Archive for September, 2009
USCIS Fee Hike?
The Associated Press just reported today that USCIS is considering raising its fees for immigration-related benefits due to a shortfall in revenue. Head of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Alejandro Mayorkas was quoted in Los Angeles today saying that a fee hike could happen in the next two years. Is Mr. Mayorkas kidding? Instituting another fee hike would be incredible chutzpah on the agency’s part. It was only in 2007 when the last fee hike went into effect, raising the filing fees on some petitions nearly three-fold. We were told then that the increased revenue would improve “customer service” and speed up processing times. Not only did USCIS not deliver on those promises, but in the last two years, service has become even more abysmal, and the adjudicators appear to be as poorly trained as ever. I have an idea for Mr. Mayorkas: if you’re looking to cut operating costs, consider banning your adjudicators from issuing burdensome and nonsensical Requests for Evidence (RFE’s). More often than not, these RFE’s ask for evidence already submitted in the initial petition; or worse, they invent criteria for adjudication that have absolutely nothing to do with the regulations. These RFE’s are issued with alarming regularity. I’m willing to bet that putting an end to this practice would save the agency millions of dollars.
Tags: Alejandro Mayorkas, fee hike, immigration, request for evidence, RFE, USCIS
Posted in USCIS | Read More »
Updating of USCIS On-Line Case Status System
In conjunction with the launch of its new website on September 22, 2009, United States Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) has revamped its on-line case status system. To date, the on-line case status system has been, in our experience, less than 100% reliable. Despite registering all cases filed in our office for email updates, there are always cases that receive no case updates by email. We certainly hope that the revamped case status update system will be more reliable, but readers are cautioned not to rely on this system exclusively.
Tags: case status, immigration, USCIS, website
Posted in USCIS | Read More »
An Inspiring American Story-Astronaut Jose Hernandez
Every once in a while, I read a story so inspiring, it renews my belief that the American Dream is alive and well. Jose Hernandez is one such inspiring story. The California-born son of Mexican migrant workers from Michoacan, Jose grew up picking cucumbers and tomatoes in the San Joaquin Valley.
As a kid, he excelled in math, and eventually became an astronaut after earning degrees in engineering. Now a celebrity in Mexico, he recently appeared on Mexican television following a space shuttle voyage. Jose was quoted as advocating for immigration reform and the legalization of the millions of undocumented immigrants in the U.S.
Apparently, NASA didn’t take too kindly to Jose’s remarks and tried to reign him in. Hernandez responded as quoted in the The Los Angeles Times: “I work for the U.S. government, but as an individual I have a right to my personal opinions…[h]aving 12 million undocumented people here means there’s something wrong with the system, and the system needs to be fixed.”
Thank you, Jose, for telling it like it is and for inspiring millions of other immigrants and children of immigrants to pursue their dreams.
Tags: astronaut, immigration reform, jose hernandez, Mexico, Michoacan, NASA
Posted in Politics/Current Events | Read More »
I Have an H-1B Visa. Can I work for more than one employer?
As an H-1B visa holder, you may work for more than one employer. However, each employer must file a separate H-1B petition on your behalf. H-1B status does not allow you to work everywhere and in any capacity, the way that a green card or an Employment Authorization Document (EAD) does. You are only permitted to work pursuant to the terms of the H-1B petition approved by USCIS.
If you are already in H-1B status and a petition for concurrent H-1B employment is filed for you, you won’t need to worry about whether or not there are H-1B visa numbers available that year. You have already been “counted”, and therefore the issue of the H-1B quota does not apply to you. Even if your initial H-1B was exempt from the numerical cap, you may still work concurrently for a non-exempt employer without having to be counted. This is only the case if the non-exempt employment is concurrent.
These days, we don’t have to worry much about the H-1B cap, though, since there are plenty of H-1B’s left at the moment. As of the latest count, only about 45,000 visa numbers had been used.
Tags: concurrent employment, EAD, exempt, green card, H-1B, H-1B quota, non-exempt
Posted in FAQ H-1B, H-1B | Read More »
I’ve been laid off from my H-1B job: do I have a grace period?
