Immigration Blog Archives - Page 34 of 39 - VISANOW Global Immigration

4 Travel Mistakes That Could Endanger Your U.S. Visa Status

By Jenny Terlinden|2013-11-11T11:18:31+00:00June 11, 2013|

Here at VISANOW we always request that clients with a non-immigrant U.S. visa tell us about their international travel plans. We then evaluate their situations and advise accordingly. Here are four common travel-related mistakes to avoid when traveling internationally:

1. Leaving the United States while a U.S. visa application is pending

USCIS has various rules for visa applicants inside the U.S. that determine if they may or may not travel internationally while USCIS adjudicates their petitions. It’s recommended that you always check with your immigration attorneys before traveling abroad”they can advise you on any specific procedures you might need to follow and any special documentation you should bring. Each situation is unique and you should be sure that you do not put your visa petition at risk.

2. Not checking the U.S. visa appointment or processing wait time

Each U.S. consulate abroad has different appointment wait times and visa stamp processing times. For an updated wait time estimate, please visit the U.S. Department of State’s website at http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/wait/wait_4638.html. You should also familiarize yourself with the procedure to have your passport returned to you”will you be able to pick it up in person? Will you need to wait for it to be mailed to you? You can review the information located at the website of the U.S. consulate that you will be visiting. A list of websites may be found at http://www.usembassy.gov/. Be sure to plan enough time for you to get the visa stamp before your flight back to the U.S.

3. Re-entering the U.S. on an old visa stamp

Even if you have a valid visa stamp, you might need to get an updated visa stamp before reentering the U.S. Typically, when individuals enter on an old visa stamp from a previous employer, the immigration officer will stamp the new I-94 with that visa stamp’s expiration date, even if the individual has a more-recent I-797 approval notice. It’s better to get a new visa stamp with the new expiration date so that one has the maximum validity period for the new I-94 (and therefore, more time to be in valid status in the U.S.).

4. Exiting immigration without checking your new U.S. visa stamp

Sometimes immigration officers make mistakes. The easiest time to get these mistakes corrected is right after they happen while you are still at the immigration desk. Even though it feels uncomfortable to stand in front of an immigration officer, always double check that the correct dates and annotations are listed when the officer stamps your passport. The new electronic I-9 procedure should help reduce the incidence of errors, but it’s best to make sure that everything is in order before exiting immigration so your U.S. visa status is not in jeopardy.

Comprehensive Immigration Reform: Debate in the Senate Begins

By VISANOW Contributor|2013-10-31T20:04:55+00:00June 10, 2013|

Debate in the Senate Begins on Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill

On Friday June 7, Majority Leader Harry Reid (Democrat) made the required motion for the Senate to proceed with debate on the Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill (“S.744). After Majority Leader Reid spoke, those Senators who are opposed to the bill began their critiques.

However, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Republican) has said Republican leaders will not object to the motion for the bill to move to the Senate floor for debate.

What is the next step?

Once a bill is brought to the Senate floor, the amount of time planned for debate and amendments is usually determined between the Majority and Minority leaders, taking into account things like the bill’s complexity, interest among the Senators, significance, and the other matters before the Senate.

Majority Leader Reid hopes to close debate on the bill by the July 4th recess. Considering the many amendments offered in Senate committee and statements made by many Senators, the debate will likely be intense.

How many votes are needed to pass the bill in the Senate?

The bill may require the senators to agree to close the debate, known as “cloture. Under Senate rules, cloture requires 3/5 of the Senate, or 60 votes, to pass. In 2010, the “DREAM Act legislation failed because the Senate could not agree to close debate. For the bill itself to pass, it requires only a majority of the Senators voting.

What happens if the Senate passes the bill?

If the Senate passes the bill, it will be sent to the House of Representatives. Members of the House may introduce the same bill with small changes, or their own bill.

If the House passes a bill that is different from the Senate bill, the two bills must be reconciled. The reconciliation would be assigned to a committee of appointed Senators and members of the House of Representatives who would then be tasked with drafting a compromise bill.

Stay tuned to our blog for breaking news on the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill!

