Immigration Law

H-1B site raids revisited

Posted on November 18, 2009
Computerworld is reporting that USCIS will conduct 25000 H-1B raids up from 5191 last year. For more details on what the CIS is looking for in these raids please refer to two of my previous blogs. Two of my clients were "raided" and another one had somebody visit the beneficiary's job site...

Lou Dobbs Exits CNN

Posted on November 12, 2009
Howdy, I am Lou Dobbs. You probably heard by now, I am forced out of CNN. And CNN claims they lost viewership because of me. Bull shit! See you popular Rush is. Every reasonable person with an IQ of less than 100 listens to us. We along with Sarah Palin is the new face for the Republican party...

Health Care bill hinges on Immigration Issue

Posted on November 06, 2009
The Health care bill needs 40 democrats to vote to pass the House. According to Washington Post, 20 Hispanic democrats may not vote if the immigration language in the bill is taken out. The Bill states that illegal immigrants cannot buy private insurance plans with their own money under the new plan...

Quotas in Immigration Law

Posted on October 29, 2009
Today's Wall Street Journal has their main front page article on how H-1B quotas have not been used up yet and argues that the market should dictate the numbers rather than Government quotas. Arbitrary quotas have been ruled unconstitutional by all courts in every domestic affairs except for immigration law...

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Foreign Labor Divison should only hire ROBOTS

Posted on October 21, 2009
In a number of recent cases the DOL has proved again that it values form over matter. It has set up rigid rules and follows the rules rather than understanding the rationale behind it. Thus it runs contrary to the philosophy of Common Law, which gave birth to our legal system...

H-1B Auditers, what they have to fill out

Posted on October 15, 2009
The following is a simplified version of the instruction sheet that the H-1B Audit inspectors have to fill out:1. Does the facility visually appear to be that of the organization? (Take pictures if possible of the building with Number of building. Include in narrative box:1) Description of the location:? Commercial office unit;? Apartment or condominium complex;? Single family residence;? Mail center/postal location; or? Virtual office (a business with multiple small workstations leased to numerous entities)...

Mojave Cross, Scalia and Religion

Posted on October 07, 2009
Dear Justice Scalia, How can you say that the Cross is not a religious symbol? Is it really the "most common symbol of the resting place of the dead? "How many Christian die in ratio of the addition of Muslims, Jews, Hindus, and all other religions? You have not lived your life as a non Christian, especially in the South...

H-1B raids increase

Posted on October 02, 2009
Office of Fraud Detection and National Security (FDNS)is conducting raids to H-1B business in an effort to detect and deter immigration fraud. The following blog is borrowed from an article by American Immigration Lawyer's Program, and is meant to advise employers as to what to expect...

Health Care and Immigrants

Posted on September 10, 2009
Last night during Pres. Obama's speech on health care to the joint session of Congress, when President Obama said that the new plan would not cover illegal immigrants, Republican Senator Joe Wilson fro South Carolina could not hold back and shouted "You lie...

Killing the Innocents in Texas

Posted on September 03, 2009
Today I am ashamed to be a lawyer from Texas. The recent issue of the New Yorker had a story about one confirmed case where the State of Texas put an innocent man to death. Mostly because the Texas Board of Parole and Pardon did not READ a forensic report in the man's file! Cameron Todd Willingham woke up one December morning in 1991 to his house burning in fire...

Due Process at Consular Posts

Posted on September 02, 2009
Stories of unfair US Consular Decisions abound. People meet all the requirements of getting a particular visa, and the consulate officer denies the visa based on his or her innate prejudices. The denied applicant can almost always do nothing. The petitioning entity in the US can usually appeal to a Congressman or Senator, who can demand the reason for the denial...

icert gripe

Posted on August 12, 2009
Employer: I got this contract to start work in 1 week. I have the perfect H-1B guy. Can you have the petition to me by tomorrow?Attorney: No can doEmployer: Why? You always do that.Attorney: That was before July 1. iCert will prevent me from doing that now...

