The House' Immigration Deal

Joe Biden, and even President Obama supports the House’ piecemeal approach to Immigration.  And this is because Immigration is simply too complex an issue.  While I completely understand the frustration that most illegal people face, being in this country, working for years, a quick comprehensive bill, supported by one party can never be the solution to this complex problem.

According to Bob Goodlatte, R Va, head of the House Judiciary Committee,  used to practice Immigration law.  He will give Immigration a top priority in 2014.  Among the pieces he will be looking at will be visas for high skilled workers, Ag workers E-Verify and securing the border.  Once employers are hiring legal immigrants, the border is secured, and the high skilled (H-1B) and Ag workers (H-2B) here legally, and the country has a need for them---is taken care of, we can talk about the dreamers.  And although the Dreamers were brought into this country as kids, and have known no other country, most of them have merely a high school diploma, and little skill beyond that to get a job.  To have given them a path to citizenship in 13 years as the President wanted, while Master’s Degree holding legal individuals, with job, born in India currently takes 14 years to become a citizen would simply not be fair.

Contact Houston Immigration Lawyer, or Houston Immigration Attorney Annie Banerjee, for more information

Immigration Reform

I applaud the fact that President Obama has accepted the piecemeal approach instead of Comprehensive Immigration Reform (read citizenship to Mexicans so they vote Democratic) approach. For many the Immigration issue consists of ONLY illegal people from Mexico. Yet Immigration is a complex issue.
And to the heckler in the crowd who said that his family has been separated for 19 months because apparently they were deported, I say, go live with your family wherever they are. 11 million people are not being deported. It’s the people doing crime who are being deported. And the Democrats scream against it, as if possession of drugs is so insignificant, that it’s USA’s fault for deporting the drug users. The Democrats also put up pictures of Jose Antonio Vargas, as the quintessential dreamer, yet most dreamers have barely a high school certificate.

And as for the Republicans, they are deeply divided. The tea party just wants Obama to fail, no matter what the issue. The conservative Christians want immigration for the illegal Mexicans. And the business factions want Business Immigration reform.
Immigration as it is now is based on country quota. A person born in India, holding a Bachelor’s Degree, and completely legal has to wait right now for more than 10 years to become a Green Card (Permanent Resident Card) holder. Then she has to wait another 5 years to become a Citizen. A master’s Degree holder, even from the USA, has to wait for 14 years to become a citizen if he was born in India. How can I look them in the eye and tell them that an illegal immigrant with no education will get citizenship in 13 years?

The Senate bill, which the House rejected, had a point system. But it was more generous with the point system based on family than on education and experience. When people choose to come into this country, they make a conscious decision to leave their family. Why should someone with no education come in simply by being adult siblings of a United States Citizen, or worse, simply by lottery, when it takes 14 years for Master’s Degree holders whose ONLY crime was being born in India?

Contact Houston Immigration Lawyer, or Houston Immigration Attorney Annie Banerjee, for more information

Immigration Reform

The shutdown proves that we are a deeply divided country.  And the ONLY reason that the Republicans gave in is because their constituents, big business said no to them. It was survival for them, an economic necessity.

When it comes to immigration and the shutdown, the media seems to harp upon how people waiting in line was affected.  But Citizenship and Immigration Service was open, and legal people had NO EXTRA wait time.  The shut down merely hindered illegal people. 

The media never paid attention to businesses.  Business lost immensely because they could not file transfers of H-1B visas.  The Department of Labor was closed.  Before filing the H-1B visa, the Department of Labor has to certify that the beneficiary is being paid a fair wage.  The Department of Labor was closed.  Professionals who were reaching the end of their stay could not file PERM- Labor Certification or H-1B extensions.  These individual came into this country legally, and perform professional services mainly in sectors where not enough qualified US Citizens exist.

Yet the Democrats have made immigration into an illegal Mexican issue.  However it will be up to the Republicans to champion their side.  During the passing of the Affordable Care Act, the Republican just chose not to participate.  As a result we have a one party Act, which does not address for instance, tort reform.  Even though tort reform is a State issue, the federal Government could easily have limited it under the Act.  Ambulance chasing law suits add to useless and expensive tests that greatly increase health care costs, and will continue to do so.  But the tort lawyers support Democrats.  Lets not make Immigration a one party law.