A Brief History of Illegal Immigration

By VISANOW Contributor|2015-07-15T14:04:54+00:00June 7, 2013|

Anyone following the news in U.S. immigration knows that having the right vocabulary when discussing immigrants is crucial. The world “illegal has been used for years to describe a person who is residing in the United States without proper authorization from the government. As the debate on immigration has evolved, the term “illegal immigrant is becoming much rarer, as many have deemed it not only incorrect (a human being cannot be “illegal” only their actions can be) but also offensive and dehumanizing. Pro-immigrant organizations have begged media outlets and public figures to “Drop the I-Word and use the term “undocumented or “unauthorized when describing an actual person.

Do a Twitter keyword search on “illegal immigrant” and you will find it almost impossible to avoid seeing hateful, racist comments. Check the online comments section of any straightforward, non-partisan news article about immigration and you will see shocking extremes of malicious (and often misguided, misinformed, and misspelled) comments about “illegals and “illegal immigrants and how they are ruining this country. Anonymous Internet hate exists in almost every political or social discussion presented online, but the emotions triggered by concept of “illegal immigrants are remarkable.

In order to better understand where this fear, distrust, and hate originates, it helps to understand how the concept of illegal immigration came about in the first place.

The Beginning of Illegal Immigration: A Nation of Undocumented Immigrants

A true nation of immigrants, the United States had no federal laws restricting immigration until the late 1800s. In its first century of existence, the U.S. grew from a steady stream of western European immigrants as well as Africans who were forced to come as slaves. It was universally acknowledged that immigrants were good for business: the United States was growing rapidly and there was an endless demand for laborers. Unless the government could prove you were a serious criminal, you were essentially free to immigrate to the U.S. with no inquiry or intervention from authorities.

The first organized movements to push for serious immigration restrictions coincided with the Irish and German immigrant influx of the mid-1800s. Citizens felt threatened by their strange religious practices (Roman Catholicism), attachment to their native language, and their lack of education and economic status (many were farmers whose crops had failed.) In 1882, the first federal law to restrict immigration based on country of origin was passed: The Chinese Exclusion Act. The act marked the first time the U.S. government intervened in immigration policy, and it opened the floodgates for the passage of many more immigration restrictions that targeted specific groups. It is no coincidence that the Chinese were one of the first non-European groups to immigrate willingly en masse to the U.S., and they were also the first immigrant group to experience federally sanctioned racism and hostility. The demand for Chinese labor did not dissipate with the passage of this law, and the Chinese continued to immigrate (albeit in reduced numbers) creating a new “underclass of immigrants that had to hide from the law. Despite all of the hysteria about the Chinese, it is interesting to note that before the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed, they made up only 3% of annual immigrants to the U.S. The act was not repealed until 1943.

20^th Century: Quotas and Deportations

At the beginning of the 20^th century, immigration restrictions began to focus on the Japanese as well. In the 1910s the Quota Act was passed to restrict immigration more specifically by country. Despite all of this, immigrants were arriving on U.S. shores in full force from all over the world, and by 1920 nearly 13% of the United States population was foreign-born.

From the 1920s until today, Mexican immigrants have been the backbone of the U.S. agriculture industry. In 1942 the Bracero Program was introduced to bring in millions of Mexican farmworkers while the U.S. was short on farm laborers during World War II. The program was a huge boost to U.S. agriculture profits, but that didn’t stop INS from deporting and abusing millions of documented and undocumented Mexican immigrants from 1954-1964 in an INS program called Operation Wetback (yes, that’s its real name.)

The next big piece of immigration legislation didn’t arrive until the Immigrant and Nationality Act of 1965, which repealed country of origin restrictions in the Quota Act and turned the immigration focus on job skills and family reunification. The Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) passed in 1986 to allow the 4 million or so undocumented immigrants in the U.S. a path the legal status and citizenship.

21^st Century: The Choice to Move Backward or Forward

As it has been throughout history, many recent U.S. immigration laws still tend to be reactionary to current events and xenophobic fears. Concerns about rising unemployment and terrorism have been at the forefront of the new immigration debate. What logically works best for the U.S. economy, innovation, and overall growth has sometimes been sacrificed in order to appeal to certain voters’ most basic fears and lack of understanding about immigration. The state of Arizona, a part of Mexico until 1848, is famous for recently passing a law that targets Mexicans and other Latinos, requiring legal immigrants to have their papers on them at all times and allowing police to question anyone who looks “reasonably suspect of being undocumented.

