However numerous independent studies by Vivek Wadhwa and others have shown that this is not the case and the influx of these (largely) high skilled immigrant and both filled skill shortages in the US economy. This is due to the very low amount of US students who study Engineering, Science and Technology degrees in College due to the higher degree of difficult associated with these disciplines.

The net effect to the economy has been hugely positive with companies like Google, Microsoft, Facebook and Apple benefiting greatly from this high skill source of labor and their products and thus revenue benefiting the US economy as a whole.This is not even accounting for the fact that over half of all Silicon Valley start ups being founded by foreigners in recent years and the companies include the biggest and most well know brands like Google, Yahoo, eBay, Paypal, etc.

However according to the CEO of the NASDAQ Exchange, this is only the tip of the iceberg. Robert Griefeld told a US Senate hearing last week that according to the National Federation for American Policy says that for every H-1B worker requested, US technology companies increase their overall employment by five workers.

He went on to argue that “Reform must convey economic priorities about job growth and global competitiveness. Increasing H-1B visas is simply not enough. We need to admit and keep entrepreneurs here so that the creative dynamic of our economy is enhanced by the very best skills and minds,”. “Whether in Silicon Valley, Austin, Chicago, or anywhere else in the United States, I hear from CEOs that theH-1B visa system is inadequate for today’s human capital marketplace and the backlog for green cards and what they mean to the quality and the uncertainty of the lives of these foreign-born employees is a legitimate threat to their businesses.”

This is powerful language backed up by facts (rather than partisan short sighted rhetoric) coming from someone as successful and knowledgeable as Griefeld hopefully will sway enough in Congress to overhaul the current H1B Visa, L1 Visa, E3 Visa, F1 Visa OPT and Green Card process such that ultimately the US as a whole will continue to remain at the forefront of technology, new energy and the global economy.

Cj

©2012 E3 Visa. All Rights Reserved.

However US Immigration Reform will probably not be the dominant topic in Washington for a while due to the sweeping Financial Reform championed by the Obama Administration and many in Congress at the moment. This is despite the fact that US Immigration is a front of mind topic recently with the opening of H1B visa season in 2010 and more recently and prominently the Arizona Immigration Reforms just signed into law and denounced by Civil Liberty groups, Immigration Advocate Groups particularly of a Hispanic nature and even President Obama himself.

My prediction is that although President Obama is clearly a big advocate of major Immigration reforms as are many in Congress there are a couple of big reasons why I think this will take a backseat to Financial Reform in 2010. These both involve politics and the coming Midterm elections in November in 2010;

1. Financial Reform is more a politically popular topic: Democratic Members of Congress who are up for re-election this election cycle will up for some tough battles, particularly with public anger and disillusionment at Congress with unemployment still at high levels, the bailouts of Wall St. firms not benefiting the average person and both the process and specific aspects of the Healthcare reform legislation.
Democrats in particular and the Democratic President Obama need a topic to turn public focus on to something else as they go to the polls. Enter Financial Reform! A majority of Americans according to all polls are angry at the fact that Corporate America who caused the economic recession and crisis were then bailed out by the taxpayer. So it becomes very difficult for Republicans politically to oppose strong legislation to regulate the financial industry as they did somewhat successfully in the Healthcare debate.

2. Immigration Reform is a politically divisive topic: The reality is that the average Democratic leaning and Independent voter is probably not going to be swayed to vote or vote at all solely on the basis of Immigration reform. This is because for the average US citizen from a selfish point of view, will largely be unaffected by the current proposals or indeed most of the expected modifications or revisions to Immigration proposals. From the plight of Illegal Immigrants, Anti H1B visa & Foreign Worker Rhetoric, the Drug cartels and crime, etc. Republicans have a lot more easy ammunition politically to attack on this issue. Republicans also accuse Obama and Democrats of wanting to legalize illegal immigrants and increase immigration as these people tend to be more likely to vote Democrat in elections.

Now as for the Graham (R-SC) and Schumer (D-NY) legislation, there are four major tenants to their Immigration legislation proposal. These are;

- Requiring biometric Social Security cards to ensure that illegal workers cannot get job
- Fulfilling and strengthening commitments on border security and interior enforcement
- Creating a process for admitting temporary workers
- Implementing a tough but fair path to legalization for those already here (approx. 11 million illegal immigrants)

Each of these proposals in and of themselves are going to have critics on both sides for different reasons. Supposedly the nature of this initial proposal is largely supported by Obama but it is definitely going to have a tough battle so let us take each one and disect the main arguments.

