Nachman Phulwani Zimovcak (NPZ) Law Group, P.C. - U.S. and Canadian Immigration and Nationality Newsletter and Update.
In This Issue:
YOUR IMMIGRATION LAWYERS, MICHAEL PHULWANI, ESQ. AND DAVID NACHMAN, ESQ. AND LUDKA ZIMOVCAK, ESQ. PROVIDE U.S. IMMIGRATION LAW UPDATES ON TV ASIA AND ITV: VLOG & USCIS NEWS UPDATES ON THE WEB.
IMMIGRATION ACCOUNTABILITY EXECUTIVE ACTION WAS ANNOUNCED BY PRESIDENT OBAMA. ARE YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW A BENEFICIARY? (PART IV).
IMMIGRATION ACCOUNTABILITY EXECUTIVE ACTION WAS ANNOUNCED BY PRESIDENT OBAMA. ARE YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW A BENEFICIARY? (PART V).
IMMIGRATION ACCOUNTABILITY EXECUTIVE ACTION WAS ANNOUNCED BY PRESIDENT OBAMA. ARE YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW A BENEFICIARY? (PART VI).
"KNOW BEFORE YOU GO": NPZ LAW GROUP HELPS EASE THE STRESS OF HOLIDAY TRAVEL FOR CERTAIN FOREIGN NATIONALS. BY: Michael Phulwani, Esq., David H. Nachman, Esq., and Rabindra K. Singh, Esq.
USCIS APPROVES 10,000 U VISAS FOR 6th STRAIGHT FISCAL YEAR.
VISA BULLETIN FOR JANUARY 2015 IS OUT!!!
OVERVIEW ABOUT "ALL" ADMINISTRATIVE BENEFITS - IMMIGRATION ACCOUNTABILITY EXECUTIVE ACTIONS - DACA AND DAPA.
DEFERRED ACTION FOR CHILDHOOD ARRIVALS (DACA)-| DEFERRED ACTION AND PARENT ACCOUNTABILITY AND PROVISIONAL WAIVERS.
BUSINESS IMMIGRATION: PROPOSED ADMINISTRATIVE RELIEF - EXECUTIVE ACTION ON IMMIGRATION ITEMS RELATED TO BUSINESS IMMIGRATION LAW.
NPZ LAW GROUP FINDS A WARM WELCOME IN INDIANA!
HAPPY HANUKKAH.
YOUR IMMIGRATION LAWYERS, MICHAEL PHULWANI, ESQ.  AND DAVID NACHMAN, ESQ. AND LUDKA ZIMOVCAK, ESQ., PROVIDE U.S. IMMIGRATION LAW UPDATES ON ITV: VLOG & USCIS NEWS UPDATES ON THE WEB & ON TV.  
David Nachman, Esq., Ludka Zimovcak, Esq.  and Michael Phulwani, Esq., your Immigration and Nationality Lawyers, continue to bring employment and family-based immigration and nationality news and updates to your TV screen each week on iTV. Watch "YOUR IMMIGRATION LAWYERS" each week on iTV. Please contact us at  [email protected] for additional U.S. immigration law information or about how to subscribe to iTV.
 
Executive Actions on Immigration | Overview about "All" Administrative Benefits 
 
 
Simply put, Obama is using the executive power granted to him by the Constitution to reshuffle the immigration enforcement deck and prioritize deportations so that, for instance, the undocumented parents of U.S.-born citizens get a temporary "deferred" status and thus can't be removed for three years.
But you should read the fine print. There are a lot of strings attached, and there is no guarantee that some of these people won't be deported. It's a crap shoot for undocumented immigrants, which explains why only a little over half of the young people who were eligible for DACA took the risk and applied for it, according to the Migration Policy Institute.  
 
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UPCOMING EVENT

  

IMMIGRATION UPDATE - WHAT PRESIDENT OBAMA'S EXECUTIVE ACTION MEANS FOR YOUR IMMIGRATION CLIENTS - AN NJICLE WEBINAR.

