|
|||
 |
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||
On the legislative front, we are all holding our breath
to see if the Senate and the House of
Representatives in Conference Committee can
hammer out a compromise deal and eventually arrive
at fair and equitable Comprehensive Immigration
Reform Policy.
The anti-immigrant attitude in the House of Representatives will produce vigorous debate, and we are hopeful that new legislation will pass. There will not be much to report on this issue until the House appoints its conferees. We link below to the Hagel-Martinez compromise passed by the Senate on May 25, 2006 (S. 2611) for your reference. The summary is still a work in process and, as progress is made on this issue, we will keep you informed with further updates and reports. |
||||
|
||||
|
||
Much to our surprise, as you are undoubtedly now
aware, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services
(USCIS) announced on June 1, 2006 that it had met
the allotted quota of 65,000 H-1B visa petitions for
the 2007 fiscal year. This is a serious announcement
for businesses that require workers with critical skills,
and means that they will have to wait more than a
year before they can obtain this needed expertise.
Certain petitions, however, are not subject to the H- 1B cap. These include (1) amended H-1B petitions; (2) petitions for extensions of H-1B status, whether for an existing or new employer (i.e., in sequential employment situations); (3) petitions filed in concurrent employment scenarios; (4) petitions for new employment at an exempt organization such as an institution of higher learning or a related or affiliated nonprofit entity, nonprofit research organization and governmental research organizations; (5) petitions on behalf of individuals who have already been counted against the cap during the previous six years, unless the beneficiary would be eligible for a full 6 years of authorized admission at the time the petition is filed; and (6) J-1 non-immigrants who are changing status to H-1B and have obtained waivers of the home country residency requirement. |
||
|
|
||
|
Some good news for US employers: This Bill,
introduced in the Senate on May 2, 2006, has
widespread support from the business community and
is known as the Security Knowledge, Innovation and
Leadership Act of 2006 (or SKIL Act, S. 2691). If
the Bill is enacted, it would provide substantial relief
to the current backlog and visa shortage that have
hindered the recruitment and retention of highly
educated and highly skilled professionals from around
the world, including those educated at US
universities, who are unable to stay in the US as a
result of the visa shortage.
To mention some of the highlights of the SKIL Bill. It would (1) increase the H-1B cap to 115,000 with a 20% increase for the following year if the quota is reached; (2) Increase the following year if the quota is reached; (3) Modify the existing 20,000 cap exemption to apply to persons holding master?s or higher degrees from a foreign institution (current law limits eligibility to US institutions only); (4) increase the annual cap on employment-based visas from 140,000 to 290,000 and allow for the recapture of unused visas from FY 2001-2005. |
||
|
|
||
|
The USCIS issued a notice in the Federal Register on
May 23, 2006 expanding the types of cases that will
be eligible for the Premium Processing Service.
Please be aware, however, that we do not as yet
have the premium processing procedures for the
I-140s, I-539s or I-765s that have been added to
the premium processing (expedite) roster.
The USCIS will make an announcement when they are ready to start processing these petitions or applications under the premium program. We anticipate that the procedure will be the same as already exists for certain nonimmigrant cases. The forms that have been added to the program are three widely-used forms. We link below to the notice for your further reference. |
||
|
|
|
|
Leslie Davis
Immigration Solutions
Email:
immigsolutions@yahoo.com
Phone:
562.433.5676
|
|
