Badmus

USCIS released the latest counts for the H1B and H2B cap counts.

To read the release, click here

Categories: Employer Compliance, General |

USCIS posted on its website a new edition of Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification. No previous editions of the form are being accepted.

Click here to view and download the new Form

 Angela M. Lopez

Categories: Employment Immigration, Employer Compliance |

On June 9, 2008, President Bush issued an executive order prohibiting federal contracting agencies from contracting with any companies who do not use an electronic employment eligibility verification system designated by the Secretary of Homeland Security.  The Executive Order does not specify when contractors must comply nor does it designate the specific electronic verification system contractors must use. However, Secretary Michael Chertoff of the Department of Homeland Security responded to the Executive Order by designating E-Verify as the system of choice “to ensure that the federal government only does business with companies that agree to verify the legality of their new hires and further, that the specific employees tapped to perform contract services in the United States for the federal government are authorized to work in this country.”

The E-Verify program (formerly the Basic Pilot Program) is a voluntary, internet-based system, jointly managed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Social Security Administration (SSA).  The E-Verify program requires participating employers to verify employment eligibility of new hires by checking the employee’s I-9 information against the SSA and DHS databases.

Companies with federal contracts and others should carefully plan the implementation of E-Verify immediately. Because the use of E-Verify is not risk-proof, cautious employers should contact an immigration attorney before acting.  Badmus Immigration Law Firm (BILF) offers counseling and training in E-Verify implementation. Contact your BILF attorney immediately to avoid the pitfalls of this new turn in immigration compliance.

Click here to contact us.

By Ann Massey Badmus

Categories: Employment Immigration, Employer Compliance, General |

As part of its ongoing attempt to ensure that U.S. employers are only hiring people authorized to work in the United States, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) instituted an online verification program entitled E-Verify (formerly known as Basic Pilot Program.)  E-Verify is a free online system that allows employers to confirm the legal working status of new hires, sometimes instantaneously.  The Federal government made employer use of the system voluntary.   However, many states, frustrated by Congress’ failure to institute comprehensive immigration reform, have passed legislation mandating E-Verify use.  Mississippi and Arizona are two of the states mandating E-Verify use.   Other states, including Colorado, Oklahoma, and Georgia mandate its use for companies entering into state contracts with those particular states.  Interestingly, Illinois prohibited its use by any employer within the state.  That legislation is currently not being implemented pending the outcome of a lawsuit brought by the DHS seeking a determination that the law violates federal regulations.

E-Verify does not guarantee that the documents provided in support of an I-9 belong to the person providing them.  It only verifies that the person named on the documents either has the authorization to work in the U.S.  or does not.  It relies upon the Social Security Administration’s database, which is not always 100% accurate or completely up to date.  As such, there are situations where a person is authorized to work in the United States, but the E-Verify system reports the person as unauthorized.

E-Verify is only authorized by Congress through 2008, unless Congress extends the program.  There is a lot of movement afoot in Congress now to scrap the program in favor of an alternative program.  This bill, if passed, would create a mandatory electronic employment verification system (EEVS) that would require all employers in the U.S. to use a federal government database to verify the work authorization status of newly-hired employees, both U.S. citizens and immigrants alike.   The bill creates a voluntary biometrics option that employers could choose to use in the verification process.  Basically, it would authorize employers to require collection of “biometrics,” such as a fingerprint, to accurately ensure a person’s identity and then authorization to work.  One of the major failures of the current system is the inability to verify with absolute certainty that the person providing documentation is the person listed on that documentation. Identity theft is rampant and it is hoped that the use of collecting biometrics will provide some surety to the hiring process.  The bill also increases penalties on employers for hiring employees not authorized to work in the U.S.

Remember, E-Verify is only one tool in the I-9 process.  If you are considering using it, be sure to check the requirements to ensure you are complying with the regulations and discuss this issue with the attorneys at Badmus Immigration Law Firm.

By:  Martha James

Categories: Employer Compliance, General |

Apparently in early 2008, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) received approximately one million I-94 Arrival-Departure cards that were misprinted. Specifically, they each were missing one digit. I-94s should have eleven digits, comprised of nine digits, a space, and then two more digits. We are advised that the misprint has caused problems with people getting Social Security cards due to this error.

CBP has reported that the defective I-94 cards have been recalled and replaced. A person with a misprinted I-94 may request that CBP issue a new card through Deferred Inspection or at a Port of Entry.

