Archive for April, 2007

Crystal ball gazing, part 2

Friday, April 27th, 2007

Expanding on last week’s entry…

HLG believes that there is an increasingly good chance that the retrogression is solved in next 3-4 months via Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR). The approximate time frame would be this: the House announced their CIR proposal (called Strive Act) in March.

We have heard from several sources that the Senate is set release their version in early May. Their version (like the Senate’s) is a broad proposal and has bi-partisan support. The Senate has formally set the last two weeks of May aside for immigration debate. There is a very good chance that the Senate actually passes a bill in late May/ early June.

And that’s where it gets trickier. The key is that the House continues the momentum and pushes through a bill in June. If they do, Congress will have to take both bills to committee, which is the process whereby the Congress irons out the differences between the bills. The expectation is that the differences will be minor. The President will surely sign the bill since he’s been a CIR proponent since Day One of his presidency.

Putting all of this together it is more likely than not that we have a CIR bill in July/August. All of that having been said, we’re not only relying on CIR. There is a continuing push for a “bridge,” which is a small piece of legislation to immediately, but temporarily, end the retrogression and bridge the gap until the full CIR can get passed into law. The odd-reality is that the more likely CIR looks, the less likely the bridge looks.

Posted in Registered Nurses | 48 Comments »

Touchbacks and Triggers

Sunday, April 22nd, 2007

As today’s editorial in the New York Times suggests, the key issue in the CIR debate is what to do with the US’ 12 million undocumented workers. If Congress can reach a compromise between the liberals who want easy paths to legalization, and the “deport-‘em-all” conservatives, CIR will happen.

The compromise position has been in the public domain for about a year and was originally floated by Sen. Hutchison and Rep. Pence. It calls for a certain class of immigrants to have to exit the US and then legally reenter (“touchback”); the plan also liberalizes certain immigration quotas and classes when predetermined benchmarks are reached (“triggers”).

Sen. Hutchison has always been the leader in Schedule A liberalization, so it is unsurprising to see her also take a lead on the broader reform. When all is said and done she may turn out to be the unsung hero of immigration reform.

Posted in Registered Nurses | 45 Comments »

Crystal ball gazing

Thursday, April 19th, 2007

Everyone wants us to put on our genie’s hat, gaze into our crystal ball, and try to predict what is going to happen in the next few months. So here it goes…

Congress is set to debate CIR in May. HLG thinks that there is a reasonable chance that one house of Congress passes CIR in the May/June timeframe. And that the other house of Congress passes another CIR in June/July. With some negotiation, a compromise CIR bill could be on the president’s desk by the middle of the summer – say July.

In addition, we are also actively courting the bridge legislation that we’ve mentioned many times. HLG was privy to a meeting that took place just this week with a senior staffer in an important Senator’s office. The challenge here is to find the right must-pass legislation that can serve as a host.

Putting this all together HLG is slightly raising our latest estimate. We’re willing to print that there is a 60% chance that either CIR or Bridge legislation is passed and signed by the President by August 1. Whenever a bill is passed it will likley take an additional 30-60 days before the first visas are issued.

Posted in predictions | 46 Comments »

Bills Introduced

Friday, April 13th, 2007

There have been two bills introduced which may help our cause and are surely of interest to readers of this Blog.

The first is a re-introduction of the SKIL Bill (S. 1083). The text of the bill has not yet been released to the public. It is expected that this will contain the same retrogression-elimination language that was contained in the 2006 version of the bill. The bill was introduced by Senator Cornyn and cosponsors include Senators Allard (R-CO), Bennett (R-UT), Hutchison (R-TX), and Lott (R-MS). As readers of this blog may be aware, Sen. Hutchison has long been a leader on Schedule A visa reform.

The second bill (S. 1092) seeks to immediately raise the H-1 quota, and was proposed directly as a result of last week’s immediately-reached H-1 visa cap. Sen. Hagel is the sponsor of this bill. The text of this bill is unavailable at this time as well.

Both bills shortly should be available on THOMAS.

UPDATE: As expected the 2007 version of the SKIL Bill contains favorable language. Sec. 201 of the proposed bill permanently exempts any Schedule A occupation from the immigrant visa quota. The Bill also:

  • Broadens the types of H-1 employers who qualify under the quota-free non-profit exemptions.
  • Eliminates an H-1 cap for US Masters degree holders.
  • Creates a 20,000 visa quota for H-1 nonimmigrants that hold a masters degree from a foreign country.
  • Raises the H-1 cap to 115,000 and provides for year-to-year market-based increases of the H-1 quota.
  • Exempts dependents from immigrant visa quotas.
  • Eliminates the need for a Labor Certification for certain post-doctorate medical specialists.
  • Greatly increase the number of employment-based visas.
  • Increases practical training options for students.
  • Allows L-1 visa holders to stay beyond their 5 year and 7 year term limits if they file for a Labor Certification or immigrant visa before their last year in nonimmigrant status.
  • Allows intending immigrants the ability to file an I-485 Adjustment of Status even if that category is retrogressed. The USCIS may not, however, issue the immigrant visa until a visa number is available. There is a $500 charge for this type of filing.
  • Compels USCIS to establish a pre-certification process for employers who file multiple immigrant visas.
  • Nationalizes the Prevailing Wage Determination process, and compels the DOL to issue PWDs within 20 days of a PWD filing.
  • Streamlines the Job Order filing requirement for PERM cases.
  • Compels BALCA to review appealed cases within 60 days of the filing of such an appeal.
  • Requires the DOL to process all Backlogged Labor Certification cases within 180 days of the enactment of the SKIL Bill.
  • Revives domestic visa revalidation for nonimmigrants in the US.