 

 

When: Wednesday, December 17th, 2014

 

Time: 12:00 PM to 1:40 PM

 
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:: 201-670-0006 (X100)

Dear Readers:   
 
A great deal of attention about President Obama's recent announcement about Administrative Relief and Executive Action(s) for U.S. immigration focuses on "prosecutorial discretion" to defer deportation undocumented immigrants. These programs are Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA) and a rollback on the requirements of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).

However, in the wake of the President's announcement on November 20th there were several interesting memoranda promulgated that sought to explore ways to upgrade the immigration system to meet the needs of our global economy. In fact, in one Memorandum, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary, Jeh Johnson, outlined how the policy changes at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) support U.S. economic growth. Johnson stated: "These new policies and regulations will be good for both U.S. businesses and workers by continuing to grow our economy and create jobs."

Of particular interest to many of our Business Immigration clients, are the ways that the newly-proposed relief will add to the Nation's economic infrastructure. The Memoranda set forth, among other measures: (1) changes to Optional Practical Training (OPT) for foreign students at U.S. universities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields; and (2) modernizing the employment-based visa system to decrease backlogs; and (3) modernization of the PERM Labor Certification process; and (4) ways to make the AC-21 Job Mobility Provisions more flexible.

The memoranda set forth ways for foreign entrepreneurs and businesspersons to have more opportunities to come to the U.S. and start businesses. The "National Interest Waiver" (NIW - a self-sponsoring green card category) allows qualified foreign nationals with advanced degrees or exceptional abilities to seek lawful permanent resident status if their work is in our "nation's interest". One Memorandum compels USCIS to issue guidance clarifying the standard by which an NIW may be granted and  specifically how it can apply to inventors, researchers, and founders of start-up enterprises, with the aim of benefiting the U.S. economy.

The Memorandum also describes another possible route for foreign
entrepreneurs to be able to stay and work in the U.S. There is discussion in the Memorandum about "parole-in-place" for inventors, researchers, and founders of start-up enterprises. This program can permit DHS to grant "parole" on a case-by-case basis "to inventors, researchers, and founders of start-up enterprises who may not yet qualify for a national interest waiver, but who have been awarded substantial U.S. investor financing or otherwise hold the promise of innovation and job creation through the development of new technologies or the pursuit of cutting-edge research." Parole would allow individuals to work in the U.S. The Memorandum states that the individuals who qualify will have to meet certain income and
resource thresholds.

The recent announcement by President Obama is consistent with making the U.S. a leader in the "worldwide brain drain". Other countries compete against the U.S. for new talent and investments. Other countries already have "start-up visas" and "entrepreneur programs". For more information about the ways that the President's recent announcement about Administrative Relief may be beneficial to your business or your staff, please feel free to contact the U.S. or the Canadian Lawyers at the Nachman Phulwani Zimovcak (NPZ) Law Group, P.C. at [email protected] or by contacting us at 201-670-0006 (x107). 

IMMIGRATION ACCOUNTABILITY EXECUTIVE ACTION WAS ANNOUNCED BY PRESIDENT OBAMA. ARE YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW A BENEFICIARY? (PART IV).

Part -IV of the President's administrative relief article series focus more on the changes to allow for speedy immigration processing [to decrease priority date backlogs] and to increase the flexibility of business immigration processes. 

Pre-registration will be available to allow people adjustment of status benefits when an I-140 is approved but no priority date is available (estimated to benefit 410,000). This will be done by regulation.  

 

 

NOTE that this was mentioned in a briefing to advocates on Thursday, November 20, 2014, at the White House just prior to the President's speech but is not explicitly mentioned in the memorandum issued by the Department of Homeland Security, Jeh Johnson, to the USCIS Director, Leon Rodriguez. In the White House Fact Sheet, the following is stated under the current system, employees with approved LPR applications often wait many years for their visa to become available. DHS will make regulatory changes to allow these workers to move or change jobs more easily.

 
FOR DETAILED INFORMATION, PLEASE CLICK HERE . . .

