Immigrate Smarter Blog
August 23, 2014
DOS Alert: China EB-5 “Unavailable” for Remainder of FY2014
by Charles Oppenheim, U.S. Department of State, Chief, Immigrant Visa Control and Reporting Division
Effective immediately Saturday, August 23, 2014 the China Employment Fifth (EB-5) preference category has become "Unavailable" for the remainder of the FY-2014. This action is necessary because the maximum level of numbers which may be made available for use by China EB-5 applicants during FY-2014 has been reached.
Department of State Processing: The establishment of a monthly cut-off or "Current" status for a numerically controlled preference category applies to those applicants who were reported documentarily qualified prior to the determination of cut-off dates and allocation of visa numbers for that month. Therefore, all China EB-5 applicants who have been scheduled for interview at an overseas post based on the original establishment of the August and September cut-off dates would have been allotted visa numbers for potential use by their case. Such applicants will not be impacted by the "Unavailability" of the China EB-5 category for the remainder of FY-2014. In this context, "Unavailable" means that no additional numbers are available for "comeback" cases originally scheduled for interview in an earlier month who are just now returning, or for those first requesting an interview. The only exception would be if a post had "otherwise unused" numbers available, because applicants either failed to appear or failed to overcome a refusal during the month (i.e., August or September) of originally scheduled interview.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Processing: USCIS offices may continue to accept and process China Employment Fifth preference cases and submit them in the normal manner. However, instead of being acted upon immediately, those cases will be held in the Visa Office's "Pending Demand" file until October 1, 2014. At that time, all eligible cases will be automatically authorized from the "Pending Demand" file under the FY-2015 annual numerical limitation. Each USCIS requesting office will receive an e-mail notification of such authorizations, which will be effective immediately.
August 5, 2014
Lack of H-1B Visas Causes Job and Wage Loss for U.S. Tech Workers
The bipartisan Partnership for a New American Economy has published a report and found that the denial of H-1B visas for foreign computer technology professionals has caused a significant loss of job and wage growth for U.S.-born tech workers. The report, entitled “Closing Economic Windows: How H 1B Visa Denials Cost U.S.-Born Tech Workers Jobs and Wages During the Great Recession,” drew on data from a naturally-occurring randomized sample: the 2007 and 2008 H 1B visa lotteries. The full report is available here, http://www.renewoureconomy.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/pnae_h1b.pdf
July 24, 2014
U.S. Database Glitch Delays Passport, Visa Processing
by SCOTT NEUMAN
The U.S. State Department's global database for processing visas and passports is experiencing problems that could cause delays for millions of people around the world who are awaiting travel documents.
The Associated Press writes:
"Unspecified glitches in the department's Consular Consolidated Database have resulted in "significant performance issues, including outages" in the processing of applications for passports, visas and reports of Americans born abroad since Saturday, spokeswoman Marie Harf said. She said the problem is worldwide and not specific to any particular country, citizenship document, or visa category."
"'We apologize to applicants and recognize this may cause hardship to applicants waiting on visas and passports. We are working to correct the issue as quickly as possible,' she said."
U.S. official said about 50,000 applications were affected in one country alone.
According to AP: "The database is the State Department's system of record and is used to approve, record and print visas and other documents to ensure that national security checks are conducted on applicants."
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/07/24/334886736/u-s-database-glitch-delays-passport-visa-processing
July 16, 2014
Break the Immigration Impasse
Sheldon Adelson, Warren Buffett and Bill Gates on Immigration Reform
By SHELDON G. ADELSON, WARREN E. BUFFETT and BILL GATES
JULY 10, 2014
AMERICAN citizens are paying 535 people to take care of the legislative needs of the country. We are getting shortchanged. Here’s an example: On June 10, an incumbent congressman in Virginia lost a primary election in which his opponent garnered only 36,105 votes. Immediately, many Washington legislators threw up their hands and declared that this one event would produce paralysis in the United States Congress for at least five months. In particular, they are telling us that immigration reform — long overdue — is now hopeless.
Americans deserve better than this.