Posted in legislation | 52 Comments »

HLG Phone Conference – Retrogression for RNs and PTs

Wednesday, April 11th, 2007

Today Hammond Law Group held a phone conference with its employer-clients: Retrogression for RNs and PTs. The purpose of the call was to distribute the latest information to our employer-clients. We are cross-posting the summary to the blog:

1. The long-term goal is the enactment of a law that takes Schedule A occupations out of the usual employment-based immigrant quota. This will likely be accomplished through the enactment of Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR). The House has already introduced their version of CIR, which is called the STRIVE Act. The STRIVE Act includes a provision to exempt Schedule A occupations from the ordinarily employment-based green card cap until 2017.

The Senate is expected to introduce their version in the next month or so. It is conceivable that both Houses of Congress (The Senate and the House of Representatives) could pass CIR in the May/June period. The President will surely sign CIR into law.

If CIR is not passed before the middle of the summer, HLG does not expect that it will be passed until September/October, if ever.

2. Since the prospects for passing CIR are favorable but not certain, HLG, along with its Coalition partners, is pushing for a bridge legislation. The goal of the bridge legislation is to convince Congress to immediately allocate a small number of visas (50-90,000 visas) for Schedule A occupations.

What you can do to help?

Our lobbyist allies tell us that the most persuasive way to make our case is for hospitals and health care facilities to personally telephone and call their Congressmen and Senators. The next most persuasive way is for recruiting companies to call their Congressmen and Senators.

Here are the key Congressmen and Senators:

Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV)
Sen. Edward Kennedy (D- MA)
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL)
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA)

We have a very real chance of solving retrogression, but it will only be solved by stating our case with these important people.

If you are a Hospital or a Staffing Company that places employees in the districts of these Congressmen, and would like help, please contact Chris Musillo (cmusillo@hammondlawfirm.com) or the HLG attorney that you ordinarily work with. We have talking points and sample letters that we can provide you with. HLG attorneys are also available for conference calls and face to face meetings. We will donate our time toward this effort and will not accept any professional fee. We know that this retrogression effort is important for everyone.

Posted in retrogression | 30 Comments »

The H-1(b) Cap Has Been Reached

Tuesday, April 3rd, 2007

The USCIS has announced that the H-1 cap has been reached. The USCIS’ press release says that about 150,000 H-1(b) filings were made on April 2, the first day that H-1(b)’s were accepted for filing. In accord with regulation, USCIS will subject H-1B petitions received on April 2 to a computer-generated random selection process. Employers should expect that only about one out of every three filed cases will be approvable.

There are several options available for cases that were shut-out as a result of the H-1(b) cap.- If the Beneficiary for employment is a graduate of a US Masters degree (or higher) program, the case may still be filed. There is a separate category for these candidates. You can monitor the progress of this quota on the USCIS’ web site, here: USCIS H-1 Quota Web Page

- Chilean and Singaporean nationals have 6,800 visas set aside during the fiscal year for the H-1B1 program under the terms of the legislation implementing the U.S.-Chile and U.S.-Singapore Free Trade Agreements. In the past, this quota has never been reached.

- Certain non-profit research organizations and higher education institutions are exempt from the general and Masters H-1(b) quotas. – Canadian nationals may be petitioned under the TN visa classification provided by the NAFTA agreements. There is no annual quota on TN cases. There is a discrete list of TN occupations that are eligible, which can be found here: TN Occupations Listing

- Australian nationals may be eligible for the E-3 visa, which is generally eligible to all Australians who would otherwise qualify for an H-1(b).

- Physical Therapists may find it quicker to apply for a Permanent Residency visa (green card), than to wait for the H-1(b) quota to come back on-line. Similarly, Extraordinary-Ability Workers, Outstanding Researchers and persons whose work is in the National Interest all qualify for expedited Permanent Residency.

- Many other visa categories – e.g. E, L, and O – do not have annual quotas. These may be available options. You can learn about these categories here: http://www.hammondlawfirm.com/business_visas_main.htm

Employers also should note that “cap-subject” H-1(b) visas are only those cases for new hires, who have never previously held H-1(b) petitions. For instance, students, off shore hires, and those wishing to change from another visa classification are subject to the quota. “Company transfer” H-1(b) visas are NOT subject to the cap.

Posted in H-1(b) Cap | 48 Comments »