IMMIGRATION ACCOUNTABILITY EXECUTIVE ACTION WAS ANNOUNCED BY PRESIDENT OBAMA. ARE YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW A BENEFICIARY? (PART V).

This part of the President's administrative relief article series put emphasize more on the additional methodologies designed for providing administrative relief and to allow flexibility for business immigration visa application. Few of topics covered under this article are:

 

1. Developing regulations to expand the degree programs eligible for OPT under the rule that currently allows certain STEM professionals to use OPT for up to 29 months.


2. Modernization of 10 year old PERM program and making it more responsive to change in the national workforce.


3. Issuance of memorandum to USCIS directing the agency to issue new policies on the use of parole-in-place or deferred action for certain spouses, children and parents of individuals seeking to enlist in the U.S. Armed Forces.


4. H-4 work authorization rule finalization.


5. Releasing of long awaited L-1B memo.

 

TO READ ON "BUSINESS IMMIGRATION VISA BENEFITS UNDER PRESIDENT'S ADMIN RELIEF", PLEASE CLICK HERE . . .

IMMIGRATION ACCOUNTABILITY EXECUTIVE ACTION WAS ANNOUNCED BY PRESIDENT OBAMA. ARE YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW A BENEFICIARY? (PART VI).

Immigration court reforms, work exploitation, ICE personnel reforms, U & T visas expansion and the Naturalization process are the topics highlighted in Part VI of the President's administrative relief article series. These are the topics that need attention and which need to be implemented to support an effective immigration system. Immigration Court Reform will focus on addressing the backlog of pending cases by working with DHS to more quickly adjudicate cases of individuals who meet the new enforcement priorities and close the cases of individuals who are low priorities.  

 

TO READ MORE, PLEASE CLICK HERE . . . 

 

Additional updates and changes may be coming. For more information, please feel free to contact the Nachman Phulwani Zimovcak (NPZ) Law Group, P.C. at 201-670-0006(x107). The VISASERVE TEAM'S U.S. immigration lawyers or attorneys can also be reached by e-mail at [email protected] or by calling us TOLL FREE at 866-599-3625. In the meantime, please be sure to check out our website at http://www.visaserve.com for updates.

"KNOW BEFORE YOU GO": NPZ LAW GROUP HELPS TO EASE THE STRESS OF HOLIDAY TRAVEL FOR CERTAIN FOREIGN NATIONALS. BY: Michael Phulwani, Esq., David H. Nachman, Esq., and Rabindra K. Singh, Esq.

This the season to be jolly . . . but it is also the season when international travel can be a folly. Many foreign nationals will be traveling outside the U.S. during the holidays. This holiday travel usually extends from the end of December through the middle of January. Of course, for some, holiday travel often seems to entail a visit to the friendly Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Officer. For others, holiday travel may entail a visit to the U.S. Consulate Office in a home or third-country.


The NPZ Law Group has posted many instructional videos on the internet which you can view on YOUTUBE about some of the nuances of international travel and seeking visas at U.S. Consular Offices. We commend these videos for those who will be traveling. If you do not have time to view those videos, there are a few basic tips that will help to ease any potentially unpleasant international travel/return issues to the United States.


FOR DETAILED INFORMATION ON "KNOW BEFORE YOU GO" DURING THIS HOLIDAY SEASON, PLEASE CLICK HERE . . .

 

U VISA UPDATES: USCIS APPROVES 10,000 U VISAS FOR 6th STRAIGHT FISCAL YEAR .

On December 11th, 2014, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) had approved the statutory maximum of 10,000 petitions for U-1 nonimmigrant status (U visas) for fiscal year 2015. This marks the sixth straight year that USCIS has reached the statutory maximum since it began issuing U visas in 2008.  

 

Each year, 10,000 U visas are available for victims of certain qualifying crimes who have suffered substantial mental or physical abuse and are willing to help law enforcement authorities investigate or prosecute those crimes. A U visa petition requires certification that the victim has been helpful to law enforcement. USCIS will resume issuing U visas on October 1st, 2015, the first day of fiscal year 2016, when the visas become available again.

