August 6, 2000 Immigration News Update
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Business
Immigration News Update
from True, Walsh & Miller
August 6, 2000
- H-1Bs Capped at March 17
- Labor Dept. Proposes Labor Certification Backlog Reduction
- INS Halts Adjudications During Audit
- New Web Listing for U.S. Visa Application Fees
- State Department Announces Instructions for Next Visa
Lottery
- The Firm Writes
1. H-1Bs Capped at March 17
The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) has advised that it
has reached the 115,000 H-1B limit for fiscal year 2000. Only cases
filed March 17, 2000 or earlier have been included in the
adjudications for the current fiscal year. Between March 18 and July
20,the INS received 29,500 H-1B applications that will be counted
against the fiscal year 2001 cap.
The 2001 fiscal year begins October 1, 2000. The H-1B cap for
fiscal year 2001 will be 107,500, less than this year. The INS plans
to begin processing fiscal year 2001 applications soon.
Legislation is pending in Congress to raise the H-1B cap.
Because Congress is out of session all this month, however, no
legislation can be passed until September at the earliest.
2. Labor Dept. Proposes Labor Certification Backlog Reduction
The Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a long-awaited proposed rule
that would allow employers to convert certain pending
"traditional" labor certification applications into
expedited "reduction in recruitment"-type cases while
preserving the original priority date. The proposal is geared
toward reducing the backlog of permanent labor certification
applications.
Under the proposed rule, an employer could request that a pending
traditional labor certification application be processed instead as a
reduction in recruitment request as long as the application was filed
on or before July 26, 2000, and has not yet been sent to the regional
DOL office or had recruitment conducted. Such conversion
requests would have to be accompanied by documentary evidence of good
faith recruitment within the six months immediately before the date of
the request.
Comments on the proposed rule are due August 25, 2000. We
will provide a summary of this important rule in our next newsletter.
3. INS Halts Adjudications During Audit
All INS offices--Service Centers and District Offices--are conducting
an audit in which all pending forms in INS' possession are being
inventoried. This involves opening every file in each office and
counting each pending form. The impact of this will be a slowdown
processing of cases at the Service Centers. The exception will be
permanent residence age-out cases, which will be processed on an
"off-line" basis. The impact on the District Offices will
vary from district to district, with some offices stating that no
cases will be processed for the next month or two.
This is only a "run-through" audit. A similar but smaller
scale run-through audit was conducted in May. The "real"
audit will be conducted at the end of September, and therefore a
similar processing halt is expected at that time.
The INS has stated that the purpose of these audits, which are
termed deferred revenue audits, is to enable the INS to determine the
dollar value of items not yet completed in order to try to recapture
appropriations from the user fee account to cover the cost of
adjudicating the entire backlog of cases.
4. New Web Listing for U.S. Visa Application Fees
The U.S. State Department has recently added a visa reciprocity table
to its official consular affairs web site. You'll find it at http://travel.state.gov/reciprocity/index.htm
Visa fees are based on "reciprocity," what another
country charges a United States citizen for a similar type of visa.
The United States strives to eliminate visa issuance fees wherever
possible. However, a number of foreign governments impose such
fees for certain types of visas. The United States will impose a
"reciprocal" fee whenever a foreign government charges for
visas.
It's important to understand the distinction between a visa
"issuance" fee and a visa "application" fee.
Most non-diplomatic and non-official visas issued by United States
consular officers abroad require a visa "application" fee
that recovers for the United States the costs associated with
manufacturing, processing, and printing the visa. The current visa
"application" fee is $45.00.
Most visa applicants (visitors, students, temporary workers, etc.)
are charged this $45.00 visa "application" fee even if there
is no visa "issuance" fee. So, when you are looking at one
of the country reciprocity schedules, don't forget that an additional
$45.00 visa "application" fee should be factored into the
overall total cost of the visa.
To use the reciprocity tables, visit the web site above, and click
on the letter that begins the country's name. Then, click on the
country. The information contained at this site reflects the most
recent reciprocity schedules and availability of country documents.
Thanks to Ellen Badger of Binghamton University for bringing this
information to our attention.