The three of us vary in our politics and would differ also in our preferences about the details of an immigration reform bill. But we could without doubt come together to draft a bill acceptable to each of us. We hope that fact holds a lesson: You don’t have to agree on everything in order to cooperate on matters about which you are reasonably close to agreement. It’s time that this brand of thinking finds its way to Washington.
Most Americans believe that our country has a clear and present interest in enacting immigration legislation that is both humane to immigrants living here and a contribution to the well-being of our citizens. Reaching these goals is possible. Our present policy, however, fails badly on both counts.
We believe it borders on insanity to train intelligent and motivated people in our universities — often subsidizing their education — and then to deport them when they graduate. Many of these people, of course, want to return to their home country — and that’s fine. But for those who wish to stay and work in computer science or technology, fields badly in need of their services, let’s roll out the welcome mat.
A “talented graduate” reform was included in a bill that the Senate approved last year by a 68-to-32 vote. It would remove the worldwide cap on the number of visas that could be awarded to legal immigrants who had earned a graduate degree in science, technology, engineering or mathematics from an accredited institution of higher education in the United States, provided they had an offer of employment. The bill also included a sensible plan that would have allowed illegal residents to obtain citizenship, though only after they had earned the right to do so.
Americans are a forgiving and generous people, and who among us is not happy that their forebears — whatever their motivation or means of entry — made it to our soil?
For the future, the United States should take all steps to ensure that every prospective immigrant follows all rules and that people breaking these rules, including any facilitators, are severely punished. No one wants a replay of the present mess.
We also believe that America’s self-interest should be reflected in our immigration policy. For example, the EB-5 “immigrant investor program,” created by Congress in 1990, was intended to allow a limited number of foreigners with financial resources or unique abilities to move to our country, bringing with them substantial and enduring purchasing power. Reports of fraud have surfaced with this program, and we believe it should be reformed to prevent abuse but also expanded to become more effective. People willing to invest in America and create jobs deserve the opportunity to do so.
Their citizenship could be provisional — dependent, for example, on their making investments of a certain size in new businesses or homes. Expanded investments of that kind would help us jolt the demand side of our economy. These immigrants would impose minimal social costs on the United States, compared with the resources they would contribute. New citizens like these would make hefty deposits in our economy, not withdrawals.
Whatever the precise provisions of a law, it’s time for the House to draft and pass a bill that reflects both our country’s humanity and its self-interest. Differences with the Senate should be hammered out by members of a conference committee, committed to a deal.
A Congress that does nothing about these problems is extending an irrational policy by default; that is, if lawmakers don’t act to change it, it stays the way it is, irrational. The current stalemate — in which greater pride is attached to thwarting the opposition than to advancing the nation’s interests — is depressing to most Americans and virtually all of its business managers. The impasse certainly depresses the three of us.
Signs of a more productive attitude in Washington — which passage of a well-designed immigration bill would provide — might well lift spirits and thereby stimulate the economy. It’s time for 535 of America’s citizens to remember what they owe to the 318 million who employ them.
Sheldon G. Adelson is the chairman and chief executive of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation. Warren E. Buffett is the chairman and chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway. Bill Gates, former chairman and chief executive of Microsoft, is co-chairman of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
June 9, 2014
No immigration in GOP’s June plans
By: Seung Min Kim
June 6, 2014 12:52 PM EDT
The White House held off any action on deportations because it wants to give House Republicans time to act on immigration reform.
That’s not going to happen – at least in the month of June.
In a memo dated Friday, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) released legislative priorities for the GOP-led House in June. It includes items such as tax extenders, legislation aimed at improving jobs skills and government funding bills, but no immigration reform.
“As we return for our summer stretch into the swampy heat of Washington, D.C., we will continue to work on our agenda to ensure that every American has the opportunity to pursue happiness by building an America that Works,” Cantor wrote in the document.
Advocates of immigration reform both on and off the Hill have looked at this summer as the final chance for a legislative overhaul this year. Though some House Republicans are quietly working behind the scenes toward that goal, immigration reform still faces a steep uphill battle in Congress.
Cantor outlined several legislative priorities for June, including three appropriations bills (transportation, housing and urban development agencies, agriculture and defense), a handful of tax extender bills, and the SKILLS Act, which is focused on bolstering job training skills for workers.
