Employment-Based Immigration

Subscribe to Employment-Based Immigration via RSS

Ever since studying Constitutional Law years ago, I’ve never really resolved in my mind the tension between federal supremacy and states rights. Most days, I see the need for national uniformity of law and lean toward federal power.   At other times, I appreciate the benefit of sensitivity to local conditions and the wisdom of allowing the states to…

The weather outside is frightful. Large chunks of hail are beating the earth in the form of “Notices of Inspection” (NOIs), delivered by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).  These NOIsome ICE chunks are hitting the doorsteps of more and more U.S. employers (1,000 have just landed). Even in unlikely San Francisco I understand that at least two…

On February 18 and 19, the University of California (Irvine) hosted a symposium where many of U.S. immigration’s Rock-Star professors came together to try and solve “Persistent Puzzles in Immigration Law.”  The topics covered a wide expanse. A subject discussed that particularly interested me is Congress’s often inexplicable delegation of regulatory authority among a surfeit of…

[Blogger’s Note: This blog on dysfunctionality in the world of U.S. immigration law and policy welcomes principled and thoughtful commentary by guest writers. Today’s guest post is by Karin Wolman, a highly regarded New York immigration lawyer with an expertise in immigration issues affecting artists, entertainers and the venues where they perform.]

U.S. Citizenship…

In today’s 24/7, Twenty-First Century world, with on-demand services often only mouse clicks away, our nation’s employment-based immigration laws are reverting to Puritan times. How so? Remember the infamous Blue Laws of the colonial era, when government officials decreed that the economy must shut down every Sunday, the Sabbath, for a day of rest. Fast forward now to 2005, and let’s look at America’s modern-day immigration blue laws, which take the “business-must-rest” concept to an absurdly blue (melancholic) low point.

As the State Department has announced , the waiting time for virtually all categories of employment-based immigrant visas (the coveted “Green Card”) will “retrogress” (move back in time) on October 1. In practical effect, this means that individuals who have already patiently waited for years in the legal-immigration queue – especially those born in China, India, the Philippines and Mexico – must wait much, much longer still.
Continue Reading Immigration Blue Laws: Never on Sunday, Monday or Any Other Day for the Next Several Years.

Blog readers may not be aware of the challenges the key players involved in a merger, acquisition or other corporate restructuring encounter when they try to understand the secret immigration law affecting M & A deals. The law is secret because it exists primarily in old memoranda issued by the former Immigration and Naturalization Service…

I thought I learned about how a bill becomes law in high school Civics. It all seemed simple and straightforward then. A bill is passed by both houses of Congress, the President signs it, and that’s the end of the story: The law is the law. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services – the unit within the Department of Homeland Security charged with implementing the new H-1B visa law – has added a new page, however, to the standard high school Civics text. A law apparently is not a law if the administrative agency assigned by Congress to implement it refuses to do so.

What’s this all about? It’s about the H-1B Visa Reform Act, Pub. L. No. 108-447, passed late last year to help American employers in the global race to secure the top talent for 21st Century jobs. Congress said in essence that it makes no sense investing in the graduate education of foreign nationals if they have no opportunity to work for U.S. employers after they receive their degrees.
Continue Reading The Effrontery of USCIS: “Don’t File for H-1B Visas until We Say We’re Ready, No Matter What Congress Says.”