1. Biometric Social Security Card: The initial idea around this is that a person’s work authorization eligibility will be stored on this card but not stored on any central Government database. Thus to allay privacy and civil liberty concerns while also making it ever more difficult for illegal immigrants to find work with the hi-tech card and heavy punishments for employers not following check procedures including potential jail time. Apart from the fact that this is not a National ID card, it certainly will have all the hallmarks of one as every US Citizen and resident will need one along with every immigrant so civil liberty groups will certainly be fighting this. Also people forge and steal passports as well as the basic social security cards today so this certainly will not stop that trade and probably just raise prices on the black market. Right now it is estimated most illegal immigrants and legal immigrants working without authorization are paying taxes. This will certainly mean that any work these people now do will be less likely include taxes. Then finally a system this hi-tech and complex will be costly and difficult to implement across all residents and employers and will certainly take a long time and no doubt be problem riddled as the current simpler optional E-Verify system is today. There have been cases where US citizens have be shown illegible to work under the current system and with this system that danger will only become more common and magnified.

2. Border Security and Interior Enforcement: As can be seen from the recent Arizona immigration laws there a diverse range of opinions as to how this should be applied. Many think that a policy whereby police and law enforcement personnel can ask a person’s immigration status should be mandatory across the country whereas others view this at best as racial profiling and at worst akin to the Nazi and Apartheid regimes where people always had to carry documents in case they were checked by officials. Then of course there are different opinions in relation to a Border Fence and constitutional rights of Immigrants.

3. Admitting Temporary Workers: So this in theory could include legislation around H1B visa and other skilled non-immigrant visas and may incorporate aspects of the Durbin-Grassley H1B visa and L1 visa legislation proposed last year or the Kerry-Lugar Business StartUp Visa legislation earlier this year , this proposed bill focuses more specifically on very hi-tech and then low-tech immigrant candidates.
Currently graduates from US universities at Masters or pHD level in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math have access (along with US Masters Graduates) to an extra 20,000 Advanced Degree cap for the H1B visa. They also more recently exclusively have access to a 17 month extension their F1 Visa OPT period which effectively gives them 2.5 years of work authorization up from the original 1 year in lieu of their degree. Currently these high skilled foreigners have access to US Permanent Residency (i.e. Green Card) via the EB-2 immigrant visa category via sponsorship from their employer. This legislation wants to streamline this process to keep these highly skilled and educated workers within the US as the most like to innovate, be entrepreneurs and create employment and wealth for the US.
As for the low-tech workers (i.e. agriculture, manufacturing, labor, etc.) there is currently no legal visa for these people to come temporarily to work in the US. So the provision would be for an changing quota for this category depending on the needs and state of the economy to allow these workers to come to the US legally and if they have been in the US for a longer period, have learned English and can demonstrate contirbution to their community, the chance also to pursue a Green Card.

4. Legalization Path for Illegal Immigrants: This is always a contentious issue but is a public debate often filled with lies and myths. The last amnesty for illegal immigrants in the US was by Ronald Reagan’s administration in 1986 so is certainly an option thought of and acted on both sides of the political spectrum. The idea in this proposal is that illegal immigrants have to admit their illegality, pay fines, do community service and any back taxes owed, learn English and then go to the back of the current immigration queue for residency in the US.
The reality of making this work is where this often becomes problematic as if a couple came here illegally and then had a child in the US (often derogatorily called an Anchor baby by Immigration opponents who accuse illegal immigrants of only having a child to help legalize their own status) who is now in school. So as per the US Constitution, any person born in the US is automatically a US citizen. Therefore in this case unless it makes sense financially, etc. a less educated illegal immigrant may not see any benefit in doing anything to make their own status legal as it would only cause them further hardship as their child already is protected as a citizen. Of course opponents believe that illegal immigrants should never be rewarded for their bad actions and even some legal immigrants who had to wait many years and pay large financial and other costs to come to the US legally oppose others coming into the same queue as them.

As an Immigrant What Should You Be Happy and Worried About?

