Global Immigration Counsel : Immigration Lawyer & Attorney : Littler Mendelson Law Firm : Permanent Residence, Labor Certification : Global Immigration Counsel

The State Department has released the July 2010 Visa Bulletin, which summarizes visa availability. The most significant employment-based visa development concerns the oversubscription date (i.e., the date on which the availability quota was met) of EB-2 visas – visas for members of the professions holding advanced degrees or for persons of exceptional ability. The EB-2 oversubscription date for Indian nationals moved from February 1, 2005, to October 1, 2005 since the last visa bulletin in June 2010.

• Email This
• Print
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

With the July 2, 2010 submission deadline approaching, individuals in Washington are trying to collect 241,153 signatures to place an immigration-related measure on the November ballot, reports the Seattle Times. Employment-related provisions of proposed initiative I-1056 (pdf) include:

• Requiring all employers, after making an offer of employment, to verify the individual’s eligibility to work in the United States, using programs such as E-Verify.
• Making it an unlawful employment practice to terminate a U.S. citizen, or a permanent resident applying for naturalization, when an illegal alien is employed at the same job site or in a similar position at a different site.

Since 2006, similar measures have failed to get certified, and the chances for a 2010 measure are slim, given the campaign’s lack of funds and the absence of major party support for the measure.
 

• Email This
• Print
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

Based on recommendations by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, the U.S. State Department has announced new policy guidelines concerning gender change in passports and consular records of foreign births. As of June 10, 2010, applicants can have their gender, as indicated on a passport, changed by supplying certification from an attending physician that the individual has undergone appropriate clinical treatment for gender transition. Additionally, a limited, two-year passport will be available if the physician’s statement indicates that the applicant is currently in the gender transition process. Finally, gender change in records of foreign births will also be possible.

To view the policy, please click here (pdf).

• Email This
• Print
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

Daily News & Analysis reports that, in response to criticism over the government’s recent enforcement of a rarely-used 1955 law requiring nonresident Indians (NRIs) who became United States citizens to obtain surrender certificates and pay up to $425 for an Indian travel visa, India has amended its travel rules for NRIs. As a result:

• NRIs who became U.S. citizens before June 1, 2010 will not need to obtain a surrender certificate, but will be required to pay $20 to have their India passport stamped “cancelled.” NRIs who have lost their India passports will need to provide an affidavit and a copy of their U.S. naturalization certificate.
• NRIs obtaining U.S. citizenship on or after June 1, 2010 will be required to obtain a surrender certificate and pay $175.

• Email This
• Print
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced the June 13 launch of a newly-designed E-Verify website. Highlights of the redesign include:

• icons accompanying case statuses to make it easier to identify cases requiring attention;
• the ability of businesses to view their Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) electronically; and
• simplified terms to better guide users through the process.

Existing users’ IDs and passwords remain valid, and all open cases will be accessible via the new platform. When users log on to the new E-Verify website, they will be required to take a short tutorial about the changes.

E-Verify is an electronic employment verification system, operated by the U.S. government, allowing employers to verify that individuals are legally permitted to live and work in the United States.

• Email This
• Print
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has released updated H-1B visa numbers for Financial Year (FY) 2011: 20,800 H-1B regular cap petitions and 8,700 H-1B Master’s Exemption petitions have been filed as of May 28, 2010. As discussed previously, initial filing numbers were impressive, with 19,000 petitions submitted in the first week. Since then, however, per week filings have decreased in volume.

65,000 H-1B regular cap visas and 20,000 H-1B Master’s Exemption visas are available for FY 2011.

• Email This
• Print
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

Although some contend a comprehensive immigration bill is not probable as midterm elections near, President Obama has urged Republican lawmakers to work with Democrats in passing a law that would create an “orderly, fair, humane immigration framework in which people are able to immigrate to this country in a legal fashion,” reports Reuters. President Obama’s request followed his ordering 1,200 National Guard troops to Arizona’s border with Mexico, which he contends will not alone solve the problem.

The troop deployment was met with mixed reviews. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) contends that a deployment of at least 6,000 troops is necessary. Some view the move as an attempt by the president to show Republicans and centrist Democrats that he is serious about immigration, while certain Latino activists contend that it is merely a political gesture and will only negatively impact their community.

• Email This
• Print
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

The New York Times reports that the Massachusetts Senate has voted 28 to 10 in favor of an immigration-related amendment (pdf) to the state budget bill that would require state contractors to verify that their workers are legally authorized to live and work in the United States. The proposed law also would penalize contractors violating the law by prohibiting them from doing business with the state. Additionally, the state attorney general’s office would be required to set up a hotline by which people could anonymously report alleged hiring of illegal immigrants, and to investigate such allegations.

• Email This
• Print
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

The Washington Post reports that acting Solicitor General Neil Katyal has submitted a brief (pdf) on behalf of the Obama administration urging the U.S. Supreme Court to review and invalidate the Legal Arizona Workers Act (LAWA), a 2008 law that imposes sanctions far greater than those prescribed by federal law on employers that hire illegal immigrants (Note: LAWA is a different law than Arizona’s recently enacted and controversial immigration enforcement law.). The petition (pdf) for Supreme Court review was originally filed by a coalition that includes the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, civil libertarians and Latino groups.

The brief presents the administration’s position that federal law preempts this state law, and argues that upholding the law would:

"disrupt a careful balance that Congress struck nearly 25 years ago between two interests of the highest importance: ensuring that employers do not undermine enforcement of immigration laws by hiring unauthorized workers, while also ensuring that employers not discriminate against racial and ethnic minorities legally in the country."

• Email This
• Print
• Trackbacks
• Share Link