Sep
14
Rise in Indian Illegal Immigrants
Filed Under Immigration News | Leave a Comment
Statistics show that immigrants from India are among the fastest-growing groups of illegal and unauthorized aliens in the US.
According to a report by the United States Department of Homeland Security, there was a 125 per cent increase between 2000 and 2006 of the unauthorized immigrant population.
According to the United States Citizen and Immigration Services, an unauthorized immigrant is one who either entered the country temporarily or without inspection, and outstayed their visa.
Under those terms, any immigrants who are applying for an adjustment in status to lawful permanent residence under the Immigration and Nationality Act are defined as unauthorized until legal permanent resident status has been granted.
To read more about this story click here.
Sep
13
Over fifty people participated in a march on Wednesday (13SEP07) to raise awareness about immigration problems in the US and the need for immigration reform.
The Voluntarios de la Comunidad crowd marched from San Jose’s Mi Pueblo Plaza on Story Road to City Hall on Santa Clara Street.
The march was organized as part of a Washington D.C. rally that recently-deported illegal immigrant Elvira Arellano had originally planned to attend. Arellano was deported last month after defying USCIS orders for a year and taking shelter in a Chicago church with her US-born son.
Sep
12
Visa Shortage Causes Nursing Home Crisis
Filed Under Foreign Nurses, Immigration News | Leave a Comment
The low number of nurses in the US is causing a nursing shortage that could have disastrous consequences, according to a study in the Wall Street Journal.
According to the Journal article, "Faculty shortages and inadequate facilities have prevented nursing programs from expanding enrollment. When growers can’t find field hands, food rots and businesses lose money. But when hospitals can’t find nurses, patient care suffers.
"The long-term solution here is to increase nursing faculty and teaching facilities. But in the short run, Congress could help enormously by easing the limit on foreign nurses allowed entry to the US. More such green cards are needed now, before hospital understaffing contributes to more preventable illness and death."
Sep
11
Santa Clarita resident Ana Maria Moncayo is fighting to stay in the US after her US border patrol husband Agent John Gigax died while on duty. The Ecuadorian immigrant now faces a tough legal battle against deportation by the United States Citizenship and immigration Services.
Another widow fighting deportation is a Kenyan immigrant woman whose husband died trying to save two young boys from drowning in 2006.
Jacqueline Coats lost her husband Marlin on Mother’s Day 2006 at San Francisco’s Ocean Beach.
Coats had been struggling to reinstate her lapsed student visa from San Jose University when she met Marlin Coats in 2004. The couple had plans to marry when immigration officials began deportation proceedings against her in April 2006, and married 11 days after receiving the notice.
US law does not protect those who are widowed before achieving citizenship or permanent legal residency.
Sep
11
Celebrities have stepped in to help make US customs officials more friendly in a new campaign launched by the city of New York’s tourism board, NYC & Company, at the new $650 million American Airlines terminal.
Customs officials in the US have long had the reputation of being surly and rude to visitors, resulting in fears that the tourist trade is being affected negatively.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City says, "When the surveys show that people don’t come here because they get treated badly at our borders we have got to do something. If you’re a security agent you can do your job but also be polite and accommodating. Most of the immigration people are great but there are a handful of bad apples."
Native New Yorkers such as actors Robert De Niro and Julianne Moore are being featured on posters across the city as part of the "Just Ask the Locals" campaign, which aims to encourage the 40 million annual visitors to talk to locals in the city and not hesitate to ask for help.
Mayor Bloomberg says, "This campaign will encourage visitors who want to get the most out of their experiences to ask the experts - New Yorkers. People in this city have never been reticent to tell people what they think."
NYC & Company chairman Jonathan Tisch says, “The United States has the world’s worst entry process and that has very serious consequences for our economic as well as national security. The new American Airlines terminal and New York City’s Just Ask The Locals campaign are at the forefront of making the entry process more welcoming and will quickly become the model that others want to emulate.”
Sep
10
The US has signed an agreement with New Zealand to allow students from New Zealand to work in the US.