- Well in this particular proposal the easier road to a green card for some Masters and pHD Graduates should definitely be welcome news
- For those particularly on F1 Visa, J1 Visa Work and Travel and J1 Visa Internship programs who may be working part-time elsewhere technically unauthorized to help pay their tuition fees or just living expenses in the US, this will present a significant hurdle for doing that anymore
- This also could be welcome new to low-skilled workers wanting to work in the US, however competition for these is bound to be fierce and thus these jobs will no doubt be largely minimum wage positions.
- For those on visa like the H1B visa or E3 visa and wanting to transfer between employers, I can foresee issues whereby implementation and update issues may cause false readings about eligibility to occur.

In the end taking all of this into account it will certainly be an interesting Immigration journey over the next period in the US. However because of all of this my current US Immigration prediction is that this may only be strongly debated following Financial Reform and may only be a legislative reality following the Midterm Elections and in a non-election year in 2011. Incidentally this was exactly the case when the last major Immigration reform was proposed by Senators John McCain and the late Ted Kennedy in 2007 following the 2006 Midterm elections.

CJ

©2012 E3 Visa. All Rights Reserved.

(Retro Flashback – Our Very First US Visa Post)

However to get back to business and to complement our US Immigration and Visa Year in Review 2009, we thought we would do a US Immigration 2010 Prediction post. We will revisit this post at the end of the year to see how accurate and more likely wrong we really were but at least this should give us all some vague idea of what to expect in 2010 for US Visas and US Immigration.

As mentioned this is supposedly going to be a big year for US Immigration Reform with the Healthcare Reform debate almost at a conclusion. Legislation like the Dream Act and Senators Grassley and Durbin’s H1B Visa and L1 Visa Reform bills are already being debated a little and in the case of the latter bill already introduced into Congress. There will be a lot more to come and we will no doubt cover it in a lot of posts throughout 2010 but this is going to be one crazy year for US Immigration.

With the acrimony and vitriol mixed with downright lies on both sides during the Healthcare debate in 2009, the US immigration debate could be even more polarized in 2010. Those of hoping for lots of pro immigration changes given President Obama’s promises on the campaign trail should temper your enthusiasm as the reality of an election year will hit this year. Many politicians will probably limit their exposure to anything controversial if they are up for re-election, particularly on the Democratic side who are traditionally seen as more favorable to Immigrants.

So here are our Top 10 Predictions for US Immigrations and US Visa for 2010:

1. US Immigration 2010 Reform will not be that great for legal immigrants – ok you might say well that this is obvious but all the biggest concerns like cost, ease, abuse in workplace, green card delays, quotas, tax/social security benefits, etc. will not be fixed in any meaningful way

2. Immigrants will be demonized as a group by many in the Media and Members of Congress to help fulfil their selfish needs

3. Illegal Immigration will dominate the discussion and not legal immigration which if fixed will be the best help to the US Illegal Immigration issues

4, The H1B visa season and quota will be filled at a far faster rate in 2010. Given the rush towards the end of 2009, we have even see the reintroduction of the H1B visa lottery

5. Senators Durbin and Grassley will become big players in the political spectrum due to their legislation

6. The Green Card Lottery will again will be a hot ticket item in October but may not see the rush seen in 2009 as better economic conditions here and around the globe will mean less frenzied demand.

7. The E3 visa again will not reach its allotted 10,500 annual quota as it has not in its entire history of operation. The Irish will continue to lobby for their own version of this E3 visa but will not find much support in US Congress.

8. US Immigrants will continue to make up a disproportionate share of the Silicon Valley start-ups benefiting the entire US Economy. Again this will be ignored by the wider US media.

9. There will be a small shift back to centers like California and New York for US immigrants as opposed to the large shifts to areas like Florida and Texas in recent times.

10. US Immigrants will have no access to anything in any new healthcare reform bill.
Well we will look forward to reviewing these predictions at the end of 2010.

CJ

©2012 E3 Visa. All Rights Reserved.

We recently highlighted some of the more compelling US Immigration trends to help provide you all with a better idea of where the opportunities lie and how the US Immigration map is looking.