Hopefully 2013 will be a banner year in U.S. immigration history with the expected passage of a large-scale immigration reform bill that will bring about a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Current opponents of immigration reform vehemently insist that race and country of origin have nothing to do with their anti-immigrant stance, but U.S. history tells us something different. The names and faces may have changed, but the story remains the same. The issue is not the people breaking the law, but the laws themselves. Anti-immigrant advocates like to reassure themselves that undocumented immigrants are lawbreakers of the worst kind and thus deserve no rights, but what if the laws were racist and possibly unfair in the first place? The best solution would be to move forward in time, not backward by changing the law to create a more robust, accepting, and economically stable nation.

H-1B Workers and Employment at Client Sites

By VISANOW Contributor|2017-03-24T16:11:54+00:00June 5, 2013|

Do you place any of your H-1B employees at client sites or have them telecommute from home?

If so, please be sure to read the below post about important developments related to these types of employment.

Recently, the California Service Center of the USCIS issued a fresh attack on the consulting and staffing industries as a whole. This is the latest step in an increasing litany of H-1B revocations that practitioners are seeing these days.

H-1B workers: changing job locations

Many consulting companies place their H-1B employees at third-party client sites. Frequently, these H-1B workers change projects, end clients or relocate to a different client site during their H-1B validity period.

Pursuant to previous USCIS guidance, we have advised that when there is a change in the job location, but all of the other terms of an H-1B petition remain valid (including title, duties, and salary), then the petitioning employer only needs to file a new LCA for the new job location(s) and ensure that the proper posting and compliance for each new LCA has been performed.

New considerations for filing H-1B amendments

In recent discussions with the California Service Center, it has become apparent that the CSC is starting to consider a change in the job location a “material change and, as a result, requiring an H-1B amendment to be filed.

Case in point, one practitioner reported a revocation for an IT consultant who changed worksite and did not file an amended petition. In this case, a new LCA was properly filed for the new worksite before the work began. The revocation stated that for IT consultants going from one assignment to another, it is not a mere change in location but a material change since the end client must confirm the details of the beneficiary’s placement.

Next steps for employers of H-1B workers

The takeaways from this revocation are:

It is not the location that is the material change but the end client.
USCIS is heading in the direction of requiring IT consulting firms to file amended petitions for each change in assignment.

However, the Vermont Service Center has not yet adopted the California Service Center’s approach. If the USCIS as a whole pursues these types of revocations, there will be profound repercussions on the consulting industry. Filing amended H-1B petitions for each change in project or work location is a substantial burden on employers.

Given the recent trend, our recommendation is that, if at all possible (and we fully realize that it may not be practical), H-1B amendment petitions should be filed when there is a change of job location (including working from home) for petitions filed with the California Service Center. Due to this trend in review we believe it is safer to also file petitions with the Vermont Service Center.

If you have any questions about the impact of the CSC’s recent actions, or about your H-1B employment process, please contact us or get connected on Facebook and Twitter.

Diversity Visas & the Green Card Lottery: Who Needs Them?

By VISANOW Contributor|2013-11-11T11:19:34+00:00June 4, 2013|

If the Senate’s comprehensive immigration reform bill passes as it currently stands, the diversity visa, known better by some as the Green Card Lottery, will be one of the visa programs to be cancelled. The diversity visa program enjoys a wonderful reputation outside of the United States because of the hope and opportunity it has provided millions of immigrants over three decades. Most United States citizens are not familiar with the program, so they have not seen the benefit not just to foreigners, but to the country as a whole. It would be a great disappointment if the diversity visa lottery were eliminated, especially considering all of the other immigrant groups that are being provided for in the immigration bill.

Large immigrant groups that stand to benefit in the Senate bill include undocumented immigrants, highly skilled foreign nationals, and desperately needed farmworkers. There are also provisions for very specialized groups. 20,000 employment-based visas are set aside for meat processing workers thanks to lobbying from North Carolina Senator Lindsay Graham. 10,500 visas are included for Irish immigrants with a high school diploma or higher at the request of New York Senator Chuck Schumer. Florida’s Senator Marco Rubio has added visas for cruise ship repair workers and temporary disaster relief workers, who could work in the U.S. when a tropical storm or hurricane strikes. Sen. Michael Bennet has requested high-skilled visas for ski instructors for his home state of Colorado. Countries such as Canada, Poland, South Korea, and Ireland have hired lobbyists or relied on their ambassadors to bargain for influence in the formation of the immigration bill. The list of specialized or little-known immigrant groups receiving benefits in the bill goes on.