Contact Houston Immigration Lawyer, or Houston Immigration Attorney Annie Banerjee, for more information

When Government Reopens

Yes, the Government is back up, but not their web site.  When the Government shut down, it took them 2 seconds to shut everything down and go home.  Now that they are supposed to show up for work again, they are forming their “post shutdown” schedule. 

We are monitoring the progress and will let you know when the web sites go up again.  Meanwhile H-1Bs cannot be filed without certified labor condition applications.

PERM- Labor Certification website is still down.

Any package that we sent to Department of Labor was held by fedex, and will be delivered today.

Any question that you might have as to how long it will take has one answer: “who knows”.  Hopefully shortly.  Hopefully labor condition applications and Prevailing Wages will be adjudicated swiftly.

With that in mind, we are sending advertisements for quotes.

Once the web sites are back up, employers can register for PERM- Labor Certification again, and file labor condition application.  And yes, we will file all the PERM- Labor Certifications waiting us. 

Contact  Houston Immigration Lawyer, or Houston Immigration Attorney Annie Banerjee, for more information

When Government Reopens

Yes, the Government is back up, but not their web site.  When the Government shut down, it took them 2 seconds to shut everything down and go home.  Now that they are supposed to show up for work again, they are forming their “post shutdown” schedule. 

We are monitoring the progress and will let you know when the web sites go up again.  Meanwhile H-1Bs cannot be filed without certified labor condition applications.

PERM- Labor Certification website is still down.

Any package that we sent to Department of Labor was held by fedex, and will be delivered today.

Any question that you might have as to how long it will take has one answer: “who knows”.  Hopefully shortly.  Hopefully labor condition applications and Prevailing Wages will be adjudicated swiftly.

With that in mind, we are sending advertisements for quotes.

Once the web sites are back up, employers can register for PERM- Labor Certification again, and file labor condition application.  And yes, we will file all the PERM- Labor Certifications waiting us. 

Contact  Houston Immigration Lawyer, or Houston Immigration Attorney Annie Banerjee, for more information

When Government Reopens

Yes, the Government is back up, but not their web site.  When the Government shut down, it took them 2 seconds to shut everything down and go home.  Now that they are supposed to show up for work again, they are forming their “post shutdown” schedule. 

We are monitoring the progress and will let you know when the web sites go up again.  Meanwhile H-1Bs cannot be filed without certified labor condition applications.

PERM- Labor Certification website is still down.

Any package that we sent to Department of Labor was held by fedex, and will be delivered today.

Any question that you might have as to how long it will take has one answer: “who knows”.  Hopefully shortly.  Hopefully labor condition applications and Prevailing Wages will be adjudicated swiftly.

With that in mind, we are sending advertisements for quotes.

Once the web sites are back up, employers can register for PERM- Labor Certification again, and file labor condition application.  And yes, we will file all the PERM- Labor Certifications waiting us. 

Contact  Houston Immigration Lawyer, or Houston Immigration Attorney Annie Banerjee, for more information

Government Shutdown will not affect most Immigration cases

Please note that the Government shutdown due to the budget impasse does not affect Citizenship and Immigration Service.  Citizenship and Immigration Service operates with the filing fees of petitions, and does not rely on any Government funding.  Just like the Postal service, the Citizenship and Immigration Service will run as usual, with the same number of staff.  This means that your business and family immigration case will not be affected.  It will not take longer to process due to Governmental shutdown.  

All individuals should go for their interviews and fingerprinting as usual.

The icert (labor condition application, filing before H-1B) and PERM- Labor Certification systems operated by Department of Labor is also running.  The Department of Labor has said its “expected” to operate.  However in the event that the impasse continues for a long time, and their funds run out we will not be able to operate their web sites.  Right now there is no indication of a Department of Labor (Foreign office processing) will shut down.  However if the shutdown is prolonged, we will not be able to file new labor condition applications or PERM- Labor Certifications or audit answers.  Right now, we have to operate as usual.

Department of State will try to stay open as much as possible, but again, might close if the shutdown is prolonged.  Right now there is no report of any consulates being closed.

The Customs and Border patrol will also operate as usual.  So will Transportation Security Agents at ports of entries.  

In the Immigration arena, the only type of cases already affected is deportation cases.  The courts will only hear detainee cases.  Other cases are being temporarily stopped. 

For more detailed information, please go to:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/contingency-plans

Contact Houston Immigration Lawyer, or Houston Immigration Attorney Annie Banerjee, for more information.

