February 4, 2012 – Kansas Bill Would to Give Jobs to Undocumented Immigrants
The Kansas legislature introduced a bill that would allow some undocumented immigrants to work in industries that are facing worker shortages. The Kansas Business, Workers, Communities Partnership Act would create a state program that grants employment authorization to local undocumented immigrants who are considered to be a low-priority for deportation. Critics argue that there is no legal way to hire such workers, but the coalition claims they have a creative approach. Read the full story here here...

February 3, 2012 – US Proposes Changes in F-1 & H-1B Visas to Attract More Foreign Skilled Workers
The United States announced it will make changes in the F-1 and H-1B visas, which will likely benefit professionals from countries such as India. Changes would include providing work authorization for spouses of H-1B visa holders, 17-month extension of optional practical training (OPT) for F-1 international students to include students with a prior degree in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, allow for additional part-time study for spouses of F-1 students, and allow outstanding professors and researchers to present a broader scope of evidence of academic achievement. Read the full story here..

February 2, 2012 – President Obama Plans to End Country-Specific Immigrant Caps
President Obama’s small-business growth plan includes a proposal to eliminate country-specific caps for certain immigrant visa categories. Business groups, particularly in the technology sector, have complained for years about the caps, which they say prevent them from hiring skilled workers and growing their companies in the United States. Obama told reporters on Tuesday that he expects Congress to pass a bill this year. Read the full story here...

February 1, 2012 – Business Groups to Propose New Program for Illegal Immigrants to Stay in US to Fill Labor Shortages
A coalition of business groups will propose Kansas start a new program to help some illegal immigrants remain in the state so they can hold down jobs in agriculture and other industries with labor shortages, coalition representatives disclosed Tuesday. Backers of the proposal believe their new program would be helpful to commercial dairies and feedlots in western Kansas, as well as landscaping, roofing and some construction businesses. Read the full story here...

January 31, 2012 – Homeland Security Chief Janet Napolitano Calls for Immigration Overhaul
Napolitano criticized Congress for failing to pass the DREAM Act last year, which would have allowed undocumented immigrant children who were brought to the U.S. at a young age and grew up here to become citizens if they went to college or joined the military. The Obama administration has been at odds with a number of states, including Arizona, Alabama, and Georgia, because of strict, new immigration laws in those states. Read the full story here...

January 30, 2012 – Tennessee Supreme Court to Rule on Whether Sheriff Can Investigate Immigration Status of Jail Inmates
A Nashville immigration attorney filed a lawsuit in 2011 on behalf of individuals affected by a partnership between the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that allows the sheriff to investigate the immigration status of jail inmates and determine whether to turn them over for federal deportation proceedings. The Tennessee Supreme Court will decide the question whether correctional officers in Nashville and Davidson County are lawfully performing immigration enforcement duties, and whether many local citizens who enter the jail system are subjected to unlawful investigations. Read the full story here...

January 27, 2012 – Proposed U.S. House Bill Would Win Citizenship for Illegal Immigrants in the Military
Freshman Republican Congressman Rep. David Rivera (R-Fla.) is proposing a bill to give illegal immigrants a path to citizenship through military service. “If these young people are willing to die for America, then certainly they deserve a chance at life in America,” Rivera said in a statement. Potential applicants would have to serve at least two years in active-duty or four years in the reserves and would have to demonstrate “good moral conduct.” Read the full story here...

January 25, 2012 – President Obama’s Executive Order Promoting Ease of Visa Processing
The President issued an executive order on January 19, 2012 aimed at improving the processing of US visas which would create jobs and promote economic growth. Read the Executive Order here..

October 24, 2011 – USCIS Publishes Questions and Answers During AILA Liaison Meeting Held October 7, 2011
The US Citizenship & Immigration Service (USCIS) published a document containing answers to questions posed to it by the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) during a liaison meeting held on October 7, 2011. Most notably the questions posed included whether the USCIS will be utelizing correct standard of proof that it must apply when adjudicating petitions filed before it including non immigrant and immigrant visa petitions alike. The immigration community had bitterly complained that the USCIS applies an evidentiary burden of proof that is much higher than the “preponderance of the evidence” (which translates to more likely than not – 51% evidence proving a point) standard provided by law. The USCIS responded that it is currently revisiting its training procedures to make certain that adjudicating officers are aware of the correct standard of proof. The Q&As also included an extremely relevant discussion regarding whether a change in an H-1B visa beneficiary’s location of employment triggers the filing of an amended H-1B visa petition. Interestingly, USCIS did not have an answer to that. The Q&As also have a pointed question regarding the problems in adjudicating L-1B visa petitions. The document is worth reading as it touches on many other areas including K fiancé visa dependents and many more. Read the Q&A document here..

