ON THEIR TOES: ICE Adopts Aggressive Approach Toward Employers.
Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) has
replaced the old system of administrative hearings
and fines with a much tougher combination of
criminal prosecutions and asset forfeitures. ICE is
conducting far more criminal investigations than the
former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS),
which tended to rely upon administrative fines as a
sanction. In the background, Congress took
testimony on the Hill about Worksite Enforcement.
Click
here for more information...
Everyone Needs a Roof
Over Their Head. Undocumented
taxpaying immigrants who have been living and
working in the U.S. can now apply for a home loan
with American Home Mortgage. The AHM Mortgage
ITIN-based Home Loan Program is designed to provide
affordable housing to qualified undocumented
taxpaying immigrants. AHM is one of the only
mortgage lenders in the country to offer such a
program that allows undocumented immigrants to
secure a mortgage. Please click on the link for more
details.
Click here for more information on AHM...
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Dear Readers:
Mixed messages from Washington? As we move into the
steamy summer months, the "hot" issues of
Comprehensive Immigration Reform seem to have
subsided. What appears to clearly be the case is
that immigration reform initatives are not likely to
budge without an extremely proactive stance by
President Bush.
In the meantime, the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security ("DHS") appears to
be "cherry picking" the provisions of the
Congressional Bills and utilizing the regulatory
process to do what Congress cannot. We take this
opportunity to wish our readers a safe, happy, and
restful Independence Day holiday.
The VISASERVE.COM Team continues to provide
Employment Eligibility Compliance (Form I-9)
Training for its clients and for prospective
clients. Mr. Nachman continues to instruct employers
about ways to avoid potential immigration law
violations. Please e-mail us at info@visaserve.com
if you, or your HR Team, would be interested in
learning more about the Training programs provided
by our offce.
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| CLARIFICATIONS ON THE WAY: Affidavits of Support. |
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The final rule adopts, with specified changes, an
interim rule published by the former Immigration and
Naturalization Service on October 20, 1997. The rule
clarifies several issues raised under the
interim rule regarding who needs an affidavit of
support, how sponsors qualify, what information and
documentation they must present, and when the income
of other persons may be used to support an intending
immigrant's application for permanent residence.
The final rule is effective on July 21, 2006.
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Click here for more information... |
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| YOU CAN'T ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU WANT: ICE on No-Match Letters. |
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On July 12, 2006 ICE published a proposed regulation
that
describes the obligations
of an employer who receives a no-match letter from
SSA or DHS and sets out a "safe harbor" procedure
that the employer can follow in response to such a
letter.
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Click here to read more... |
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| ADIOS AJB: Elimination of America's Job Bank? |
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The National Association of State Workforce Agencies
(SWAs) is reporting that the Administration's FY2007
budget proposes to eliminate America's Job Bank
(AJB). AJB is used by many SWAs as part of the job
order process for PERM.
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Click here to read more... |
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| OPEN SESAME: DOL Reopens Cases Closed by the BECs. |
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DOL Assistant Secretary Emily Stover
DeRocco sent a letter to AILF indicating that the
Department will re-open those cases in which the
employer or the attorney notified the Certifying
Officer (CO) that the 45-day letter had not been
received. The letter allows 30 days from receipt of
the case closure letter to notify the CO. AILA's
liaison
and AILF's Legal Action Center are currently
discussing these, and other, issues with DOL.
Links provided courtesy of AILA.org.
Click
here to read the correspondence from
AILF...
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Click Here to read the DOL response... |
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| THE NEARER THE DESTINATION THE MORE YOU’RE SLIP SLIDING AWAY: Family 1 and 2A Retrogress. |
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DOS warns in its July 2006 Visa Bulletin of the
retrogression of the cut-off date from April 22,
2001 to January 1, 2000 for Family 1 visas for all
chargeability areas except Mexico (which advanced
from January 1, 1992 to May 15, 1992) and the
Philippines (which advanced from September 1, 1991
to September 22, 1991).
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Click here to view this month's Visa Bulletin... |
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| TECHNOLOGY AND ICE: ICE on Electronic Retention of I-9 Forms. |
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On July 14, 2006 ICE published an interim rule which
permits employers and recruiters or referrers for a
fee who are required to complete and retain
I-9 Forms, Employment Eligibility Verification, to sign
and retain these forms electronically.
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To read the regulation, click here... |
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| RE-REGISTER NOW: DHS Announces 12-Month Extension of TPS for El Salvadorans. |
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DHS published a notice extending TPS for El
Salvadorans from September 9, 2006 to September 9,
2007. In order to receive the extension, eligible
aliens must re-register during the 60-day
re-registration period.
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Click here to read the Press Release... |
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| SIGNIFICANT NEXUS: CIS Memorandum on Eligibility for H-1B Cap Exemption. |
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CIS Associate Director for Domestic Operations,
Mike Aytes, issued a memorandum, dated June 6, 2006,
providing guidance upon eligibility for exemptions to
the H-1B cap based on employment or an offer of
employment at an institution of higher education, a
related or affiliated nonprofit entity, a nonprofit
research organization or a governmental research
organization as provided by Section 103 of AC-21.
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Click here for more information... |
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| OFFER OF EMPLOYMENT LETTERS: CIS Issues a Memorandum on "Permanent Offer of Employment" for Professors and Researchers. |
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CIS Associate Director for Domestic Operations,
Mike Aytes, issued a memorandum, dated June 6, 2006,
providing guidance on applying the definition of
"permanent offer of employment" when adjudicating
first preference (EB-1) petitions filed on behalf of
outstanding professors and researchers.
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Click here to read more... |
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