-1B cap from 65,000 visas a year to 115,000, with a built-in
provision for 20% increase every year. “The high skills immigration
issue is by far the No. 1 thing. This is gigantic for us,” the world’s
richest man told the Washington Post and pointed to the irony
of Indian techies having to go back after doing advanced computer
courses in the US because of the visa shortage.
“It’s kind of
ironic to have somebody graduate from Stanford Computer Science
Department and there’s not enough H1B visas, so they have to go back to
India,” he said, adding: “And I have people who have been hired, who
are just sitting on the border waiting.”
Beginning fiscal 2004,
the H-1B visas are down to 65,000 from a peak of 195,000 allowed for
the preceding three years. The drop is so precipitous that the whole
H-1B quota is now exhausted well before the start of the fiscal year.
Gates
grumbled that he has a hard time understanding the logic of those who
decry the outsourcing of American jobs, but are still reluctant to the
entry of high-skilled people who are catalysts for US growth.
Alongside
the move to raise the H-1B cap, Gates backs the Bush administration’s
plan to boost the teaching of math and science in US high schools as
part of the long-term goal to expand the supply of qualified Americans
for tech jobs.
U.S. Senators Near Compromise on Immigration
VIA REUTERS
03/17/2006
WASHINGTON — Under pressure to produce
broad immigration reform legislation by the end of the month, a U.S.
Senate panel on Thursday neared agreement on a proposal that would give
some of the 12 million illegal aliens living in the country an
opportunity to earn citizenship.
Although no vote will be held until after a weeklong
congressional recess, the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday
appeared ready to back a proposal by panel member Sen. Edward Kennedy,
a Massachusetts Democrat, who has worked on the issue with his
Republican colleague John McCain of Arizona.
The panel, which is working on comprehensive immigration and
border security legislation, will also consider a related proposal that
would allow foreigners to enter the United States as legal guest
workers and then have a chance to earn permanent status.
Republicans are divided over immigration policy, and the
Judiciary Committee plan is likely to spark a firestorm from
conservatives who oppose regularizing the status of illegal immigrants,
saying they would be rewarded after breaking U.S. immigration law.
More than 70 members of the House of Representatives led by
Rep. Tom Tancredo, a Colorado Republican, fired off a letter to Senate
Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican,
saying measures the panel was considering “doom any chance of a real
reform bill reaching the president’s desk this year.”
But backers cite both economic and security reasons. They say
that providing a path to permanent residency and eventual citizenship
will avoid creating a permanent underclass of workers and help bring
illegal aliens out of the shadows.
Sen. Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican who opposes giving
permanent status to illegals, said after the meeting that the panel
would probably vote for the Kennedy plan.
“The votes are there,” Grassley said.
No Amnesty
Kennedy told the committee the proposal was not an amnesty. People
seeking legal status would have to pay a $2,000 fine, apply for a
six-year temporary status, have a job, pay taxes, learn English and
show an understanding of U.S. government.
They would not get permanent status faster than the 3 million foreigners awaiting legal entry, he said.
“There is no moving to the front of the line, there is no free ticket,” Kennedy said. “This is not amnesty.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, quipped that the requirements “probably exclude half of my family.”
The panel also reached tentative agreement on a guest-worker
program sought by President George W. Bush. U.S. business groups favor
creating a temporary-worker program to help fill jobs that Americans
either cannot or will not do. Both business and labor groups also favor
giving current undocumented workers a way to legalize their status.
Details will be worked out during the recess, panel members said.
The panel is working against a deadline set by Majority Leader
Bill Frist. The Tennessee Republican, and possible contender in the
2008 presidential race, said the Senate will take up a bill addressing
only enforcement and border security when lawmakers return on March 27.
But Frist told reporters if the Judiciary Committee approves a
comprehensive bill, it would be considered by the Senate.
“I am committed to border security, interior enforcement and addressing the temporary-worker program,” Frist said.
Whether Congress will finalize immigration legislation before
the November congressional elections is unclear. Both Democrats and
Republicans are likely to use the issue to gain advantage.
The House of Representatives has voted for tough border
security and enforcement legislation with no guest-worker program. The
two sides would have to work out their differences before a bill could
be sent to Bush for his signature.
Wire firm a force in debate over immigration
VIA AZCENTRAL.COM
Mar. 19, 2006 12:00 AM MEXICO
CITY
– Every two weeks, Nayeli Toxqui pushes her baby stroller down
Insurgentes Avenue, past the whizzing taxis and the wheezing buses, and
joins a line of people near a yellow-and-black Western Union sign.