5. State Department Announces Instructions for Next Visa Lottery
The State Department announced instructions this week for the
diversity visa lottery program for fiscal year 2002. The following are
excerpts from that announcement:
Section 203(c) of the Immigration Act of 1990 makes available up to
55,000 permanent resident immigrant visas each year by random
selection through a Diversity Visa lottery (DV-2002). The DV-2002
registration mail-in period will be held between noon on Monday,
October 2, 2000 and noon on Wednesday, November 1, 2000. Please note
several important changes in requirements and eligibility described
below.
How are the visas being apportioned?
The visas will be apportioned among six geographic regions. A
greater number of visas will go to those regions that have lower
immigration rates and no visas may be issued to countries that have
sent more than 50,000 immigrants to the United States during the
previous five years. No one country can receive more than seven
percent of the available diversity visas in any one year.
Information about visa allotments for each region is determined by the
Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) each year according to a
formula specified in Section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality
Act.
Who is not eligible?
Persons born in "high admission" countries are, in most
instances, not eligible for the program. For DV-2002, the "high
admission" countries are: Canada, China (mainland born and Macau),
Colombia, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, India, Jamaica,
Mexico, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Korea, the United Kingdom and
dependent territories, and Vietnam. Persons born in Hong Kong SAR,
Taiwan, and Northern Ireland are eligible to apply for the DV-2002
lottery.
Have the requirements changed since last year's registration?
The address for submitting DV applications has changed. Applicants
must mail their entries to the Kentucky Consular Center at the
following address:
DV-2002
Program
Kentucky
Consular Center
Lexington, KY
zip code (see below)
U.S.A.
The zip codes are as follows:
Africa: 41901
Asia: 41902
Europe: 41903
South America/Central America/Caribbean: 41904
Oceania: 41905
North America: 41906
Entries mailed to any address other than the Kentucky Consular Center
address will be disqualified.
There are also changes in the list of eligible DV countries from last
year's lottery - natives of Poland and Taiwan are eligible and natives
of Pakistan are not eligible for DV-2002.
What are the requirements to enter?
All applicants must be a native of a qualifying country. However, if a
person was born in an ineligible country but his or her spouse was
born in an eligible country, such a person can claim the spouse's
country of birth, provided both the applicant and spouse are issued
visas and enter the U.S. simultaneously. Also, if a person was born in
an ineligible country, but neither of his or her parents was born or
resided there at the time of the birth, such a person may be able to
claim one of the parent's countries of birth.
In addition, applicants must have either a high school education or
its equivalent, or within the past five years have two years of work
experience in an occupation that requires at least two years of
training or experience. If the applicant does not meet these
requirements, he or she should not submit an entry for the DV program.
There is no initial application fee or special application form to
enter. The entry must be typed or clearly printed in the English
alphabet on a sheet of plain paper and must include:
-
The applicant's full name and the name of the applicant's spouse and
children (if any);
-
The date and place of birth for both the applicant, the spouse
(husband or wife, even if separated, and even if the spouse does not
plan to immigrate), and any minor, unmarried children under age 21
(all minor, unmarried children must be listed on the principal
applicant's entry, regardless of whether they wish to immigrate and
regardless of whether they are the natural children, the spouse's
children by a previous marriage, or children formally adopted by the
principal applicant);
-
The applicant's mailing address and, if possible, a telephone number;
-
The applicant's native country if it differs from the country of
birth;
-
A recent (preferably less than 6 months old) photograph (1 1/2 inches
by 1 1/2 inches) of the principal applicant with the applicant's name
printed across the back of the photograph. (The photograph should be
taped to the entry with clear tape, not attached by staples or paper
clips that can jam the mail processing equipment.);
-
The applicant must also personally sign the entry using his or her
usual and customary signature in the native language, regardless of
whether the entry is prepared and submitted by the applicant or
someone else. Photocopied signatures are not acceptable. (Only the
principal applicant, not the spouse and children, needs to submit a
signature and photograph.) Any entry that is not personally signed by
the applicant will be disqualified.
This information must be sent by regular mail or airmail to one of six
postal addresses in Lexington, Kentucky. Applicants must use the
correct postal zip code designated for their native region. The entry
must be mailed in a standard letter or business-size envelope with the
applicant's native country, full name, and complete mailing address
typed or clearly printed in the English alphabet in the upper
left-hand corner of the envelope. Postcards are not acceptable.