The short answer is, no. While an H-1B employee has 10 days to leave the U.S. after the expiration of H-1B status, the“10 Day Rule” is only triggered upon expiration of H-1B status and not upon terminations prior to the H-1B expiration date. If you are terminated from your H-1B position, your options are to:
Depart the United States within a reasonable period (the regulations don’t specify what is “reasonable” under the circumstances);
Change your status to another nonimmigrant category (such as B, F-1, H4, etc.) before the last date of employment;
File a change of employer petition and request for extension of stay before the last day of employment along with pay stubs showing that you’ve been maintaining status. If your change of employer petition is filed after the date of termination, you will not be eligible for an extension of stay. In that case, you may file a change of employer petition, and then upon approval of that petition, you will need to depart the U.S., apply for a new H-1B visa at a U.S. consulate abroad and then re-enter the U.S. You will not be subject to the H-1B numerical cap in either situation.
Some general advice: work with your employer to see if the employer is willing to restructure the date of termination so as to allow you to remain in H-1B status for a longer period of time. Please note that what determines whether or not you are out of status is the actual date of termination, not whether you are receiving severance payments from the employer. Continuing to receive compensation from your employer will not maintain your status if the date of termination has already occurred. Lastly, consult with an immigration attorney. Falling out of status can have far-reaching implications for your future in the U.S. Make sure that you have all of the information you need to make the best decisions possible.
Tags: change of employer, extension of stay, H-1B, H1b, layoff, termination
Posted in FAQ H-1B, H-1B | Read More »
I Have My Green Card. Now Can I Leave the U.S.?
A green card holder can generally leave the U.S. anytime for temporary and finite absences abroad without jeopardizing their permanent residency status. If a green card holder is out of the U.S. for more than one year, Immigration takes the position that residency has been abandoned. In certain cases, even absences of less than one year can result in abandonment of permanent resident status if a person lives and works abroad, files taxes as a nonresident, or otherwise demonstrates an intention to abandon residency. DHS will look at such factors as family and employment ties in the U.S., income tax returns, memberships in clubs or religious organizations, as well as existence of a mortgage or residential lease to determine whether permanent residency in the U.S. has been abandoned. If you are planning to spend a prolonged period of time outside the U.S. and wish to maintain your green card status, it may be prudent, depending on the circumstances, to obtain a re-entry permit, which will allow you to be absent from the U.S. for as long as two years.
This is the first in a series of FAQ postings. There are many questions that come up frequently in our practice, and I intend to answer them on this blog. Stay tuned for more answers to Immigration FAQ’s.
Tags: abandonment of permanent residency, FAQ, green card, immigration, income taxes, nonresident, re-entry permit
Posted in FAQ H-1B, H-1B | Read More »
Beware: Consulates and Immigration Officers are Reading Your Facebook
We’ve received a number of reports over the last couple of years that some consular officials as well as USCIS officers look for information on Facebook about a person before adjudicating their case. It appears that they are looking for any information that contradicts what’s stated on the application. This should serve as a little reminder to keep your settings on Facebook private, and watch what you tweet.
Tags: consulate, Facebook, immigration, privacy, Twitter, USCIS
Posted in Uncategorized | Read More »
Beginning Sept. 8, 2009, Federal Contractors Required to Use E-Verify
Beginning Sept. 8, 2009, all federal contractors will be required to use E-Verify, the government database used to verify employment eligibility of workers. E-Verify is a database run jointly by the Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Social Security Administration (SSA). It compares work eligibility information collected by the employer against information in the SSA’s database in order to verify employment eligibility.
Contracts awarded after Sept. 8th will contain an E-Verify clause, which will require enrollment in E-Verify within 30 days of entering into the contract. E-verify must be used to verify the employment eligibility of all new hires, whether or not they are working on the contract, and to verify the employment eligibility of existing employees, if they will be working on the contract.
This new requirement will subject more employers to scrutiny by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the interior enforcement arm of DHS. In addition to increasing administrative costs to U.S. businesses during a recession, it will likely result in an increase in ICE audits.
Tags: Dept. of Homeland Security, E-verify, employment eligibility, federal contractors, immigration
Posted in Employment Verification | Read More »