“I’m picking up money from my husband in Chicago,” she said one recent
morning, peering at the cashier’s booth dispensing money at the back of
the Elektra appliance store. “I don’t work, so you could say I depend
on la Western.”
So do millions of other families and their migrant relatives. And in
turn, Western Union depends on them, as it rides a 10-year wave of
immigration to record-high profits.
So perhaps it is no surprise that the world’s biggest money-transfer
company and its parent firm, First Data Corp., are quietly becoming a
force in the debate over illegal immigration and border security.
In recent years, Denver-based First Data has openly campaigned for
immigration reform, which could legalize millions of undocumented
workers, and has created a $10 million “Empowerment Fund” for the same
purpose.
Click to continue reading story
Mexican Ads Push Immigration Reform
VIA CBSNEWS.COM
(AP) Mexico
published advertisements in major newspapers in Mexico and in the
United States on Monday saying migrants should have the same rights as
everyone else and calling it “indispensable” that the two countries
reach a migration accord.
Published in English in The New York Times, The Washington Post and
the Los Angeles Times, and in Spanish in leading Mexico City
newspapers, the full-page ads coincide with expected U.S. Senate debate
on a bill that would extend fences along the U.S.-Mexico border crack
down on illegal immigration with law enforcement and the military.
“Acknowledging the sovereign right of each country to regulate the
entrance of foreigners, it is indispensable to find a solution for the
undocumented population that lives in the United States and contributes
to the development of the country, so that people can be fully
incorporated into their actual communities, with the same rights and
duties,” the ad read.
The ad’s content was taken primarily from a report outlining the
goals and recommendations of a committee of Mexican legislators,
executive branch officials, diplomats, academics, foreign policy
experts and social group leaders.
The ad states that Mexico wants “a far-reaching guest workers
scheme” and that “in order for a guest workers program to be viable,
Mexico should participate in its design, management, supervision and
evaluation.”
Notice to Individuals Granted Immigration Benefits by Immigration Judge or Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA)
If you have been granted Lawful Permanent Resident or Asylum status during proceedings before an Immigration Judge or the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) and you have not yet received documentation of your status, please schedule an appointment
with your local USCIS office to get that documentation. You should be
prepared to bring with you a copy of the final order you received from
the Immigration Judge or the BIA and documents establishing your
identity (passport, driver’s license, USCIS issued employment
authorization document, etc.).
Inquiries from Lawful Permanent Residents Regarding Status Documentation:
If
you are a Lawful Permanent Resident who has attended all scheduled
USCIS appointments for documentation and complied with all USCIS
instructions, including biometrics collection, but you have not yet
received your status documentation and:
(1) it has been 60 days or more since you attended your first USCIS appointment to request your documentation, and the order granting you permanent residence was issued before April 1, 2005; or
(2)
it has been 30 days or more since you attended your first USCIS
appointment to request your documentation, and the order granting you
permanent residence was issued on or after April 1, 2005,
you may
send an e-mail inquiry to a USCIS national point of contact at
citrixeoir@dhs.gov or, if you cannot use e-mail, you may contact the
National Customer Service Center (NCSC) at 1-800-375-5283. In your
e-mail or phone inquiry, you must provide your name, A number, date of
birth, address, date of your order from the Immigration Judge or the
BIA, specific type of relief granted that made you a permanent resident
(e.g., adjustment of status, cancellation of removal), whether your
order is final (if you or your representative know), the USCIS district
or suboffice where you attended your appointment for documentation, the
dates of your InfoPass and ASC appointments, and any other relevant
information about your request for documentation. Without this
information, USCIS may not be able to respond fully to your inquiry.
NOTICE: Chennai Consulate announces changes to appointments for March 31st and April 6th.
Please
be advised that The American Consulate General in Chennai will be
closed for visa applications on March 31, 2006. As result, all
applicants with appointments scheduled on that day are asked to come on
March 15, 2006 at the time noted on their original appointment notice.
Also
be advised that The American Consulate General in Chennai will be
closed on April 6, 2006. April 6 is a gazetted holiday that was not
announced when April appointment dates were posted. As result, all
applicants with appointments scheduled on that day are asked to come on
April 13, 2006 at the time noted on their original appointment notice.
VFS will notify individual applicants by e-mail or telephone.
If these dates are not convenient, please refer to the VFS website to reschedule your appointment.
The American Consulate General in Chennai apologies for any inconvenience these changes may cause.
