Two Recent Changes in US Immigration Law

 Two major changes  that have taken place in January 2009 with respect to non-US citizens and International Tourists from Visa Waiver Program (VWP) Countries arriving to or departing from the United States are:

(1) International visitors from VWP countries like United Kingdom now require to obtain a “pre-clearance” prior to initiating travel to the United States; and

(2) Expansion of the US-Visit program, which requires all non-US Citizens to provide biometrics upon arrival in, or departure from, the United States at air or sea ports of entry.  

For more details,  see our attorney, Hanishi Ali’s article published here: http://www.lokvani.com/lokvani/article.php?article_id=5499

UK Tightening its Highly-Skilled Foreign Worker Program

The Times recently reported that the number of non-EU highly skilled workers entering the United Kingdom from April 2009 is estimated to fall by almost half because of tougher entry requirements based on world-wide recession and to protect British workers from losing their job to foreigners during these tough economic times.

UK Immigration Officials estimate that the number will fall from 26,000 last year to 14,000 next year as a result of rules requiring highly skilled migrants to have a master’s rather than a bachelor’s degree and to earn a minimum of £20,000 a year instead of £17,000.

Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, denied that “raising the bar” for highly skilled immigrants was narrow protectionism to safeguard British jobs and instead claimed that, “all workers now coming to the UK from outside the European Union (EU) have to meet the requirements of the Australian-style points-based system, which allows us to raise or lower the bar on who can come here.”

The United Kingdom Government also plans to change the laws regarding the deportation of EU citizens convicted of sexual, violent and drugs crimes. At the moment EU citizens can only be deported if they are given a jail sentence of two years or more. The Home Office intends to reduce this to 12 months.

New Census Bureau Data Reveals U.S. Foreign-Born Population Characterisitics

The US Census Bureau days ago released interesting statistics on US Foreign-Born Population.

According to a new analysis of data about the U.S. foreign-born population from the 2007 American Community Survey (ACS), a higher percentage of people born in India have a bachelors degree or higher (74 percent) than people born in any other foreign country. Egypt and Nigeria had rates above 60 percent.

Other findings available for foreign-born populations of 65,000 or more in areas with a total population of 500,000 or more include the following:

Country of Birth

• Mexico tops the country of birth list with more than 11.7 million people. The next highest countries by birth include China (1.9 million), the Philippines (1.7 million), India (1.5 million), El Salvador and Vietnam (both at 1.1 million), and Korea (1 million). Cuba, Canada and the Dominican Republic round out the top 10 countries of birth.

Educational Attainment

• Foreign-born from several African nations are among the likeliest to have graduated from high school, specifically from countries such as Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt and South Africa. About 96 percent or more of the foreign-born age 25 and over from these nations are high school graduates.
• Overall, about 85 percent of the total U.S. population, 68 percent of the U.S. foreign-born and 88 percent of the native-born are high school graduates.
• About 27 percent of the foreign-born and about 28 percent of natives have bachelor’s degrees.

Household Income

• Among the foreign-born, those from India, Australia, South Africa and the Philippines have the highest median household incomes. The median household income for U.S. residents born in India is $91,195. The foreign-born from Somalia and the Dominican Republic had some of the lowest median household incomes.
• Median household income is $50,740 for the total population, $46,881 for the foreign-born population and $51,249 for the native population.

Age

• Europe is the source of some of the “oldest” foreign-born. U.S. residents born in Hungary (64 years) and Italy (63.1) share the distinction, statistically, of having the oldest median ages. The foreign-born from Greece, Germany and Ireland also have median ages of about 60.
• U.S. residents born in Somalia have the youngest median age (26.8).
• Nationally, the median age for the total U.S. population is 36.7. The total foreign-born population has a median age of 40.2 and the total native population has a median age of 35.8.

Year of Entry

• The foreign-born from Somalia and Kenya are the most likely to have entered the United States in 2000 or later. Nearly 60 percent are in this category.
• Overall, about 28 percent of the nation’s foreign-born entered in 2000 or later, 29 percent between 1990 and 1999, and 43 percent entered the United States before 1990.

Employment and Occupations

• Approximately 81 percent of the foreign-born age 16 and over from Nigeria and Kenya are in the labor force. Nationally, about 65 percent of the U.S. population in this age group are in the labor force, compared with about 67 percent of the foreign-born population and 64 percent of natives.
• U.S. residents born in India have the highest percentage of civilian-employed people working in management, professional and related occupations (69 percent). These occupations employ about 36 percent of the native civilian-employed U.S. population and 27 percent of the foreign-born.
• The foreign-born from Liberia and Haiti have the highest percentage of civilian-employed people working in service occupations (at 40 percent and 39 percent respectively, the differences are not statistically significant). About 16 percent of natives and 23 percent of the foreign-born civilian-employed populations are working in service occupations.
• The foreign-born from Jordan (40 percent) and Bangladesh (36 percent) are among the most likely to work in sales and office occupations (the differences between the two are not statistically significant). Among natives, 27 percent work in sales and office occupations, compared with 18 percent among the foreign-born population.

