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UPCOMING
EVENT
FORM I-9 OVERVIEW AND UPDATES: AVOIDING ICE INVESTIGATIONS AND AUDITS.
Where:
GSC-SHRM
1 Convention Boulevard
Atlantic City, New Jersey 08401
When: September 26th, 2016 at 1:30 PM
Please contact us at info@visaserve.com for more information about this I-9 Form Event.
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Quick Links
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:: 201-670-0006 (X100)
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OUR OFFICES:
NEW JERSEY OFFICE:
VISASERVE Plaza
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Phone: 201-670-0006 (x107)
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Indianapolis, IN 46204
INDIA AFFILIATED OFFICES:
Kaival Chalishazar, Adv.
Kaival Chalishazar & Co.
22 Vasant Kunj
New Sharda Mandir Road, Paldi, Ahmedabad 380007, India
ATT: Call Kaival at x107
(This office provides "on the ground" services to our Indian clients such as India Divorce, India Real Estate Purchase and Sale, Business Sale Purchase, Adoption, Litigation and High Court Complaints).
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Law Office of Michael Phulwani
F603 Remi Biz Court
Veera Desai Road
Andheri West
Mumbai 400 053, India
Call us at 201-670-0006 (x104) for contact details.
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Dear Readers:
This week several members of the Nachman Phulwani Zimovcak (NPZ) Law Group staff attended an Annual Stakeholder's Meeting at the Vermont Service Center (VSC) in Essex. Each year, the VSC graciously opens its doors and allows lawyers (and others) from throughout the country to meet with its various directorates and to ask questions and make suggestions about process and procedures. While we continue to find overall improvements in USCIS service for our clients, we do continue to struggle with processing glitches that slow our clients' cases. We continue to find the USCIS receptive to working with us to resolve these issues.
In addition, Congress returned to Washington DC last week from a long summer recess. Of course, U.S. immigration law remains a political football but it is not likely to see too much play in the coming weeks with the exception of four (4) visa programs
The first on is the E-Verify Program which is the program used by employers to electronically verify the work authorization of employees. Generally, the E-Verify Program is voluntary for employers. However, we continue to remind our readers that the E-Verify Program is a cornerstone to the Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR) Bills that have been proposed in the past. There are also three other U.S. immigration law programs that are scheduled to sunset (be eliminated) on September 30th 2016:
1. The EB-5 program: The immigrant investor program, known as EB-5, was created in 1990 to stimulate job growth and capital investment. It is the only visa program for investors that leads to permanent residence, and it requires that applicants invest $1 million (or $500,000 if the investment is in a rural or high-unemployment area) and create at least 10 jobs. Currently, there are different Bills in the House of Representatives and the Senate to reauthorize the program with some changes. One Bill in the House would make the program permanent; another in the Senate would reauthorize the program for five years.
2. Conrad 30 Program: This program, created in 1994, allows certain physicians who trained in the United States on J-1 visas to obtain a waiver of the two-year home residence requirement. In exchange for the waiver, the physician must work for at least three years treating medically under-served populations in the United States. There is a bipartisan Bill in the Senate that would make the program permanent with some changes.
3. Special Immigrant Non-Minister Religious Worker Program: This program, created in 1990, allows non-ministers or other lay religious workers to come to the United States as lawful permanent residents. Currently there is a bipartisan Bill in the Senate that would make the program permanent with no changes.
Despite the proposals to reauthorize these programs for longer periods of time, it is unclear what, if anything, will happen this month. Of course, we will do our best to keep our readers apprised of new developments as we receive this information.
In the interim, we remind our readers that we are U.S. and Canadian immigration lawyers. The NPZ Law Group seeks to continue to provide the highest quality and lowest cost immigration law services to its clients throughout the United States. If you, your friends or your family members or colleagues should require any U.S. immigration law assistance, please feel free to contact our offices by e-mailing to us at info@visaserve.com or by calling us at 201-670-0006 (x107).
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USCIS ACCEPTS THE OMBUDSMAN'S RECOMMENDATION TO ADOPT PAROLE POLICY FOR U VISA PETITIONERS AND FAMILY MEMBERS ABROAD.