Obama Administration and Immigration Enforcement

Posted on August 05, 2009
In an article published on August 3, in the New York Times, the Obama Administration, contrary to their campaign promise is pursuing the same policy as its predecessor, President Bush on Immigration Enforcement. They are increasing the I-9 audits, the E Verify program, and has introduced a program to check the immigration status of every person held for any crime...

The New iCert LCA

Posted on July 29, 2009
This blog is not about how the DOL took something that was instantly certified, so that business could move forward, and slowed it down. Yes, there's much to gripe about there. Our H-1B process will become much slower, but then, why should the Government aid is speeding up business? We have slowed down as a nation, we are just standing and smelling the non existent roses...

I-9 Audit

Posted on July 14, 2009
Every Employer in the US has to fill out a valid I-9 form for every employee. The form addresses whether the employee has the legal authority to work in the United States. The Employer is supposed to keep copies of documents like H-1B approval, or Green card, etc in their file, and update them as it becomes necessary...

The Non Immigrant in this economic downturn

Posted on July 09, 2009
Loosing a job is never easy. Each and every one of the 14.7 million people who lost their jobs in this economic downturn has felt the sinking feeling in their stomach, the worry of uncertainty, and the stigma of failure. But United States citizens can survive...

What is a Company for Immigration Purposes?

Posted on June 30, 2009
A Company is defined as its Federal Employment Identification Number (FEIN) for Immigration issues. When a Corporation seeks to hire a foreign national under a federal Immigration Law, it stands to reason that the Company should have a FEIN in order to hire that individual...

Naturalization Interview In the Houston District Office

Posted on June 23, 2009
In the Houston District Office this is a three step process.First you will go with an Officer in a little cubicle and be administered the test of English and Social Science. The exam consists of about 10 written questions from the Citizenship and Immigration Service list...

Judge Sotomayor-Can anyone overcome heritage?

Posted on June 09, 2009
Mr. Obama's nominee for Supreme Court Justice Judge Sotomayor has lived the American dream, from a poor household in the Bronx, to Suma Cum Laude Graduate in Princeton, to Yale law school. Yet there has been a lot of criticism about the fact that she said that her experiences as a hispanic will lead her to have a different world view than say a white male...

Immigration Enforcement By Local Police

Posted on May 22, 2009
Local Law Enforcement Agents have increasingly tried to enforce immigration laws. Everywhere from Arizona to Texas, local police routinely ask to check immigration documents, and most times do not even understand what those documents mean. A 256 page report that came out of the Police Foundation today concludes after a year long National research that Immigration Enforcement by Local Police is detrimental to the Core Mission of Local Police...

Knowing stealing your identity

Posted on May 08, 2009
On May 4, 2009 the Supreme Court in an unanimous decision declared that in order to be a crime for identity theft, the person must know that he is stealing the identity of another person. Flores Figueroa V United States No. 08-108.Mr. Ignacio Flores Figueroa entered the US illegally from Mexico and presented his employer with a false social security card, and green card bearing his name...

DOL's Emphasis of Form over Matter shot down

Posted on April 22, 2009
The Department of Labor, Foreign Labor Certificate Division had always been emphasizing form over matter. The Perm form (and to an extent even the LCA form) is all about form, not much about substance. You have to do things just a certain way, or you get denied...

The NEW LCA (iCERT) Portal

Posted on April 17, 2009
The Department of Labor has just introduced a new spiffy internet portal called iCERT. http://icert.doleta.govEmployers and Attorneys have to sign on to the new portal, and cannot file new Labor Condition Application (for filing H visas) on the old system anymore after May 15...

The Reentry Permit

Posted on April 10, 2009
The Permanent Resident Card (Green Card) is for living permanently in the United States. If after getting the green card, you want to live for more than six months outside the United States, there is a presumption that you do not want to live permanently in the United States, and therefore have abandoned your Permanent Residency Status...