When compared to many other U.S. visa programs and immigration reform proposals, the diversity visa program is tiny in scale. 55,000 applicants from all over the world are selected at random for the privilege to apply for a U.S. green card. Almost 8 million people applied last year, with the applicant pool peaking at almost 14 million in 2008. Currently diversity visas account for 5% of all green cards issued per year.

Diversity visas don’t select for skills, education, or wealth, so what are their value to the United States?

The Diversity visa lottery is truly a random lottery, with the only application requirement being a high school diploma or two years of work experience. Applying to the lottery is completely free and is done entirely through the U.S. Dept. of State website. Applicants don’t even need to speak English. To some Americans, the relative lack of discretion in choosing winners is upsetting. Many argue that the diversity visa lottery adds little value to the economy because of the lack of selectivity in the application, which has not been proven. Even if an immigrant isn’t highly skilled, he or she has to prove they are motivated to come here and succeed by jumping through several hoops to get approved, as well as leave most of their friends and family behind in their home country.

The requirements for applying to the lottery are simple and lenient, but winning the lottery is almost impossible, and much higher discrimination is enacted on the applicants after they have been selected as winners. Any given diversity visa applicant will have less than a ½ of 1% chance of winning the lottery, though it varies by country of origin. And even if they are lucky enough to win, the applicant must go through the complicated process of getting approved for the green card. Screening for health, criminal, terrorist, and/or national security issues is a key part of the U.S. government’s diversity visa approval process. The costs to procure a green card total over of USD$1,700, not including travel to consulates, time spent gathering evidence, and possible legal assistance. This is a hardship for many winners, which explains why in countries such as Senegal, the rate of successful procurement of green cards after winning the lottery is only about 14%. Another important element of the program is that if the winner fails to obtain their visa within one year of winning the lottery, their entry is voided and they are no longer eligible to come to the United States.

Do diversity visas use up U.S. government resources that could be used on other immigrant visas?

No. Many assume the green card lottery monopolizes resources used to process other types of more “significant visas. The fact is that diversity visas are processed completely separately from family-based and employment visas, so they are not contributing to the backlog. One of the reasons diversity visas seem to be processed more quickly than other types is because of the 1-year deadline imposed on all green card lottery winners. The program is also extremely cost-effective: the fees imposed on the immigrants obtaining diversity green cards pay for the diversity visa program.

Which countries benefit from the diversity visa program?

Application to the diversity visa lottery is restricted to immigrants from countries that have low levels of immigration, and most of its winners currently hail from Africa, Eastern Europe, and more recently, central Asia. This can change from year to year, as each country’s eligibility is determined by having less than 50,000 immigrants to the United States (not including refugees or asylum-seekers) cumulatively over the last 5 years, with no single country being allowed more than 7% of the total visas. Many of these countries contain citizens with little to no connection to the United States, yet they are ready and willing to move halfway around the world for a chance to make something of themselves in the land of opportunity.

African and African-American groups have historically supported the diversity visa lottery because it is one of the primary avenues for African immigrants to obtain legal residence in the U.S. From the time of the U.S. abolition of slavery in the 1860s all the way until the diversity visa program was implemented in the early 1990s, immigration from Africa to the United States was almost nonexistent. Since 1995, approximately 50% of all diversity visa lottery visa winners have been from Africa. There is no other visa program in the U.S. that supports African immigration as the diversity visa program does, nor will there be if the current reform bill passes.

Won’t the new bill still consider “diversity visa-type applicants even if the program is eliminated?

The solution proposed by the Senate Gang of Eight to compensate for the end of the diversity visa program seems practical enough at first glance: rank potential immigrants on a point value system. In the bill, holding a Master’s Degree, working for a “high-demand occupation, or being a business entrepreneur is worth 10 points. A PhD is 15 points. Each year of employment experience will be worth 2 or 3 points. A “diversity immigrant designation will only earn 5 points, which seems to show that diversity applicants will be pushed to the bottom of the pile.