We are really grateful for all the comments and feedback to the site as it is this community that keeps the site active and full of new information for everyone to learn and benefit from. As best as we can, we have tried to write articles that are practically informative to answer firstly the most common questions and concerns of all foreigners as they seek to come to the US. Additionally we want to address areas that people may not be aware about the US visa system, life in the US as well as US Immigration issues as a whole.

So as 2009 draws to a close, we would like to again thank you all in participating in the e3visa.info experience and hope you come back again in 2010 and continue to spread the word far and wide to help ever more people.

We also want to highlight some of the major US Immigration talking points of 2009 in one spot so people can get an idea of both how far and how little we have traveled at the same time.

1. The biggest US Immigration story in the early part of the year was a reflection of the US and Global macro economy as many foreigners were laid off in all sectors and all sizes of companies. A good percentage of these people were forced to return to their home countries, unable like their US resident laid off counterparts to find work. However we continued to hear great stories from all people of immigrants overcoming the odds to continue their life in the US.
2. The annual H1B visa season opened as normal on April 1, 2009 for FY2010 and it was almost like nothing happened as the days went by. In recent years there was such a rush on this day it has become almost mandatory to pay for premium processing to ensure the best chance of being selected. Essentially if you hadn’t submitted your application on April 1-3 in recent years you had almost no chance of getting an h1b visa and even if you had that was certainly no guarantee. However even as we reached December, 2009 there were still h1b visas left.
3. The USCIS finally launched a long awaited new release of their website. This was a massive improvement on the previous version as now the ability to find information was actually practical and areas of the site were no longer out of date. However there is still a dearth of real practical information to help the average person navigate the US Immigration system when they reside thousands of miles away in far off lands.
4. In conjunction with the new site release, there were many modifications to the US visa process in 2009 that took effect. There were some modification to the forms required to be filled out and the way the US Consulate Interview is conducted. In general these modifications have been helpful in reducing the amount of paperwork required to be filled and further digitizing the process, including with photos which is helpful. However it is still important to be fully prepared for the US consulate interview for your US visa as we would say from the feedback of the people who were rejected for US visas, a vast majority were due to a lack of preparation. Finally for tourists previously able to come to the US on the Visa Waiver Program without any preparation, the new online ESTA was required to be filled out first.



5. As 2009 rolled along, and millions of Americans were left without work and the unemployment rate topped 10%, the need for scape-goats became great. This fueled a lot of Anti Immigrant sentiment that was inflamed mainly and ironically by politicians and the media given they along with much of corporate America were the main guilty parties for the economic and financial mess the US and the Globe found itself in. In the midst of all this gloom there were some voices of reason like Vivek Wadhwa and select others who demonstrated with fact, rather than hyperbole, that amount of companies that were founded by Immigrants (over 50% of Silicon Valley companies) and the huge net benefit to the US rather than net drain of a strong immigrant environment. Not to mention of course that all Americans, bar Native Americans, were immigrants at some stage, but how quickly people forget the struggles of their ancestors!
6. Despite the fact that we expect US Immigration Reform to be a more dominant story with actual legislation debated in 2010, due to 2009 being dominated by Healthcare Reform, there certainly has been some legislative movement in 2009. We mentioned above that Anti-Immigrant sentiment has been convenient scapegoat for many politicians that so much so Senator Dick Durbin (D) of Illinois and Senator Chuck Grassley (R) of Iowa introduced what can at best be described as an Anti Immigrant and Anti H1B visa legislation. Nothing like cheap political point scoring and with no regard to the future dynamic growth and overall economic costs to the US. The best example of this is the 50/50 clause which on the face of it seems beneficial to the US worker but if you dig deeper into the reality then would have companies like Google, Yahoo, Intel, eBay, etc. who were all founded by Immigrants even be able to have begun. Of course no one wants facts to get in the way of a sound bite on cable news.
7. The Green Card also had an eventful year in 2009. Green Card Processing delays has further frustrated Immigrants from all over the world again and particularly from India and China who are stuck in limbo for in many times 10 years of more, unable to move or change roles due to the crazy backward system. For the first time ever the DV-2010 lottery results for the Green Card Lottery run in 2009 were published online for both winners and non-winners to check. Possibly due to the delays and the economic issues of 2009, it seems ever more people turned to the Green Card Lottery (DV-2011 Lottery) in 2009 as there method to arrive in the US.
8. For those who deal with the F1 visa so they can study in the US, enrollments plummeted in 2009 with applicants from India and South Korea falling 12% and 9% respectively, as students turning their sights on schools in Asia and Europe instead. The Bay Area Council, the Campaign for College Opportunity and IHELP showed that the US needs a 90% upswing in people graduating with degrees in science, technology, math or engineering to keep up with all the new jobs being created in that discipline so it seems like unless policies are revered, a trend may be starting that will see the new Silicon Valley in Bangalore or China.

