If you have a case pending at one of the Service Centers, you need to know about the new and improved procedures for obtaining case status. We link to this important notice.
Global Entry expedites the customs and security process for trusted air travelers while helping DHS ensure the safety of all airline passengers,” said Secretary Napolitano. “Expanding this vital program allows us to improve customer service at airports and concentrate our resources on higher-risk travelers.”
Starting Aug. 24, new Global Entry enrollment centers and kiosks will open at 13 additional international U.S. airports in Boston, Dallas, Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Honolulu, Las Vegas, Newark, N.J., Orlando, Fla., Sanford*, Fla., Philadelphia, San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Francisco and Seattle.
How many of you picked up on this during the week? Let’s hear your thoughts…
“The longer the healthcare debate drags out not only does it make it harder to get healthcare passed, it makes it harder to get immigration passed,” says Mark Krikorian, executive director of the conservative Center for Immigration Studies.
Check it out and give us your thoughts.
http://www.ilw.com/immigdaily/news/2009,0817-webredesign.pdf
For the first time in several years the H1B visa program, once the most sought after among Indian professionals, is unlikely to reach its cap of 65,000 before the start of the 2010 fiscal with nearly 20,000 slots lying vacant thanks to the tattered US economy.
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services reports as of August 7, 2009 that it has received approximately 49,400 H-1B petitions counting toward the Congressionally-mandated 65,000 cap, more than four months after it started accepting applications for visas for the 2010 fiscal year beginning October 1st
This is in contrast to previous years when the USCIS had to resort to a computerized lottery.
We link to the article in Business Standard. Contact us for your H-1B cases and questions.
Momentum appears to be growing for legislation that would require all employers, not just federal contractors, to use the E-Verify system to confirm that their employees are eligible to work in the United States.
E-Verify is a Web-based system that allows employers to check the Social Security and visa numbers submitted by workers against government databases. More than 137,000 employers now use the system, which approves 97 percent of workers in a few seconds.
Beginning Sept. 8, federal contractors will be required to use E-Verify to confirm that new hires and current employees working on federal contracts are authorized to work in the U.S. The requirement also will apply to most subcontractors.
Many members of Congress want to expand E-Verify to all employers, as a way to end the “jobs magnet” for illegal immigration. This “could open up thousands of American jobs to workers with legal status,” said Rep. Heath Shuler, D-N.C.
We link to the Business Weekly article.
USCIS has received significant funding for a substantially increased volume of random site visits to employer locations. Over the coming year, many thousands more employers will have USCIS knocking on their doors.
The FDNS (Fraud Detection and National Security Unit) of USCIS is expanding its manpower and its site visits to employers that hire foreign nationals. Sometimes the employer is called in advance – and sometimes they are unannounced visits. Also, many of these site visits can occur after the petition is approved.
FDNS visits are to verify the existence of the employer, discuss the information that the employer has provided to USCIS in their petition(s) and whether the foreign national(s) are working in compliance with the terms of their admission to the USA. This information can also be used to determine whether or not a petition will be approved. Typically, the FDNS officer will wish to speak with the HR representative, may want to also speak with the sponsored worker; the officer could have a copy of the petition and will endeavor to verify the information contained in the petition.
What’s the “take away” on this for employers: It is important that you contact your designated immigration professional should you receive notification of a site visit… AND… make sure that you are working with well-informed immigration counsel that have experience in employer compliance issues. Immigration Solutions does, and we link to our Employer Compliance page on our website.
We link to one employer’s experience (as posted on AILA Infonet).
As the House begins its August recess today (the Senate goes home next week), Members of Congress are returning home to kiss babies and meet with constituents on a host of issues. We are betting that some of those visits will be about this country’s broken immigration system.
Nothing moves members of Congress more than face-to-face meetings with constituents letting them know what they care about. So in honor of summer recess, the IPC is reminding you of our top resources that can be used when paying a visit to your local legislator.
We link to Immigration Impact
The self-proclaimed “toughest sheriff in America” has never gotten so much resistance from the federal government.
The Homeland Security Department wants Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Ariz., to stop arresting illegal immigrants whose only crime was crossing the U.S.-Mexico border without documents.
The thing is, Arpaio doesn’t much care.
“I’m not going to bend to the federal government, I’m going to do my job,” he said. “I don’t report to the federal government, I report to the people.”
Shifting winds in Washington have led the Homeland Security Department to rework a federal program that has allowed Arpaio’s deputies to make federal immigration arrests since February 2007.
We link to Associated Press Article
For those of you who did not participate in our July 29th audio conference, we link to an MP3 recording of this very informative event.
Guest Speakers: Thomas J. Joy, Supervising Attorney, Immigration Solutions Business Unit and Employer Compliance Division
Dan Siciliano, Co-Founder LawLogix, I-9 and E-Verify Electronic Compliance Systems