H-1B Numbers

Posted on April 09, 2009
Please note that as of today, 42,000 H-1B new cases have been filed out of the 65,000 cases. For the Master's Cap they have received an additional 20,000 cases. So the US Master's Cap is almost full, but the ordinary quota remains. Please note that US Master's Degree holders can file under the ordinary CAP...

H-1B numbers

Posted on April 07, 2009
This year, like the last two years, we all filed the H-1B petitions by Fedex or Express Mail on March 31 to reach Vermont or California by April 01. Some were filed for the next five days. And we all know the number of filings were not as high this year...

My Predictions for NEW H-1B this year

Posted on March 12, 2009
The Government year starts on October 01 and each year the Government dishes out 65,000 new H-1b visas . Employers can apply 6 months before the start date, so each year the first day that they can apply for new H-1Bs is April 01. In 2007 and 2008 significantly more than the 65,000 quota applied on the first day, ie April 01...

Irrational Thoughts on Immigration

Posted on March 05, 2009

Economic Nationalism

Posted on March 04, 2009

To do List for H-1b employer

Posted on February 18, 2009
At the time of Filing:1. SIGN AND DISPLAY LCA IN A PROMINENT PLACE FOR 10 DAYS. THE LCAs NEEDS TO BE DISPLAYED IN THE ACTUAL JOB SITE WHERE THE ALIEN IS WORKING. IF YOU ARE A CONSULTING COMPANY, PLEASE TAKE A SPECIAL NOTE OF THIS. 2. THEN PUT THE LCAs IN THE FILE, ALONG WITH THE WAGE DATA (ie THE PREVAILING WAGE DETERMINATION)...

H-1B visa Fraud

Posted on February 13, 2009
On Wednesday, February 11, Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 11 H-1B employers in 7 states on H-1B visa fraud. These employers had produced false documents to the CIS, and violated LCA rules of filing new LCA for different locations. The arrested individuals were primarily Indians...

When an H-1B looses his Job

Posted on February 11, 2009
With the economic situation worsening, many H-1B employees are loosing their job. What should they do? By law the H-1B status terminates the day the employee looses their job. However, the CIS has usually given a one month grace period. That means that if you can find another job sponsor and file the H-1B within one month, the CIS seems fine with that...

EAD Card Delays

Posted on February 10, 2009
You filed your EAD card over 90 days ago. You still did not get the card. You cannot work. Your employer is real mad and in this economic climate is going to fire you. You call USCIS line, and the person says, "thank you for calling, we will generate a report...

Immigration in these trying times

Posted on February 06, 2009
Yes, we are in an economic recession, and maybe even in a depression. And in situations like this, it is always easy to blame the immigrant workers. After all its natural to feel resentment when American workers are out of jobs. Thus there are a number of bills in the Congress seeking to restrict H-1B (the visa for professionals) numbers...

Lincoln, the Lawyer

Posted on February 02, 2009
Not much is known about Lincoln as a lawyer. But in fact, he was a busy lawyer. He, with his partners handled at least 5173 cases. He was both a trial and appellate lawyer, though he was probably a better appellate lawyer than a trial lawyer. In his notes for a Lecture on Law, Lincoln: 1...

Ivan Fong named CIS General Counsel

Posted on January 30, 2009
President Obama has named Mr. Ivan J Fong as the General Counsel of USCIS. Mr. Fong has the typical successful Asian resume----He has a Bachelor and Master of Science in Chemical Engineering from MIT, was a fullbright Scholar at Oxford and a JD from Stanford...

Our Patchwork Heritage

Posted on January 20, 2009
This is a very personal blog about what Barak's speech means to me. I came into this country in 1985, as a brown woman, one of those persons Barak referred to in his inauguration speech as the one who picked up their belongings and came to this country for "us", my children...

