Health Care Blog

The Fiscal Year 2012 (FY2012) H-1B cap season began on April 1, 2011. Since April 1, a mere 41,000 H-1B cap-subject Petitions have been receipted by USCIS as of October 7, 2011. This is much lower than in recent years and likely reflects the fact that US employers are not hiring workers, including foreign-national workers.

Many healthcare professions ordinarily qualify for H-1B status, including Physical Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Speech Language Therapists, and some Registered Nursing positions.

The US Department of Justice filed suit against Generations Healthcare, a Skilled Nursing Facility, on Friday September 30, 2011. The lawsuit alleges that Generations Healthcare engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination by imposing unnecessary documentary requirements on job applicants.

The DOJ’s press release says that its investigation uncovered evidence that Generations Healthcare required all newly hired non-U.S. citizens and naturalized U.S. citizens at its St. Francis Pavilion facility to present specific and extra work authorization documents beyond those required by federal law to prove their status. These documents were not required of native-born US citizens.

MU Law clients and friends are reminded that US employers have to comply with the Form I-9 when hiring new employees. The Form I-9 identifies a variety of documents that may be used by job applications to prove valid work authorization and identity; it does not mandate that any specific document must be used.

Congressman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) has just introduced HR 3012, The Fairness for High Skilled Immigrants Act. The bill, if passed into law, would eliminate the per country numerical limitation for employment-based immigrants. The Immigration and Nationality Act generally provides that the total number of employment-based immigrant visas made available to natives of any foreign country in a year cannot exceed 7% of the total number of such visas made available in that year. The bill eliminates this per country percentage cap.

If passed, the Act greatly improves the processing times for Indian and Chinese green card applicants. An unintended consequence of the Act likely would be the slowing of processing for natives of all countries.

The Act is supported by the US Chamber of Commerce, Compete America (a coalition of high tech companies (Microsoft, Google, Oracle, etc.) and various trade groups. The Act has been the primary motivation behind Immigration Voice.

The Act is co-sponsored by House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX). The bill also adjusts family based visa limits from 7% per country to 15% per country.

Before the Act can become law, it will have to attract more co-sponsors and be recommended for a vote in the US House of Representatives. Once it passes the House, the Act will have to be passed by the US Senate. President Obama almost certainly would sign the Act into law.

The US public television network, PBS, has been airing the documentary, The Learning, on local PBS stations around the country. The Learning tells the tale of four Philippine elementary school teachers as they migrate from their Philippine homeland and into inner-city Baltimore. The teachers laugh, cry, dance, and sing their way through their adventure, all the while balancing their love of their homeland with classrooms of unruly children in one of America’s gravest inner cities.

The compelling nature of the quest would make for a tight 90 minutes of viewing regardless of the subject-immigrants, but the radiance of these women raises the documentary to compelling viewing.

Their desire to help family and friends through remittance payments underscores the entire film. The most gripping scene occurs when one of the teachers, Angel, returns to her homeland and has to explain to her family that the American money “does not grow on trees,” as only a beloved schoolteacher can explain. Angel, like her three colleagues, never stops teaching – the children, her family, and we the viewers.

The film is streaming for free through October 20 on PBS’ website – unfortunately the streaming is only available in America. MU Law highly recommends The Learning for any reader of this Blog and anyone interested in first-person accounts of the modern immigrant experience.

Future dates in 2012 are available at the FSBPT webpage.

The Fiscal Year 2012 (FY2012) H-1B cap season began on April 1, 2011. Since April 1, a mere 32,200 H-1B cap-subject Petitions have been receipted by USCIS as of September 9, 2011. This is much lower than in recent years and likely reflects the fact that US employers are not hiring workers, including foreign-national workers.

To put this in perspective, in FY 2011, which began April 1, 2010, the USCIS has receipted about 38,000 H-1Bs through September 17, 2010. Many healthcare professions ordinarily qualify for H-1B status, including Physical Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Speech Language Therapists, and some Registered Nursing positions.

For three years the H-1B demand has decreased. This is compelling evidence that H-1B workers are not used to drive down US worker’s wages. If H-1B workers were used to drive down wages, H-1B demand would remain consistent in a decreasing economy, since US employers would still want to save money on salary expenses.

MU’s Chris Musillo is one of the three presenting faculty members for the American Immigration Lawyers Association’s September 13, 2011 teleconference on Consular Issues impacting Immigration: India, Philippines, and China. Chris will be speaking on hot issues effecting processing at the US Embassy in Manila.

From the AILA new release:

Which are the consular posts that process the highest volume of visa applications? What are the most common issues visa applicants and their attorneys face when dealing with these posts? Are there ways to minimize the stress involved in processing H-1Bs and Blanket L and individual L-1 applications?

The seminar wraps up with a Q&A session and will cover the following topics:

• Common Issues with H-1B, Blanket L and Individual L Applications at Post India
• Common Issues Faced by Applicants In Consular Posts In China
• Overcoming 214(b) at American Embassy in Manila When Seeking a Visa to Take a Licensing Exam
• How to Deal with Delays Caused by Administrative Processing

To register for this teleconference, please visit the AILA website. The teleconference is approved for CLE credits in most states.