English Language Ability

• About 97 percent of the foreign-born population from Mexico and the Dominican Republic age 5 and over speak a language other than English at home. Those born in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Armenia, Honduras, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Ecuador also have high rates of speaking a language other than English.
• People born in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador age 5 and over are most likely to speak English less than “very well.” More than 70 percent of the foreign-born population from these countries identified themselves in that category.
• On average, 52 percent of the foreign-born population, 2 percent of the native population and 9 percent of the total U.S. population speak English less than “very well.”

Poverty

• Among people for whom poverty status is determined, about 51 percent of residents born in Somalia are living in poverty. About a quarter of the population born in Iraq, the Dominican Republic, Jordan and Mexico are also living in poverty.
• On the low end of the poverty spectrum for the countries of birth, U.S. residents born in the Netherlands and Ireland each have a poverty rate of about 5 percent.
• About 13 percent of both natives and the total U.S. population are living in poverty, while about 16 percent of the foreign-born are.

For detailed data sets see http://www.census.gov/acs/www/UseData/index.htm

Green Card Holders Now May be Required to Provide Fingerprints or Other Biometrics

The new rule that came into effect on January 18, 2009, requires that nearly all foreign citizens provide biometrics (e.g., finger scans and photographs).   The categories of foreign citizens include:

·         US lawful permanent residents (LPRs), that is, “green-card holders”
·         Foreign citizens seeking admission on immigrant visas (this includes all family-based immigration and EB-1 to EB-5 categories)
·         Refugees and Asylees
·         Foreign citizens paroled into the United States
·         Certain Canadian citizens who receive a Form I-94 at inspection or who require a waiver of inadmissibility

For more detailed information – see, our attorney, Hanishi Ali’s  article featured in New England Ethinc News:

http://www.ethnicnewz.org/en/green-card-holders-not-just-tourists-now-may-be-required-provide-fingerprints-or-other-biometrics

US Senate Places Some Restictions on H-1B Hiring

US Senate has placed some strictions in the stimulus bill on hiring of H-1B employees. US companies that will receive federal bailout money through the TARP bailout programme and will be applying to hire employees under the H-1B process must operate as “H-1B dependent companies” to hire new H-1B employees. In effect this means that US companies must attest to actively recruiting Amercian workers, and not displacning an American worker with an H-1B holder, and not replacing American workers that have been laid off with foreign workers.

We will continue to monitor the situation and keep you posted so please check back.

Economic Stimulus Bill Now Threatened by 3 Bad Immigration Amendments

The large Economic Stimulus Bill that is now being debated in the Senate is threatened by 3 bad immigration amendments that will hurt immigrant workers and the economy.

Senator Sanders’s H-1B amendment to bar banks from hiring H-1B workers (number 306):
This amendment aims to prevent U.S. employers who are using TARP funds from accessing highly skilled, professional foreign talent that would allow them to stay competitive in the global marketplace.

Senator Sessions’ 2 amendments (numbers 165 and 239):
This amendment requires all businesses and other public or private “entities” that contract to receive money from the stimulus package to use the E-Verify program. Making the E-Verify program mandatory, can delay use of stimulus funds, hurt millions of workers and hamstring businesses who are not prepared to implement this new program, especially during this economic crisis.

The Filing Season for H-1B Petitions for Fiscal Year 2010 is Fast Approaching and Quotas will Run Out Quickly

On April 1, 2009, employers can start filing for new H-1B petitions for Fiscal Year 2010 (beginning October 1, 2009) and if as an employer you have identified H-1B  candidates, it is recommended that you contact an immigration attorney and start the process soon as possible.

Although we are in tough economic times, it is expected that the quota or “cap” for new H-1B petitions will run out as quickly as in years past.

The cap for Fiscal Year 2010 is 65,000 per year with an additional 20,000 H-1B visas for applicants holding post-graduate (masters) degree or higher. Last year the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services received 163,000 applications in the first five days of April and had to conduct a lottery to choose the 65,000 H-1B petitions that would be processed.

It should be noted that the H-1B cap applies to “new” H-1B petitions, which include new hires, changes of status to H-1B, and students’ whose OPT expires before October 1, 2009.

Some instances where the H-1B numerical limit does not apply are:
•    H-1B transfers to new employers,
•    Extension to stay,
•    Foreign nationals seeking employment with government research
•    Foreign nationals seeking employment with non-profit research
•    Foreign nationals seeking employment with institutions of higher education
•    Physicians who previously have been on J-1 status and have applied for a waiver of the two-year residence requirement (on the basis   of service in an underserved area)