Prospects for Immigration Reform Getting Brighter

By REUBEN S. SEGURITAN

President Barack Obama breathed new life into the much needed comprehensive immigration reforms last week by reiterating his intention to tackle the issue as a priority this year.

After several failed attempts to pass legislations to reform the outdated immigration policies and fix the flawed immigration bureaucracy, this renewed commitment by President Obama stands a bigger chance of coming into fruition with the united support of several influential interest groups, particularly the labor unions.

This week, the two most powerful labor federations, the AFL-CIO and the Change to Win, agreed for the first time to join forces in pushing for the legalization of undocumented aliens and their families. Other advocacy groups have also come out openly for reforms.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has expressed continued support for a guest worker program. A coalition of advocacy groups has committed $18 million to campaign around the country and rallies are expected in several cities in the coming weeks.

There is ample support for comprehensive reform in the current Congress. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have long championed immigration reforms.

Representative Luis Gutierrez of Illinois has been touring the country since December to generate enthusiasm on the issue. Of course, as in the past, there are opponents of immigration reforms, particularly in the face of major unemployment and recession in the U.S.

However, studies and data released by economic and labor experts as provided by the Immigration Policy Center showed that contrary to the fear of its probable dire effects, legalizing undocumented workers already in the U.S. would actually redound to the benefit of all American workers and help revitalize the U.S. economy.

First of all, legalization of undocumented immigrant workers will increase wages of all U.S. workers by “bringing people out of the shadows” and preventing employers from exploiting the illegal workers by paying them lower than prevailing wages, thus, depressing the wage rate for all U.S. workers.  It would allow workers to be treated fairly and provide a level playing field for all U.S. workers to compete for jobs in the labor market.

Also, integrating undocumented immigrants into the U.S. legal system will motivate them to invest in themselves and in their communities, and this will bring in more revenues into the economy.

The Obama proposal will remove incentives to enter the country illegally by cracking down on employers who hire undocumented immigrants. It will keep families together, meet the demand for jobs that employers cannot fill, and will enforce border security.

Mr. Obama’s thrust is to frame a “policy reform that controls immigration and make it an orderly system” according to Cecilia Munoz, a deputy assistant to the president and director of intergovernmental affairs in the White House.

The studies showed that the new policy reform would actually reduce the high bureaucratic cost of “enforcement-only” approach to immigration and would pay for itself by increasing the wages, the buying power and the tax contributions of all working people.

Addressing this difficult issue will not mean that other priority issues will take a backseat such as healthcare, education, security and the economy. It is part of a comprehensive approach to “support the country’s economic recovery and allow honest, hardworking people to become lawful, contributing members of our society”, according to Angela Kelley, Director of the Immigration Policy Center in Washington D.C.

Written by admin on June 17th, 2009 with no comments.
Read more articles on Immigration Reform.

2nd Preference Option for Professionals

By REUBEN S. SEGURITAN

With the unavailability of visa numbers in the employment-based third preference (EB3) category, which means a wait for green card of about seven years, a viable option for qualified professionals from all countries, except India and China, is the second preference (EB2) category.

The EB2 category has a yearly worldwide allocation of 40,000 visa numbers, plus any unused visas in the first preference category. Visa numbers are currently available for all countries for this category, except China and India.

requirements must be satisfied: first, the alien beneficiary must be a member of the professions holding an advanced degree or its foreign equivalent; and second, the position must require, at a minimum, an advanced degree.

The advanced degree requirement is satisfied if the beneficiary has a U.S. master’s degree or higher, or a foreign degree evaluated to be the equivalent of a U.S. master’s degree or higher. Lawyers and medical doctors may qualify as advanced degree professionals.For those without a master’s degree, they may prove eligibility under the EB2 category, if they have a combination of a bachelor’s degree plus five years of progressive experience in the profession.

This is considered by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) as having the equivalency of a master’s degree.

A bachelor’s degree is a threshold requirement. Work experience cannot be considered in evaluating attainment of a bachelor’s degree. Moreover, the USCIS would consider one foreign degree equivalent and not a combination of degrees or a combination of education or experience to equate to a bachelor’s degree for professional positions.

“Progressive experience” is not defined by statute or regulation. The USCIS memo issued in 2000 interpreted it as, “employment experience that reveals progress, moves forward, and advances toward increasingly complex and responsible duties demonstrating advancing levels of responsibility and knowledge in the specialty.”

For those under the EB-2 sub-group of Exceptional Ability Workers, they need to show a degree of expertise in their field that is “significantly above the ordinary”. This is proven by any three of the following: degree relating to an area of exceptional ability, letter/s from current or former employer/s showing at least 10 years experience; license to practice profession; a salary or remuneration history demonstrating exceptional ability; membership in professional association; or recognition of achievements and significant contributions to the industry or field by peers, governmental entities, or professional or business organization.

Prior to applying for the EB-2 immigrant visa, a labor certification is required, but this requirement may be waived if the employment of the applicant will be in the national interest. To support a national interest waiver, the employer or the applicant may submit with the ETA 9089 form documents to show that the benefit to be provided by the alien will be national in scope, such as the improvement of the U.S. economy, improvement of wages and working conditions for U.S. workers, improvement of education and programs for U.S. children, improvement of health care and environment.

In one of our cases, we were able to obtain a national interest waiver for our physician client upon showing that he would be practicing in an underserved area.

Written by admin on June 17th, 2009 with no comments.
Read more articles on Employment based visas.

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