In today’s business climate, being prepared on the day of your interview at the US Consulate is critically important. We always recommend that you do an interview prep with an attorney on the eve prior to your in-person interview at the US consulate and that the DS-160 form has been properly reviewed and submitted. You might wish to consider the below points:

1) Be completely familiar with the information and documentation in the Petition that was approved by USCIS.
2) Be able to articulate what your US employer does in the USA
3) Make sure that the US employer is credible and has made you a bona fide job offer
4) Be able to articulate the title and job duties associated with your position
5) Be able to establish a clear link between your prior experience and future job duties
6) Must be able to answer basic questions about your profession and display a level of fundamental knowledge concerning your occupation
7) Remember, you are coming to the USA on a ‘temporary’ basis, with the intention of returning to your home country at the conclusion of your employment in the USA

Overall, focus on direct and specific answers to the questions – think, short & simple. Make eye contact with the officer and be pleasant and professional. Have your papers organized for yourself and each family member in a professional looking manner, so that if you are asked to present a specific document, you’re not scrambling to find it. Professional business attire is recommended.

Should you like to consult with our office or become a client, please contact us.

::::::

1. Want to stay in touch?  The InFOCUS Immigration Solutions August newsletter is available for your viewing here.
2. We link to an interesting letter to President Obama on Immigration Reform that says it all very well
3. USCIS to permit EAD (Employment Authorization Documents) to be expedited through the Nebraska Service Center (NSC) if they have been p ending for more than 60 days under particular circumstances.  Please contact our office for more information on this should you require assistance with expediting your case.
4. Department of State announces that they will phase in the implementation of an online, electronic Immigrant Visa form, the DS-260 that will eventually replace the DS-230 form. Federal Register 75 FR 45475.
5. Just yesterday, the US Senate passed a border security spending bill containing a provision that will be paid for by increasing fees for employers that have a large H-1B or L-1 foreign worker presence in their workforce. Specifically, the bill would increase total filing and fraud prevention fees by an incredible $2000 or more for petitioners with a U.S. workforce of more than 50 percent H-1B or L-1 nonimmigrants. The provision would be applicable to employers with 50 or more employees in the United States. The bill would also provide $600 million in emergency funds to increase security along our borders with Mexico by hiring more than new 1,000 border patrol and immigration enforcement officers, and increasing unmanned drone surveillance operations in the region.  For more on this
6. The USCIS will start receiving email inquiries on I-90 and N-400 forms if the wait time has exceeded the designated processing times.
7. The Department of Labor (DOL) bans the Asian Journal from the H-1B Program and agrees to pay $516, 500 in back pay to 32 employees plus a $40,000 penalty.

:::::::::::::::::::::

Immigration Solutions has thousands of worldwide subscribers interested in our news and services who are visiting our website and Blog daily.  We invite you to take advantage of this additional targeted exposure and strongly consider advertising your product or service with us.  Contact us through our website or give us a call to discuss your needs and advertising requirements.  We’ll walk you through a very affordable process that will give you the extra edge that you’re looking for.

You can access the Immigration Solutions free monthly news and podcast for July 2010 here.

Make sure to sign up for our news and media if you’d like to receive our information through email.  You can sign up on our blog to receive blog posts through email, as well.

1) Prevailing Wage Determinations:   The Department of Labor (DOL) advised today that a prevailing wage determination (PWD) obtained for an H-1B case can be used for a PERM case (and vice versa) if it is still valid and for the same job opportunity.  The announcement was made in the AILA/DOL Stakeholder Telephone Conference of 6/22/10 that can be viewed on the AILA website.  This will be extremely useful and will eliminate the long wait time in obtaining a PWD for DOL National for a PERM case when all information in re the job and its requirements remain identical.

2)  Current H-1B Cap Count as of 6/18/2010:  22,900 cases have been received under the general H-1B cap.  9,700 cases have been received against the advanced US degree cap of 20,000.

3)  CBP Releases Port of Entry Contact information:   http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/toolbox/contacts/ports/

4)  iCERT now posts PERM Processing Times: http://icert.doleta.gov/#fragment-2

5)  Life Along the Mexico-US Border Photo Essay:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/world/interactives/mexicoborder/

6)  DHS Releases Fact Sheet on  Southwest Border “Next Steps”

7)  E-Verify no longer voluntary for Utah Employers:

We will cover these topics and many more in greater detail in our free July newsletter.  If you haven’t signed up to receive it, you can do so here

Arizona Immigration Law Could Cost US World Cup

As reported in The Arizona Republic, the US bid to host the 2018 or the 2022 World Cup may be jeopardized by plans to include as one of the 18 venues the University of Phoenix Stadium if awarded the two World Cups.

