Uncategorized Archives | Page 33 of 107

March 12, 2019
Uncategorized

THE FAIRNESS FOR HIGH-SKILLED IMMIGRANTS WILL DECIMATE NURSE IMMIGRATION

The Fairnessfor High-Skilled Immigrants Act (H.R. 1044), co-sponsored byReps. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Ken Buck (R-CO), and 200+ bipartisan members and the companionSenate bill S. 386 sponsored by Sens. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Kamala Harris (D-CA) with 15+co-sponsors) would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act by eliminatingper-country caps for employment-based immigrant visas, aspires to a worthygoal: a more equitable immigration system. However,this proposal as it is drafted, would inadvertently devastate access to healthcare in the United States by restricting the immigration and hiring offoreign-educated registered nurses.

It is not law but could become law in 2019. In order to become law, the bill would needto pass both houses of the US Congress and be signed by the President. It is likely at least several months beforeCongress takes any action on the bill.

Thelaw allows for 140,000 Employment-Based visas per year, of which 80,080are used by EB-2 and EB-3. The Fairness Act does not change thesenumbers. It just re-orders the queue in which the numbers are claimed. As of April 2018, there were approximately550,000 EB-2 and EB-3 Indian immigrants and their spouses and minor childrenwaiting for green cards. Additionally, there are 25,000 Chinese and 21,000Philippine immigrants and their spouses and minor children also waiting forgreen cards. Noother countries have material retrogressions. In total the visabacklog for EB-2 and EB-3 is about 596,000.

Ata run rate of 80,080 per year and a backlog of 596,000, there will be apermanent EB-2, EB-3 retrogression of 7.45 years (596,000 / 80,080 =7.45). No hospital is going to sponsor anurse today who is not going to arrive for 7.45 years.

UnlikeIT workers, nurses are ineligible for H-1B visas. Therefore, while IT professionals are able to work inside the US whileawaiting their retrogression, nurses and other healthcare occupations wouldneed to wait outside the US for 7+ years.

The Fairness forHigh-Skilled Immigrants Act has a worthwhile aim: eliminating the incrediblylong backlog for Indian EB2 and EB3 applicants. Musillo Unkenholt is in favor of the bill, provided that it is modifiedin a way to allow nurses to continue to come to the US. As it is currently structured, the Fairness forHigh-Skilled Immigrants Act would eliminate nurse immigration into the US.

March 7, 2019
Uncategorized

STAFFING AND SERVICES COMPANIES UNDER ATTACK FROM USCIS

Staffing companies are under attack from the USCIS. H-1B denial rates at service and staffing companies greatly exceed H-1B denial rates at non-staffing companies. For instance, a recent Forbes article points out that,

“In FY 2018, USCIS denied 80% of the H-1B petitions for new (initial) employment for Capgemini, a French multinational, 61% for U.S. company Cognizant, and between 34% and 54% for IT services companies Syntel, Infosys, Mindtree and HCL America. To put these figures in perspective, major U.S. tech companies, including Amazon, Facebook and Apple, had 1% or 2% of their new H-1B petitions denied in FY 2018.”

The problem was once limited to IT staffing companies, but MU is aware of many healthcare staffing companies who are also seeing unprecedented RFEs. A recent change to the LCA form now requires all H-1B employers to reveal client names and worksites.

Adding to the concern is the long-rumored H-1B regulatory change that will cement current H-1B policies against third-party placement of H-1B workers, make a stricter definition of specialty occupation, and raise prevailing wages. If past changes are any guide, these regulatory changes will probably have little basis in Congressional statute.

February 25, 2019
Uncategorized

H-4 EAD ELIMINATION REGULATION TO BE ANNOUNCED SHORTLY

As we have mentioned severaltimes, the Trump Administration is seeking to eliminate 90,000 lawful jobs byending the H-4/EAD rule. This rule,which was firstpassed in February 2015, provides work authorization to spouses ofH-1B workers, provided that the H-1B worker has an approved I-140.

USCIS sent the new regulation, “Removing H-4 Dependent Spouses from the Class of AliensEligible for Employment Authorization,” to the Office ofManagement and Budget on February 20, 2019. It is currentlypending review. OMB is expected to publish a Notice of proposedrulemaking in the near future, although OMB has not released a timeline. The publication of the notice will allow the publicto offer notice and comment.

After the notice and comment period, USCIS must review andconsider the public’s comments, before publication of the final rule. Unfortunately, it is not expected that thepublic’s comments will materially change the new rule’s core goal: theelimination of the H-4/EAD.

This needless attack against lawful workers is furtherproof that the Trump Administration is not at all interested in legalimmigration, despite the President’spublic statements. Thereality is that the President and his administration are only interested inharming immigrants: lawful and otherwise.

