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E&M Visa Update for February 9, 2004 Volume Four, Number Two published by Elliot & Mayock LLP CIS Proposes Increases in Filing Fees for Benefit Applications CIS Office of Business Liaison Summarizes Visa Solutions for RNs Diversity Visa Lottery 2005 (DV-2005) Winners Notified by the State Department Last Call for H1B Visas Before October 1, 2004Visa-Free U.S. Visits Endangered by Tough New Passport Biometric Requirements Immigration Reform to Feature as Key Campaign Issue in Election Year 2004
CIS
Proposes Increases in Filing Fees for Benefit Applications Each business day, CIS processes 140,000 national security background checks; answers 50,000 calls at the four National Customer Service Centers; adjudicates 30,000 applications for an immigration benefit; sees 25,000 visitors at 92 district offices; issues 20,000 green cards; captures 8,000 sets of fingerprints at 130 Application Support Centers; welcomes 3,000 newly naturalized citizens; greets 100 refugees; and helps American parents adopt 100 foreign children. CIS
Office of Business Liaison Summarizes Visa Solutions for RNs Starting July 26, 2004, all nonimmigrant workers seeking employment in most healthcare professions will be subject to the requirement of obtaining Visa Screen certification in order to obtain visas to enter the U.S., to obtain extensions of stay in temporary worker status within the U.S., and to obtain a change of status within the U.S. Permanent residence for foreign nurses continues to be the best solution for foreign nurses. Visa Screen is already a requirement for a nurse who immigrates to the United States, and is one of the major barriers, due to tough English language competency requirements. Diversity
Visa Lottery 2005 (DV-2005) Winners Notified by the State Department Last
Call for H1B Visas Before October 1, 2004 CIS has revealed that 43,500 new H1B petitions have been approved or are awaiting adjudication through December 2003. At this approval rate of 14,500 petitions each month, only 7,000 petitions would remain for February 2004, before the 65,000 annual cap is reached. In FY 2003, CIS approved 217,340 H-1B visa petitions, including 105,314 for initial employment. Of this, 19 percent of the petitions for initial employment were exempt from the 195,000 cap, which has now reverted to 65,000 a year. About 78,000 H-1Bs counted against the cap in FY 2003, and 79,000 in FY 2002. Visa-Free
U.S. Visits Endangered by Tough New Passport Biometric Requirements Some 15.1 million people came to the United States under the visa waiver program last year, and their spending accounted for about two-thirds of outlays by overseas visitors. Current U.S. legislation does not allow for exceptions or delays to the deadline, but DHS officials said Congress would be discussing the problem this year. Immigration
Reform to Feature as Key Campaign Issue in Election Year 2004 The Immigration Reform Act 04 is the only program introduced to date that includes the three components immigration advocates consider essential for total immigration reform. They include family reunification through family backlog reduction, a new temporary worker program and access to an earned adjustment for eligible people already living and working in the U.S. Currently limited to 66,000 visas annually, the H-2b program allows U.S. employers to bring skilled or unskilled workers from foreign countries temporarily for non-agricultural employment based on temporary need. The Act caps the H-2B program at 100,000 for five years and reverts to 66,000 thereafter. Admission of H-2B visa holders would be limited to nine months in any twelve-months period and is not "portable." The act also calls for the creation of a new H-2C program, which is a two-year program that is renewable for another two years and capped at 250,000 annually. The H-2C visa would be portable after three months. Congress has not taken final action on the other major pending immigration bills, including: (1) The Fair and Secure Immigration Reform program proposed by President Bush on January 7, 2004 would permit the six to eight million unauthorized foreigners in the US with jobs to become temporary legal residents. (2) The Agricultural Job Opportunity, Benefits, and Security Act of 2003 would trade "employer-friendly" changes in the H-2A program for an "earned legalization" path to immigrant status for unauthorized farm workers. (3) The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, which was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee on a 16-3 vote in October 2003, would allow unauthorized foreigners in the US for at least five years who graduate from US high schools to receive a six-year conditional status that could be converted to an immigrant status if the foreigner completed military service or at least two years of college. (4) The Clear Law Enforcement for Criminal Alien Removal (CLEAR) Act pending in Congress would encourage state and city police agencies to enforce immigration laws through a system of financial incentives including the power to seize the property of unauthorized foreigners. Thank
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