Denying L-1visas does not make Fiscal Sense

As Capitol Hill debates the country's financial crisis, California and Vermont Service Centers have increased their denials of Inter Company  managerial transferees of foreign businesses to US on the L-1A visa. The Government narrowly focuses on the fact that their job needs to be managerial, and cannot be performed by Managers in companies that have low number of employees. 

In  recent non precedent decision, the Administration Appeals Office reversed a decision of the California Service Center to deny an L-1A for a  new Company opened 12 months ago which had 2 other employees.  It belonged to a publicly traded foreign Company.  The Manager also supervised foreign Companies' employees and had a profit of 600,000/- for the first year of operations.  The AAO held that the Manager has to manage "primarily" as in 51% of his time. 

One can completely understand the rationale that a small company can fail, and thus extending a visa might lead to someone staying illegally here. However, if there is a large foreign company backing, if the US Company is making money, what is the rationale behind the denial simply because the company employs 2-3 employees. The nature of many companies have changed. Computerization has reduced and eliminated a large number of low level employees. And the manager manages and procures business. If we deny these companies the right to do business, ultimately we lose the taxes. Even one US job, is one US job, and the Government cannot simply take that job away at a time when unemployment reigns high. 

Contact Houston Immigration Lawyer, or Houston Immigration Attorney Annie Banerjee, for more information

H-1B vs EAD

Question: I have filed my I-485 petition and have my work and travel permit.  Do I still need to continue my H-1B?

I get asked the above question a lot.  And the answer like most things is, “it depends.” 

Since the Department of State advanced the current dates for Indian and Chinese individuals in 2007 and then EB-2 towards the end of 2011, a lot of people filed for adjustment of status (I-485).  Along with that filing they got the initial Employment Authorization Document and advance parole (travel document).  Those documents can be extended yearly until one gets the Green Card (Permanent Resident Card).  So technically one does not need the H-1B

Please note though that once you don’t extend the H after 6 years of being in H status, it disappears.  You cannot extend it anymore.  If you want to get back to the H quota, you will have to go back for one year,  then you will have to wait for the next fiscal year, and might have to get into the lottery which happens some years, including this year.  In other words its close to impossible to get back the H status if you don’t keep extending beyond 6 years.

The work and travel permits are dependent on the I-485.  This is applicable to the principal alien filing the I-485, ie the person for whom the employer filed the Labor Certification.  As long as the I-485 is valid (ie the Employer still wants to continue the process) there should be no problem.  The problem arises though when the sponsoring employer does not want to sponsor anymore. 

However if the principal alien has a new employer after 180 days of filing the I-485, that new employer can transfer the Green Card (Permanent Resident Card) process through AC-21.  The job has to be “same and similar” to the job described in the labor certificate.  In this situation, the I-485 will be valid for the principal and the dependent aliens as well.

If it happens to be a job in a completely different area, the new employer can start a whole new process of PERM- Labor Certification.  The principal alien will still get the old Priority Date, but in this case the I-485 will no longer be valid. And if the principal and dependent aliens don’t have a valid H-1B visa, they cannot do this.

The bottom line: The H-1B visa provides a second layer of security and should be extended if cost is not a consideration.  However if cost is a factor, one needs to do a cost-benefit analysis. 

Contact Houston Immigration Lawyer, or Houston Immigration Attorney Annie Banerjee, for more information

When Lawyers try to bribe

Why does it always have to be Indian lawyers? Usually lawyers who are foreign graduates, and usually Indians. 

They try to bribe Immigration officers. Just like they did in India. 

Kiran Diwan, an attorney from the Law office of Dewan in Maryland recently got indicted on charges that he tried to bribe (an undercover) CIS agent for 3 of his clients.  He took money and faked a marriage for two of his clients, and probably faked the signature of the employer in Employment based visas. Then he submitted these documents to the Immigration Officer rather than by proper mail channels that is regular with the CIS. 

I remember being asked by an Immigration Officer, for an interview (at the Houston District Office)  I had with my clients once, "you are not going to bribe me with tickets to the music show?" When I looked horrified that the officer would suggest such a thing,  he said, he was joking with me, but that the previous Indian attorney had offered him tickets to a musical show that she performed in.  Although the officer did not say the name of this attorney, I completely believed him, because there is an attorney in Houston of Indian origin who sings.

This attorney may or may not be trying to bribe the officer, but of course was trying to get friendly with him. As Immigration lawyers, and in order to ensure and uphold due process must not become friends or have any social connections with the officers who adjudicate these cases.  The same is true for judges. 