Driver's License Fiasco in Texas

Posted on January 15, 2009
Texas, in its bid to heighten security, implemented new rules regarding producing documents when renewing or applying for a new driver's license since October 01, 2008. The Texas Department of Public Safety rationalized that since Driver's License is the primary form of ID, they would check out immigration documents before they issued driver's license...

Scam E Mail targeted towards Immigrants

Posted on January 15, 2009
There is a scam e-mail making the move which asks immigrants to complete a fraudulent ?IRS Request for Recertification of Foreign Status? The form contains all information that could be used for identity theft. On their web site:http://www.irs.gov/privacy/article/0,,id=179820,00...

Deportees do not have Constitutional right to a Lawyer

Posted on January 08, 2009
The Bush Government has been trying to erode all constitutional rights for eight long years. In a final blow, Attorney General Mukasey, overruled long standing precedence and ruled that Aliens do not have a right to a lawyer. I can perfectly understand that the Government does not want to pay for counsel for people in deportation proceedings...

2008, the year it was

Posted on December 31, 2008
I wanted to recap all the immigration issues in 2008, but could not come up with anything uplifting. Maybe 2008 is ending with a whimper, but I'm not in the mood to write doom and gloom. There's plenty of that out there. So I'm just going to write an immigrant story...

TOP TEN TURKEY DECISIONS BY DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Posted on November 27, 2008
Today on Thanksgiving I'd like to make a list of the top ten turkey decisions by the Bush created Department of Homeland Security:10. The decision to raise CIS filing fees: The extra money just goes to waste, and does not create a dent in the economy...

Is Work Criminal?

Posted on November 21, 2008
The Bush Government is solidly anti work when it comes to immigration. Yes, I admit that a worker must have the legal right to work. But employers know this too, and they would not take in immigrants if they found immigrants and United States Citizens ready to work...

When the Government Tries to fix things

Posted on November 14, 2008
There is only one fixed law of Governments: When Government tries to fix things it ALWAYS fails. It will therefore fail in the whole bail out mess, no matter who is the President. So last Friday DOL tried to fix its computer system, which was working OK, it messed things up...

My Last Sarah Palin Blog

Posted on November 06, 2008
Ok, this is my last Sarah Palin blog. I know, you are thinking not again, but you need to understand that Sarah Palin's exit from the National Life is a calamity for unseasoned comics. Lets just pretend that Sarah Palin runs for President in 2016, campaigns in towels, (like she did for her campaign staff) and that all heterosexual males just gets mesmerized, and vote for her...

Our First Black President

Posted on November 05, 2008
I have never been so proud to be an American as today. During the 80s and 90s, raising kids in a predominantly white neighborhood of Tanglewood, and in River Oaks Baptist School in Houston, we had endured intense discrimination. Kids told my children that their parents told them not to be friends with them because they were not white...

EAD Card Delays

Posted on October 29, 2008
You had filed your Adjustment of Status Application (I-485) during the July-August 2007 rush. Now you need to renew your EAD card. It has been 90 days since you filed the I-765. (You can file this form 90 days before it expires). But you have heard nothing from the CIS...

USD going up with the Indian Rs

Posted on October 27, 2008
NEW DELHI -- Effective Friday, October 24, 2008, all United States Consular Sections in India will adjust the consular exchange rate from Rs. 50 to the dollar to Rs. 54 to the dollar.This rate change is effective for all rupee-denominated costs of applying for visas and passports, including the nonimmigrant visa application fee paid at HDFC bank branches prior to the scheduling of visa appointments...

VOTING and IMMIGRANTS

Posted on October 24, 2008
Record number of new naturalized citizens will vote this year. The democratic congress made sure that as many people as possible got through the immigration process as possible before the voter registration deadline. Since IKE struck Houston the scheduled Naturalized ceremony was postponed...

The word 'Immigration" in the debate

Posted on October 16, 2008
In all the three debates, the word Immigration was just mentioned once. Last night, Mr. McCain accused of Mr. Obama of misrepresenting McCain's stance on immigration in the ads. What is McCain's stand on immigration? I don't know. Yes, he proposed the McCain Kennedy bill, which was an excellent and fair solution to the problem...