February 15, 2019
Uncategorized

MARCH 2019 VISA BULLETIN: ANALYSIS AND PREDICTIONS

The Department of State has just issued the March2019 Visa Bulletin. This is thesixth Visa Bulletin of Fiscal Year 2019. This blog post analyzes this month’sVisa Bulletin.

March 2019 Visa Bulletin

Table A: Final Action Dates — Applications with these datesmay be approved for their Green Card (Permanent Residency card) or ImmigrantVisa appointment.

EB Class	All Other	CHINA	INDIA	PHILIPPINES
EB-1	01JAN18	22FEB17	22FEB17	01JAN18
EB-2	C	01JAN16	09APR09	C
EB-3	C	08JUL15	22MAY09	01DEC17

Table B: Dates for Filing — The DOS may work onapplications with these dates. But the Visa cannot be approved until the dateis current per Table A.

EB Class	All Other	CHINA	INDIA	PHILIPPINES
EB-1	01JUN18	01OCT17	01OCT17	01JUN18
EB-2	C	01MAY16	22MAY09	C
EB-3	C	01JAN16	01APR10	01MAR18

MU Law Analysis (all references are to Table A unless noted)

All Other: TheEB-1 category moved one month. We expectcontinued steady movement in this category for All Other. We do not see any retrogression in the futurefor EB2 or EB3, other than the usual retrogression at the end of the FiscalYear.

China: China EB-2 movedthree months, moving a total of a half year in just two calendar months. EB-3 only moved one week, as demand continuesin EB-3, likely related to the many EB-3 “downgrades”.

India: There was verylittle movement in any of the Indian categories. We are slightly more optimistic about IndiaEB-3, which could continue to progress faster than EB-2.

Philippines: TheEB-3 date showed great progress, improving four more months. By next month, we should see the EB-3priority date extend into FY2018.

February 4, 2019
Uncategorized

MARIA SCHNEIDER BECOMES AN MU PARTNER

MusilloUnkenholt (MU) is pleased to welcome Maria T. Schneider as a partner to the lawfirm. Schneider’s practice is focused on immigration matters, primarily in assistingUS employers in hiring foreign workers for specialized positions and shortageoccupations. Schneider has beenan attorney with MU since 2011 and will continue to represent clients from a range of industries, including healthcare,information technology, recruitment, staffing, construction, engineering,finance, and consulting in all phases of the immigration process. Schneider’s clients include large public andprivate companies as well as small start-up, entrepreneurial ventures. Schneider is a life-long resident ofCincinnati, attending Northern Kentucky University as an undergraduate and theUniversity of Cincinnati College of Law. Schneider currently serves on the Cincinnati Bar Association, Board ofTrustees and teaches immigration law as an adjunct at the University ofCincinnati College of Law.

February 1, 2019
Uncategorized

REMINDER: H-1B CAP STRATEGY TELECONFERENCE

In anticipationof the H-1B cap filing date of April 1, 2019, MU Law will be holding a freeteleconference for our clients and friends on Wednesday February 6, 2018 at 2PM/ 11AM PT. Interested clients and friends can register for our webinar byclicking on the link below.

REGISTERHERE

Lastyear the H-1B cap was reached in the first week. We expect that thedemand will be even greater this year. It is imperative that all H-1Bcap-subject petitions are filled on April 1, 2019.

H-1B Teleconference Agenda

•H-1B Cap Basics and Projections

•H-1B Dependency

•H-1B issues for Staffing Companies and Third Party Placements

•What is Third- Party Placement v. In-House work?

•Employer-Employee relationships

•The New H-1B lottery

•H-1B electronic filing

Hotissues:

•Cap-gapfor F-1s

•CPT / OPT maintenance

•NIV maintenance

•H-4 EAD rule

•H-1B amendments: lengthy processing times

•Top 10 things H-1B employers can do to stay compliant

•Legislative Update

• What we can expect from the Trump administration and the Republican congress.

• Q&A

January 31, 2019
Uncategorized

USCIS TO IMPLEMENT H-1B CAP RULE CHANGING MASTER’S CAP IN APRIL 2019 AND ADDING PRE-REGISTRATION REQUIREMENT IN APRIL 2020

The USCIS postedfor public inspection a final rule changing the regulationsgoverning H-1B cap-subject petitions. This new makes two key changes to the H-1B cap:

1. Master’s Cap Allocation. The new rule reverses the order bywhich USCIS selects H-1B petitions under the H-1B regular cap and the master’scap. USCIS will technicallyre-engineer the way that it conducts the H-1B lottery. The result ofthe re-engineering should mean that a slightly greater number of H-1B petitionswill be approved for US master’s degree H-1B beneficiaries than under thecurrent H-1B lottery system. We previously explained this processon anearlier blog. This change will be implemented on April 1,2019.