House Republicans will also move on bills aimed at combating high gas prices – in time for the summer traveling season. And on health care, Cantor said lawmakers will be discussing policy options for an Obamacare replacement “in the weeks ahead in anticipation of additional floor action.”
And House lawmakers also plan to take up legislation to keep the Highway Trust Fund solvent, which needs to be done before the August recess, Cantor said.
© 2014 POLITICO LLC
DOS Alert: China EB-5 “Unavailable” for Remainder of FY2014
by Charles Oppenheim, U.S. Department of State, Chief, Immigrant Visa Control and Reporting Division
Effective immediately Saturday, August 23, 2014 the China Employment Fifth (EB-5) preference category has become "Unavailable" for the remainder of the FY-2014. This action is necessary because the maximum level of numbers which may be made available for use by China EB-5 applicants during FY-2014 has been reached.
Department of State Processing: The establishment of a monthly cut-off or "Current" status for a numerically controlled preference category applies to those applicants who were reported documentarily qualified prior to the determination of cut-off dates and allocation of visa numbers for that month. Therefore, all China EB-5 applicants who have been scheduled for interview at an overseas post based on the original establishment of the August and September cut-off dates would have been allotted visa numbers for potential use by their case. Such applicants will not be impacted by the "Unavailability" of the China EB-5 category for the remainder of FY-2014. In this context, "Unavailable" means that no additional numbers are available for "comeback" cases originally scheduled for interview in an earlier month who are just now returning, or for those first requesting an interview. The only exception would be if a post had "otherwise unused" numbers available, because applicants either failed to appear or failed to overcome a refusal during the month (i.e., August or September) of originally scheduled interview.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Processing: USCIS offices may continue to accept and process China Employment Fifth preference cases and submit them in the normal manner. However, instead of being acted upon immediately, those cases will be held in the Visa Office's "Pending Demand" file until October 1, 2014. At that time, all eligible cases will be automatically authorized from the "Pending Demand" file under the FY-2015 annual numerical limitation. Each USCIS requesting office will receive an e-mail notification of such authorizations, which will be effective immediately.
August 5, 2014
Lack of H-1B Visas Causes Job and Wage Loss for U.S. Tech Workers
The bipartisan Partnership for a New American Economy has published a report and found that the denial of H-1B visas for foreign computer technology professionals has caused a significant loss of job and wage growth for U.S.-born tech workers. The report, entitled “Closing Economic Windows: How H 1B Visa Denials Cost U.S.-Born Tech Workers Jobs and Wages During the Great Recession,” drew on data from a naturally-occurring randomized sample: the 2007 and 2008 H 1B visa lotteries. The full report is available here, http://www.renewoureconomy.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/pnae_h1b.pdf
July 24, 2014
U.S. Database Glitch Delays Passport, Visa Processing
by SCOTT NEUMAN
The U.S. State Department's global database for processing visas and passports is experiencing problems that could cause delays for millions of people around the world who are awaiting travel documents.
The Associated Press writes:
"Unspecified glitches in the department's Consular Consolidated Database have resulted in "significant performance issues, including outages" in the processing of applications for passports, visas and reports of Americans born abroad since Saturday, spokeswoman Marie Harf said. She said the problem is worldwide and not specific to any particular country, citizenship document, or visa category."
"'We apologize to applicants and recognize this may cause hardship to applicants waiting on visas and passports. We are working to correct the issue as quickly as possible,' she said."
U.S. official said about 50,000 applications were affected in one country alone.
According to AP: "The database is the State Department's system of record and is used to approve, record and print visas and other documents to ensure that national security checks are conducted on applicants."
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/07/24/334886736/u-s-database-glitch-delays-passport-visa-processing
July 16, 2014
Break the Immigration Impasse
Sheldon Adelson, Warren Buffett and Bill Gates on Immigration Reform
By SHELDON G. ADELSON, WARREN E. BUFFETT and BILL GATES
JULY 10, 2014
AMERICAN citizens are paying 535 people to take care of the legislative needs of the country. We are getting shortchanged. Here’s an example: On June 10, an incumbent congressman in Virginia lost a primary election in which his opponent garnered only 36,105 votes. Immediately, many Washington legislators threw up their hands and declared that this one event would produce paralysis in the United States Congress for at least five months. In particular, they are telling us that immigration reform — long overdue — is now hopeless.