:::::::::::

Arts Community Submit Comments to Immigration Services

On May 11, USCIS opened a public comment period, inviting feedback regarding a specific area of artist visa processing (the O-1 Visa) concerning the amount of time allowable between multiple engagements in a single visa approval period.  Here is a copy of the draft memo open for public comment.  Dance USA, in partnership with the National Performing Arts Visa Working Group, submitted comments to USCIS on May 24th.

Dance USA reports on questions by Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) to USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas regarding problems with arts visa processing:

On Tuesday, May 11, the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration held an oversight hearing on USCIS. Senator Hatch (R-UT) questioned USCIS Director Mayorkas about O and P visas, the ARTS Act, the increase in Requests for More Evidence and denials of artist visas, and the inconsistent processing at the California Processing Center. Director Mayorkas responded that he is fully aware of the challenges that petitioners are experiencing and he is working to fix the problems. He stated that USCIS is beginning a broad review of the O and P visa processing system. Senator Hatch underscored that the problems surrounding artist visas are hurting the cultural affairs of our country and that his staff receives a lot of work from constituents on this issue. Other subcommittee members at the meeting included Sen. Feinstein (D-CA), Sen. Cornyn (R-TX), Sen. Sessions (R-AL), Sen. Franken (D-MN), and Sen. Leahy (D-VT).

::::::::::

A Soccer World Cup Ticket is a Visa to South Africa

Addressing the joint committees on the state of readiness for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said free event visas would be awarded to those with a valid FIFA World Cup ticket, while dedicated lanes would be set aside for those coming to the tournament, Bua news agency reported. For more

::::::::::

Fila Launches in Guyana

Top local athletes, basketball star Akeem Kanhai, bodybuilder Sylvon Gardener and sprinter Alicia Fortune are the new faces of the popular Italian Sportswear Company FILA In Guyana.  The sportswear was launched Friday May 14th at Giftland OfficeMax the sole authorized distributor in Guyana.

::::::::::

Jamaica Reggae Stars Denied Visas

The island nation is abuzz with reports that the U.S. has cancelled visas for a number of top entertainers. At least one major concert has been postponed, and some say it’s all about the extradition of a politically connected drug lord.

The apparent visa revocations are hitting the Jamaican music scene in Southern California and elsewhere in the U.S., according to music industry sources. Producers of the 13th Annual Seabreeze Festival, which has traditionally offered a lineup of reggae performers in Long Beach, recently said their decision to postpone the July 11 event owed in part to the “uncertainty of guaranteeing artist performance based on the current visa revocation issue surrounding Jamaican Dancehall Reggae artists.”

Reports making the rounds in Jamaica say that at least five top reggae entertainers have had their U.S. visas revoked in recent months. The Jamaica Star and various blogs have reported that Bounty Killer, Beenie Man, Adonia, Ricky Trooper, and Movado have seen their permission to travel to the U.S. cancelled. Other reports say that two other well-known reggae artists — Eek-a-Mouse and Sizzla — have also had their visas revoked.

::::::::::

Why Work with us?

Immigration Solutions provides US and global immigration services and solutions to the arts, entertainment and sports industries, amongst others.  Our staff is accustomed to dealing with celebrated personalities and brands and we have successfully obtained visas for actors, directors, athletes, coaches, sports broadcasters and other individuals of accomplishment and renown.

We understand the unique needs associated with working with celebrities and high profile personalities and we maintain distinct focus on building a bridge between the needs of our clients and their global business opportunities.

If you’d like to consult with us or become a client of our office, please contact us at info@immigrationsolution.net or call 562 612.3996.

For Immediate Release

Immigration Solutions is proud to now offer Global Immigration Services. Our new Global Immigration Services offers a comprehensive yet streamlined approach to fulfilling corporate global immigration needs.  When making a choice for a global partner many organizations feel they have two choices:

• Choose the firm that fits your budget; or
• Choose the firm that offers personalized services

Through our international network of global immigration experts, Immigration Solutions can offer services that are low cost – high touch.  Gone are the days of compromising your budget for a high touch service.

Our Global Immigrations Services focus on visas for foreign countries.  We secure all the appropriate immigration documents so your employee can legally live and work in a foreign country.  We secure the work permit, entry visa, and residence permit (as applicable) for each location.  We offer personalized services such as accompanying employees to medical exams and local registration appointments.  If you’re sending an employee to a country that requires legalizations, not to worry… our experts are well versed in securing Apostilles and Authentications. Additional services also include business visa assistance to meet your short term travel needs.

In the forthcoming days and months, we will be adding global immigration material to our website, a global corner to our newsletter, and global immigration updates on our current blog.  We are excited to offer this new product line and look forward to assisting you with your global immigration needs.

