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PHILIPPINE GOVT REQUESTS TPS

Philippine Foreign Affairs SecretaryAlbert F. del Rosario hasformally requested the United States Government on Friday, December 13, todesignate the country under Temporary Protected Status (TPS).  TPS will allow eligible Filipinos to stay andwork in the US in order for them to assist in the country’s continuing recoveryefforts after Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) devastated parts of thePhilippines. 

The US government may take some timeto evaluate the request.  Even if the USgovernment approves the TPS request, an applicant will need to prove that theyhave suffered hardship as a result of the Super Typhoon.  If the applicant proves hardship he isallowed to stay in the US and granted work authorization.
The TPS  for Haitian nationals isillustrative.  Haiti suffered a massiveearthquake in January 2010.  The USgranted TPS for Hatian nationals who could prove that they have suffered aneconomic hardship as a result of the earthquake. 

JANUARY 2014 VISA BULLETIN

The Department of State has justreleased the January 2013Visa Bulletin.  This is the fourth Visa Bulletin of the 2014 US FiscalYear, which began on October 1, 2013.  

The All Other Countries EB-3 date jumped again.  It has now moved 19 months in the last two calendar months.   The Chinese EB-2 and EB-3 continued to be flipped: the Chinese EB-2 is worse than the Chinese EB-3.  Chinese nationals who are BE-2 may be able to file an EB-3.  Chinese EB-3s should check with their attorneys to effect this change.

Unfortunately India EB-2 and India EB-3 remained stuck at the same dates from the December 2013 Visa Bulletin.  The Philippine EB-3 did advance 5 weeks.
Here is this month’s complete chart:

January 2014 Visa Bulletin
All Other Countries China India Philippines
EB-2 Current 08DEC08 15NOV04 Current
EB-3 01APR12 01APR12 01SEP03 15FEB07

AN ACCOUNT OF IMMIGRATION REFORM

MU Law’s Maria Schneider was recently published in the Cincinnati Bar Association’s (CBA) Report.  Ms. Schneider’s article, An Account of Immigration Reform, was featuredon the cover of this month’s issue of the Report and concerns comprehensiveimmigration reform.  

In the article Ms. Schneider outlines several groups vying for priority consideration in areformed immigration system and questions which of these groups should be givenpreference for entering the US.  She concludes by asking the key question: Who gets in?

HEALTH AFFAIRS NOTES THE NEED FOR FOREIGN TRAINED HEALTHCARE WORKERS

The November issue of Health Affairs includes a ReformProposal co-authored by to researchers at the RAND Corporation, a post-doctoralfellow at the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing, and two faculty membersat the Yale School of Heath. 

The extensively researchedarticle explains the substantial size of foreign-born healthcare workers in theUnited States.  The Abstract to thearticle explains that the authors:

Review the distribution of these workers and their countries oforigin, and we summarize the literature concerning their contributions to UShealth care. We also report on these workers’ experiences in the United States and theimpact their migration has on their home countries.

Finally, we present policy strategies to increase the benefitsof health care worker migration to the United States while mitigating itsnegative effects on the workers’ home countries.

The author’s strategies include:

attracting more people with legal permanent residency statusinto the health workforce, reimbursing home countries for the cost of educatinghealth workers who subsequently migrate to the United States, improvingpolicies to facilitate the entry of direct care workers into the country,advancing efforts to promote and monitor ethical migration and recruitment practices,and encouraging the implementation of programs by US employers to improve theexperience of immigrating health workers.

The article is a must-read for those who are serious about attendingto US health care worker supply shortages.

H-1A REGULATIONS FORMALLY RESCINDED

File this blog entry under thecategory of “of no value to anyone but historians and regulatory completists”. 
The H-1A was a nurse-specificnonimmigrant visa category in the 1990s. Congress failed to extend the H-1A in 1997 and the last H-1A nurse visaexpired in 2000.  The H-1A law was formally repealed by Congress in 1999 in Sec. 2(c) ofthe Nursing Relief for Disadvantaged Areas Act of 1999, Public Law 106-095, 113Stat. 1312, 1316.

Forreasons that must be clear to someone but are lost on me, the Department of Laborformally rescindedsome of the underlying H-1A regulations on November 20, 2013.  To give you an idea of how far the H-1A hasfallen on everyone’s radar screen, the H-1A was not even considered in thisJune Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill.

AILA ASKS FOR AOS DENIED FOR LACK OF A VISA SCREEN

AILA TSC Liaison Committee is seekingexamples of healthcare worker adjustment of status cases denied on the groundsthat no visa screen was included at the time the adjustment was filed. Pleasesend a brief description of the case along with a copy of the denial to reports@aila.org,with “Visa Screen Denial” in the subject line.

