Yesterday, I visited UC Davis and presented Options for UC Davis Students and Scholars After Graduation. We discussed the H-1B visa and many students and scholars had further questions. I invite you to visit my website under the H-1B information page or download the following handouts: H-1B Flowchart and Fact Sheet on H Visas. If you are interested in discussing your case, please contact me at mharms at harms-law dot com to arrange a consultation.
USCIS will prioritize the processing of Form N-400, Application for Naturalization, for certain SSI recipients when the applicant’s:
SSI benefits will be terminated within 1 year from the date listed on your SSI notice; AND,
Form N-400 has been pending for 4 months or more from the date of receipt.
If you have any questions about the Naturalization process or this priority processing please contact our office at info at harms-law.com.
Please see the link below for instructions for individuals whose SSI benefits are being terminated within 1 year and have applied for OR will apply for citizenship through Form N-400: http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=7d84314b55eb1310VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=68439c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD
UC Berkeley’s newspaper, The Daily Californian, reported that the Berkeley-based Pacific Steel Casting Company will be subject to an audit to verify the employment eligibility of its workers by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security. The audit seeks to verify the employment eligibility of employees through the evaluation of Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9s that employees submit. The company is the fourth-largest existing steel foundry in the nation, employing a diverse group of workers belonging to approximately 30 different nationalities, according to the company’s website. ICE penalizes employers for knowingly hiring or employing unauthorized workers. ICE has shifted its enforcement focus to employers so it is important that the HR staff is compliant with the current requirements and procedures.
USCIS has updated its handbook for employers regarding the I-9. The updated handbook with helpful information can be found at: http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/m-274.pdf
USCIS has also posted a new I-9 Q&A at: http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=330df7c555b2e210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=330df7c555b2e210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD
If you have questions about the I-9 form or are interested in an I-9 training for your HR staff please contact our office at info at harms-law.com.
Obama administration officials are sharpening their crackdown on the hiring of illegal immigrants by focusing increasingly tough criminal charges on employers while moving away from criminal arrests of the workers themselves. The scope of the administration’s strategy has become clear as long-running investigations of employers have culminated in indictments, convictions, exponentially increased fines and jail sentences. While conducting fewer headline-making factory raids, the immigration authorities have greatly expanded the number of businesses facing scrutiny and the cases where employers face severe sanctions. Last year, according to government figures, the enforcement agency started 2,746 workplace investigations in addition to audits, more than double the number in 2008, the last full year of the Bush administration. Fines totaling about $43 million, also a record, were levied on companies in immigration cases. Department of Homeland Security officials, speaking anonymously in order to discuss internal policy, said immigration officers were no longer authorized to carry out workplace raids unless they cooperated with federal prosecutors to prepare criminal cases against the employers. Last year, 119 employers were convicted.
To read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/30/us/politics/30raid.html?pagewanted=1&sq=immigration&st=cse&scp=2
The SF Chronicle ran an article this week from the Associated Press about individual states’ efforts to pass immigration reform. Nearly every state in the union tried to tackle immigration on its own this year, and more than half considered Arizona-style enforcement measures. Almost all of the states’ legislatures have failed to pass any punitive measures and what has passed was very similar to current federal law.
Georgia enacted a law allowing local officers to check the immigration status of a suspect who can’t produce an accepted form of ID. It also includes a provision requiring employers with more than 10 employees to use E-Verify by July 2013, similar to a 2007 law Arizona. Opponents say they plan to sue the state.
A few states in reaction to Arizona-like laws have passed laws supporting immigrants. The article gave Utah as an example. Utah’s law includes a provision to allow illegal immigrants to work in the state, and the American Civil Liberties Union has already sued Utah over the law’s enforcement provisions. Other states adopted legislation to assist undocumented students with college attendance and financial aid f ollowing the failure of the recent Dream Act in Washington.
You can read the full article at:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/05/23/national/a024708D88.DTL
The new visa bulletin is out.
Family based petitions are backlogged, with the most recent date at August 2007.
Employment-based categories have moved a bit since last month and are as follows:
- EB-1 is current for all countries
- EB-2 is current, except for India (October 2006) and China (October 2006)
- EB-3 is at September 2005 for all countries, except for India (April 2002), China (May 2004), and Mexico (December 2004)
- EB-3 other workers is at November 2003 for all countries, except India (April 2002), China (April 2003 and Mexico (November 2003)
- EB-4, religious workers, EB-5, and targeted employment areas and regional centers are all current.
The full visa bulletin can be found at http://travel.state.gov/visa/bulletin/bulletin_5452.html
USCIS launched a new resource for employers and employees, I-9 Central. I-9 Central is an online resource center including sections on employer and employee rights and responsibilities, step-by-step instructions for completing the form, and information on acceptable documents for establishing identity and employment authorization. I-9 Central also includes a discussion of common mistakes to avoid when completing the form, guidance on how to correct errors, and answers to employers’ recent questions about the Form I-9 process.
Here is the link to I-9 Central www.uscis.gov/I-9central
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has fully implemented the Secure Mail Initiative (SMI), which uses U.S. Postal Service (USPS) Priority Mail with Delivery Confirmation to deliver certain immigration documents in a safe, secure and timely manner. USCIS can now confirm delivery of permanent resident cards and documents pertaining to travel and employment authorization. USCIS customers can also confirm delivery status and delivery address.
Customers who receive notices of approval can contact USCIS’s Customer Service Center at 800-375-5283 to request tracking information for their documents. USCIS customer service representatives will provide customers with their USPS tracking number and current USPS delivery status.
For the full public release see: http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=79ecdd8ae14af210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=68439c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD
On June 1, 2010, the USCIS published its notes from a session it held to gather feedback and input from stakeholders on E-Verify and the Form I-9 program.
There were a few notable points released in this memo:
1) A self-check initiative will be introduced in December. This initiative will enable anyone to go to the website and run a verification query on him/himself and determine the accuracy of his/her government record. Hopefully, this will allow those individuals who have recently changed their name or their immigration status to verify that the system is correct and solve problems before they are given an abbreviated window by the e-verify system to do so.
2) The Verification Division informed stakeholders that it runs monthly reports to see if companies are running checks outside 3 business days of an employee’s hire date. This statement confirms our suspicion that the USCIS is using the e-Verify tool to police Form I-9 completion. This monitoring could expand into other areas and also prompt further audits and investigations.
For further information about worksite enforcement activities, please visit our worksite enforcement portal under the “information” tab.
As numerous media outlets have announced this week, on Friday, April 23rd, Governor Jan Brewer signed a bill that made it a crime to be an undocumented immigrant in the state. After reading the text of the law, I was shocked that a state legislature AND a governor could enact a piece of legislation so clearly unconstitutional.
What is almost more disturbing than the law itself, is the statistic that one radio show touted: Seventy percent of Americans agree with Arizona’s law. My question is: what part of the law? Fixing a broken immigration system? Yes. Arresting people with “reasonable suspicion” that they are illegal which will undoubtedly lead to racial profiling? Not so much. This law is going to have disasterous consequences on many fronts. It is true that something needs to be done, but this is a horrible misguided effort.
Jon Stewart offers some humor on a very humorless situation:
Looking for the silver lining, maybe Arizona’s folly will finally breathe life into comprehensive immigration reform. One can only hope.
Uncategorized | melissa | 
November 4, 2011 10:24 am | 
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