A Monthly Bulletin from Immigration Compliance Group -- April 2009
Introducing the Immigration Compliance Group Podcast
As you know, we work at bringing you the most up-to-date information possible in the most fluid manner – so we figured why not do weekly Podcasts and make our delivery of the news even more creative! Check it out by using the link below, or you can find us on iTunes, as well. This regular feature will allow us to bring you special guests, timely discussions and information in a new and entertaining way. If you’d like to suggest a topic or sponsor one of our Podcasts, please let us know.
Listen to the Podcast Here
Event Announcement
Who is a Legal Worker – How can I tell?
The New I-9 Form
Join us for our monthly telephone conference on I-9 compliance where we will discuss:
- I-9 Laws and Regulations
- Completing the new Form I-9
- Documentation Requirements and Examination
- Document Retention, and
- Discrimination and Penalties
- Open Q&A
Note: April 3, 2009 is the effective date of the new I-9 form for all new hires and re-verification.
Read the New I-9 form here
Additionally, here is the link to the new 65 page government I-9 Guide.
For those of you who don’t want to pour through 65 pages of government data, …. RSVP and join us on April 17th for the straight talk!
Details
Date: Friday, April 17, 2009
Time: 11am PDT | 2pm EDT
RSVP: info@immigrationcompliancegroup.com
We will reserve your place and provide you with dial in information and your personal access code.
Why is this Conference important to your business?
After April 3, employers who use the old form will be in violation of immigration law. The I-9 is the form that all employers must use to verify the legal work status of new hires. This requirement was put in place by the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. Today, there are millions of these forms on file in HR departments of businesses throughout the USA.
I-9 form must be completed not just for foreign employees but for all employees upon hire. All new hires must submit one or more documents upon hire confirming their legal right to work in the USA.
Unless you are reading the Federal Register every day (which outlines new laws and procedural requirements) or are visiting the USCIS, you are unlikely to have heard about the new I-9 form. Some large companies will be advised of the new form by their immigration attorneys, but it is very likely that the great majority of employers in the U.S. will be unaware of this requirement. Not knowing about the new form, however, will not help those businesses who continue to use the old one should they be audited by the immigration service.
In addition, the new form changes the various documents that new hires can use to validate their legal work status. Unless you are an expert in these matters, the changes can be confusing, and it is inevitable that employers will accept certain documents they should not accept -- and reject certain documents they should accept
Feel free to pass our Conference information along to your HR business associates and colleagues and have them RSVP. We look forward to meeting up with you on April 17.
In This Issue
Article One - Will there be an H-1B Random Selection Lottery this year?
Article Three - USCIS Updates Reference Materials for Naturalization Test
Will there be an H-1B Random Selection "Lottery" this year?
As posted on AILA 3/25/2009
USCIS has confirmed that if it determines that they have received a sufficient number of cases in the first five business days of April for FY 2010 to reach the cap, then the "lottery" will be based on petitions received all five days. USCIS will not begin to issue receipts, however, until a determination is made that sufficient H-1B petitions have been received within the first five business days of April, ending April 7, 2009. After the "lottery" is conducted, the USCIS will then issue receipts for those cases which are selected, and the receipts will likely all have the same receipt date, April 8, 2009. USCIS has indicated that guidance will be issued to explain that all petitions received between April 1, 2009, and April 7, 2009, will have the same receipt date. This is important for those F-1 beneficiaries whose OPT will expire between April 1st and April 7th so that Designated School Officers will know that an H-1B petition was timely filed and that a beneficiary may be eligible for cap-gap employment authorization or status based on the actual filing date.
As the regulation provides, if USCIS concludes that insufficient H-1B petitions have been received within the first five business days of April, USCIS will continue to receive and accept petitions until the day upon which USCIS concludes that a sufficient number of petitions is reached. USCIS will then conduct the lottery for those cases received on the last day. While USCIS believes that the cap will be reached before October 1, 2009, they are not able to make any further predictions, although they have heard from various stakeholder groups (including AILA), that fewer petitions are expected to be filed during this H-1B cap season.
To read more about the USCIS Q&A:
Read this story from USCIS
2. The Paperless USCIS
March 14th, 2009
Posted on Immigration Daily 3/13/09
The Federal Times reports that USCIS is spending over half a billion dollars to digitize its paper files so that it can process immigration applications over the internet instead of through US postal service. “The agency signed a five-year contract with IBM in November; the company will be the lead systems integrator on the project. It’s tasked with digitizing the agency’s processing system, which currently relies on some 70 million paper files scattered at hundreds of locations across the country.” The IBM contract - the latest in a series of modernization projects at the agency - could eventually shave months off processing times.
