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Dear Readers
In our last E-zine we talked about the impending
Secure Fence legislation. Last week, President Bush
signed the Secure Fence Act of 2006 (H.R. 6061) (the
“Act”) into law. This legislation authorizes 700 miles
of fencing along the Southwest border with Mexico.
To date, however, Congress has only appropriated a
small fraction of the more than $7 billion it would
cost to erect such a structure. The current
appropriation of $1.18 billion, provided for in the DHS
Appropriations Act of 2007, will only fund 90 miles of
fence, according to experts. Of course, this
legislation has met with a great deal of adversity.
There is a little good in this Act. Recall that our
politicians said that they first want to deal
with “securing our nation’s borders” before they deal
with the issues of the foreign nationals who are in
the U.S. Perhaps now Congress will feel they can
deal with comprehensive immigration reform from
the “inside” out.
Click
here for more information about The Secure Fence
Act
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| IT’S NOT OVER UNTIL IT IS OVER: DOL on "Bona Fide Termination" of an H-1B. |
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In order to effect a "bona fide" termination, an
employer does not need to establish a valid basis or
good cause, but pursuant to 20 C.F.R. §
655.731(c)(7), three elements - (1) notice to the
employee, (2) notice to the CIS, and (3) payment of
the Alien's transportation home must be complied
with in order to effectuate a "bona fide" termination.
In the instant case there was no evidence that the
Employer effectuated a “bona fide termination” and
it was therefore liable for paying the former H-1B
nonimmigrant the LCA wage until the H-1B visa
expired.
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Click here to read the case . . . |
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| TELL DOL ABOUT MULTIPLE OPENINGS: BALCA Addresses Multiple Openings. |
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BALCA has affirmed that an Employer must specify
(before the application is filed) whether there are
multiple openings for the position. A recent BALCA
case discusses whether an Employer, that hired a
U.S. worker for a position advertised in the labor
certification application, documented that it had
more than one job opening.
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To read the BALCA case, click here . . . |
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| TAKING CARE OF “BUSINESS”: DOS Guidelines on Establishing a Business Referral Program. |
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The U.S. Department of State (“DOS”) has issued a
cable providing information about establishing an
effective consular section business referral program
under which consular posts facilitate access for
timely visa appointments for legitimate business
travelers. Posts worldwide have established business
facilitation programs to ensure responsiveness.
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To read more about this DOS initiative, click here . . . |
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| DON’T FORGET ABOUT THE CHILDREN: Rule Revised to Change the Ground For Denying, Revoking or Canceling a U.S. Passport. |
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The new DOS regulation requires the Secretary of
State to deny a passport to an individual who has
been certified by the Secretary of the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) to
be in arrears of child support by an amount
exceeding $5,000 by changing it to $2,500 in
accordance with the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005.
This new provision also highlights interagency
coordination efforts.
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Click here to read this new regulation . . . |
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| BI-SPECIALIZATION OR BI-POLARIZATION: Case Transfer Update. |
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Due to an unusually high workload surge over the
past three months, the Vermont Service Center
(“VSC”) of the CIS reports that it has transferred
nearly 20,000 H-1B petitions subject to the FY 2007
annual numerical cap to the Texas Service Center
("TSC") and 6,000 cap-subject H-1B petitions to the
Nebraska Service Center ("NSC") as part of the CIS
bi-specialization initiative.
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Click here to read more about this initiative . . . |
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| THE END OF EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIP EXISTS UPON FILING OF COMPLAINT WITH CIS OR DOL: Innawalli v. American Information Technology Corp. |
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The former H-1B nonimmigrant ultimately won a
complaint that the Employer violated the no-benching
provision of the INA. An issue not resolved by the
ALJ was the date when the Complainant's employment
actually ended. Under the special nature of the
employment relationship between the former H-1B
nonimmigrant and the Employer, the parties mutually
intended to end their employment relationship on the
date that the former H-1B nonimmigrant filed the
complaint with CIS.
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To read the case, click here . . . |
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| VISASERVE REMINDS FOREIGN NATIONALS THAT “YOU HAVE TO BE IN IT TO WIN IT”: The DV-2008 Visa Lottery. |
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The DOS has published a notice in the Federal
Register providing information about how to apply for
the DV-2008 Program. Individuals are reminded to
avoid fraudulent and/or misleading e-mail
notifications about this program from unreliable
sources.
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To read this information, click here . . . |
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| OVER THE RIVER AND THROUGH THE WOODS: CIS Issues Travel Advisory. |
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The CIS issued a Press Release reminding applicants
for adjustment of status and other benefits to obtain
advance parole before traveling outside the U.S.
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Click here to read the Press Release . . . |
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| USE IT OR LOSE IT: NEW G-325A Form. |
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The CIS has revised all versions of the Form G-325,
effective October 1, 2006. After this date, CIS will
not accept prior versions of the form that do not
bear the July 14, 2006, revision date. CIS will
instruct mailrooms to accept the prior version for
the next thirty days.
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For a link to the revised Form, click here . . . |
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| FINDING YOUR WAY AROUND?: CIS Guide For New Foreign Nationals in the U.S. |
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The CIS has launched a joint effort with the DOS to
distribute the CIS publication "Welcome to the
United States: A Guide for New Immigrants" to
immigrant visa recipients overseas. This Guide
provides foreign nationals with important
information they need to cope with bureaucratic
complexities upon entry into the U.S. The Guide is a
free and valuable resource for HR Professionals to
provide to their new foreign national employees.
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To obtain a copy of the guide, click here . . . |
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