Perhaps the most compelling argument against cancelling the diversity visa is that if we can grant thousands of visas to countries like Ireland for the sake of goodwill and to commemorate a shared immigrant past, or grant visas for cruise ship workers and ski instructors to satisfy special interests, then no one should have an issue with the diversity visa lottery. The diversity visa program has fostered a great amount of goodwill abroad at almost no cost to the United States. The diversity visa lottery is both good for national interest and the international reputation of the United States. It functions as a public relations program that sends the message that America welcomes all, that you can be from anywhere and achieve anything here. It reminds us of the famous words stamped on our own Statue of Liberty: “From her beacon-hand glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command the air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame. ˜Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!’ cries she with silent lips. ˜Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.’

How long will my deferred action application take?

By VISANOW Contributor|2016-02-04T13:22:29+00:00May 29, 2013|

The USCIS originally estimated that a typical deferred action case would take about 4-6 months to process. In the beginning, many people were having their cases processed and approved faster than that, since the overall volume of applications was lower.

However, now that the USCIS has received hundreds of thousands of applications, the wait times have increased to fall within the 4-6 month timeframe.

We have also heard from some DREAMers that their applications have taken up to 7 or 8 months to get approved, so if your application is still in review, don’t panic. Some of the processing centers have a higher volume of applications than others, and this will affect your wait time even if you submitted all of the appropriate documentation in your application.

While you can’t choose the processing center that your application gets sent to, there are some steps you can take to make sure your application is processed as quickly as possible.

Make sure you include all necessary documentation with your application. A deferred action attorney will be able to help you decide what documents you need, since you will have to prove things like how long you have been in the U.S., whether you have completed school, and how you arrived in the U.S. originally. If the USCIS needs more information, that will issue a Request For Evidence (an RFE) and your application will be paused until they receive the information they need.
Make sure to include the correct payment with your application. The USCIS will not be able to review your case if it hasn’t been paid for. The total fee is $465, including the cost of your biometrics analysis, which must be paid up front.
Make sure to send your application to the correct lockbox. Depending on your place of residence, you will need to send your application to a specific USCIS location. If you send it to the wrong location, this will delay processing as they will return the application to sender.

Remember that even if your application hasn’t been approved in the 4-6 month timeframe, this may not mean that they are having trouble making a decision; it probably just means that your processing center is backlogged. The USCIS will contact you if they need more information or clarification on an issue with your application.

10 Things to Do After Your Deferred Action (DACA) Approval

By VISANOW Contributor|2015-07-08T11:59:17+00:00May 24, 2013|

1. Get Your Social Security Number

Once you have received your DACA work permit (Employment Authorization Card or I-766), you can apply for a Social Security number. The government will not automatically issue you a Social Security number so this extra step is your responsibility.

To obtain a Social Security Card, you must visit a Social Security office in person (find your local office at www.socialsecurity.gov/locator) to complete and sign an application. Bring your DACA work permit and proof of age and identity, which is an original document or a certified copy of one of the following:

Foreign birth certificate
Foreign passport
U.S. military record
U.S. military identification card
Religious record showing age or date of birth
U.S. driver’s license
U.S. state-issued identification card
School record showing age or date of birth
School identification card
Copy of medical record

Please note Social Security does not accept photocopies or notarized copies of these documents. After your documents are verified, you should receive your Social Security Card in the mail within 1-4 weeks.

2. Transfer your credit history to your new SSN

You may have been paying taxes and building a credit history through an ITIN (Individual Tax Identification Number). This is different from a Social Security number, and once you have a Social Security number, you can no longer use your ITIN.

If you have been working and building a credit history with an ITIN, the three groups you need to contact in order to switch everything to your new SSN are:

The IRS
The 3 Credit Bureaus: Transunion, Experian, and Equifax
The financial institution or bank you use for your personal accounts

For the IRS and credit bureaus, you must mail a letter to all of them. For your bank, you can usually make the transfer in person at your local branch. Learn more about transferring your credit history here.