And while I am at it, Texas elects all its judges. And lawyers give "campaign contributions."  Is not campaign contribution a form of bribery? 

Contact Houston Immigration Lawyer, or Houston Immigration Attorney Annie Banerjee, for more information.

Special Consideration for Irish in the Immigration Bill?

The history of Immigration in the USA goes right along the history of slavery, and can be described by one word: Discrimination. The Asians were not even allowed to enter, because Immigration was restricted to people "from Caucasian descent."

In 1923, when Bhagat Singh tried to get Citizenship, claiming that he was "Caucasian" (Indians are Caucasians by race), the US Supreme Court ruled that Indians could not assimilate into the "white society", that East Asians were barred from immigrating, and applied it retroactively, denaturalizing all Asians given the Citizenship previously.

Fast forward not even a 100 years and the Irish are claiming favoritism again in 2013.  They claim its "hard" for people of Europe to immigrate and estimates that as many as 50,000 Irish people are currently living ILLEGALLY in the US.  They complain because they are not included in the "Diversity" visa, a visa given by lottery to any High School graduate because there are few citizens of that country.  Note India and China never were included in the diversity visa.  People from there come on the basis of merit.

And just how will Ireland justify allowing more numbers to the Immigration quota? Because they  have "political clout" with a lot of Senators. Senator Chuck Schumer is in their pocket. John McCain "works " with them.

I have a note to Irish parents: why don't you just have your children get the Bachelor's Degree like the rest of us?  And yes, the CIS favors a British or Irish Degree over Indian or Chinese Degree anyways.

We should end country quotas, end Diversity based on country of origin, end Xenophobia, and get immigration not by the color of our skin, but by the content of our brain and character.

Contact Houston Immigration Lawyer, or Houston Immigration Attorney Annie Banerjee, for more information.

The LGBT Amendment

Sen Patrick Leahy has introduced an amendment on the Senate immigration bill introduced by the gang of 8, to allow LGBT couples in long term relationships to get immigration benefits. And even though I am a liberal, and whole heatedly support gay rights, I think this amendment should be considered if and only if the Supreme Court leaves DOMA intact. 

Gay couples are allowed to marry in many states. However, unlike heterosexual couples, who can get immigration benefits if their spouse is a Citizen of United States, gay couple cannot get the same benefit. And that is because DOMA, a federal law defines marriage as  an union between a man and a woman. This law is up in front of the Supreme Court, has no support of the Obama administration or the majority of American people, and is a discriminatory law with no purpose. If the Supreme Court does not strike down DOMA, then the Roberts Court will go down in history as a bigoted court, out of touch with the reality of the times. 

Being an optimist, I would like to think that the majority of Justices will at least think of their legacy and strike down DOMA. If that happens, gays can already marry in 11 states.  Under full faith and credit, other states have to recognize and give Immigration benefits to same sex married couples. 

The amendment says benefits to couples "in long term relationships."  Why would same sex couples have to prove "long term" when hetero couples dont? Why should the law recognize a Kardashian type Vegas marriage and not a similar same sex marriage? 

Being LGBT is an immutable characteristic, same as skin color, or hetero orientation. So why should the law create a special class for LGBT people? We need EQUALITY, not special protection. Hetero and same sex couples should be looked upon as same, couples who will build their lives together. And because this is a subjective standard, and the CIS officers will look at this with their own biases, the law should create standards for determining whether the relationship is real or not.  The same standard for EVERYONE, regardless of their sexual orientation. 

No other area of law is rife with discriminatory history as Immigration Law.  Lets end this, end country quotas, end special protections for some. 

Contact Houston Immigration Lawyer, or Houston Immigration Attorney Annie Banerjee, for more information

Travel on H-1B

Please note that this is advisory ONLY.  Anytime you travel, whether you are let in is purely up to the discretion of the CBP officer at your port of entry.  H-1B visa stamping is difficult in India, especially for smaller software companies.  However if you are not a US Master’s Degree holder and this is your first H-1B stamping, and you are originally from India, you have to go to India for stamping.  

There is no way to predict when your regular processing H-1B will be adjudicated.  Premium is a safer bet, however upgrading it to premium sometimes incurs a Request for Evidence.

You are a US Master’s student on OPT, and you want to travel.  Your H-1B got accepted.  Can you travel in June and come back in July?