October 21, 2011 – The Administrative Appeals Office Reverses USCIS Decision on I-601 Waiver Application finding Extreme Hardship
It is extremely difficult if almost impossible to obtain approval for an I-601 waiver of inadmissibility before the USCIS. In this case, the foreign national initially entered the US using a forged passport. Upon marrying a US Citizen, her lawyer filed a petition with the USCIS and an I-601 waiver of the inadmissibility since he used the forged passport to enter the US arguing extreme hardship. The AAO stated that the foreign national did in fact show hardship and that the financial, medical, psychological considerations demonstrated extreme hardship to the US Citizen spouse thereby warranting favorable adjudication of the I-601 waiver. This is certainly a great success as the unpublished decision includes a lot of good legal arguments to use in like cases. In addition, the decision provides a road map for documenting similar cases.

October 20, 2011 – USCIS Restores Prior Procedure to Mail Approval Notices to Attorneys instead to Employers
Earlier in October, USCIS announced that it is reversing its procedure established now for several decades to mail I-129 approval notices to the employers directly. Immigration lawyers vehemently objected to this rule as it is likely to cause a lot of problems for attorneys and their clients. Today, USICS announced that it is restoring the prior rule. Read USCIS Press Release here..

June 2, 2011 – Governor Cuomo of New York Suspends the Controversial Secure Communities Program
Secure Communities Program is an ill fated invention by the federal government which is designed to create cooperation between State and Local law enforcement agencies and the Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) for the apprehension of criminal aliens. Unfortunately, this program has been a complete failure as it resulted in a chilling effect among many immigrant communities from cooperating with the government. Governor Cuomo has decided to suspend this controversial program. Gus Shihab, former Chair of the Ohio Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association has recently written a letter to the Governor of the State of Ohio in which he urged Governor Kasich to also suspend this program. Read the news article on Governor Cuomo’s suspension of Secure Communities Program in New York here..

March 16, 2011 – USCIS Announces Interim Procedure for H-1B Cap exemption Based on Relation of Affiliation with Institutions of Higher Learning
Non-profit organizations that are related to or affiliated with institutions of higher learning are exempt from the H-1B visa cap. Today, the USCIS stated that any such non-profit organizations which received a determination since June 6, 2006 that it is related to or affiliated to an institution of higher learning will continue to receive such determination for an interim period. For more information contact our law firm.

March 15, 2011 – USCIS Published Settlement Agreement for Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) classification Pursuant to Perez-Olano et. Al v. Holder
The USCIS announced that it reached a settlement agreement for a certain class of Juveniles to apply for immigration status based on having been abused, abandoned, or neglected. The affected class of Juveniles applied on or after May 13, 2005 had their immigrant visa petitions denied previously. To benefit from the settlement, affected juveniles must file a Motion to Reopen (with a fee waiver) of their denied I-360 and/or I-485 applications to Adjust Status. The settlement agreement aging out juveniles. For more information contact our law firm. NOTICE FOR SPECIAL IMMIGRANT JUVENILES

February 14, 2011 – US Department of State Releases April 2011 Visa Bulletin
Today the US Department of State the April Visa Bulletin in which the employment second and third preference categories showed slight improvements. However, the family based first preference showed significant retrogression. The most significant improvement in the employment based preference immigrant visa priority dates was the elimination of the Dominican Republic in April which suggests that all priority dates are now current. You can view the April Visa Bulletin here…..

December 6, 2010 – USCIS Publishes Notes From Employment Verification Stakeholder’s Meeting
Today the USCIS posted on its website notes from a Stakeholder’s meeting held November 2, 2010 meeting in which the USCIS announced that it is in the preliminary stages of redesigning form I-9. The notes include a long list of changes suggested by the participants in the Stakeholders meeting. With I-9 enforcement investigations and audits sharply on the rise, having a deep understanding of the employment verification program will become increasingly important in the next few years. Read the stakeholder meeting notes here…..

November 19, 2010 – American Civil Liberties Union Files Lawsuit Against ICE, Leigh County, and Allentown, PA for Erroneously Detaining A US Citizen
The ACLU filed lawsuit on November 19, 2010 against Immigration & Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) which is the immigration enforcement apparatus of the Department of Homeland Security, Leigh County, PA and Allentown PA alleging that a US Citizen of Puerto Rican birth was detained for 3 days because of his apparent Hispanic appearance. The complaint alleges that since Allentown and ICE had held a joint practice of detaining aliens suspected of being “subject to deportation” and in the process they detained a US Citizen for three days. Way to go ACLU. Read the complaint by clicking here…..

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