2. Pre-Registration Requirement. The rule introduces an electronicregistration requirement for petitioners seeking to file H-1B cap-subjectpetitions. Under the new rule, all H-1B lottery petitions will need tobe electronicallypre-registeredduring the H-1B pre-registration period from April 1-7. After thepre-registration period has concluded, USCIS will run the H-1Blottery. All H-1B lottery winners will then submit the actual H-1Bpetition. If implemented properly, this should save petitioners andthe industry significant expense.

After considering public feedback,USCIS decided to suspend the electronic pre-registration requirement untilthe April 2020 cap season in order to complete user testing and ensure thesystem and process are fully functional.

USCIS will begin accepting H-1B cap petitions onApril 1, 2019.

January 29, 2019
Uncategorized

H-1B CAP STRATEGY TELECONFERENCE

In anticipation of the H-1B cap filing date of April 1, 2019, MU Law will be holding a free teleconference for our clients and friends on Wednesday February 6, 2018 at 2PM / 11AM PT. Interested clients and friends can register for our webinar by clicking on the link below.

REGISTER HERE

Last year the H-1B cap was reached inthe first week. We expect that the demand will be even greater this year. It is imperative that all H-1B cap-subject petitions are filled on April1, 2019.

H-1B Teleconference Agenda

· H-1B Cap Basics and Projections

· H-1B Dependency

· H-1B issues for Staffing Companies andThird Party Placements

· What is Third- Party Placement v.In-House work?

· Employer-Employee relationships

· The New H-1B lottery

· H-1B electronic filing

Hot issues:

· Cap-gap for F-1s

· CPT / OPT maintenance

· NIV maintenance

· H-4 EAD rule

· H-1B amendments: lengthy processingtimes

· Top 10 things H-1B employers can do tostay compliant

· Legislative Update

· What we can expect from the Trumpadministration and the Republican congress.

Q&A

January 28, 2019
Uncategorized

USCIS WILL RESUME PREMIUM PROCESSING ON H-1B CAP CASES FILED IN APRIL 2018

USCIS will resume premiumprocessing effective January 28, 2019 for all H-1B cap petitionsfiled in April 2018. If a request forevidence (RFE) has been issued, the case can be upgraded to premium processingupon submission of the RFE Reply.

At present, H-1B extensionsfiled with the Nebraska Service Center are eligible for premium processing.

The previouslyannounced suspension of premium processing for all other categoriesof H-1B petitions remains in effect. The USCIS plans to resume premiumprocessing for the remaining categories of H‑1B petitions as agency workloadspermit.

January 22, 2019
Uncategorized

PHILIPPINES REMOVED FROM H-2 VISA LIST

The USCIS has publisheda notice in the Federal Register announcing changes to countries whoare eligible to supply workers pursuant to the H-2 visa program. The Philippines is no longer one of thecountries that is eligible to supply workers under this program.

This is an annual notice publicationthat covers the period from January 19, 2019 – January 18, 2020.

It is important to note that this hasno impact whatsoever on Registered Nurses, Physical Therapists, MedicalTechnologists and other allied healthcare workers. These healthcare workers are normally filedunder the H-1B visa (temporary non-seasonal workers) or Green Cards (Permanentresidents). H-2 visas are normallyassociated with agricultural workers, trades workers in fields likeconstruction, and other seasonal workers such as those in resorts or thefishing industry.

The rationale for eliminating thePhilippines from the H-2 program is explained in the report. This decision will be revisited in January2020.

ThePhilippines has a high H-2B overstay rate. In FY 2017, DHS estimated thatnearly 40 percent of H-2B visa holders from the Philippines overstayed theirperiod of authorized stay. Additionally, among all U.S. posts throughout theworld, U.S. Embassy Manila issues the greatest number of T-derivative visas(T-2, T-3, T-4, T-5, T-6), which are reserved for certain family members ofprincipal T-1 nonimmigrants (certain victims of a severe form of trafficking inpersons). U.S. Embassy Manila issued approximately 40 percent of the totalT-derivative visas issued worldwide from FY 2014-2016. A recent review ofcertain T-1 status recipients, whose spouses were issued T-2 visas during thissame period, shows that approximately 60 percent were determined to have beentrafficked to the United States on H-2B visas. DHS and DOS are concerned aboutthe high volume of trafficking victims from the Philippines who were originallyissued H-2B visas and the potential that continued H-2B visa issuance mayencourage or serve as an avenue for future human trafficking from the Philippines.DHS and DOS also believe that these overstay and human trafficking concerns aresevere enough to warrant removal from the H-2A visa program as well. Thisconcern is informed by a four-fold increase in H-2A visa applications fromnationals of the Philippines between FY 2015-2018. The Philippines’ continuedinclusion creates the potential for abuse, fraud, and other harm to theintegrity of the H-2A or H-2B visa programs.

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