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OPT STEM EXTENSION DEADLINE AUGUST 8

Students who currently hold an OPT STEMExtension card, valid for 17 months, mustapply before August 8, 2016 if the student wishes to request an additional7 months, under the new 24 month STEM Extension Program created earlier thisyear.
On March 11, 2016 theUSCIS published the rules of a new, expanded STEM Extension OPT program. The new STEM Extension went into effect on May 10, 2016.  Among otherchanges, the program extended the length of the STEM Extension from 17 monthsto 24 months.  For an outline of the newrequirements for students and employers under the updated STEM ExtensionProgram, pleasesee our previous blog post from May 4, 2016.   
The USCIS outlined a series of transitionrules for three primary groups of students impacted by the implementation ofthe new STEM Extension Program:
1.      Students on a 17 month STEM Extension can requestthe full 24 month STEM extension period, if they apply for a new OPT card beforeAugust 8, 2016.  If the student elects not to ask for the full24 month STEM extension, the student should complete the 17 month STEM OPTPeriod under the old rules.
2.      Students with a pending 17 month STEMExtension should receive an RFE requesting the new form I-983 TrainingPlan.  An RFE Response amends theapplication to the full 24 months STEM extension period.
3.      Students on a 12 month OPT expiringafter June 1 must file the STEM Extension under the 24 month program.
Students eligible for OPT STEM Extensions arein science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields.  Please check with your student advisor if youqualify for a STEM Extension based on your field of study. 

CLINTON ON IMMIGRATION

PART TWO OF SERIES: THE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES ONIMMIGRATION REFORM
HILLARY CLINTON
HillaryClinton’s website highlights eight key pieces of her immigration proposals.
1.       ComprehensiveImmigration Reform (CIR) – Ms. Clinton promises to introduce CIR, including apathway to US Citizenship, within the first 100 days of her presidency.
2.       Endthe Three/Ten Year Bar – Under current immigration law, those who overstay theend-date on their I-94 card by six months to a year are barred from returningto the US or applying for any type of visa for three years.  Those who overstay by more than a year arebarred from returning to the US or applying for a visa for ten years.  Ms. Clinton seeks eliminate this penalty.
3.       DefendDACA and DAPA – President Obama’s Executive Action created the DACA and DAPAprograms.  These programs allowindividuals who were brought to the US as children or have US Citizen childrento apply for a stay of deportation and work authorization.  Most recently, the US Supreme Court’s 4-4tied decision left in place an appeals court ruling which blocked these programs.  Ms. Clinton believes these programs arewithin the President’s authority and intends to continue fighting for theirimplementation.
4.       ExpandDeferred Action – A grant of Deferred Action is essentially a promise on thepart of the US government not to deport the grantee.  Ms. Clinton intends to expand Deferred Actionfor those with sympathetic cases, for example: those with a history of serviceand contribution to their communities or those who experience extreme laborviolations.
5.       EnforceImmigration Laws Humanely – Secretary Clinton states immigration enforcementshould be humane, targeted, and effective. Ms. Clinton wants to focus enforcement resources on detaining anddeporting individuals who are a threat to public safety.
6.       EndFamily Detention – Ms. Clinton plans to end the detention of parents andchildren who arrive in the US fleeing desperate circumstances.  Secretary Clinton also intends to close allprivate (non-government) immigration detention centers.
7.       ExpandHealth Insurance Coverage for Immigrant Families – Secretary Clinton wants toallow individuals of any immigration status to purchase health insurance on theAffordable Care Act (Obamacare) Exchanges.
8.       PromoteNaturalization – Ms. Clinton will expand fee waivers, increase English-languageproficiency programs, and boost outreach and education to encourage individualsto apply for Naturalization.

Please note this post summarizesonly the points available on Secretary Clinton’s website regarding immigrationreform.  Speeches, interviews, or othermaterials are not captured here.