Immigration bill would add visas for tech workers
Via The San Fransisco Chronical
Friday, March 10, 2006
Buried in the Senate’s giant immigration bill — hardly noticed amid a fierce
debate over a guest-worker program for unskilled laborers — are provisions that
would open the country’s doors to highly skilled immigrants for science, math,
technology and engineering jobs.
The provisions were sought by Silicon Valley tech companies and enjoy
significant bipartisan support amid concern that the United States might lose
its lead in technology. They would broaden avenues to legal immigration for
foreign tech workers and would put those with advanced degrees on an automatic
path to permanent residence should they want it.
The measures include nearly doubling the number of H-1B skilled-worker
temporary visas to 115,000 — with an option of raising the cap 20 percent more
each year. H-1B visas were highly controversial in the Bay Area when their
numbers reached a peak of 195,000 in 2003.
Congress had increased the visas during the late 1990s dot-com boom, when
Silicon Valley complained of tech-worker shortages, although native-born
engineers complained that their wages were undermined by cheap labor from India
and China.
With the tech crash and the revelation that some of the Sept. 11, 2001,
hijackers had entered the country on student visas, the political climate for
foreign workers darkened, and Congress quietly allowed the number of H-1B visas
to plummet back to 65,000 a year.
The cap was reached in August — in effect turning off the tap of the visas
for 14 months. A special exemption of 20,000 visas for workers with advanced
degrees was reached in January.
“We’re in a bad crunch right now,” said Laura Reiff, head of the Essential
Worker Immigration Coalition, a business umbrella group backing more
immigration. “We are totally jammed on immigrant visas, the green card category,
and totally jammed on H-1B visas. You can’t bring in tech workers right now.”
Alarm in Washington has shifted from student hijackers to U.S.
competitiveness. Indian and Chinese students face brighter prospects in their
own booming economies, and the fear now is that they no longer want to come to
the United States.
The new skilled immigration measures are part of a controversial 300-page
bill by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., now being
rewritten by the committee with the goal of reaching the Senate floor by the end
of the month.
Other provisions include a new F-4 visa category for students pursuing
advanced degrees in science, technology, engineering or mathematics. These
students would be granted permanent residence if they find a job in their field
and pay a $1,000 fee toward scholarships and training of U.S. workers.
Labor certification rules also would be streamlined for foreigners holding
the desired advanced degrees from a U.S. university. Immigrants with advanced
degrees in the desired fields, as well as those of “extraordinary ability” and
“outstanding professors and researchers,” would also get an exemption from the
cap on employment-based green cards and slots for permanent residence.
“The U.S. is educating these people,” said Kara Calvert, director of
government relations for the Information Technology Industry Council, a tech
industry group. “This allows these students to remain in the U.S. and contribute
to the U.S. economy.”
The provisions for highly skilled workers enjoy support in both parties in
the Senate and in the Bush administration after a raft of high-profile studies
have warned that the United States is not producing enough math and science
students and is in danger of losing its global edge in innovation to India and
China.
Sun Microsystems CEO Scott McNealy echoed many in the tech industry at a
conference in Washington on Wednesday when he warned that if skilled immigration
is not expanded, “There will be a great sucking sound of innovation out of the
U.S.”
Silicon Valley venture capitalist John Doerr suggested at a technology summit
last fall that the United States “should staple a green card to every kid, every
foreign national that graduates with a degree in engineering and science, so
that they stay here. Imagine innovation in America without Andy Grove, without
Jerry Yang, without Sergey Brin — Hungarian, Chinese, Russian. These immigrants
have contributed enormously to innovation and our well-being.”
But House Republicans are cool toward any increase in legal immigration,
including skilled workers, and are at sharp odds with the White House. They
passed a bill in December to crack down on border enforcement, calling for
construction of a 700-mile fence on the border with Mexico.
House Republicans omitted skilled immigration from their “Innovation and
Competitiveness Act,” released with much pomp last week, prompting House
Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, to blast the proposal as doing
nothing “to ensure that the best and brightest from around the world are able to
contribute to innovation in the United States.”
The U.S. Immigration Law Blog by Ashwin Sharma 
Sen. Arlen Specter bill would provide for more H-1B visa numbers
A bill being drafted by Sen.
Arlen Specter, who chairs the Senate judiciary committee overseeing immigration issues, is proposing to increase the number of
H-1B visas issued annually from 65,000 to 115,000, with an option to
increase the cap yearly by 20%. A spokeswoman for Specter says details
of the proposal are still being worked out. However, the committee is
slated to discuss immigration legislation on March. 27.