These of course are only some of the major immigration issues of 2009 and you can read our Immigration News section to read all of the details on these and other talking points of 2009.

We wish you all the best for the new year of 2010 and look forward again to your comments and feedback as hopefully move towards positive and meaningful Immigration reform in 2010.

CJ

©2012 E3 Visa. All Rights Reserved.

This group essentially encompasses all non-U.S. citizens who are living in the United States either without legal immigration status, or outside of the legal terms of their previously approved legal immigration status, which includes legal entry with subsequent overstay without departure from the U.S.

While some government and media estimates consider this group to number about 12-15 million, some estimates from various agencies and professional communities peg the estimates, much higher, somewhere around 30 million immigrants.

The media and mainstream public tend to limit our domestic immigration problems to the presence of 12-30 million estimated aliens currently in the United States in violation of U.S. laws, and how to deal with them. And while upcoming comprehensive Immigration Reform (“CIR”) WILL deal with the presence and legality of undocumented aliens in the United States, this is only one of several significant issues the CIR will need to address.

These other issues include issues such as:

• Limitations on Visa Numbers, mandated by Congress, making it more difficult to secure adequtate skilled workers at the levels needed to meet the changing needs of the U.S. economy and labor market.
• Arbitrary Numerical Limitations, by imposing caps on certain categories and classifications, resulting in extensive backlogs and processing delays measured in Years, rather than months, essentially hindering legal family integration and unification.
• Employment Enforcement problems, caused by inconsistent, inefficient or inappropriate enforcement efforts on state and federal levels of wage and workplace violations, which negatively impacts workers and businesses alike.

Our nation’s failure to push through a workable, sustainable CIR has instead given way to a range of lopsided, poorly conceived, and badly implemented enforcement only initiatives which are not only doing little to nothing to impede the flow of unauthorized immigrants, but have also been very costly. In a time where government budget are stretched to and beyond their limits, many of these enforcement programs seem hard to justify, when there is ample credible data to show that the United States currently has the largest unauthorized immigrant population in its history.

This article series, while by no means a complete and exhaustive study of every problem within our present immigration system, will address several key areas and issues stemming from legislative failure to implement a meaningful CIR.

Guest Author:

Steven A. Culbreath, Esq.

Immigration Lawyer

saculbreathlaw@tampabay.rr.com and steve@saculbreathlaw.com

http://www.saculbreathlaw.com/blog/

Immigration = Opportunities + Possibilities.

Let me show you how.

Contact me for a consultation.

©2012 E3 Visa. All Rights Reserved.

1. The Green Card Lottery DV-2011 ended on November 30. During the initial week over 900,000 entries were received which was a 63% jump compared to last year and the Department of State expects 13 million entries to be the approximate total at the end.
2. The Green Card Lottery DV-2010 have begun to enter the country and many are still receiving their 2nd letter and starting to go to their US Consulate Interviews
3. The H-1B visa program for FY2010 that was extended into the new US Immigration year has picked up greatly with the latest USCIS quota update stating that 62,500 petitions have now been received in addition to the 20,000 advanced degree exemption. This means there is only 2,500 visas potentially left.
4. US Immigration reform is still expected to be debated in the US Congress in 2010, however health care reform would have to finish up completely before it could start in any meaningful way.

December is usually a quieter month for Immigration news with so many holidays but given the swarm of additional questions and comments on the site in the last 3 weeks, I definitely encourage you to continue searching for a job in the US as there is definitely a lot more hiring now and it could be a good time to get set up leading into 2010.

CJ

©2012 E3 Visa. All Rights Reserved.

One of the many changes President Obama has promised America is immigration law reform. Many ideas have been discussed. One of them is the DREAM Act, sponsored by Senator Lugar from Indiana and Senator Durbin from Illinois, among others. The basic idea is to allow certain illegal immigrants who were brought here by their parents at a young age and who have been educated in American schools to become permanent residents.