TRUMP ON IMMIGRATION

PART ONE OF SERIES: THE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES ONIMMIGRATION REFORM
DONALD TRUMP

Donald Trump’s immigrationreform plan is centered on three principles:
1.       Anation without borders is not a nation. 
2.       Anation without laws is not a nation. 
3.       Anation that does not serve its own citizens is not a nation. 
BORDERS
The most well-known of Mr.Trump’s immigration proposals is to build a wall on the Mexican/American borderand ensure Mexico pays for this wall. Mr. Trump proposes to obtain this payment from Mexico by:
–         Impounding all remittance payments derived fromwages earned by workers who are illegally in the US
–         Increase fees on all visas issued to MexicanCEOs and diplomats
–         Increase fees on all border crossing cards
–         Increase fees on all TN visas
–         Increase fees at ports of entry to the US fromMexico
LAWS
Mr. Trump intends to implementthe following actions to ensure current American immigration laws are enforced:
–         Triple the number of Immigration Customs andEnforcement (ICE) Officers
–         ICE Officers will work with local gang taskforces; ICE Officers must place detainers on any undocumented immigrants theyencounter in the jails and prisons
–         Require e-verify for all employers; currentlye-verify is an optional government program
–         Mandatory deportation of all foreign nationalswith any criminal history
–         Discontinue catch-and-release programs; atpresent individuals apprehended at the border are detained and then paroledinto the US until an immigration hearing. Mr. Trump proposes detention until the hearing.
–         Individuals who overstay the term of their I-94card will be subject to criminal penalties
–         Cut off federal grants which fund any sanctuarycity programs
–         End birthright citizenship; children ofimmigrants born on US soil would no longer be US Citizens
SERVE ITS OWN CITIZENS
Mr. Trump contends that ourimmigration policy has destroyed America’s middle class.  As a result, his reform proposals seek tocontrol the admission of new low-earning workers to the US.  Mr. Trump’s specific policy proposals forlong-term reform include:
–         Increase prevailing wages for H-1Bs
–         Require companies to hire American workers first
–         Require immigrants to prove, before entering theUS, that they can pay for their own housing, healthcare, and other needs
–         Eliminate the J-1 training visa and replace itwith a resume bank for inner city youth
–         Increase standards for admission of refugees andasylum-seekers
–         Immigration moderation: before new green cardsare issued to foreign workers abroad, there will be a pause where employerswill have to hire unemployed workers already in the US
Please note this post summarizesonly the points available on Mr. Trump’s website regarding immigrationreform.  Speeches, interviews, or othermaterials are not captured here.

PROMINENT BANKERS SAY IMMIGRATION REFORM IS THE KEY TO U.S. ECONOMIC GROWTH

Two prominent US bankers recentlyspoke up in the debate over immigration reform; both stated thatimmigration is critical to the continued recovery and economic growth of the UnitedStates.
Dallas Fed President, RobertKaplan, said the US population is aging and so participation in the US laborforce will decline, creating difficulties for the US economy.  We can do something about this, said Kaplan:“One thing is we could have immigration reform in the United States so thatpeople can come here easily and we can continue to grow the workforce in a safeand secure way.”  Kaplan acknowledgedthat immigration reform is a difficult debate, but also a necessary one.
Also last week, Minneapolis FedPresident, Neel Kashkari, said immigration reform is a critical component of areturn to faster economic growth.  “Mypersonal view,” said Kashkari, “is that we should utilize immigration to ouradvantage as a source for economic growth.  If we have a population that’s not growingit’s much harder to have economic growth.”
The FederalReserve System is the central bank of the United States. The Federal Reserve has three primary functions:
·        Monetary Policy
·        Banking Supervision
·        Financial Services

The Federal Reserve, also called“The Fed” is led by a Board of Governors in Washington, DC.  A network of 12 Federal Reserve Banks and 24branches make up the Federal Reserve System under the general oversight of theBoard of Governors.  Each of the 12Reserve Banks serves its region of the country and is led by a Fed President.