Americans deserve better than this.
The three of us vary in our politics and would differ also in our preferences about the details of an immigration reform bill. But we could without doubt come together to draft a bill acceptable to each of us. We hope that fact holds a lesson: You don’t have to agree on everything in order to cooperate on matters about which you are reasonably close to agreement. It’s time that this brand of thinking finds its way to Washington.
Most Americans believe that our country has a clear and present interest in enacting immigration legislation that is both humane to immigrants living here and a contribution to the well-being of our citizens. Reaching these goals is possible. Our present policy, however, fails badly on both counts.
We believe it borders on insanity to train intelligent and motivated people in our universities — often subsidizing their education — and then to deport them when they graduate. Many of these people, of course, want to return to their home country — and that’s fine. But for those who wish to stay and work in computer science or technology, fields badly in need of their services, let’s roll out the welcome mat.
A “talented graduate” reform was included in a bill that the Senate approved last year by a 68-to-32 vote. It would remove the worldwide cap on the number of visas that could be awarded to legal immigrants who had earned a graduate degree in science, technology, engineering or mathematics from an accredited institution of higher education in the United States, provided they had an offer of employment. The bill also included a sensible plan that would have allowed illegal residents to obtain citizenship, though only after they had earned the right to do so.
Americans are a forgiving and generous people, and who among us is not happy that their forebears — whatever their motivation or means of entry — made it to our soil?
For the future, the United States should take all steps to ensure that every prospective immigrant follows all rules and that people breaking these rules, including any facilitators, are severely punished. No one wants a replay of the present mess.
We also believe that America’s self-interest should be reflected in our immigration policy. For example, the EB-5 “immigrant investor program,” created by Congress in 1990, was intended to allow a limited number of foreigners with financial resources or unique abilities to move to our country, bringing with them substantial and enduring purchasing power. Reports of fraud have surfaced with this program, and we believe it should be reformed to prevent abuse but also expanded to become more effective. People willing to invest in America and create jobs deserve the opportunity to do so.
Their citizenship could be provisional — dependent, for example, on their making investments of a certain size in new businesses or homes. Expanded investments of that kind would help us jolt the demand side of our economy. These immigrants would impose minimal social costs on the United States, compared with the resources they would contribute. New citizens like these would make hefty deposits in our economy, not withdrawals.
Whatever the precise provisions of a law, it’s time for the House to draft and pass a bill that reflects both our country’s humanity and its self-interest. Differences with the Senate should be hammered out by members of a conference committee, committed to a deal.
A Congress that does nothing about these problems is extending an irrational policy by default; that is, if lawmakers don’t act to change it, it stays the way it is, irrational. The current stalemate — in which greater pride is attached to thwarting the opposition than to advancing the nation’s interests — is depressing to most Americans and virtually all of its business managers. The impasse certainly depresses the three of us.
Signs of a more productive attitude in Washington — which passage of a well-designed immigration bill would provide — might well lift spirits and thereby stimulate the economy. It’s time for 535 of America’s citizens to remember what they owe to the 318 million who employ them.
Sheldon G. Adelson is the chairman and chief executive of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation. Warren E. Buffett is the chairman and chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway. Bill Gates, former chairman and chief executive of Microsoft, is co-chairman of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
June 9, 2014
No immigration in GOP’s June plans
By: Seung Min Kim
June 6, 2014 12:52 PM EDT
The White House held off any action on deportations because it wants to give House Republicans time to act on immigration reform.
That’s not going to happen – at least in the month of June.
In a memo dated Friday, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) released legislative priorities for the GOP-led House in June. It includes items such as tax extenders, legislation aimed at improving jobs skills and government funding bills, but no immigration reform.
“As we return for our summer stretch into the swampy heat of Washington, D.C., we will continue to work on our agenda to ensure that every American has the opportunity to pursue happiness by building an America that Works,” Cantor wrote in the document.