Under the DREAM Act, certain undocumented individuals could become legal residents. The first step in this process is for the individual to enroll in some type of higher education, such as a university, vocational school, or apprenticeship program. Another option is to enroll in the U.S. military. If certain requirements are met, this person may apply for conditional residency in the U.S. Upon receipt of an associates degree or a 2-year equivalent within six years of the initial petition, the conditional status can be changed and the individual can become a legal permanent resident of the United States.

To be eligible for permanent residency under the DREAM Act, the individual must have entered the United States before turning 16 years of age and must have been in the United States for at least five years without interruption. The individual must also demonstrate the ability to speak English.

Conditional residents under the DREAM Act will be eligible for private loans to fund their education, but will not be eligible for Pell grants. Under the DREAM Act, 65,000 students could become conditional residents each year, and eventually become permanent residents and citizens if they comply with current immigration rules and regulations.

One of the ideas behind the DREAM Act is to better utilize the taxpayer dollars that are being used to educate illegal immigrant youth in public schools across the country. If these youth are willing to continue their education through additional schooling or through the military, they would be allowed to become a legal part of our society without the fear of losing their families through deportation. In addition, the DREAM Act initially only benefits those who most likely were taken across the border by their parents through no decision of their own. Many of these individuals have spent more years illegally in the United States than in their home countries.

The DREAM Act could be merged with other legislation as part of comprehensive immigration law reform in 2010. If other ideas do not receive the necessary support from members of Congress, the DREAM Act could be enacted without additional reform measures. Either way, even the proposal of such legislation gives hope to many people now living in the United States who currently have no way of becoming a legal resident.

©2012 E3 Visa. All Rights Reserved.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter as I am sure you receive many. I am writing to you in hopes of promoting change to an issue that is close to my heart, and I believe close to yours as well.

As of November 2009, the current visa bulletins show a backlog of green card approvals all the way back to June 2002 for the employment-based third priority applications (EB3).

The effects of these delays are significant. EB3 consists of many young graduates such as myself, who graduated at the top of our class, who had to compete above and beyond the qualifications of regular graduates at every step of the way, who, like many former immigrants who came to America to seek a better life, are forced to make tough decisions in the face of these long waiting times. Some of us have been laid off, only to be given unrealistically short timeframes to find another job or go back to our home countries after decades of living abroad. Many of us simply wait in fear. Fear of the unknown and what might happen to us in the long years to come. In some ways, these restrictions stagnant those who foster ideas of entrepreneurship by preventing career change, growth and the risk-taking nature of American entrepreneurship that so evidently fuels the spirit and prosperity of this economy.

Intel, eBay, Yahoo!, Sun Microsystems, Google and many other companies were all founded by immigrants who were welcomed by America. Over the last 15 years, foreign nationals have started 25 percent of U.S. venture-backed public companies, accounting for more than $500 billion in market capitalization and adding significant value to our economy. There is a wealth of talent and ambition hidden below the covers of these immigration laws.

I arrived in Boston when I was 16 and I still remember the day I graduated (I was 20 and still couldn’t have a drink because it was illegal!) in 2004. Last month I turned 26, and I realized that I have been here for over a decade. This is the longest I have lived in any country since being on many diplomatic missions around the world with my father. When you were young, your family also lived overseas, so I know you can relate to what it feels like to have a “home country” and to have a desire to prosper and pursue happiness there.

You once said among a crowd of young students that “here in America, you write out own destiny, you make our own future” and I hope that this can one day come true when college graduates can have a realistic goal of becoming permanent residences if they work hard and believe in all that this country has to offer. When you came to Google in 2007 you told us that you would support the H1b program as well as more and faster permanent residents for those who add value to this country. Many of us here at Google as well as beyond the valley were very excited, and we remain hopeful today.

A lot of people laughed when I said that I would send you a letter. They expect me to give up. They expect that you to not read this letter. They will expect that even if you do, nothing will change.

I would like to prove them wrong. I hope that if anything, this letter will allow for a moment of consideration for actions that will speed up processing times for employment based immigration, of which many of us have already sacrificed so much for.

Sincerely,

Richard Wan

©2012 E3 Visa. All Rights Reserved.