CGFNS NAMES FILIPINO AS NEW DIRECTOR OF EVALUATIONS

CGFNS has just announced that Jasper Tolarba,DNP, RN, NEA-BC will be their new Director of Credentials Evaluation Services.  Dr. Tolarba will manage the operations of theCredentialing Service programs.  From theirpress release:
Dr. Tolarba willbe responsible for managing the operations of the Credentialing Serviceprograms including VisaScreen®, Credentials Evaluation Service andInternational Consultants of Delaware. Along with CGFNS’ Executive Team, Dr.Tolarba will establish and coordinate the Foreign Educated ProfessionalsAdvisory Group, providing a more robust voice on a global scale.
Dr. Tolarba’s alma mater, Bicol Univerity in Legazpi City,Philippines, also highlighted theappointment.  Bicol notes that Dr. Tolarbaearned his first bachelors and masters from Bicol and also taught nursing therefrom 2002-2004, whereupon he moved to Cincinnati and enrolled at Xavier University.  He later obtained his Ph.D from Yale Universityin Connecticut.  Bicol also notes that Dr.Tolarba is the first foreign-educated nurse to join CGFNS leadership team.

WHAT DOES THE AUGUST VISA BULLETIN MEAN? SOME ANSWERS TO FAQs

Musillo Unkenholthas received many emails and phone calls from people who have questions aboutthe August2016 Visa Bulletin.  We have puttogether this FAQ for all readers of the MU Law Blog.
Q. Why do the August and September Visa Bulletins always have unusualprogressions and retrogressions?
A. These two VisaBulletins are the final two Visa Bulletins of the US Fiscal Year, which runsfrom October 1 – September 30.  The USDOSmust make sure that it uses all 140,000 employment based immigrant visas.  If it does not use all 140,000 immigrantvisas, then the visas do not roll over into the next fiscal year.  On the other hand, the USDOS cannot use morethan 140,000 immigrant visas or else they violate federal law.  
Q. The Philippine and All Other EB2retrogressed for the first time in many years. Does this mean that the Philippine EB2 and All Other dates willpermanently be retrogressed?
A.  No. This is a temporary retrogression that will only last until October 1,2016.  The DOS expects that the OctoberVisa Bulletin will be Current for both Philippines and All Other EB-2.
Q.  The India EB-2 seems stuck in 2004.  For much of the year it was in 2008.  When will it return to 2008?
A.  Our sense is that October 2016 Visa Bulletinwill show a much more favorable Indian EB-2 date, probably back to 2008.
Q.  The Philippine EB-3 is unaffected by the Augustretrogression.  Where do you think thePhilippine EB-3 date is headed?
A.  Our read is that the September 2016 VisaBulletin may have an unusual date. Therefore you should not read anything into the September 2016 Visa Bulletin. 
However, FiscalYear 2017 looks very positive for Philippine EB-3.  Our educated guess is that the PhilippineEB-3 date will move at approximately a three-to-one ratio.  In other words, the EB-3 date should move, onaverage, three months each Visa Bulletin.
Q. At what rate will the All Other EB-3move in 2017?
A.  The All Other EB-3 should remain Current oralmost Current for the foreseeable future.

AUGUST 2016 VISA BULLETIN: UNSURPRISING SURPRISES

The Department of State has just issued the August 2016 Visa Bulletin.  This is the eleventh Visa Bulletin of Fiscal Year 2016. As the fiscal year winds down, the last few Visa Bulletins always have some surprises.  

This Visa Bulletin is no exception.  Some dates progressed favorably.  Other dates retrogressed.  Rest assured that these changes are temporary. 

In this Visa Bulletin, the US DOS confirmed that everything will go back to “normal” on October 1, 2016, the start of the next fiscal year.

August 2016 Visa Bulletin

Final Action Dates

Applications with these dates may be approved for their Green Card (Permanent Residency card).

Employment- 
based		 All Chargeability 
Areas Except
Those Listed		 CHINA-
mainland 
born		 INDIA MEXICO PHILIPPINES 
1st C 01JAN10 01JAN10 C C
2nd 01FEB14 01JAN10 15NOV04  01FEB14 01FEB14
3rd 15MAR16 01JAN10 08NOV04 15MAR16 15MAY09

MU Law Analysis

All Other:  The EB-2 has been current for many years.  The retrogression of the EB-2 category simply means that the DOS approved more cases than it expected to in FY2016.  The EB-3 moved forward by two weeks.  These dates continue to be very favorable.  We expect that All Other dates will continue to be positive for the foreseeable future, starting on October 1, 2016.