Texas Driver's License for Non Immigrants

Posted on October 15, 2008
Beginning October 01, the State of Texas will issue driver's license or ID cards to non immigrants whose status is valid for more than 6 months. The cards will be marked as temporary visitor. Persons not legally present will not be given driver's license or ID cards...

Sarah Palin and the Nod Nod Wink Wink Diplomacy

Posted on October 03, 2008
For the past few weeks Gov. Sarah Palin was grounded in one of McCain's numerous McMansions, and given a crash course in Maverickism for 14 hours a day. And the result showed in last night's debate. Gov Palin knew who the President of Iran was, and could pronounce "Ahmadinejad" perfectly...

Houston District Office-Hurricane IKE

Posted on October 01, 2008
Houston is such a well built city, that Hurricane IKE did not do much damage to it. Almost all the traffic lights are back up and the power came back, even for me. Of course many residences and businesses had water logging, etc, but all private businesses had to work...

HURRICANE IKE

Posted on September 24, 2008
Due to Hurricane Ike, the Houston District Office will remain closed indefinitely due to water damage from Hurricane IKE. This includes the site for Naturalization and Info Pass Appointments-126 North Point Drive and the place for Permanent Residency Interviews: 16504 Central Green Boulevard Only two fingerprinting sites: the one on 290 and the one on Bissonnet The one on I-45 South remains closed...

New Naturalization Test

Posted on September 22, 2008
The New Naturalization test is here. If you have your interview before October 01, 2008, you will be administered the OLD test. If you file your case before October 01, 2008, you can choose between the old test and the new test. (That is if your interview is before October 01, 2009) If you file after October 01, 2008, you will take the new test...

Marriage Based Interview

Posted on September 12, 2008
How to ACE a marriage based Interview at CISDO-Dress professionally. As in any interview, the interviewer forms an initial impression, which if negative is hard to shake. The clothes do not have to be expensive But have proper respect by wearing clothes that cover...

Immigration and Sarah Palin

Posted on September 05, 2008
The legal stuff first: This blog is not true. Actually I dont think Governor Palin even knows what immigration means. This is just what I think, hopefully a blog whose value is only in its humor.So, lets say, John McCain gets to be President, and then just dies of whatever carcinoma he has...

H-1B Denials in Consulates

Posted on August 29, 2008
The Consulates in several posts just does not understand Immigration Law., especially the H-1B law. As it is, only 65,000 slots are opened every year, and over 100,000 applications are filed. So the lucky few who get in and get approved by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services has to go to the Consulates...

Please leave this country, Please?

Posted on August 16, 2008
The Department of Homeland Security is really out of touch with reality. In a Program called Operations Scheduled Departure, they are asking illegal immigrants who already have their final order of deportation to surrender and depart the United States...

Terminating an H-1B Employee

Posted on August 14, 2008
With the declining US Economy, many employers are laying off employees, and some of them are H-1B employees. However, unlike ordinary employees, the Employer is supposed to take certain measures, while terminating an H-1B employee.1. NOTIFY THE EMPLOYEE: The employer is supposed to pay the H-1B employee the amount promised under the LCA...

Whats wrong with US Immigration

Posted on August 01, 2008
If its not that we are probably the only country that do not have a workable immigration policy, that the nation is totally polarized about immigration topics, now we learn that the appointment of Immigration Judges were also polarized during the Bush Government...

LCA, DOL and H-1B

Posted on July 25, 2008
A precondition to filing an H-1B petition is that the Employer files a Labor Condition Application (LCA) to the Department of Labor (DOL) attesting thatthey will pay the alien the prevailing wage during the period of the employment andthat they are not adversely affecting other workers by hiring,or not replacing striking or laid off US workers with the H-1B non immigrantThe Employer is supposed to:Display a copy of the LCA for 10 days in the business premisesKeep the LCA in a file for public access for 3 yearsProvide a copy of the LCA to the H-1B employeeThis condition has to be met during the entire term of the employees work until the termination of employment...