3. Get your Driver’s License or State ID (if you don’t live in AZ or NE)

As long as you don’t live in Arizona or Nebraska, this step is pretty straightforward. Most states will require you to have a Social Security Number to obtain a driver’s license. You will also most likely need proof of residence in your state, which is easy to obtain as you will already have provided it for your DACA application.

4. Apply for jobs

You can start applying for jobs before you get DACA approval, but you will not be able to accept any jobs before you get your DACA work permit (EAD) in the mail. Most DACA applicants have never had the chance to make money legally in the U.S., so take advantage of this opportunity!

5. Look for scholarships and financial aid if you want to go to college or university

Learn all about scholarships and financial aid for DACA students in our previous blog post.

Getting a Social Security number will open the doors to many more scholarships and aid than if you did not apply for one. Also, tuition and educational benefits for DACA students vary by state, so be sure to research what special benefits (if any) are available in your home state.

6. Resolve any tax issues you may have

If you worked as an undocumented immigrant in the U.S., it is in your best interest to resolve any financial or tax issues so your future residence is not in jeopardy. If you have been working and not paying your taxes, seek the advice of a tax accountant. If you have been paying taxes, make sure you have been paying the proper amount.

7. If you already have a job, find out what to say to your employer about DACA

Talking to your employer about DACA can be tricky, and in some cases might require you to consult a lawyer first. Luckily, DACA recipients have not reported many issues with their new status interfering with their employment. Learn more about DACA and your employment rights here.

8. Get travel authorization (Advance Parole) if you really need it

Immigrants with DACA approval can travel anywhere in the United States without advance approval and without fear of deportation. This includes Alaska and Hawaii as well as U.S. territories including Puerto Rico, Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. However, you cannot have a flight layover in any country besides the United States on your way to these destinations.

To travel internationally with DACA, applying for Advance Parole is currently your only option. To be granted Advance Parole, you must apply at least 90 days in advance to USCIS, pay the $360 application fee, and abide by very strict rules. You must prove you are traveling for humanitarian, educational, or work purposes and your trip must be laid out to USCIS in extreme detail.

If you have DACA and try to travel outside the U.S. without getting Advance Parole first, your DACA status will be terminated immediately and you may be barred from returning to the U.S. Even if it is on accident, crossing the border outside of the U.S. or a U.S. territory could jeopardize your DACA status.

Remember that if immigration reform passes and you are out of the country, you could very well be disqualified from a path to citizenship. Talk to an attorney before leaving the country once you have DACA, because you don’t want to lose this wonderful opportunity.

9. Stay up to date on DACA news and immigration laws

DACA is a very new program that is subject to change. No one knows yet what the specific procedures will be to renew your work permit after the 2 years are up. No one knows when comprehensive immigration reform will pass, and no one is completely sure what all the extra benefits will be for a DACA-mented DREAMer once it finally becomes law. It’s in your best interest to see where the government stands on DACA and immigration at any given moment, since it will have a great impact on your life.

10. Talk to other DREAMers about DACA

DACA is the best and only legal option currently available to DREAMers in the United States. If you have friends or family who qualify for DACA, tell them why they should apply. Many undocumented immigrants have fears and misconceptions about DACA, and as someone who has already gone through the process personally, you can lessen their fears by sharing your experience and helping them through the process.

Seize the Moment: The March for Innovation

By VISANOW Contributor|2013-11-11T11:22:37+00:00May 23, 2013|

Tech companies across the U.S. have been engaged in a virtual march on Washington for the last two days. The March for Innovation is a concerted effort to raise awareness about the need for immigration reform within the tech industry (and others), as well as a cohesive opportunity for the industry’s leaders, workers, and supporters to make their voices heard. People are encouraged to call, email, and tweet to their Senators to encourage them to support immigration reform when it moves to the full Senate for a vote.

Earlier today, the Silicon Valley Leadership Group hosted a Google+ hangout to talk about the importance of immigration reform. Carl Guardino hosted the conversation and interviewed two prominent members of the tech industry about their personal experience with the U.S.’s broken immigration system: Eisar Lipkovitz, Vice President of Engineering at Google, and Rob Matei of Quora.

In addition to sharing their personal experiences, Mr. Lipkovitz and Mr. Matei also brought up some interesting points about the immigration discussions.