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 USCIS has agreed with the Ombudsman's recommendation to implement a parole policy for U visa petitioners and qualifying family members who live abroad. The U visa - available to individuals who have suffered substantial physical or mental abuse as a result of a qualifying crime and who meet certain other criteria - are capped at 10,000 per fiscal year. When the cap is exceeded, U petitioners who live abroad are placed on a waiting list and must then proactively seek humanitarian parole to enter the United States. As a result, victims of crimes residing abroad are not able to easily aid investigators and prosecutors.
The Ombudsman's recommendation explains the clear regulatory authority for a parole policy and the significant public and humanitarian benefits. Family reunification allows the victim to focus attention on the prosecution of the crime and on rebuilding his or her life. In addition, U petitioners and derivative family members who remain abroad may be subject to violence and harm in the country in which they reside.
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THE NEW I-9 FORM IS NOT FAR AWAY SAYS OMB.
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 As many Human Resources Professionals may be aware, the "new" Form I-9 (the Employment Eligibility Verification Form) will be provided soon. On August 25th 2016, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) announced that it has cleared the revised Form I-9.
For the time being, employers should continue to use the Form I-9 that is on the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) website with has an expiration date of 3/31/16.
The expiration date on the Form can be found on the top right hand corner of the document. Employers are to continue using this version of the Form I-9 until the new and revised version of the I-9 Form has been posted.
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NOTICE TO ALL U.S. EMPLOYERS: CURRENT FORM I-9 EMPLOYMENT ELIGIBILITY VERIFICATION FORM VALID UNTIL JAN. 21, 2017
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On August 25th, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approved a revised Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification. USCIS must publish a revised form by November 22nd, 2016. Employers may continue using the current version of Form I-9 with a revision date of 03/08/2013 N until Jan. 21st, 2017. After Jan. 21st, 2017, all previous versions of Form I-9 will be invalid.
USCIS will indicate at the bottom of the new form a revision date no later than 90 days from this approval. USCIS may accept the prior version of these instruments for 150 days while technical updates are made.
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ICE ANNOUNCES EXTENSION OF EMPLOYMENT AUTHORIZATION ELIGIBILITY FOR CERTAIN SYRIAN STUDENTS
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 On September 8th, 2016, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced that it will publish a notice in the Federal Register that extends employment authorization eligibility for certain F-1 Syrian students who have suffered severe economic hardship as a direct result of the civil unrest in Syria since March 2011.
Through the new notice, the Department of Homeland Security Secretary suspends certain regulatory requirements in order to allow eligible Syrian F-1 students to obtain employment authorization, work an increased number of hours during the school term, and, if necessary, reduce their course load while continuing to maintain their F-1 student status. The new notice expands the pool of students eligible for this relief to include nonimmigrant students from Syria who are lawfully present in the United States in F-1 status on September 9th, 2016, and enrolled in an institution certified by ICE's Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP).
The previous notice only granted relief to nonimmigrant students from Syria who were lawfully present in the United States in F-1 status on April 3rd, 2012, and enrolled in an SEVP-certified institution.
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DOL OFLC PUBLISHES INFORMATION ON FOREIGN LABOR RECRUITERS.
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The Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) is publishing a public disclosure list of the names of foreign labor recruiters and the identity and location of persons or entities hired by or working for the recruiter that employers have indicated they engaged, or planned to engage, in recruiting prospective H-2B nonagricultural workers to perform the work described on their Form ETA-9142B, H-2B Application for Temporary Employment Certification.
OFLC said the agency "is providing a greater level of transparency to the H-2B worker recruitment process and facilitating information sharing between the Department and other agencies and the public." Among other things, by maintaining and publishing a list of foreign labor recruiters, OFLC said it "is better poised to enforce recruitment violations, and workers are better protected against fraudulent recruiting schemes by enabling them to verify whether a recruiter is in fact recruiting for legitimate H-2B job opportunities in the United States." OFLC noted that it "does not endorse or vouch for any foreign labor agent or recruiter" on the list, and inclusion does not signify that the recruiter is complying with the H-2B program.