Advocates of immigration reform both on and off the Hill have looked at this summer as the final chance for a legislative overhaul this year. Though some House Republicans are quietly working behind the scenes toward that goal, immigration reform still faces a steep uphill battle in Congress.
Cantor outlined several legislative priorities for June, including three appropriations bills (transportation, housing and urban development agencies, agriculture and defense), a handful of tax extender bills, and the SKILLS Act, which is focused on bolstering job training skills for workers.
House Republicans will also move on bills aimed at combating high gas prices – in time for the summer traveling season. And on health care, Cantor said lawmakers will be discussing policy options for an Obamacare replacement “in the weeks ahead in anticipation of additional floor action.”
And House lawmakers also plan to take up legislation to keep the Highway Trust Fund solvent, which needs to be done before the August recess, Cantor said.
© 2014 POLITICO LLC
May 14, 2014
CNN Documentary Film by Undocumented Immigrant Soon to Air
CNN Documentary Film by Undocumented Immigrant Soon to Air
In 2011, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas outed himself as an undocumented immigrant in the New York Times Magazine. In his film DOCUMENTED, Jose chronicles his journey to America from the Philippines as a child; his journey through America as an immigration reform activist; and his journey inward as he reconnects with his mother, whom he hadn't seen in 20 years. http://documentedthefilm.com.
May 12, 2014
DHS Proposes Employment Authorization for Certain Spouses of H-1B Nonimmigrants and Others
The Department of Homeland Security will on Monday publish two highly anticipated proposed regulations that, if implemented, would allow the H-4 spouses of certain H-1B foreign nationals to seek work authorization and would extend the work authorization of E-3 and H-1B1 employees awaiting the approval of a timely-filed extension petition.
The long-awaited proposals are part of an Obama Administration initiative to attract and retain highly skilled foreign nationals in the United States.
The following are some frequently asked questions that address the impact the proposed rules could have on foreign nationals and employers.
1. Which H-4 spouses would be eligible for employment authorization?
The H-4 rule would give some – but by no means all – spouses of H-1B workers the ability to seek work authorization. When the rule takes effect, an H-4 nonimmigrant would be able to apply for employment authorization if his or her H-1B spouse (1) is the beneficiary of an approved Form I-140 immigrant worker petition; or (2) is the beneficiary of a labor certification or a Form I-140 petition that was filed on the H-1B’s behalf 365 or more days in the past and is seeking or has obtained an extension of H-1B status beyond the sixth year on the basis of his or her pending permanent residence case.
The purpose of the proposal is to encourage highly skilled H-1B workers to remain in the United States while they pursue permanent residence. The proposal recognizes that the lack of employment authorization for H-4 spouses of H-1Bs awaiting permanent residence creates hardships for families that may make it difficult for U.S. employers to retain talented employees.
2. Once the employment authorization rule takes effect, how would an H-4 obtain employment authorization?
Eligible H-4s would not receive work authorization automatically. To obtain permission to work, an eligible H-4 would be required to file a Form I-765 application for employment authorization with USCIS, along with evidence of the H-1B spouse’s qualifying permanent residence case and post-sixth year H-1B extension. USCIS is in the process of revising Form I-765 in anticipation of the implementation of the regulation.
If the I-765 application were approved, the H-4 spouse would receive a USCIS employment authorization document (EAD) valid for up to two years, though not beyond the H-4’s period of stay. The EAD would serve as evidence of eligibility to work lawfully in the United States and could be used to obtain a U.S. Social Security number.
3. How would E-3s, H-1B1s and their employers benefit from the proposed rule?
A separate rule seeks to help Australian E-3 and Chilean and Singaporean H-1B1 nonimmigrants avoid work interruption when their current period of stay expires while an extension application is pending.
The rule would give eligible E-3s and H-1B1s an additional 240 days of work authorization beyond the period specified on their Form I-94 arrival record, as long as a timely application to extend status has been filed by the employer that sponsored the most recent period of stay. Under current regulations, this 240-day extension is available to qualifying H-1B, L-1 and certain other nonimmigrants, but not to E-3s or H-1B1s.
4. When will employment authorization be available to affected foreign nationals?
Employment authorization will not become available until the proposed rules complete the federal review and approval process. According to agency officials, that could occur by the end of this year.