Under the new arrangement, students from New Zealand will be able to work and travel in the US from four months to a year.
The extended program is similar to one recently agreed upon by the US and Australia last week. US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs Christopher Hill and New Zealand’s head of foreign affairs and trade Simon Murdoch signed the program at the US-N.Z. Partnership Forum in Auckland.
According to president of the US Chamber of Commerce Tom Donahue, the US has an "extraordinary relationship with New Zealand and it shouldn’t get anything but better."
Sep
7
FAQ: Partner Working on E2 Visa
Filed Under Ask Chris, E-2 Visa | Leave a Comment
Q: I am officially the ‘main investor’ on my E2 visa. Can my partner work on the visa?
A: When the application is made for the E2 visa, there needs to be on investor and one non-investor if one spouse wishes to work. In order to qualify as the investor all the investment documentation i.e., documents showing the purchase of the business must be in the name of the new owner. This new one qualifies for the E2 investor visa on that basis, et. al and the spouse then qualifies for the work permit. This is not something that is easily interchangeable, as what it would entail would be a legal changing of ownership from one spouse to the other with USCIS approval. It would be better if the spouse most likely to end up in the work place long term not be the designated owner of the business even if initially, that spouse may play a leading role in setting up the business for the investing spouse.
Sep
6
FAQ: E2 vs Green Card
Filed Under Ask Chris, E-2 Visa, Green Card | Leave a Comment
Q: What’s the difference between an E2 visa and a Green Card?
A: The E2 visa runs forever as long as the business runs. The major difference between the E2 and the Green card is that with a Green card the alien does not have to work, own a business or anything. It’s therefore desirable for the non-investing spouse to work their way into an employment situation where a green card in the future would be possible. The speed of getting a green card through employment depends on the level of skill required for that job. So for example, in order to get a green card through employment the job itself (generally speaking) should be one where a certain amount of education and or skill is required. Typically, two years training.
The higher the amount of education and skill involved in doing the job then faster the green card will be processed, i.e., a Ph.d graduate would get their green card faster than a plumber. The second factor in speed of getting the green card would be down to the fact that in order for an American employer to sponsor an alien for a green card, the employer must first prove that there were no Americans willing and able to do the job at that time. So the lower the skill level of the job the harder this will be to prove. For example, it would be hard for an employer to prove that after extensive advertising he could not find a qualified receptionist, but it would easy for an employer to prove that he could not find a suitable Ph.d. Now with a work permit an American employer can hire you at the drop of a hat, but having employed you if he then wanted to sponsor you for a green card he’d have to have another unfilled vacancy he could put you up for where the aforementioned test would be played out.
Sep
5
FAQ: Children and Work Permits
Filed Under Ask Chris | Leave a Comment
Q: I am planning on moving to the US. Will my child be able to work?
A: Alien children can only work in the US under two conditions. Firstly, if they have a green card. Secondly if they qualify for a visa that allows them to work. In practice this means that the parents are under some pressure to secure a green card for themselves and children before the children turn 21.
If the parents can’t secure green cards by then then the children will get their own and this can be done in a number of ways. Students from the age of 18 can enter in to a US University or Community college and after the first year they can apply for a work permit so they can work and study at the same time providing the maintain 12 hours of study per week. If the alien decides to leave college altogether then they are given a further year of work permit. After they they need to qualify for a visa / green card that would allow them to carrying working. In truth, this for most families is many years off and we work with each family individually to achieve the best outcome.
Sep
4
A temporary restraining order has been granted by a US judge to prevent the Social Security Administration from sending out letters to employers who knowingly employ illegal immigrants.
The letters, which contained notification of serious penalties for hiring illegal immigrants, were due to be sent out on Tuesday (04SEP07).
However, a lawsuit by the US’s largest federation of labor unions against the US government resulted in US District Judge Maxine Chesney granting the temporary restraining order.
Chesney stated that the court needed "breathing room" before making any decisions following accusations in the AFL-CIO lawsuit that the new Department of Homeland Security rules violated workers’ rights.
A hearing has been set for October (01OCT07).
To read more about this story, click here.