Illegal immigration and enforcement has come into the national limelight with Arizona’s controversial SB 1070 bill taking effect, the nine me-too states/cities trying to adopt similar legislation, and the multitude of lawsuits meant to halt it. We believed the spotlight on Arizona’s “ill-conceived” immigration law would help the CIR cause by amplifying the pressure on Congress, however the “next 30 days” timeframe for action that I quoted back in April has long come and gone and CIR is in the same place today as it was a few months ago. Even with a milestone speech from President Obama, actual progress towards comprehensive immigration reform (CIR) is stagnant.

 

Although the SB 1070 was severely weakened with Judge Bolton blocking the most controversial parts of the law, we fully expect Gov. Jan Brewer to counteract. Without a doubt the case will reach the...

Today, Arizona’s controversial SB1070 immigration law goes into effect after U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton temporarily restricted significant portions from going through. On Wednesday, July 28, Judge Bolton granted a temporary injunction on the most fought over sections. Judge Bolton blocked 1) the section calling police officers to check someone’s immigration status while performing their regular duties 2) the section requiring immigrants to carry papers at all times 3) the section permitting police officers to detain people who were arrested until their immigration status was determined 4) the section restricting illegal immigration from seeking work in public places, and 5) the section allowing warrantless arrests for suspected illegal immigrants.

Although substantially weakened due to the blocked provisions currently in place, parts of the law will go into effect today.  Among the new provisions under SB 1070 states that it is illegal in Arizona to transport day laborers across the state or to give transportation to an illegal immigrant.  Also, under SB 1070 the vehicle used to help an illegal immigrant can be impounded.  Further, it is also illegal for cities to disregard federal immigration laws under SB 1070.

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The Department of State (DOS) issued a new fee schedule this month that shows a general increase for consular services including passports services and immigrant visas. The new consular fee schedule comes after an in-depth study conducted by the Department of State, which showed that the current fees did not cover the full cost of services provided at U.S. consulates.

Effective July 13, if you are applying for an immigrant visas and/or obtaining a new passport at a U.S. consulate abroad you should be aware of these new costs and plan accordingly. If you have any questions or concerns about the new consular fees, please contact your immigration services provider.

Highlights of the new consular fee schedule include:

Non-immigrant visas*: the processing fee K and E visas have significantly...

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released H-1B cap numbers as of July 23, receiving 26,000 toward the 65,000 cap-subject H-1B petitions and 11,300 towards the 20,000 H-1B Master's category.

Thus, H-1B cap numbers remain available, and there is still time to submit your FY2011 H-1B visa application for foreign national applicants beginning employment on October 1, 2010 or later.

Contact your immigration services provider to see if this is an option for you/your foreign national or learn more about best practices for preparing your FY2011 H-1B application.

Photo attribution: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8042373@N03/

New rules on I-9s, a required form to verify employment eligibility for all U.S. workers, have been issued by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), effective August 23, 2010.  While electronic storage of I-9 forms has been permitted since 2006, the original rules were created to be consistent with the electronic storage of tax records. According to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (USCIS), the final rule published last week, allows “greater flexibility for employers to electronically sign and store I-9 forms.”  

Concurrently, I-9 enforcement continues with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) executing “silent raids”, where federal agents audit employee’s I-9 form, to capture businesses employing illegal immigrants. So far this year ICE has conducted audits of 2,900 companies and levied $3 million in fines against those employers who have hired illegal immigrants. Most recently, companies...

The simplified entry process for information technology (IT) specialists (“IT Worker Program”) will come to an end on September 30, 2010, except for employers wanting to hire foreign workers for positions in Quebec, where the program will remain in place for a limited time after September 30, 2010.

If you are applying for IT Worker Program, be sure to get your Canadian Work Permit in as soon as possible, as the visa process after September 30, 2010 will take longer in having to file for a Labour Market Opinion (“LMO”). For any questions of how the process change will affect you, please contact your immigration services provider. Effective October 1, 2010, employers who wish to hire foreign workers previously eligible for IT facilitated processing will be required to apply for a Labour Market Opinion (“LMO”) from HRSDC/Service Canada before filing a Canadian Work Permit application...

The next-to-last Visa Bulletin of Fiscal Year 2010 brings very welcome news to many employment-based green card applicants.  The priority dates for India and China in the EB second preference category are now at 03/01/2006 after the release of EB-2 numbers left unused by other countries, and the priority dates for all EB third preference category nationals (except China, India, and Mexico) leaped ahead by almost 10 months.

The movement forward is commensurate with the U.S. Department of State’s (“DOS”) predictions in the July 2010 bulletin.  Priority dates in all categories show positive progress:

In the EB third preference category, Chinese and Indian nationals each saw a move forward of over 1 month, from 08/15/2003 to 09/22/2003 and from to 11/22/2001 to 01/01/2002, respectively.  The EB-3 Other Workers category finally moved after remaining at 06/01/2001...

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released H-1B cap numbers as of July 16, receiving 25,300 toward the 65,000 cap-subject H-1B petitions and 11,000 towards the 20,000 H-1B Master's category.

Thus, H-1B cap numbers remain available, and there is still time to submit your FY2011 H-1B visa application for foreign national applicants beginning employment on October 1, 2010 or later.

Contact your immigration services provider to see if this is an option for you/your foreign national or learn more about best practices for preparing your FY2011 H-1B application.

Photo attribution: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8042373@N03/

On August 1, 2010, the National Guard troops will begin their deployment to the Southwest border. This week Congress approved President Obama’s request, which was presented toward the end of May. More than 500 soldiers will be stationed in the Tucson, Arizona while the remaining head off to California, New Mexico and Texas. Furthermore, an additional 300 law enforcement officers from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection will deploy alongside National Guard troops in order to increase security efforts.  Secretary Napolitano of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) explained that the troops “will provide direct support to federal law enforcement officers and agents working in high-risk areas to disrupt criminal organizations seeking to move people and goods illegally across the southwest border.”

Photo attribution: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thenationalguard/

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently released a population  report on the resident nonimmigrant population in the U.S. during the 2008 fiscal year. Resident nonimmigrants are defined as “foreign nationals who are legally admitted into the United States for specific, temporary purposes and whose classes of admission are associated with long stays.” Types of resident nonimmigrants include students, diplomats, temporary workers, exchange visitors and other types of visitors.  Overall, the average daily population of resident nonimmigrants in 2008 was about 1.83 million.

The report found several key findings about the nonimmigrant population:

Category of admission: Temporary workers (including families) - .93 million Students (including families) - .59 million  Exchange visitors (including families) - .24 million Diplomats and other representatives...