Currently, the rules are at the proposal stage only. DHS will accept comments from the public through July 11, 2014. After the comment period closes, DHS will consider the feedback it receives and could make changes to the regulations. The rules would then return to OMB for further review and clearance. After OMB gives its final approval, the rules would be published in the Federal Register and an implementation date would be announced.
5. How does the proposed rule affect immigrant worker petitions for outstanding professors and researchers?
DHS is proposing to formally expand the types of evidence that employers can submit to support a Form I-140 immigrant worker petition for an EB-1 outstanding professor or researcher. Current agency regulations list specific types of evidence that an employer can submit to demonstrate that the beneficiary qualifies for this EB-1 subcategory, but does not clearly allow other comparable evidence. The proposed change will make the evidence standards for an outstanding professor or researcher comparable with those of other EB-1 subcategories.
DHS Proposes Employment Authorization for Certain Spouses of H-1B Nonimmigrants and Others
The Department of Homeland Security will on Monday publish two highly anticipated proposed regulations that, if implemented, would allow the H-4 spouses of certain H-1B foreign nationals to seek work authorization and would extend the work authorization of E-3 and H-1B1 employees awaiting the approval of a timely-filed extension petition.
The long-awaited proposals are part of an Obama Administration initiative to attract and retain highly skilled foreign nationals in the United States.
The following are some frequently asked questions that address the impact the proposed rules could have on foreign nationals and employers.
1. Which H-4 spouses would be eligible for employment authorization?
The H-4 rule would give some – but by no means all – spouses of H-1B workers the ability to seek work authorization. When the rule takes effect, an H-4 nonimmigrant would be able to apply for employment authorization if his or her H-1B spouse (1) is the beneficiary of an approved Form I-140 immigrant worker petition; or (2) is the beneficiary of a labor certification or a Form I-140 petition that was filed on the H-1B’s behalf 365 or more days in the past and is seeking or has obtained an extension of H-1B status beyond the sixth year on the basis of his or her pending permanent residence case.
The purpose of the proposal is to encourage highly skilled H-1B workers to remain in the United States while they pursue permanent residence. The proposal recognizes that the lack of employment authorization for H-4 spouses of H-1Bs awaiting permanent residence creates hardships for families that may make it difficult for U.S. employers to retain talented employees.
2. Once the employment authorization rule takes effect, how would an H-4 obtain employment authorization?
Eligible H-4s would not receive work authorization automatically. To obtain permission to work, an eligible H-4 would be required to file a Form I-765 application for employment authorization with USCIS, along with evidence of the H-1B spouse’s qualifying permanent residence case and post-sixth year H-1B extension. USCIS is in the process of revising Form I-765 in anticipation of the implementation of the regulation.
If the I-765 application were approved, the H-4 spouse would receive a USCIS employment authorization document (EAD) valid for up to two years, though not beyond the H-4’s period of stay. The EAD would serve as evidence of eligibility to work lawfully in the United States and could be used to obtain a U.S. Social Security number.
3. How would E-3s, H-1B1s and their employers benefit from the proposed rule?
A separate rule seeks to help Australian E-3 and Chilean and Singaporean H-1B1 nonimmigrants avoid work interruption when their current period of stay expires while an extension application is pending.
The rule would give eligible E-3s and H-1B1s an additional 240 days of work authorization beyond the period specified on their Form I-94 arrival record, as long as a timely application to extend status has been filed by the employer that sponsored the most recent period of stay. Under current regulations, this 240-day extension is available to qualifying H-1B, L-1 and certain other nonimmigrants, but not to E-3s or H-1B1s.
4. When will employment authorization be available to affected foreign nationals?
Employment authorization will not become available until the proposed rules complete the federal review and approval process. According to agency officials, that could occur by the end of this year.
Currently, the rules are at the proposal stage only. DHS will accept comments from the public through July 11, 2014. After the comment period closes, DHS will consider the feedback it receives and could make changes to the regulations. The rules would then return to OMB for further review and clearance. After OMB gives its final approval, the rules would be published in the Federal Register and an implementation date would be announced.