By: Martha James

Categories: Employment Immigration, Employer Compliance, Family Immigration, General |

In March, 2008, the 8th Circuit held that an individual who checked the box on the I-9 Form given to him by a private employer stating that he was U.S. Citizen was found inadmissible.  Despite marrying a U.S. Citizen five years later and claiming that someone instructed him to check the box so that he would be able to work, the petitioner is ineligible for permanent residency.   The court reasoned that in checking that he was a U.S. Citizen on his I-9 form to a private employer, the petitioner was fraudulently seeking a benefit under the Immigration and Nationality Act.

To read the case, Rodriguez v. Mukasey, click here.

 By Michelle Richart

Categories: Employer Compliance, Employment Immigration, Immigration Litigation and Removal, Family Immigration, Medical Professionals, Blogroll |

The USCIS announced that it conducted the two lotteries for the 2009 fiscal year H-1B cap cases on April 14, 2008.  They conducted the lottery for the 20,000 visas for those holding a U.S. master’s degree first.  Those that were not selected for filing through the lottery were placed into the “regular” cap lottery, which was also conducted that day.  The USICS expects to notify all petitioners by June 2, 2008 on the status of cases filed, either through a receipt notice for a filed case, or by returning the petition unfiled.  For those that paid for premium processing, the 15 day period for filed cases begins on April 14, 2008.  To read the USCIS press release,  click here.

 By:  Martha James

Categories: Employment Immigration, Employer Compliance, General |

On April 4, 2008, the CIS announced that optional practical training (OPT) may be extended in two situations.  First, if an F-1 student has a pending H-1B petition and is working pursuant to post-completion OPT, the student’s status is automatically extended until the October 1 start date indicated on the approved H-1B petition.  The extension terminates when the CIS rejects, denies or revokes the H-1B petition.  A person here in F-1 status may remain in the United States during this period and if the student is working pursuant to OPT, that student may continue working until the October 1 start date.

Second, a student may be eligible to extend post-completion OPT by an additional 17 months.  To be eligible for this extension, the student must have at least a bachelor’s degree in certain designated fields (STEM degree), the student must be in an approved post-completion OPT period based on that STEM degree, the student’s employer must be enrolled in E-Verify, and the student must apply for the OPT extension before the current post-completion OPT expires.  Note that this is not an automatic extension, but one that must be applied for timely.

The STEM designated degrees include the following courses of study:

*  Computer Science Applications                    *  Biological and Biomedical Sciences
*  Actuarial Science                                          *  Mathematics and Statistics
*  Engineering                                                  *  Military Technologies
*  Engineering Technologies                            *  Physical Sciences

For more information on these extensions,  click here

 By:  Martha James

Categories: Employment Immigration, Employer Compliance, Immigration Litigation and Removal, General |

WASHINGTON – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced a preliminary number of nearly 163,000 H-1B petitions received during the filing period ending on April 7, 2008. More than 31,200 of those petitions were for the advanced degree category. USCIS expects next week it will conduct the computer-generated random selection process, beginning with the selection of the 20,000 petitions under the advanced degree exemption. Those petitions not selected under the advanced degree category will join the random selection process for the cap-subject 65,000 limit. USCIS will reject, and return filing fees for all cap-subject petitions not randomly selected, unless found to be a duplicate. USCIS will handle duplicate filings in accordance with the interim final rule published on March 24, 2008 in the Federal Register. USCIS will provide regular updates as the processing of FY 2009 H-1B cap cases continues.

Categories: Employment Immigration, Employer Compliance, General |

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that it has received enough H-1B petitions to meet the congressionally mandated cap for fiscal year 2009. USCIS has also received more than 20,000 H-1B petitions filed on behalf of persons exempt from the cap under the “advanced degree” exemption. Before running the random selection process, USCIS will complete initial data entry for all filings received during the filing period ending on April 7, 2008. Due to the high number of petitions, USCIS is not yet able to announce the precise day on which it will conduct the random selection process.

USCIS will carry out the computer-generated random selection process for all cap-subject petitions received. USCIS will select the number of petitions needed to meet the caps of 65,000 for the general category and 20,000 under the “advanced degree” exemption limit. USCIS will reject, and return filing fees for all cap-subject petitions not randomly selected, unless found to be a duplicate. USCIS will handle duplicate filings in accordance with the interim final rule published on March 24, 2008 in the Federal Register.

The agency will conduct the selection process for “advanced degree” exemption petitions first. All “advanced degree” petitions not selected will be part of the random selection process for the 65,000 limit.

By:  Martha James

Categories: Employment Immigration, Employer Compliance, General |