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USCIS urges prospective H-2B employers seeking to hire potential "returning workers" with employment start dates in fiscal year (FY) 2017 to continue to identify these workers and provide the H-2B Returning Worker Certification.
The H-2B returning worker provisions of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016 (Public Law 114-113) are set to expire September 30th, the last day of FY 2016, and Congress may or may not reauthorize them. These current provisions exempt eligible returning workers from the FY 2016 cap if they were counted toward the H-2B limit during fiscal years 2013, 2014 or 2015.
The provisions, which amend section 214(g)(9) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1184(g)(9)), do not apply to the FY 2017 cap. If reauthorized, either before or after September 30th, the provisions for FY 2017 would likely exempt returning workers who were counted toward the H-2B limit during fiscal years 2014, 2015 or 2016. Any action is in the discretion of Congress and the President.
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EB-4 and Certain Religious Worker (SR) Preference Categories. As predicted last month, the final action dates for EB-4 India and EB-4 Mexico will be current again in October and the priority dates for EB-4 El Salvador/Guatemala/Honduras will advance to June 15, 2015.
While DOS considered establishing a separate final action date for Guatemala and Honduras due to the higher demand for numbers from El Salvador, all three countries are expected to exceed the per country limitation and rely on the availability of "otherwise unused" EB-4 numbers. Thus, DOS confirmed that the three countries will continue to be reported together throughout FY2017.
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CHECKOUT VISASERVE'S REGULARLY UPDATED YOUTUBE VIDEO LIBRARY (SOME SELECTIONS BELOW) ABOUT U.S. AND CANADIAN IMMIGRATION LAWS:
"IMMIGRATION NEWS AND VIEWS" - NPZ'S NEW PRACTICAL SERIES ON YOUTUBE ABOUT VARIOUS U.S. AND CANADIAN IMMIGRATION LAW ISSUES.
Check us out at . . .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Crfb5L_vlo
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CHECK OUT OUR INSTRUCTIVE IMMIGRATION LAW VIDEO: FAMILY-BASED IMMIGRANT VISA | SPONSORING MARRIED SON OR DAUGHTER OF A U.S. CITIZEN PARENTS.
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FAMILY-BASED IMMIGRANT VISA - SPONSORING MARRIED SON OR DAUGHTER OF A U.S. CITIZEN PARENTS. DOES MARRIAGE CHANGE A CASE?
Two groups of family based immigrant visa categories, including immediate relatives and family preference categories, are provided under the provisions of United States immigration law, specifically the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).
Immediate Relative Immigrant Visas (Unlimited): These visa types are based on a close family relationship with a United States (U.S.) citizen described as an Immediate Relative (IR). The number of immigrants in these categories is not limited each fiscal year. Immediate relative visa types include:
IR-1: Spouse of a U.S. Citizen - Learn More
IR-2: Unmarried Child Under 21 Years of Age of a U.S. Citizen
IR-3: Orphan adopted abroad by a U.S. Citizen - Learn More
IR-4: Orphan to be adopted in the U.S. by a U.S. citizen - Learn More
IR-5: Parent of a U.S. Citizen who is at least 21 years old
Family Preference Immigrant Visas (Limited): These visa types are for specific, more distant, family relationships with a U.S. citizen and some specified relationships with a Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR). There are fiscal year numerical limitations on family preference immigrants, shown at the end of each category. The family preference categories are:
Family First Preference (F1): Unmarried sons and daughters of U.S. citizens, and their minor children, if any. (23,400)
Family Second Preference (F2): Spouses, minor children, and unmarried sons and daughters (age 21 and over) of LPRs. At least seventy-seven percent of all visas available for this category will go to the spouses and children; the remainder is allocated to unmarried sons and daughters. (114,200)
Family Third Preference (F3): Married sons and daughters of U.S. citizens, and their spouses and minor children. (23,400)
Family Fourth Preference (F4): Brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens, and their spouses and minor children, provided the U.S. citizens are at least 21 years of age. (65,000)
Note: Grandparents, aunts, uncles, in-laws, and cousins cannot sponsor a relative for immigration.
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