5. How does the proposed rule affect immigrant worker petitions for outstanding professors and researchers?
DHS is proposing to formally expand the types of evidence that employers can submit to support a Form I-140 immigrant worker petition for an EB-1 outstanding professor or researcher. Current agency regulations list specific types of evidence that an employer can submit to demonstrate that the beneficiary qualifies for this EB-1 subcategory, but does not clearly allow other comparable evidence. The proposed change will make the evidence standards for an outstanding professor or researcher comparable with those of other EB-1 subcategories.
May 7, 2014
Saying 'No Thanks' to 87,500 High-Skill Workers
Raising the cap on three-year H-1B visas would mean a boon for American companies.
Wall Street Journal
By M. J. LAWLER And M. STOCK
The Obama administration announced on Tuesday that if holders of H-1B visas for high-skill foreign workers are being sponsored for a green card by their employers, then their spouses will be able to work in the U.S.
That's nice for those families, but the news didn't begin to address the real problem with the administration's H-1B visa policy: There aren't nearly enough visas. On April 1 the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services was deluged with 172,500 applications for H-1B visas that became available that day. But there were twice as many applications as spaces available because Congress allows only 85,000 of the three-year visas to be issued annually. Given that the application fee ranges between $1,575 and $2,500, if the average fee is $2,000, when the U.S. sends rejections to 87,500 H-1B applicants it will also be refunding about $175 million. In other words, the U.S. will be saying: Thanks for all that cash, and thanks for offering to bring your talents to this country, but no thanks.
In a country that supposedly values the free market, why are companies like Apple, Google, Intel and scores of others being denied the workers they need to compete in the global economy?
The alternative for some big companies is more outsourcing. Microsoft hasn't waited for Congress to get its act together to authorize more visas. It set up a Canadian company to employ the foreign software engineers it would have brought to the U.S., and Canada will now benefit from those workers' salaries, tax payments and spending.
Other software companies are now setting up operations in China, Poland and Hungary, and hiring foreign professionals there because they cannot be assured of an adequate number of high-skill workers in the U.S. In February 2011 Steve Jobs told President Obama that Apple employs thousands of engineers in China that it would like to employ in the U.S. But with a congressionally imposed quota, the jobs will stay overseas and the loss to the U.S. economy will be significant.
While larger companies can send work to their subsidiaries offshore, startups and smaller companies often do not have the funds to do that. Instead, they depend on an inadequate pool of U.S. high-skilled workers and a few H-1B workers, if they win the visa lottery.
Some claim there is no shortage of science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) workers, and that U.S. companies hire foreign employees to be "indentured workers" who can be paid low wages. In 2012, David North of the Center for Immigration Studies said, "It is well known that many H-1B workers are, in effect, indentured by employers who had filed to obtain green cards for them—they are nominally free to leave, but it can be hard to keep your resident alien application alive after leaving the employer who set it in motion." While this spin may stir emotions, it is flat-out wrong. In 1991 a complex system of interconnected laws and regulations was enacted requiring H-1B workers to be paid the prevailing wage and provided with working conditions equal to those of U.S. workers.
The Labor Department must certify, through a formal process, that H-1B wages are appropriate. Public notices of the jobs, including the wages, must be posted at the work site. The notices must contain specific information about filing a complaint challenging the wage and working conditions. Once the certification is issued, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services conducts a thorough review of the entire case, including details about the employer, employees and positions.
There are also unannounced spot-check investigations, verifying that the workers are at the location they claimed and paid the proper wages. There have been few complaints of employers not paying the proper wages to H-1B employees; 90% of violations involve paperwork problems. When a foreign national applies for an H-1B visa at a U.S. consulate, the engineer or scientist must present payroll records proving payment of the wage certified by the Labor Department and approved by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Without the proof, the visas are denied.
Because Congress is dysfunctional, the Obama administration should take action on its own. When workers become permanent residents via marriage to a U.S. citizen or company sponsorship, or the worker moves back home, the remaining time on their H-1B temporary visa goes to waste. The administration should permit the recapture of H-1B visas that are no longer needed and put them back into the pool for new employees. This could add tens of thousands of H-1B visas for engineers and scientists.