Bills for Employment Based Immigration

Posted on July 21, 2008
The United States have a fixed quota as to how many immigrants they can let in from a particular country. Some countries like China and India has a large pool of qualified immigrants who can come to the US and fill professional positions, and thereby improve the US economy...

The Reality of Immigration

Posted on July 17, 2008
According to a recent posting by the American Immigration Lawyer's Association, illegal immigrants comprise of about 5 % of the US workforce and contribute about $520 billion to the Social Security System, an amount that they wont ever get back. Even at the State level, these "undocumented immigrants still pay more in taxes than they use in public services...

Fingerprinting for Reentry Permits

Posted on July 11, 2008
The USCIS recently introduced the procedure of a fingerprinting check for green card holders who wished to stay out of the US for more than 6 months. There is a presumption that individuals who wishes to stay out of the US for more than 6 months are abandoning their Permanent Residence status...

TN to Green card

Posted on July 09, 2008
TN visa is given to Canadian and Mexican Nationals under the NAFTA treaty. These individuals qualify for and work in jobs specified under a specific Schedule enumerated in the NAFTA Treaty with Canada and Mexico.Unlike H and L visas, TN visa holders could not apply for Permanent Residency, (green card) because this visa was temporary and did not allow for dual intent (ie intent to hold both temporary and permanent visas) in the US...

J-1 Student Internship

Posted on June 23, 2008
The USCIS released final regulations regarding J-1 Student Intern visa. This new visa will allow a student, enrolled in post secondary education, to intern with private or Government sector employers for training. This will provide much needed work experience to foreign students...

VWP Nations Require to sign in before Departure

Posted on June 10, 2008
US has reciprocity with many nations, (Like Europe, Japan and Singapore), whose citizens can travel to the US without a visa. These people visit the US under the Visa Waiver Program. United States Citizens also can travel to these countries without a visa...

The Politics of Immigration

Posted on June 08, 2008
The issue of Immigration has broad bi partisan support. But at loggerheads are two issues, business immigration and granting status to illegal immigrants. Business immigration laws restrict the number of immigrants that can come in for instance on the H-1B visa (professional visa) and employment based green cards...

DOL audits all PERMS of Mega Immigration Law Firm

Posted on June 03, 2008
The Department of Labor announced yesterday that it will audit every PERM filing by Fragomen, which is the biggest immigration law firm in the US. The DOL charged that some of their lawyers engaged in questionable and illegal practices while advising employers...

The Brighest and the Best

Posted on June 01, 2008
Anti Immigration groups like the Center for Immigration Studies charge that the foreign workers who come in to the United States are not the Brightest and the Best. Dr. Norman Matloff, a Professor of Computer Science, in UC Davis, recently wrote a paper full of fallacies, whose main theme is that Asian students are inferior than American and Western students in Math and Science...

I-140 Portability

Posted on May 30, 2008
You filed your I-485 under the July 2007 Visa Bulletin (VB No. 107). It has been more than 180 days. You cannot stand your employer, and have found a new employer who will continue the process. Can you Port your I-140 under AC21? Below are some pointers to consider before you switch employers: 1...

E-Verify

Posted on May 20, 2008
E Verify is a computer based program designed to ensure that employers are hiring only legal workers. The Employer signs on to a Social Security Computer based program and when new employees are going to be hired, the employer inputs their name and SS # to see whether there is a "match", ie they are indeed legal to work in the US...

The Immigrant Experience

Posted on May 18, 2008
All of us are born into a country which we did not choose. We are brought up in that country. However, when we choose to immigrate into another country, we do so out of our conscious desire. It may be due to economic stability, to be able to feed our families, provide a better life for our family, or to get the fundamental freedom that is not available in our birth country...