 

FOR DETAILED INFORMATION, PLEASE CLICK HERE . . . 

VISA BULLETIN FOR JANUARY 2015 IS OUT!!!!

The Department of State's (DOS) January Visa Bulletin brings some New Years cheer for China and "All Other Countries" designations indicating that that the EB-3 subcategory for professionals and skilled workers will advance by nine months for China, from June 1, 2010 to March 1, 2011, and seven months for "All Other Countries," from November 1, 2012 to June 1, 2013.  Unfortunately, the EB-3 category for India continues to wallow in a mire of retrogression advancing only two weeks, from December 1, 2003 to December 15, 2003.

The EB-2 category offers little in the way of good reading with China advancing only a month, from January 1, 2010 to February 1, 2010, and India seeing no change from last month's Bulletin, staying put at February 15, 2005.  The EB-2 category remains "current" for "All Other Countries."  The EB-5 category remains current for now, but is expected to change in the second half of the fiscal year.

 

FOR DETAILED INFORMATION, PLEASE CLICK HERE . . . 

"IMMIGRATION NEWS AND VIEWS" - NPZ'S NEW PRACTICAL SERIES ON YOUTUBE ABOUT VARIOUS U.S. AND CANADIAN IMMIGRATION LAW ISSUES.
OVERVIEW ABOUT "ALL" ADMINISTRATIVE BENEFITS  - IMMIGRATION ACCOUNTABILITY EXECUTIVE ACTIONS.


President Obama has the legal authority under the Constitution and laws passed by Congress to decide how to prioritize immigration enforcement. In the past, Presidents Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Clinton, and George W. Bush used this authority. This issue brief uses less technical language and easy-to-understand examples to describe different actions the president can and should take now to make our broken immigration system work better. 
DEFERRED ACTION FOR CHILDHOOD ARRIVALS (DACA) - DEFERRED ACTION AND PARENT ACCOUNTABILITY AND PROVISIONAL WAIVERS.

 
 On November 20, 2014, the President announced a series of executive actions to crack down on illegal immigration at the border, prioritize deporting felons not families, and require certain undocumented immigrants to pass a criminal background check and pay taxes in order to temporarily stay in the U.S. without fear of deportation.  These initiatives include:
Expanding the population eligible for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program to young people who came to this country before turning 16 years old and have been present since January 1, 2010, and extending the period of DACA and work authorization from two years to three years.
Allowing parents of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents who have been present in the country since January 1, 2010, to request deferred action and employment authorization for three years, in a new Deferred Action for Parental Accountability program, provided they pass required background checks.
 
BUSINESS IMMIGRATION: PROPOSED ADMINISTRATIVE RELIEF - EXECUTIVE ACTION ON IMMIGRATION.

 
  ICE and USCIS are also directed to take steps to ensure that OPT is consistent with US labor market protections to safeguard the interests of US workers in related fields. No details on these last provisions are provided though it sounds pretty open-ended and could make the OPT rules much more restrictive. There is also talk about counting undergraduate STEM programs for purposes of STEM OPT extensions even if the graduate degree is not in a STEM field.
NPZ OPENS AN OFFICE IN INDIANAPOLIS: NPZ LAW GROUP FINDS A WARM WELCOME IN INDIANA! 

 
 Following an extensive radio interview on Friday, December 12th, the Nachman Phulwani Zimovcak (NPZ) Law Group continues to make a splash in Indiana by teaming-up with Telemundo. On Saturday, December 13th David Nachman, Esq. and Ienny Ribon spoke to a large Hispanic Community Group in Indianapolis about President Obama's Regalos for the Christmas Holiday - the President's Immigration Relief Program (DAPA, DACA, etc.). Mayor Ballard of Indianapolis spoke with Mr. Nachman and Ms. Ribon and to the Community about the importance of making sure that the Hispanic Community is protected from immigration scams in the wake of the President's announcements. To contact the immigration law offices of Nachman, Phulwani, Zimovcak (NPZ) in Indiana, please call 317-936-6600.
HAPPY HANUKKAH....