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Core Immigration Services
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We aim to keep our clients informed of the ongoing, recent developments in immigration law. We endeavour to keep this section updated as we hear the latest news. For further information, please contact us at news@immigrationone.com. From time to time, our team of lawyers appear in the media for lectures they have given, articles published, or general praise and recognition. Please see our media section for Our Team In the News. The Latest News section is arranged according to a specific country's newsworthy items in the current media. USCIS CONDUCTS LOTTERY FOR H1B VISAS On April 14, 2008, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) conducted the computer-generated random selection processes on H-1B petitions to select which H-1B petitions for fiscal year 2009 (FY 2009 - beginning October 1, 2008) would continue to full adjudication. If approved, these H-1B petitions will be eligible to receive an H-1B visa number. USCIS conducted 2 random selections, first on petitions qualifying for the 20,000 "master's or higher degree" (advanced degree) exemption, and second on the remaining advance degree petitions together with the general H-1B pool of petitions, for the 65,000 cap. Thus, petitioners whose properly filed petitions have been selected for full adjudication should receive a receipt notice dated no later than June 2, 2008. USCIS will return unselected petitions with the fee(s) to petitioners or their authorized representatives. As previously announced, duplicate filings will be returned without the fee. The total adjudication process is expected to take approximately 8 to 10 weeks. For cases selected through the random selection process and initially filed for premium processing, the 15-day premium processing period begins on April 14. Further, USCIS has "wait-listed" some H-1B petitions, meaning they may possibly replace petitions chosen to receive an FY-2009 cap number, but that subsequently are denied, withdrawn, or otherwise found ineligible. USCIS will retain these petitions until a decision is made whether they will replace a previously selected petition. USCIS will send a letter to the wait list petitioners to inform them of their status. USCIS expects that for each of these wait-listed petitions it will either issue a receipt notice or return the petition with fees within 6 to 8 weeks. FINGERPRINTING MAY DELAY VISAS Beginning January 1, 2008, the Department of State has ruled that they now require fingerprinting and name checks for all nonimmigrant visa applicants including H-1b, H-3, B-2, etc. This could cause significant delays in visa processing times when applying at US Consulates abroad. Please factor these potential delays when considering your travel plans in the near future. PIMS: A NEW VISA VERIFICATION PROCESS PIMS, (Petition Information Management System), is a new electronic visa issuance procedure which applies to the H, L, O, P and Q nonimmigrant visa categories. PIMS includes information about initial petition approvals and L blanket petitions that were approved since 2004. It doesn't contain data on extension and change of status. Before a nonimmigrant visa can be issued, U.S. consular posts abroad must consult PIMS to verify the approval. Also, even if the visa applicant takes an original I-797 approval notice to the interview, he will now have to wait until the information is confirmed through the electronic record. If the petition approval is not recorded in the PIMS, or if the documents don't match with those in the database, the applicant will have to wait until the Consular officer investigates further. Visa applicants applying for these visa categories should prepare themselves to spend extra time in their country of application in case the visa issuance takes longer than expected. USCIS FILING FEES TO INCREASE ON JULY 30TH 2007 USCIS has announced that it will drastically increase filing fees beginning July 30th. For example: 1. Permanent residence/green card applications, which are now $395 including fingerprinting fees, will soon cost $1,010 for applicants over 14. It should be noted, however, that the increased fee will include charges for fingerprinting, work authorization and a travel document, which presently are separate. 2. Non-immigrant worker petitions will increase from $190 to $320. 3. Applications for citizenship, currently $400 with biometrics, will soon cost $675; 4. Applications for employment authorization, now $180, will be raised to $340 if not already included with the cost of a residency application.
BACKLOG ELIMINATION CENTER WEBSITE NOW PERMITS CASE STATUS INQUIRIES The Department of Labor's Backlog Elimination Centers, which are in charge of processing all pre-Perm labor certification applications, now permits inquiry into the status applications. The link to the site is: http://workforcesecurity.doleta.gov/foreign/times.asp. Please keep in mind that the information provided by the site is very limited, mainly indicating only whether the application is pending, denied, or approved. STATE DEPARTMENT CLARIFIES ISSUES OF STUDENT VISA VALIDITY AFTER BREAKS IN STUDIES An ongoing concern for student (F-1) visa holders is whether their
visas remain valid after a break in studies. Recently the
Department of State clarified the issue somewhat. Students in
the U.S. who finish one course of study and wish to transfer to
another will automatically fall out of status if they do not resume studies with the new school or program within five months. For
students enrolled in schools who leave the U.S. for a break in
studies, their student visas will be invalidated after an absence
over five months. In that case, the student would need to
apply for a new F-1 visa. It should be noted, however, that students
who go abroad for activities related to the course of their studies
are not considered out of status and their visas will remain valid