Mississippi, the Deep South and Illegal Aliens

Posted on May 16, 2008
In 2005, when Hurricane Katrina struck Mississippi, the Gulf Coast was devastated. The State had to rebuilt. Illegal Immigrants came in droves, found construction jobs and worked to rebuild the State. Mississippi slowly started regaining its former self back on the backs of this cheap labor...

Treaty Visas

Posted on May 14, 2008
Treaty Visas The US Government signs treaties with various countries for nationals of those countries to come over temporarily. These are strictly non immigrant visas and do not lead to Permanent Residency. They can be filed either with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service in the United States (as an extension or change of status) or with the Consular Posts Note: India does not have any of these treaty benefits...

PERM Centralization

Posted on May 06, 2008
From June 01, 2008, all PERM Applications will be filed in Atlanta. Right now the PERMS from the Western part of the country was filed in Chicago, while the Eastern half had Atlanta.The Centralization will ensure the same standard for all PERMS in the US...

The Perm Game

Posted on April 30, 2008
The Perm process is like a game. The basic proof is that there are no qualified Americans to do the job, and hence we must give permanent residency to the alien so that she can complete the job. To do this, the employer has to "test the market" by advertising and trying to recruit Americans, and if that fails then it proves that there are no qualified applicants in that area to do the job...

How to choose a lawyer

Posted on April 28, 2008
I have been practicing Immigration Law in Houston for the last 11 years, having graduated third highest from South Texas College of Law. I have seen many clients been swindled, abandoned, and left out of status for inadequate representation. So here are my tips on HOW TO CHOOSE A LAWYER...

Naturalization in an Election Year

Posted on April 23, 2008
Naturalization (ie making permanent residents citizens, and thereby voters) is always a big issue with politicians in an election year. Last July USCIS received about 1.4 million applications for naturalization, because starting August 01, 2007 the fee went up from about $400/- to $695/- Obviously the processing of all these applications would take time, and Mr...

Visa Numbers

Posted on April 18, 2008
Every country has a set amount of immigrant visas (green cards) that they get per year. (The DHS year starts on Oct 01). Thus a visa number must be available at the time when you get your green card. Naturally countries with huge populations (like India and China for Employment based, and Mexico for Family based) use up their visa numbers quickly and thus the people born from those countries have to wait longer...

H-1B lottery done

Posted on April 16, 2008
The USCIS has finished conducting the H-1B lottery for both the 20,000 and the 65,000 cases.They have also "wait listed" certain cases, ie if the any chosen case is withdrawn or denied, these wait listed cases will fill their place. These cases will be held at the CIS office for now...

CAP and Name Check issues

Posted on April 10, 2008
H-1B capThe CIS issued a preliminary report today that nearly 163000 H-1Bs have been filed for the ordinary cap, and 31200 for Master's Degree Candidates. The CIS will do the lottery of the Master's Degree Cap next week. The 11200 advanced Degree Holders not selected by that lottery will be put into the general lottery for the 65,000 people...

US Master's Cap

Posted on April 09, 2008
The announcement by CIS yesterday that they have exceeded the 20,000 US Master's Degree holders for new H-1Bs was probably a big blow to many of us, because this is the first year that this has happened. Last year numbers were available until late April...

H-1B Cap

Posted on April 07, 2008
Hopefully the last petitions have reached the Vermont and California Service Centers by now. Stay tuned for more on the lottery in this blog. I'll post them here as soon as they become available.I cannot help but reflect on the CAP. In a year where the dreaded R word is echoed through out USA, when unemployment is at a record 5 year high, more H-1B s are being filed in 2008 than it was in 2007...

H-1B Lottery

Posted on March 19, 2008
In the CIS' interim rule, multiple related or unrelated employers can file legitimate H-1Bs for the same beneficiary.In other words, a single beneficiary CAN file with multiple different Employers, as long as all the jobs are legitimate.But the same employer CANNOT file more than one petition for the same employee, even if they are for different positions...

