Immigration Blog

The Coincidence of Immigration Reform, the Tragic Bombings in Boston and 9-11

Posted on April 16, 2013 by Gerald Cipolla

Boston Marathon Bombing - Chicago Immigration lawyer

Tragedy in Boston Marathon Explosion

The Boston Marathon Bombings are a tragic event.  Our hearts go out to the victims and their families.  Unfortunately, these types of incidents have been a reality in the world we live in.  The September 11th bombings are an event we should not and will not ever forget.  The loss of life, the emotional suffering is something unimaginable.

Terrorist Attacks – Impact on Immigration Reform past and present

PAST: The reason I bring these events up in an Immigration blog article is there are some very real lessons from an immigration perspective.  On September 5 2001, just days before the September 11th attack, President George W. Bush and President Vincente Fox of Mexico met at the White House to discuss Comprehensive Immigration Reform.  This was a follow up meeting in which the Bush and Fox Administrations had been meeting for many months.  The result of the meeting was a set of principles in which both President Bush and President Fox agreed upon.

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Posted in Comprehensive Immigration Reform, Current Immigration News, Immigration Blog, Immigration Reform, Undocumented Workers | Tagged , , , |

Comprehensive Immigration Reform Update: Good ideas, Bad Numbers?

Posted on April 15, 2013 by Gerald Cipolla

Immigration Reform - Immigration Attorney Chicago

Comprehensive Immigration Reform is potentially here.  We have news that on Tuesday April 16, the Senate Gang of Eight will unveil their Immigration Bill.  There is also talk that the House of Representatives have a comprehensive immigration reform bill that they would like to propose.  President Obama also proposed a plan.  We really don’t know the details of each plan other than leaks to media.

Immigration Reform: What are the numbers? 

My greatest concern is not learning from the past.  As repeated in numerous articles in the past, one of the main contributors to the current immigration problem were arbitrary caps and inadequate visa categories.  Arbitrary caps on green cards (preference family members), H1B visas, and Employment Based Green Cards has caused a complete mess in the system.  For instance, the H1B filing season for Fiscal Year 2014 just began on April 1 and the arbitrary cap numbers were filled on April 5.  There were 124,000 petitions received in the first 5 days of April for the available 65,000 Bachelor’s Cap and 20,000 US Master’s Cap visas allotted by Congress each year.

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Posted in Comprehensive Immigration Reform, Dream Act, H1B Specialty Worker Visa, Immigration Blog, Immigration Reform | Tagged , , , , , , |

H1B FY2014 Cap

Posted on March 8, 2013 by Gerald Cipolla

It is H1B season right now and in the midst of the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill there has not been much talk for reforming the H1B Cap and some of the detailed rules revolving around H1B extensions and H1B Transfers.

H1B 2014 – Overview

An H1B visa allows U.S. employers to employ foreign Professionals with the equivalent of a U.S. Bachelor’s Degree or higher to work in a position related to the educational background.  For example, someone with a Master’s Degree in Engineering could work in a field related to engineering, however if the same candidate were to apply for a job as an accountant, it likely would not be approved for an H1B as the academic background is not related to the job.

H1B Cap 2014 and H1B visa 6 year limit

Congress allots 65,000 U.S. Bachelor’s cap and 20,000 U.S. Master Degree holders each year for H1B employment beginning on October 1.  Once someone has been counted against the Cap mentioned above, they can work on H1B for up to 6 years in total.

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Posted in H1B Specialty Worker Visa, Immigration Blog, Immigration Reform | Tagged , , , |

Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act – Let’s Get It Right This Time Around

Posted on February 19, 2013 by Gerald Cipolla

high skilled immigrants act

Brief History of High-Skilled Immigrants Act

The fairness of High Skilled Immigrants Act was discussed during a February 13, 2013 Senate Hearing.  If you recall, the Bill was introduced to the House in September 2011 and subsequently passed in November 2011 by the U.S. House of Representatives.  It has subsequently been stalled by the Senate.  However, during a Senate Hearing Senator Lee, a Republican from Utah stated he will be introducing the bill in the Senate.

What is the purpose of this Act? 

The purpose of the Fairness of High Skilled Immigrants Act is to “amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to eliminate the per-country numerical limitation for employment-based immigrants, to increase the per-country numerical limitation for family-sponsored immigrants, and for other purposes.”

Who will be affected under this Act?

As many are aware, the per country limitations is a complete disaster.  By a simple review of the Visa Bulletin, you will see that a skilled worker in the Employment Based Green Card category of EB3 from India has over a 10 year wait time.

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Posted in Comprehensive Immigration Reform, EB1 Extraordinary Ability, EB2 Exceptional Ability, EB3 Professional Skilled Workers, Immigration Blog, Immigration Reform, PERM | Tagged , , , , |

Provisional Waiver of Unlawful Presence Process = Lower Risk?

Posted on February 13, 2013 by Gerald Cipolla

Provisional Waivers of Unlawful Presence

 

 

 

 

USCIS recently announced a new Provisional Waiver program for persons having accrued unlawful presence in the US.  The new rule will go into effect March 4, 2013.  The provisional waiver program is certainly not comprehensive immigration reform and its not even a change in the law.  But for those eligible it is a positive change.  Let’s start out by describing in laymen’s terms what the provisional waiver is.

What is Provisional Waiver?

The provisional waiver is a new program where USCIS will adjudicate extreme hardship waiver cases for persons in the U.S. who are neither eligible to change status or adjust status to permanent residence.  In the past, applicants for extreme hardship waiver cases needed to leave the U.S. to file the case and if the case was denied, they were separated from their family indefinitely or at least 3 to 10 years.  Now, the provisional waiver program allows eligible parties to file from the United States, receive a decision without leaving the U.S. and upon approval, exit the U.S.

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Posted in Comprehensive Immigration Reform, Criminal Waiver, Immigration Blog, Immigration Reform, Waiver of Admissibility, Waiver of Inadmissibility | Tagged , , , , |