If you have an immediate need or would like to consult with our office, or request a proposal for services, please email us directly at  global@immigrationsolution.net.    We’re looking forward to doing business with you.

The petitions of applicants who will be processed at an overseas US Consular post are forwarded by USCIS to the Department of State (DOS).  Applicants in categories subject to numerical limit are registered on the visa waiting list.  Each case is assigned a priority date based on the filing date of the initial petition.  There are about 3.5 million on this list.  This is positively disastrous when you consider that our current laws permit 376,000 people to immigrant to the USA each year under the family-based and employment-based systems, with the average wait being over 10 years long!

There are probably another 1 million in the USA waiting to adjust their status and these numbers aren’t even reflected in the DOS report.

About 95% of the people on the list are in the family-based categories and more than 1/2 of these are  in the brother-sister 4th preference category.  At the 65,000 number level for this category, this is a wait time that averages 10-26 years!

The total employment numbers waiting a priority date:  130,509 including 119,759 in the EB-3 category.  This is a 3-4 year wait, ignoring per country limits.  The countries with the largest backlogs are the Philippines (45,331 – mostly nurses and their families.  Yes, there’s something wrong with this picture!) and India (20,467 – mostly IT professionals and their families – something is wrong with this picture, too!).  Then we hear politicians and uninformed folks saying “get in line and wait your turn”  – like the line is actually moving!

It’s a sad state of affairs that points squarely at the fact that we must first focus on legal immigration reform – getting these wait times down to something reasonable.  Do we have any representatives courageous enough to vote for legal immigration reform so that we have a system that doesn’t punish people who play by the rules?

As reported by ImmigrationImpact.com

This month marks the 7th anniversary of the DHS which is home to the nation’s three immigration agencies (ICE, CBP and USCIS).  It also marks the end of a sweeping internal review ordered by DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano which has not been made public.

The Immigration Policy Center has released a report entitled DHS Progress Report: The Challenge of Reform to assess the 1st year of the Obama Administration’s immigration policy.

On the plus side, there has been more public engagement and discussion of DHS priorities. ICE has announced, although not fully implemented, numerous detention reforms. It has done away with the massive worksite raids of the past few years, placing greater emphasis on employer violations. The Obama Administration and USCIS have made some genuine inroads into immigration fee reform, backlog reduction, and expanded naturalization and integration efforts. Secretary Napolitano has also invested significant time and resources into developing plans for comprehensive immigration reform.

These are just some of the examples of changes within the last year. Ultimately, this first year was mostly frustrating—a year where the promise of reform seems to fight daily with the dynamics of an entrenched belief in an enforcement driven culture. For every two steps forward, it seems that the Department takes one steps backward.

It has been reported that today President Obama is scheduled to meet with two key congressional players in the movement for immigration reform—Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC)—who are working together behind the scenes to draft a bipartisan immigration bill. The President is expected to ask the Senators to produce a reform bill blueprint that “could be turned into legislative language.” Some think that the meeting is another positive signal from the White House, and others view it as a “last-ditch effort in an election year.” Although interpretations are mixed, a spokesman for the White House affirmed that the President is still committed to reforming our immigration system.  More on this

ICE is not backing off sending I-9 audit notices to US employers.  It’s latest  round of 180 NOI’s (Notice of Inspection) were sent to employers March 2nd in 5 Southeastern states:   Louisiana. Alabama, Arkansas Tennessee and Mississippi.  The notices alert business owners that ICE will be inspecting their hiring records to determine whether or not they are complying with employment eligibility verification laws and regulations.

Employers are required to complete and retain a Form I-9 for each individual they hire for employment in the United States. This form requires employers to review and record the individual’s identity document(s) and determine whether the document(s) reasonably appear to be genuine and related to the individual.

Due to the ongoing, law enforcement sensitive nature of these audits, the names and locations of the businesses will not be released at this time.

We link to the Press Release on the ICE website

A strong reminder to employers: Compliance with immigration law is crucial in this enforcement climate. We are in a historic moment regarding U.S. Immigration reform. Major U.S. companies have been slapped with steep fines for non-compliance with immigration laws and contractors have been closed and even jailed for employing illegal immigrants. Now is the time for prudent companies to implement a Corporate Immigration Compliance Program. Our firm’s years of experience and knowledge with employer compliance and worksite enforcement issues can assist your business in offsetting the extent of sanctions and other ICE enforcement threats.  Because of this, employer compliance is becoming more complex and enforcement (investigations and audits) is increasing.

We have a very informative area on our website  relating to this topic.  Please refer to our services and solutions and contact us if you require assistance with I-9 management, audits or training.