Read more about this story at FederalTimes.com
3. USCIS Updates Reference Materials for Naturalization Test
Mar 11, 2009: USCIS updated reference material for individuals seeking naturalization. Included in the update are a number of publications, documents and reference material. These updates include the following:
DOL Provides Current PERM Processing Dates
At the AILA Spring Conference on March 20, 2009, DOL announced they were working on cases with Priority Dates (initial case filing dates) in the following queues:
● No Audit: July 2008
● Audit: September 2007
● Appeal: June 2007
iCERT
For those of you who have not yet seen the preview of the new Foreign Labor Certification iCert portal coming April 15th – take a look!
4. LEGISLATIVE WATCH
Wisconsin Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin, joined by Congressman Tom Latham (R-IA), recently introduced legislation in the House that will ease the debt burden on nursing students and address the current nursing shortage.
The Nurses' Higher Education and Loan Repayment Act (H.R. 1460) would establish a federal student loan repayment program for nurses who agree to teach full-time at an accredited school of nursing for at least four years in a six-year period.
DREAM Act 2009: Senator Durbin Reintroduces the DREAM Act
On 03/26/09, Senator Durbin (D-IL) reintroduced the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act of 2007 or DREAM Act (S. 729)
The DREAM Act would facilitate access to college for immigrant students in the US and provide a path to permanent residence for ambitious immigrant youth who were brought to the U.S. as young children and who want to pursue higher education or military service.
Read more information about the DREAM Act
Talking Points
Article - Wasted Talent and Broken Dreams
H.R. 1001 - The Nursing Relief Act of 2009
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to establish a nonimmigrant visa category (W-visa) for an alien coming to the United States to work as a professional nurse.
Status: Latest Major Action: 3/16/2009: Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law.
Also take time to
review This Week in Immigration
5. HEALTHCARE NEWS
AAIHR Responds to President Obama’s Nursing Comments
The President recently commented about the nursing shortage and health service’s providers use of internationally-trained workers to fill the gap in some occupations such as nursing. President Obama said “the notion that we would have to import nurses makes absolutely no sense.”
In response, the AAIHR recognized that the real question surrounding the nursing shortage is healthcare accessibility.
The ideal goals of the Emergency Nurse Supply Relief Act of 2008 is to create funding for nursing schools, and loosen the restrictions surrounding visa quotas. This ideal approach creates a balance of opportunities for a number of interested parties, such as students, schools, employers, internationally trained nurses, domestic nurses, and even more importantly - patients.
Read more information on the President’s recent comments
Educational Requirements for PTs and OTs in Question at USCIS
In the last month, USCIS has denied a number of physical therapist and occupational therapist cases for H-1B and I-140 filing employers. The USCIS is making several critical mistakes in their application of their regulations and have denied numerous H-1B and I-140 petitions filed on behalf of Physical Therapists and Occupational Therapists, in spite of the fact that the PTs and OTs have the requisite education and licensure recognized by the state in which they work. USCIS is taking the position that a Masters Degree is the requirement for entry into the position which is absolutely incorrect.
Please read a recent letter from CGFNS to USCIS regarding this issue.
The FCCPT additionally wrote to the USCIS on February 19, 2009 stating that their reliance on the OOH was misplaced and that a B.S. in Physical Therapy could be sufficient for entry in the profession.
Further, on March 6 and again on March 10, the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT) also wrote two letters to DHS explaining that a B.S. in Occupational Therapy was the minimum educational entry requirement to the profession. We trust that DHS will change its course on this issue immediately.
Obama Chooses Nurse to Lead HRSA
President Barack Obama tapped a registered nurse, Mary Wakefield, RN, Ph.D. , FAAN, to head the Health Resources and Services Administration(HRSA), an agency that helps deliver health care to the uninsured and underserved in America.
Read more about the article here
Interpreting EB-3 for the April 2009 Visa Bulletin
Of note, there have been some substantial changes in the EB-3 category in which virtually all RNs are classified for green-card purposes. The cut-off date for worldwide and the Philippines retrogressed from May 1, 2005 to March 1, 2003, while EB-3 for India advanced 16 days to 11/01/2001. We were warned that this might happen at the start of this current fiscal year in October 2008.
The cut-off dates for the retrogressed EB-3 subcategories - which cover all countries except India and China - are effective immediately. This retrogression is due to the increased demand for visa numbers by USCIS in adjustment of status cases for persons already in the USA. Therefore, beginning today, March 9, 2009, Immigrant visa applications overseas should be processed according to the March 2009 Visa Bulletin, as the March 2009 visa numbers were allocated to the consular posts by the State Department at the beginning of the month. USCIS will not accept applications for adjustment of status in the retrogressed EB-3 subcategories unless the priority date is current under the April 2009 Visa Bulletin.
In April, priority date cut-offs for the first three employment-based categories will be as follows:
EB-1: Current for all countries.