USCIS: IMMIGRATION RELIEF FOR SEVEN CATEGORIES OF FILIPINOS

The USCIS has announced that Filipino nationals who are impactedby Typhoon Haiyan maybe eligible for certain immigration relief measures:

1.  Change or extension of nonimmigrant status for an individual currently in the United States, even when the request is filed after the authorized period of admission has expired;

2.  Extension of certain grants of parole made by USCIS;
3.  Extension of certain grants of advance parole, and expedited processing of advance parole requests;
4.  Expedited adjudication and approval, where possible, of requests for off-campus employment authorization for F-1 students experiencing severe economic hardship;
5.  Expedited processing of immigrant petitions for immediate relatives of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents (LPRs);
6.  Expedited adjudication of employment authorization applications, where appropriate; and
7.  Assistance to LPRs stranded overseas without immigration or travel documents, such as Permanent Resident Cards (Green Cards). USCIS and the Department of State will coordinate on these matters when the LPR is stranded in a place that has no local USCIS office.

Philippine nationals should note that these provisions donot grant any extra rights or paths to those in the Philippines who may have beenharmed as a result of the Typhoon.  Theserelief measures are limited to the seven situations described above. 

TYPHOON HAIYAN RECOVERY DONATIONS

Typhoon Haiyan (Typhoon Yolanda inthe Philippines) was devastating to the Philippines.  Thousands are feared dead and countlessothers have been injured.  By any measureTyphon Haiyan was one of the worst natural disasters in human history.  If you would like to donate to help the victimsof Typhoon Haiyan here are organizations that are helping.  Please take a minute and consider donating.
Doctors Without Borders: DWB’s work isbased on the humanitarian principles of medical ethics and impartiality. Theorganization is committed to bringing quality medical care to people in crisisregardless of their race, religion, or political affiliation. 
Oxfam:Oxfam aid teams areon the ground in the Philippines and reporting urgent needs of food, cleanwater, medicine and shelter.
Global Red Cross: The global Red Crossnetwork is responding to emergency needs in the Philippines with food, water,and relief supplies, and the American Red Cross is lending people, expertiseand equipment to this massive effort.

DECEMBER 2013 VISA BULLETIN

The Department of State has justreleased the December 2013Visa Bulletin.  This is the third Visa Bulletin of the 2014 US FiscalYear, which began on October 1, 2013.  

The All Other Countries EB-3 date jumped a full year to October 1, 2011.  The Chinese EB-2 and EB-3 continued to be flipped: the Chinese EB-2 is worse than the Chinese EB-3.  Chinese nationals who are BE-2 may be able to file an EB-3.  Chinese EB-3s should check with their attorneys to effect this change.

Unfortunately the Philippine EB-2 and EB-3 barely moved.   Philippine EB-3 did get into 2007.India EB-3 actually retrogressed further back a few weeks. India EB-2 dropped all the way back to Nov 15, 2004. 

The Visa Bulletin contained these projections for the next few months: 

Visa Availability in the nextcoming months.

Employment First:  Current

Employment Second:
Worldwide:  Current
China:  Three to five weeks 
India:  No forward movement

Employment Third:
Worldwide:  This cut-off date has been advanced extremely rapidly duringthe past seven months in an effort to generate new demand.  As the rate ofapplicants who are able to have action on their cases finalized increases, itcould have a significant impact on the cut-off date situation.  The rapidforward movement of this cut-off date should not be expected to continue beyondFebruary.
China:        Expected toremain at the worldwide date
India:        No forwardmovement
Mexico:       Expected to remainat the worldwide date

Philippines:  Three to six weeks

Here is this month’s complete chart:


December 2013 Visa Bulletin
All Other Countries China India Philippines
EB-2 Current 08NOV08 15NOV04 Current
EB-3 01OCT11 01OCT11 01SEP03 08JAN07

DECEMBER 2013 VISA BULLETIN PREDICTIONS

AILA has just reported that theDepartment of State’s Charlie Oppenheim spoke to the AILA Washington D.C.Chapter dinner. While his statements are not official, Mr. Oppenheim is oftencorrect with his predictions.   
  • The India EB-2 cutoff date is expected to retrogress fromJune 2008 (which is what it is in the November 2013 Visa Bulletin) to 2004 or2005 in December 2013. This is due in large part to Indian nationals”upgrading” from EB-3 to EB-2.
  • IndiaEB-3 will continue to move very slowly.
  • WorldwideEB-2 is expected to remain current.
  • WorldwideEB-3 could move up to 2011 in the December Visa Bulletin.
  • WorldwideEB-1 is expected to remain current.
  • ChinaEB-2 will continue to move slowly.
  • China EB-3 is expected to continue to be ahead of a China’sEB-2 priority date.  

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Musillo Unkenholt LLC is a full-service immigration law firm headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, serving clients throughout the United States and the world.

Our attorneys have vast experience in an array of immigration processes.

Contact

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Cincinnati, OH 45202

Phone: 513.381.VISA (8472)

info@muimmigration.com

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