If you look at your OPT, it says not valid for travel.  So its good to have your student’s visa valid in your passport as well.  Also definitely have your H-1B on premium and approved when you go.  Have a letter from your employer that they are employing you currently on your OPT and intent to employ you on your H-1B, and recent pay stubs. .  However there is always a possibility that CBP Officer may want the H-1B visa stamped, especially if this is closer in date to October 01.  If you return after October 01, obviously you have to have the H-1B visa stamped on your passport.

You are on H-4 or L-1, applied for change of status to H-1B.  Your application got accepted. Now you want to go out of the US?

If there is a pending application with the Citizenship and Immigration Service, the CBP officers will usually not allow you to enter back.  Also, if the officer adjudicating your H-1B case finds out that you are not in the United States, then she will not give the change or extension of status.  Thus have the H-1B approval before going abroad.  However the above principles of not being let in, esp nearer to October applies.  And sometimes officers are less forgiving to people who do not have US Master’s Degree. 

On another note some L-1s try to file for H-1B just to get the quota, and want to maintain their L-1 status even after October 01.  In that case, if the applicant enters after October 01, on his L-1 status, and the I-94 clearly proves it, then yes, L-1 status is maintained.  The applicant has to file another change of status application or get the H-1B visa stamped though before he starts work on H-1B.

You are on H-1B and have applied for extension or transfer and want to go out?

The officers will not extend status if you are not physically present in the US.  So if travel is urgent, then either upgrade to Premium, or be prepared to get the visa stamped before coming in.  If you go out after the approval, if you already have a valid H-1B visa stamped in your passport, you can come in with that, even though you filed for a change of employer, and your new employer’s name is on the I-797 approval form. 

Contact Houston Immigration Lawyer, or Houston Immigration Attorney Annie Banerjee, for more information.

The merit based system

While a lot has been said about the 11 million illegal immigrants in the proposal by the Gang of 8, nothing has been said about the merit based point system.  This is business friendly, and hopefully both Republicans and Democrats can agree on this. 

It replaces the old diversity visa and other country specific visas. We can finally move away  from  the goal  to keep this nation white, and make it bright. Diversity visas were given to any one with a simple High school graduation. This at a time when our indigenous high school grads cant get work. 

Instead we move to having a merit based point system.  The points are: Doctorate degree 15 points, Master's 10 points and Bachelors get 5 points. For experience, the proposal creates job zones. (Somewhat like the old preferences)   You get 1 point for high zone employment with a total of 20. 

However the point system is not perfect. A score of 80  on the TOEFL gets 10 points. Good knowledge of English is the same as a Master's Degree?   And countries underrepresented in this country gets an extra 5 points.  And yes, community service gets 2 points. 

Looks very much like an Admissions rubric for s selective Universities.  Time to pad your resumes people. 

Contact Houston Immigration Lawyer, or Houston Immigration Attorney Annie Banerjee, for more information

High Tech vs Low Tech

Mark Zuckerberg created a PAC for Immigration Reform. The debate on Immigration is now between high skilled workers vs the undocumented people. The tech industry vs the fruit industry.  The Republicans vs the Democrats.

Yes, we need fruit pickers. But we can easily teach the 7 % unemployed people in the US to pick grapes in 3 hours.  We cannot teach them to program a computer.

And yes, this is a political issue. The Obama Administration wants "comprehensive Immigration." it says that it wants high tech jobs. But all the administrative options that are available, seems only to apply  to  undocumented  immigrants.  That is good.  DACA is giving many kids the chance to drive legally.  But they are high school graduates, and many simply cannot find a job, even though they are getting the work permit. Similarly the procedure for I-601 waivers is made easier.  And it is helping many families stay intact.

But when it comes to the business immigration, we are simply not seeing those administrative solutions.  The "control" memo that puts a dent on the H-1B s for tech companies, introduced during the Obama administration is still here.  This year the H-1B quotas even for Master's Degree holders from US Universities got filled in the first day, with lottery.  If these Master's Degree holders don't get into the lottery, will their OPT work permit be extended? And if not, why not? These are Master's Degree (or even Bachelor's Degree holders ) from US Universities. Are they inferior to the DACA people simply because they followed the law and maintained legal status? If the DACA people are given work permits for just being high school grads, why should Bach and masters of US Universities not be given the same opportunity? And what about highly qualified spouses of H-1Bs? What wrong did they do? 