March Madness Revisited

Posted on March 13, 2008
Once again another year approaches when more than 150,000 applicants vie for the 65,000/- H-1B visa quotas per year. Once again, us immigration lawyers are scrambling to get petitions ready to be fedexed to the Vermont and California Service Centers on March 31, so that they reach on April 01...

Birthright Citizenship-NYT and John McCain

Posted on February 29, 2008
The NY Times seems determined to place a Democratic President in 08 is desperately trying to discredit the Republican front runner Sen. John McCain. Right on the heels of their accusation that Sen. McCain had an improper relationship with a female lobbyist 8 years ago, comes a new assertion that Sen McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone and therefore may not be a "natural born Citizen" of the US...

L-1A to Permanent Residency

Posted on February 27, 2008
This list is for small business owners who are on L-1A managerial capacity and wants to convert to the Permanent Residency by filing the I-140 under § 203(b)(1)(c) without filing the labor certification. The burden of proof is heightened in order to classify the alien as a ?manager? or Executive? and not merely perform day to day activities...

Latest on FBI Name Check Issue

Posted on February 07, 2008
Good News! According to a memo by Michael Aytes, Associate Director of Domestic Operations at CIS, a case otherwise approvable but which is pending FBI name check for more than 180 days, will be send to production of card. In other words, if your case has been adjudicated and is waiting the FBI name check for more than 180 days, you will receive the green card...

Its the Economy Stupid

Posted on January 25, 2008
The new year brought with it our hold over from last year, the subprime crisis, the weakening USD, and of course the fear of recession. If the US economy declines however, whether its a recession or not, jobs inside the US vanish. Our manufacturing jobs have already been outsources, so are our IT related jobs...

Birthright Citizenship

Posted on December 14, 2007
The Congressional Research Service has just published a paper on birthright citizenship. Many members of the congress want to restrict birthright citizenship, which was present in the US, ever since it was formed. What changed is the skin color of the children of non citizens being born here...

FBI Name Check Delays to End

Posted on November 30, 2007
According to an article published in Immigration Daily (HTTP://WWW.ILW.COM/IMMIGDAILY/DIGEST/2007,1130.SHTM) FBI name check delays will be ending soon.When immigrants apply for benefits like Citizenship and Permanent Residency, their names are sent by CIS to the FBI...

Diwali Greetings

Posted on November 09, 2007
Today is the Hindu festival of Diwali, and I heartily wish everyone a very happy Diwali. In India we celebrated it with light and fireworks. When I first immigrated here in the 80s, few people had heard of Diwali. The day came and went, without so much as a faint sound of firecracker echoing from distant India...

US Green Card for Investors

Posted on November 05, 2007
With the value of US Currency down, a lot of foreign investors are finding it cheap to invest $500,000/- in the US. That will lead to a Permanent Residency card under EB-5 Program. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services has made the process easier, because they want immigrant investors...

LADY LIBERTY

Posted on October 19, 2007
The Statue of Liberty which was donated to the US by France, in 1886, still serves as a symbol for immigration in the United States. Some pages of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service web site still contain her picture, as does many immigration related web sites and materials...

US Visitor's Visa and Ms. Jagger

Posted on October 19, 2007
A New York Appellate Court has ruled that Bianca Jagger (Ex wife of Mick Jagger) cannot have a "primary residence" in the US, and thus she could be evicted from her residence in NYC. Bianca had a visitor's visa. The visitor's visa does not allow a person to maintain a residence in the US, because the visit is purely temporary...

Internationalism

Posted on October 11, 2007
In 1893, in the world parliament of religion, in Chicago, a young ascetic from India, Swami Vivekananda addressed the conference as "Sisters and Brothers of America" instead of the usual Ladies and Gentlemen. Thus was born a new concept, Internationalism, as opposed to Nationalism...