EB-2: China - February 15, 2005; India - February 15, 2004; all other countries - current.
EB-3 Professionals and Skilled Workers: India - November 1, 2001; all other countries - March 2003.
EB-3 Other Workers: All countries - March 1, 2001.
The notes to the Visa Bulletin indicate that depending upon future demand for visa numbers for the remainder of fiscal year 2009 (through September 30, 2009), further retrogression and unavailability is possible. It further indicates that this situation is temporary pending release of the October 2009 Visa Bulletin - the start of fiscal year 2010.
Although this is the not the greatest of news, in an effort to continue to keep you informed with accurate information, we’d rather you hear this from us then in the chat rooms and nurse forums. We remain optimistic that new legislation will be enacted this year to increase visas for nurses and speed up the process.
Read more information about it here
Nursing Shortage Continues...
As the nurse shortage balloons, leaders in Washington are pushing competing philosophies on whether the problem is best addressed by obtaining larger numbers of America nurses or granting more visas to foreign-born nurses. At least two bills on the issue are pending in congress, and a third is expected in coming weeks.
One of Immigration Compliance Group clients on the East Coast states that foreign trained nurses help supplement an aging, experienced workforce. – that a hospital cannot replace experienced nurses who are retiring with new, inexperienced nurses right out of college. You need a balance of experience and this can be found through foreign nurse recruitment. For more:
Read more at ModernHealth.com
Back to Top
6. IT NEWS
Economic Hard Times and the Global Technology Workforce
Microsoft is not sheltered from the unprecedented crisis battering the global economy. In response to challenges they are confronting in markets around the world, they announced last month that they would cut jobs and reduce the overall employment level for the first time. This was a difficult decision, and it was not one they made lightly. But the long-term health of the company – like the financial fate of the country as a whole – requires prompt and decisive action to adapt to the changed economic reality.
On January 22, Sen. Charles Grassley wrote to Microsoft asking for more information, particularly about how their plans would affect U.S. workers and non-U.S. citizens working for Microsoft.
Here is the text of Microsoft’s response:
March 3, 2009
The Honorable Charles E. Grassley
United States Senator
135 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510-1501
Dear Senator Grassley,
Thank you for your letter of January 22, 2009. Steve Ballmer asked me to respond on the company’s behalf.
Your letter expressed concern about Microsoft’s recently announced lay-offs and asked us to provide you with information about them. I have included that information below, but first I’d like to provide a bit of context.
Since the company’s founding in 1975, Microsoft’s consistent growth has enabled us to increase employment every year. In the last three fiscal years, for example, our employment in the United States increased by 40 percent. Today we have more than 90,000 employees worldwide and over half of them are in the United States. The vast majority of these U.S. jobs are filled by American citizens.
Read the remainder of the letter here
Review: Apple's Mac Mini Offers Versatility, Better Graphics
By Ken Mingis, Computerworld
March 27, 2009
The new improved Mini starts at $599, but you can push the price past $1,000 if you're not careful.
In the four years since the Mac Mini was introduced, the versatile little box has been updated four times, with the latest permutation finally showing up this month. I say "finally" because the Mini -- Apple Inc.'s lone foray into the low end of the computer market -- has gained something of a cult status among its fans, and they were rather annoyed that their favorite Apple computer had been neglected since August 2007. In fact, a lot of them had given up on ever seeing a new Mini, assuming the diminutive machine had been left for dead.
Read more about the story here
Verizon May Begin Selling Netbooks
By Marin Perez, InformationWeek
March 27, 2009
Verizon Wireless may start selling subsidized netbooks with two-year data plans next quarter, according to media reports Friday.
The move would enable the carrier to cash in on the red-hot netbook market, which is finding increased popularity even as overall consumer spending dips. Any offering would also put Verizon on par with rival AT&T, which teamed with RadioShack to offer an Acer Aspire One mini-laptop for $99 with a two-year contract for AT&T's mobile broadband service.
Read more about Verizon here
7. “In Focus” for HR Professionals: Taming Twitter - Did They Really Just Say That
As recent incidents have shown, on Twitter anything goes. But forward-thinking companies are mitigating risks of using the booming social network by designating Twitter reps and updating electronic communication guidelines… Guidelines should be spelled out during new employee orientation. They should also be available in handbooks and online in multiple locations, such as on an internal company blog or on its HR employee portal.
Read more information on this from Workforce Management
Immigration Compliance Group continues to be at the cutting edge of developments in business immigration. We are dedicated to providing our clients with the solutions required today to circumvent the complexities of immigration law. We understand the challenges that you deal with on a daily basis and design practical and strategic business models to answer your needs. This focused approach produces win-win results for everyone! We look forward to hearing from you. Contact us at info@immigrationcompliancegroup.com
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