even after a five month absence. IMMIGRATION BENEFITS TO THE UK According to a report by non-profit organization The Work Foundation, high levels of immigration over the last ten years have benefitted Britain's economy, and no hard evidence has been found that migrants negatively affect the labor market. The report also welcomes the UK's new points based immigration system -- with some reservations. In the Foundation's study, 'Migration Myths: Employment Wages and Labour Market Performance', author David Coats finds that both inflation and interest rates have been lowered as a result of increased migration. In addition, because of higher levels of immigration, labor shortages have been curtailed and the economy has been growing steadily. The study also found that there is no strong evidence that migrants have caused greater native-born unemployment or caused wages to fall. In fact, citing earlier research by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the study stated that if the skill mix of migrants is different than the native population, then migrants will be complimenting rather than competing with native-born workers, causing prosperity to rise. A simple example may illuminate this argument," Coats states in the report. "Foreign doctors working in the NHS are obviously filling a gap created by a shortage of supply of British doctors, are clearly not willing to work for lower wages and are playing an important role in matching labour demand to labour supply. The NHS (and many other public services) would cease to function if labour supply pressures were not relieved by the availability of skilled professionals from abroad." Many NHS doctors were brought in under the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme (HSMP), a successful scheme which allows non-EU migrants to live and work in Britain without a previous job offer by assessing their age, qualifications, and past earnings under a points based system. The HSMP is being replaced by the first tier of a five-tier points based system which will encompass all employment, training, and student based immigration into the UK. People who used to qualify for the HSMP will now come under Tier 1 for General Highly Skilled Migrants under rules which have changed very little. The study praised the UK's new points based system, stating that it "offers a more sophisticated attempt to match labour demand to labour supply and...should lead to a more informed assessment of employers' needs." However, the Coats stated that there was a case for more flexibility in the system, using chefs in ethnic restaurants as an example. Currently, many cooks in ethnic restaurants such as curry chefs would fall under Tier 3 of the new points based system, which encompasses unskilled workers. The UK has suspended Tier 3 with the expectation that unskilled labor could be taken care of from workers within the EU. UK's NEW POINTS BASED TIER SYSTEM The UK has already begun enforcing part of the first tier which is expected to be fully implemented by summer of 2008 -- Tier 1 for General Highly Skilled Migrants. This sub-category of Tier 1 is replacing the HSMP, and has already been implemented for people in the UK. In addition, people applying from India as highly skilled migrants have been required to come under the new rules as of 01 April 2008. Sometime during the summer of 2008 (not before 30 June 2008), the UK will finish implementing Tier One. Once this takes place, eight previously existing immigration categories will be removed:
When these categories are removed, migrants already in the UK under these schemes will be able to finish out the terms of their stay as long as they continue to honor the conditions of their leave to remain. They can then go on to extend their stay in the UK under the relevant new points based system category. UK's NEW MAINTENANCE REQUIREMENT FOR TIER 1 APPLICANTS The United Kingdom's new five-tier points based system requires individuals applying under Tier 1 for General Highly Skilled Migrants (Tier 1 (General)) to prove that they have enough funds at their disposal to support themselves and their families. The new Tier 1 rules have now come into effect for applications made from India. As such, the UK immigration rules have been updated to show the Maintenance requirements for these applicants. For applications made from within the UK, the Maintenance requirement is a minimum of GBP 800, which must be proven to have been present at all times in the applicant's bank account for three months prior to the application. For applications from India, the figure is much higher, and will presumably be the same for other countries once they come under the new Tier 1 (General) rules later this year. The amount of funds an applicant in India must have at his or her disposal is GBP 2800, subject to the same three-month requirement. In addition, transitional arrangements have been put in place for individuals already in the UK applying for the first time under Tier 1 for General Highly Skilled Migrants or seeking further leave to remain (FLR) as a Tier 1 (General) migrant. According to the UK Border Agency, up to and including 29 June 2008, applicants within the UK will only be required to show the GBP 800 at their disposal at the time of their application -- not for all times during the previous three months. All applications received after 29 June will be subject to the three-month time period. However, the documents supporting the evidence of the GBP 800 must be no older than one month prior to the application. NEW RULES FOR BRITISH CITIZENSHIP ANNOUNCED The government of the United Kingdom has proposed new changes to rules for migrants who wish to attain British citizenship, including a probationary period for new citizens, payments that migrants must pay towards helping communities deal with the impact of increased immigration, and tough measures for prospective citizens who commit offenses. "Our new deal for citizenship is clear and fair. The rights and benefits of citizenship will be available to those who can demonstrate a commitment to our shared values and a willingness to contribute to the community," said Home Secretary Jacqui Smith. The changes to citizenship legislation would be backed by a new single piece of legislation that will replace all existing immigration laws, which will be tabled before Parliament in November 2008. If the naturalization measures are passed into law, they would introduce a 'path to citizenship' which would propose:
"British people have welcomed migrants over the years. Our economy and our communities are stronger for their contribution to British life. And people think it's fair that the benefits of citizenship are matched by responsibilities and contributions to Britain," Smith said. UK IMPLEMENTS FINGERPRINTING CHECK FOR VISA APPLICANTS The United Kingdom rolled out a global system on 14 January 2008 to check the fingerprints of all visa applicants against UK databases. The fingerprint system has gone live three months ahead of schedule in over 133 countries. The government claims that nearly 500 cases of identity swapping have been spotted. According to the Border and Immigration Agency, more than 1,000,000 have had their fingerprints taken. Noting the accuracy of the system, they said about 10,000 visa applicants have been identified who have previously been fingerprinted in the UK in connection with immigration cases or asylum applications. "The public wants stronger borders. They want us to shut down the causes of illegal immigration and hold newcomers to account, deporting rule breakers where necessary," Immigration Minister Liam Byrne said. "They also want a compassionate system, which makes and enforces decisions fast when we have obligations to honour - and lets those we need contribute to Britain as long as they speak English, pay tax and obey the law," he added.
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