Only one entry for each applicant may be submitted during the
registration period. Any entry sent by express or priority mail, fax,
hand, messenger, or any means requiring receipts or special handling
will not be processed. Duplicate or multiple entries will disqualify
an individual from registration for this program. Any entry received
before or after the specified registration dates regardless of when it
is postmarked and any entry sent to an address other than one of those
indicated will be disqualified. All mail received during the
registration period and meeting the above requirements will be
individually numbered and successful entrants will be selected at
random by computer regardless of time of receipt during the specified
mail-in period.
Please note: Failure to carefully follow all of these instructions
will disqualify the entry.
When are entries for the DV program accepted each year?
The month-long application period will be held each fall beginning at
noon on the first Monday in October. Each year, millions of applicants
apply for the program during the mail-in registration period. The
massive volume of entries creates an enormous amount of work in
selecting and processing successful applicants. Holding the
application period in the fall ensures successful applicants are
notified in a timely manner. This also gives both them and our
embassies and consulates overseas a full fiscal year (fiscal year 2002
begins on October 1, 2001 and ends on September 30, 2002) to process
the necessary immigrant visas.
Is it necessary to use an outside attorney or consultant?
The decision to hire an attorney or consultant is entirely up to the
applicant. Procedures for entering the Diversity Lottery can be
completed without assistance following simple instructions. However,
if applicants prefer to use outside assistance, that is their choice.
There are many legitimate attorneys and immigration consultants
assisting applicants for reasonable fees, or in some cases for free.
Unfortunately, there are other persons who are charging exorbitant
rates and making unrealistic claims. The selection of winners is made
at random and no outside service can improve an applicant's chances of
being chosen or guarantee an entry will win. Any service that claims
it can improve an applicant's odds would be promising something it
cannot deliver.
Persons who think they have been cheated by a U.S. company or
consultant in connection with the DV Lottery may wish to contact their
local consumer affairs office or the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
The Internet address for using the online complaint form is: http://www.ftc.gov.
The FTC can also be contacted by telephone, toll free at
1-877-FTC-HELP (382-4357) or (202) 382-4357 or TDD: (202) 326-2502.
The mailing address is: Consumer Response Center, Federal Trade
Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580.
(The FTC telephone number is only to report fraud and not to obtain
information about application procedures for the DV Lottery.)
How will winners be notified?
Only successful applicants will be notified by mail by the Kentucky
Consular Center at the address listed on their entry. The
notifications will be sent between April and July 2001, along with
instructions on how to apply for an immigrant visa. Applicants must
meet all eligibility requirements under U.S. law to be issued a visa.
Being selected in the DV Lottery does not automatically guarantee
being issued a visa because the number of applicants selected is
greater than the number of immigrant visas available. Those selected
will therefore need to act quickly on their immigrant visa
applications. Applicants who are physically present in the United
States may be eligible to apply to the INS for adjustment of status to
permanent resident. However, such applicants must ensure that INS can
complete action on their cases before September 30, 2002. Once all
available visas have been issued, the DV Program for fiscal year 2002
will end. In any event, all DV-2002 visas must, by law, be issued by
September 30, 2002.
Where can one receive instructions to enter the lottery?
Interested persons may call (202) 331-7199, which describes the
various means to obtain further details on entering the DV-2002
program. Applicants overseas may contact the nearest U.S. embassy or
consulate for instructions on the DV lottery. DV information is also
available in the "Visa Bulletin" on the Internet at http://travel.state.gov
or via the Consular Affairs automated fax at (202) 647-3000 (code
1550). Calls to the automated fax service must be made from a fax
machine using the receiver or voice option of the caller's fax
equipment.
6. The Firm Writes
Steve Yale-Loehr has written an overview article about EB-5 immigrant
investors. The article can be found on our web site at: click here
_________
That’s it for this issue. For answers to any
of your immigration questions, contact Hilary Fraser (htf@millermayer.com),
Rosie Mayer (rma@millermayer.com), or
Steve Yale-Loehr (syl@millermayer.com)
at True, Walsh & Miller.