One of the best things about it, is that AILA can now project their message on a more realistic scale. With the immigration issue overall being quite critical, it’s going to be very very useful in getting sound information out to the public, as well as concerned attorneys, researchers, and even immigrants.
USCIS announced recently that applicants may experience up to an eight week delay in the delivery of their permanent resident card.
Permanent residency card production equipment is currently being upgraded, and staff are being trained. USCIS expects to complete this process soon, but in the mean time, USCIS Field Offices will issue temporary evidence of permanent residence using an I-551 stamp to applicants approved for permanent residence.
According to the National Association of International Educators, while the Department of Labor’s new iCert Portal is in production use for LCA’s, the PERM application sectionwas not intended to be placed into use until September 1st, 2009.
But, according to an Immigration practice-area white paper from Fulbright & Jaworski, LLP, the DoL has indicated that the PERM functionality is taking longer than expected to complete, and has been delayed for an as-yet unstated amount of time.
At the Esperanza National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast on June 19th, President Obama reiterated his commitment to passing comprehensive immigration reform, including a “path to citizenship” for large numbers of illegal residents.
“We must clarify the status of millions who are here illegally, many who have put down roots,” he said. “For those who wish to become citizens, we should require them to pay a penalty and pay taxes, learn English, go to the back of the line behind those who played by the rules. That is the fair, practical, and promising way forward and that’s what I’m committed to passing as president of the United States.”
An “immigration summit” is planned between the White House and Congressional leaders Thursday of next week (June 25th).
Here is the link to watch the entire address via YouTube: Link
PERM Recruitment will be discussed, and you won’t want to miss it.
In an excellent academic article, researchers at UC Davis summarize trends in US immigration over the last quarter.
H-1B. On April 1, 2009, USCIS made H-1B visas available for FY10. There were far fewer employer requests than the 163,000 received in five days in April 2008 for FY09 visas. Some 65,000 H-1B visas, plus 20,000 for foreigners who have earned Masters and Doctorates from US universities, are available each year to profit-making employers. There is no cap on the number of H-1B visas available to nonprofit universities and research labs.
USCIS reported 32,500 requests for the 65,000 general H-1B visas in the first five days of April 2009, and almost 20,000 requests for the 20,000 for advanced degrees.
USCIS in March 2009 reported that the top recipient of H-1B visas in FY08 was Infosys Technologies, which had 4,560 H-1B petitions approved. Like Infosys, six of the top 10 users of the H-1B program were outsourcing firms that bring foreign workers into the US, usually from India, and move them from firm to firm. The largest US-based user of H-1B visas in FY08 was Microsoft, which received 1,035. The list of leading H-1B employers in FY08 was similar to that in FY07 and earlier years.
The title of the article is, “Labor: Recession, H1-B.”
In their analysis, the economic downturn in the US is changing strong recent trends in professional and technical immigration, and is illuminating long-standing arguments between immigrant-rights groups, large technical employers, and technology worker groups who make accusations of ageism and failed regulation leading to unfair hiring practices in high-tech industries.
With today’s introduction (or re-introduction, really) of two immigration-related bills in the house, it is becoming clearer that President Obama’s stated intent to address comprehensive immigration reform this year is serious.
The first piece, the reintroduced Agricultural Job Opportunities, Benefits and Security Act, or AgJOBS, presents revised immigration policy aimed at changing the relationship between Ag and farm employers and their temporary or permanent immigrant workers.
The second, the DREAM Act, first introduced in 2007, is focused on immigrant students, high-school and college, who came to the US when they were younger than 16, and have now graduated high-school and either some college or two years of military service.
It provides a path to permanent residence, and eventually, citizenship.
Both bills were reintroduced in both the Senate and the House, and both have sufficient co-sponsorship that they are viewed as having broad bipartisan support.
The text of both bills (both Senate and House versions) will be available via The Library of Congress’Thomas search engine.
With a 180-degree change of policy direction at the national level and all of our expectations of broad reforms from a new Federal administration, we often forget that there are 50 other legislatures passing laws that may affect immigrants and employers.
Here is a PDF document summarizing the record number of immigration-related state-level bills and resolutions for 2009.
“In the first quarter of 2009, state legislators in all 50 states introduced 1,040 bills and resolutions relating to immigrants and refugees. This is comparable to the record numbers of bills and resolutions introduced during the first quarter of 2008, with 44 states considering 1,149 bills and resolutions pertaining to immigrants.”
150 of those 1000-plus state laws relate to immigrant employment issues. The main areas of interest among these are employment-eligibility verification enforcement (E-Verify), immigrant eligibility for unemployment insurance, and foreign worker visas.
Among the states in the report’s list, employment was an area of broad interest, with employment-related legislation being considered in 41 of the 44 states.
USCIS announced recently that applicants may experience up to an eight week delay in the delivery of their permanent resident card.
17.2%
7.3% 
5.7%
4.9%
4.5%
2.9%
2.8%
2.7%