Congress should also tear down the arbitrary H-1B quota limit. We need these eager workers to help U.S. companies build the next generation of high-tech batteries and solar cells, better defenses against cyberattack, and the next Apple, Google or Intel. One would think our arbitrary H-1B quota and lottery system was created by our competitors in China, not our own Congress.
Saying 'No Thanks' to 87,500 High-Skill Workers
Raising the cap on three-year H-1B visas would mean a boon for American companies.
Wall Street Journal
By M. J. LAWLER And M. STOCK
The Obama administration announced on Tuesday that if holders of H-1B visas for high-skill foreign workers are being sponsored for a green card by their employers, then their spouses will be able to work in the U.S.
That's nice for those families, but the news didn't begin to address the real problem with the administration's H-1B visa policy: There aren't nearly enough visas. On April 1 the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services was deluged with 172,500 applications for H-1B visas that became available that day. But there were twice as many applications as spaces available because Congress allows only 85,000 of the three-year visas to be issued annually. Given that the application fee ranges between $1,575 and $2,500, if the average fee is $2,000, when the U.S. sends rejections to 87,500 H-1B applicants it will also be refunding about $175 million. In other words, the U.S. will be saying: Thanks for all that cash, and thanks for offering to bring your talents to this country, but no thanks.
In a country that supposedly values the free market, why are companies like Apple, Google, Intel and scores of others being denied the workers they need to compete in the global economy?
The alternative for some big companies is more outsourcing. Microsoft hasn't waited for Congress to get its act together to authorize more visas. It set up a Canadian company to employ the foreign software engineers it would have brought to the U.S., and Canada will now benefit from those workers' salaries, tax payments and spending.
Other software companies are now setting up operations in China, Poland and Hungary, and hiring foreign professionals there because they cannot be assured of an adequate number of high-skill workers in the U.S. In February 2011 Steve Jobs told President Obama that Apple employs thousands of engineers in China that it would like to employ in the U.S. But with a congressionally imposed quota, the jobs will stay overseas and the loss to the U.S. economy will be significant.
While larger companies can send work to their subsidiaries offshore, startups and smaller companies often do not have the funds to do that. Instead, they depend on an inadequate pool of U.S. high-skilled workers and a few H-1B workers, if they win the visa lottery.
Some claim there is no shortage of science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) workers, and that U.S. companies hire foreign employees to be "indentured workers" who can be paid low wages. In 2012, David North of the Center for Immigration Studies said, "It is well known that many H-1B workers are, in effect, indentured by employers who had filed to obtain green cards for them—they are nominally free to leave, but it can be hard to keep your resident alien application alive after leaving the employer who set it in motion." While this spin may stir emotions, it is flat-out wrong. In 1991 a complex system of interconnected laws and regulations was enacted requiring H-1B workers to be paid the prevailing wage and provided with working conditions equal to those of U.S. workers.
The Labor Department must certify, through a formal process, that H-1B wages are appropriate. Public notices of the jobs, including the wages, must be posted at the work site. The notices must contain specific information about filing a complaint challenging the wage and working conditions. Once the certification is issued, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services conducts a thorough review of the entire case, including details about the employer, employees and positions.
There are also unannounced spot-check investigations, verifying that the workers are at the location they claimed and paid the proper wages. There have been few complaints of employers not paying the proper wages to H-1B employees; 90% of violations involve paperwork problems. When a foreign national applies for an H-1B visa at a U.S. consulate, the engineer or scientist must present payroll records proving payment of the wage certified by the Labor Department and approved by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Without the proof, the visas are denied.
Because Congress is dysfunctional, the Obama administration should take action on its own. When workers become permanent residents via marriage to a U.S. citizen or company sponsorship, or the worker moves back home, the remaining time on their H-1B temporary visa goes to waste. The administration should permit the recapture of H-1B visas that are no longer needed and put them back into the pool for new employees. This could add tens of thousands of H-1B visas for engineers and scientists.
Congress should also tear down the arbitrary H-1B quota limit. We need these eager workers to help U.S. companies build the next generation of high-tech batteries and solar cells, better defenses against cyberattack, and the next Apple, Google or Intel. One would think our arbitrary H-1B quota and lottery system was created by our competitors in China, not our own Congress.