China:   A note in this month’s Visa Bulletin indicates that these dates will stay at January 2010 for the September 2010’s Visa Bulletin.  

India:  EB-3 moved ahead a few weeks.  But the EB-2 remained stuck in 2004.  We expect the India EB-2 to stay in 2004 until the October 2016 Visa Bulletin at which time it should steadily move forward.

Mexico: Mirrors All Other in all aspects.

Philippines: EB-3 moved ahead three more months. The note in this month’s Visa Bulletin indicated that the EB-3 date should move through 2009 and may move into 2010 by September, as MU Law has been expecting.  (Our note from May 2016: “MU Law believes that Philippines EB-3 will continue to steadily move forward in the coming months. We expect it to move into 2009 in the by early summer, and may reach 2010 by the end of this fiscal year.”).  The enactment of a Feb 2014 in EB-2 is of no concern.  Philippine EB-2 will be current in October 2016.

MU TURNS SEVEN

Todaymarks the seven year anniversary of the Musillo Unkenholt LLC law firm.  We have always tried to serve our clients withintelligence, speed, and respect.  We arevery proud of the work that we have done here on behalf of our many clients.  Over these seven years we have significantly grownthe firm.  We have about twice as manyemployees as when we started on July 1, 2009. Most of our growth is due to referrals from our clients, which is thegreatest sign of success.
Thefirm’s lifeblood is the people who work here. We have three paralegals who have been with us since Day One, andanother who re-joined us from our prior law firm.  All four are outstanding paralegals andbetter people.  We have several attorneyswhose first attorney job was with MU Law. They all have bright presents and brighter futures.  We have a number of newer, younger people whohave benefited our culture and continually add to it.
Thankyou to everyone – employees, clients, friends, professional colleagues — who havecontributed to MU Law’s success over these seven years.   We are very proud to celebrate seven greatyears!

ANOTHER COURT LIMITS DOL’s AUTHORITY TO INVESTIGATE H-1 EMPLOYERS

The Greater Missouri case has been windingits way through the courts forten years.  The case significantly limitsthe scope of the DOL’s authority to investigate H-1B employers, but was limitedto certain Midwest states.  A decision issuedlast week, VoltManagement, means that the opinion in Greater Missouri could be applied nationally.
Traditionally theDOL has used any allegation of H-1B or LCA violations as probable cause to investigatean H-1B employer’s entire H-1B program.  In Greater Missouri, the Eight Federal CircuitCourt of Appeals held that the DOL’s investigative authority solely was limitedto the allegation.  In other words, ifone H-1B employee filed a complaint with the DOL, the DOL could only investigateany violations against that one H-1B employee. The DOL cannot, under GreaterMissouri, investigate the employer’s entire H-1B program.
The Greater Missouri decision, however, waslimited to matters withinthe Eight Federal Circuit, Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska,North Dakota, and South Dakota.  In Volt Management, BALCA held that:
Because the case at hand arose in the NinthCircuit, I am not bound by the Eight Circuit’s decision in Greater Missouri.But having been reversed, ARB’s decision in Greater Missouri is not bindingeither. The ARB has had no occasion yet to revisit the issues raised in GreaterMissouri in light of the change in the law—the Eighth Circuit’s holding. Untilthe issue is again reviewed by the ARB, it remains an open question whether asingle aggrieved party complaint justifies a broad investigation into whether anemployer violated the INA with respect to other H1B employees. I follow theEighth Circuit’s reasoning.

DINNER AT AILA

Are you an immigration attorney who is going to the AILA Annual Conference in Las Vegas next week?  If so, and if you do not have plans on Thursday evening, please join us for dinner.

For the last several years a group of AILA lawyers who practice in healthcare have gotten together for a dinner on the Thursday of AILA Annual week. Most years we have about 15 people attend. 

It is a great chance to catch up with old friends (and new ones!). It is a casual event.If you are an AILA attorney who is interested in attending this year’s dinner, please let me know how many will be attending from your group by June 17. Friends, spouses, etc. are also welcome.

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About Us

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.

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Cincinnati, OH 45202

Phone: 513.381.VISA (8472)

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