Immigration Blog for Ohio, Florida, North Carolina

The E-1 treaty trader visa and the E-2 treaty investor visa are some of the lesser-known visas that permit foreign nationals to conduct business in the U.S. For people legally in the country with these visas, however, the visas are of primary importance because they represent their livelihoods as well as their right to remain in the U.S. And now, the economic downturn is threatening some business owners' ability to renew their E-1 and E-2 visas, especially in Florida.

Statistics from news-press.com show that, in 2006, 8,000 E-1 treaty trader visas and 29,400 E-2 treaty investor visas were granted by the by the U.S. Department of State. In contrast, 6,279 E-1 trader visas and 25,500 E-2 investor visas were issued in 2010, largely because the recession is making it difficult for business owners to meet the requirements for obtaining or renewing E visas.

Several of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' (USCIS) documents and certificates have recently undergone design changes intended to help prevent fraud and tampering. Although the look of these immigration documents has changed, the application process and how applicants receive them has not changed.

The USCIS launched an enhanced Employment Authorization Document (EAD) on October 25, 2011, and a redesigned Certificate of Citizenship (Form N-560) on October 30, 2011. According to a USCIS press release, the changes incorporate technological improvements designed to strengthen security by reducing counterfeiting and tampering, and by facilitating fast and accurate authentication of the documents.

If you are using either of these documents, an experienced immigration attorney can answer your questions about the changes.

October 1, 2011, marks the beginning of fiscal year 2012 and the availability of more employment-based visas.

The employment-based visa quota for fiscal year 2011 was reached in the middle of September, 2011. The government put any EB immigrant visa cases in process on hold until October 3, when USCIS can again approve cases for adjustment of status.

With unemployment rate hovering in the 9 to 10 percent range, the U.S. government is turning to foreign entrepreneurs in an effort to spur the economy. By "clarifying" visa rules, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) hopes that foreign nationals already in the U.S. for advanced degrees will stay and open businesses, and that skilled workers will have an easier time being admitted to the U.S. for work.

Currently, many foreign nationals are finding it difficult to receive temporary work visas or permanent residence in the United States. The USCIS plan would make it easier to receive visas or green cards, especially for prospective immigrants that would like to establish a company in a high-tech industry. Specifically, the plan looks to clarify the process of granting H1-B visas, EB-2 visas and EB-5 visas.

La administración de Obama recientemente anunció que está bajando la presión de los casos de deportación/extracción de menos prioridad, permitiendo asi que algunos inmigrantes no documentados puedan quedarse en los Estados Unidos y finalmente puedan aplicar para trabajar.

El secretario del Departamento de la Seguridad Nacional, Janet Napolitano dijo que el cambio permitirá que el Departamento de Seguridad Nacional pueda enfocar los recursos de inmigración (incluyendo a si a los tribunales de Inmigración) en los casos de alta prioridad, como los casos de deportación de inmigrantes no documentados con antecedentes penales.  Según Napolitano, los casos de menos prioridad obstruyen "la lista de los casos del tribunal de inmigración y desvían la atención de los recursos de DHS (Departamento de Seguridad Nacional) aquellos individuos que representan una amenaza a la seguridad pública.

En este momento hay tantos casos en el tribunal de inmigración que puede durar meses aun años hasta que los jueces de inmigración puedan ver un caso de deportación.

La adminstración comenzará con una revisión caso por caso de las personas que actualmente se encuentran en ser removidos.  Casos de menos prioridad serán aquellos que sean esposos de militares, aquellos que fueron traídos a los Estados Unidos cuando niños y aquellos sin antecedentes penales.

Esta decisión sigue de un memorandum de Junio por el Departamento de Inmigración y Aduanas (ICE) del director John Morton.  El memo describe la discreción de fiscales tienen que tomar decisiones en casos de deportación de los inmigrantes. Morton dijo a los agentes de considerar la cantidad de tiempo han estado en los Estados Unidos, la condición de miembros de la familia y los antecedentes penales entre otras cosas.

De acuerdo con el Wall Street Journal, mas de 390,000 de inmigrantes indocumentados fueron deporatados el año pasado.

The Obama administration recently announced that it is lightening the pressure on low-priority deportation / removal cases, allowing certain undocumented immigrants to stay in the United States and eventually apply to work here.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano stated that the move will allow the Department of Homeland Security to focus immigration resources (including the immigration courts) on more important cases, such as deportation cases involving undocumented immigrants with criminal records. According to Napolitano, the low-priority cases clog "immigration court dockets and divert DHS enforcement resources away from individuals who pose a threat to public safety."

Microsoft is the latest in a long line of companies, individuals, employment-based immigration attorneys and interest groups asking for immigration reform. On Tuesday, July 26^th, Microsoft's general counsel, Brad Smith, testified before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees and Border Security. His message was simple: companies looking for highly-skilled employees continue to have trouble finding top talent to fill jobs, even in this economy.

In a report to the subcommittee, he wrote that it took Microsoft an average of 65 days to fill some of its vital technology positions because the skill simply was not available. "We need to be able to attract - and have adequate access to - skilled workers from abroad," he wrote.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) began accepting H-1B nonimmigrant visa applications for the 2012 fiscal year on April 1, 2011. As of July 1, 2011, the USCIS has received 18,400 petitions against the regular 65,000 available limit and 11,900 petitions against the 20,000 master's degree exemptions.

The H-1B Visa Program

H-1B visas allow employers in the U.S. to temporarily employ foreign workers for up to six years in fields that require "specialty occupations." Specialty occupations are jobs that "require theoretical or technical expertise in specialized fields." Some examples of such occupations include those in law, medicine, accounting, science, engineering and computer programming. The jobs generally require the employee to have the equivalent of a U.S. bachelor's degree and, for some jobs, appropriate licensure.

H-1B visas allow the worker and his or her spouse and children under 21 years old to live in the U.S. during the duration of the visa. An H-1B visa is a "dual-intent" visa, which means, unlike with other nonimmigrant visas, the government will not deny the H-1B visa if the employee intends to become a permanent resident.