Staying competitive in a global innovation economy

While the U.S. is currently among the global leaders in technology and innovation, it may not stay that way if we fail to modernize our immigration system. Rob Matei (of Quora) pointed out that immigrants “jump through a lot of hoops” to live and work here, and that some people are giving up and moving to countries with a simpler immigration system (like Canada, Austrlia, or New Zealand).

While other high-tech countries are difficult to immigrate to also, many people believe the window of opportunity may be closing to lead the immigration innovation. For example, Mr. Lipkovitz noted, the Canadian startup visa program has already begun recruiting in Silicon Valley; for those whose opportunities are limited in the U.S., why not move to a country where their talent and education is valued?

The concerns about updating our immigration system

Mr. Lipkovitz also expressed his understanding about why there is opposition towards modernizing our immigration system.

Security concerns: Making it easier for immigrants to come here might make it easier for terrorism to occur, or encourage others to immigrate illegally.
Burden on social services: In some other countries, welfare and social services have been overburdened by immigrants who would take advantage of the system.
Labor and wage concerns: Allowing a multitude of immigrants could saturate the labor force and cause a decrease in wages for U.S. citizens doing similar jobs.

How to get involved with the March for Innovation

If you want to get involved and help make your voice heard for immigration reform, you can join the March for Innovation in several ways.

Call, email, Facebook, or tweet to your Senators
Encourage your friends to do the same
Change your profile picture or Twitter avatar to the iMarch logo
Visit the iMarch website or Facebook page
Watch the video from today’s Google+ hangout

The Impact of Budget Sequestration on CBP

By VISANOW Contributor|2013-11-11T11:23:55+00:00May 15, 2013|

Will CBP budget sequestration increase border traffic?
A budget sequestration went into effect on March 1, 2013 for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Although the CBP is not the only agency that is affected by this year’s broad budget sequestration, many people are wondering: How will this impact the immigration process?

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

CBP is the sector of the Department of Homeland Security that is responsible for facilitating international travel. They also oversee U.S. border regulations, including customs, international trade, imports, immigration, and illegal entries or activities.

As a result of the budget cuts, CBP will be required to reduce its expenditures significantly for the remainder of FY 2013. This will result in furloughs, reductions in overtime, and a hiring freeze, which equates to the loss of up to several thousand CBP officers at our ports of entry.

What effect will the budget sequestration have?

During this time, security efforts will remain CBP’s highest priority, but the budget cuts may have the following impacts on our ports of entry:

Increased wait times for personal vehicles and pedestrians at our land border ports.
Increased wait times at major international airports.
Decreased service levels in our cargo operations.
Reduced flexibility to maintain or extend operating hours or respond to requests for new services.

CBP will continue to do all that it can to operate in a manner least disruptive for travelers throughout the sequestration period. However, in the event that travel time is greatly affected, please plan accordingly for any international travel.

Can I Hire Someone with an EAD Card?

By Jenny Terlinden|2016-10-28T12:32:37+00:00May 10, 2013|

Recruiters and HR professionals often ask us if they can employ individuals who hold employment authorization documents (EAD cards). The short answer is “yes.” EAD cardholders do not require employer sponsorship to work, as they are independently eligible for work authorization.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has over 40 categories for U.S. EAD card work eligibility. Examples of these categories include:

Green card applicants who have a pending Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status
Spouses of certain employment-based nonimmigrant visa holders (e.g., E-1, E-2, select H-1B)
F-1 students taking part in an Optional Practical Training program
Individuals eligible for Deferred Action
K-1 Fiance visa holders
Citizens of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and Palau
Refugees
Asylees

It’s important that both employers and employees understand the purpose and limitations of the EAD card. By nature, EAD cards are temporary work permits. The EAD cardholder should be aware of the card’s expiration date and initiate the process to renew the EAD card well before that date, since one must have the new card in-hand in order to continue working. USCIS allows the renewal application to be submitted no sooner than 120 days before the original EAD expiration date. Once the applicant is hired, an I-9 must be completed in order to verify the applicant’s identity and work authorization. If the employee presents an EAD card for the I-9, this serves as a List A document and no further documentation is needed. Section 3 (Reverification) of the I-9 should then be completed whenever a renewed EAD card is obtained. An EAD card is not a green card, and should not be confused with permanent work authorization.

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