And last but not least, the Obama Administration wants a "clear path to citizenship" for everyone. And yes, these 11 million people, (most of them poorly educated) has to stand in line behind all those in line right now. But what about the next high tech inventor who is now in grade school, dabbling in programming. If this kid invents the next google, and wants to come to the US, does she have to wait in line behind the 11 million people? And if so, will we then lose our technology edge in the world, simply due to political pandering of the Democrats? 

Lets make immigration like most countries do: The more qualified you are, the simpler and faster will be your immigration. Irrespective of whether you are legal or not.  We want people for the content of their brains, not for the color of their skin. 

Contact Houston Immigration Lawyer, or Houston Immigration Attorney Annie Banerjee, for more information

H-1B Cap

USCIS announced that it has received approximately 124,000 petitions. 

The cap is 20,000 for US Master's Degree holders and 65,000 for general. 

USCIS has received more than the amount in all categories.  Thus it will do a lottery for the 20,000 Master's Degree holders first. 

Those who are selected will get the receipt notice. 

Those who are not selected will be entered into the 65,000 general lottery 

So US Master's cap will get two chances at the lottery. 

USCIS has not announced when they will do the first lottery. 

We will update each and every one of our clients as soon as we know anything. 

If you don't get selected  the CIS will not withdraw your application fees. If you are on any other visa category, and applied for a change of status, your status won't be changed and you can continue in your current status. 

If you were a student, and are working in your OPT, and don't get selected even after 2 lotteries, you can either : (1) go back to student status, or (2) file H-1B from a non cap (non profit research) institute.

CIS also has the power to extend the cap gap or the EAD status until next year, but we cannot predict if the CIS will do so. 

If you are a student and get selected, you will need your receipt notice to apply for cap gap, if your EAD expires before October 01, 2013. 

Contact Houston Immigration Lawyer, or Houston Immigration Attorney Annie Banerjee, for more information

The Unnatural H-1B quota

Our laws impose the completely unnatural, unrealistic, uncapitalistic quota of 65,000 (plus 20,000 for US Master's Degree holder) visas for H-1B, a visa reserved for professional skilled personnel.  Since the government year starts on October 01, and they accept visa applications 6 months before, the first day one can file the petition is April 01.  The job actually starts from October 01.

From  2006 to 2008 more than that amount was filed with the USCIS on the first day. The government resorted to a lottery.  Then came the economic downturn and the visa filings were slow.  Now again, as the service centers start counting the visas today, its expected to at least reach or exceed the quota this year.  This means that the economy looks better.

The counting starts today, on the day that the job records came out with a bleak report that hiring has slowed down in the USA. I am sure that the anti business immigration folks will scream about job preservation. Yet, the jobs lost in the US are federal government jobs and retail jobs partly seasonal and partly due to the sequestration. None of these jobs are tech jobs. If America idolized colleges for their US News and World Report rankings rather than the NCAA rankings, we would not face a shortage of tech  personnel.

However another major problem is the quota itself.  Computer consulting companies are the main users of the H-1B visas. They have to predict their usage for the year.  Once the quotas are gone, they cannot get labor to supply their clients, and have to take a major hit.

The other reason is that the educated spouses of H-1B holders, (on H-4 visas) cannot work. Dependents of L or J visas can.  But for some completely inane reason, dependents of H visas cannot work. So these H-4 visa holders approach Consulting companies for jobs. Consulting jobs are hard.  Not only do you have to know computer science, you also have to travel places with the job. Americans simply wont work that hard or travel that much.

Thus we should do away with this unnatural quota. Let the marketplace dictate needs. Yet the Obama Government simply will not handle immigration piecemeal. They want those Hispanic votes and wont do anything for the country until they get those votes.

Contact Houston Immigration Lawyer, or Houston Immigration Attorney Annie Banerjee, for more information

What the illegal immigrant can do now

Will an Immigration deal be reached? Who knows? But what an an illegal Immigrant do to prepare?

Usually Immigration legislation stops on the day it is passed. Thus the benefits accrue to people who were physically present in the United States before that date or earlier. This is done to stem people from crossing the border with the news that US is giving immigration. However proving that you were in the United States can be a challenge for people already here with no papers. Most states don't give them driver's license, and they do cash business and dont have bank accounts. They are not in school.

This problem wont be acute for the applicants who have submitted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Applicants.

However if you have not applied for DACA, you should prepare and get some documents together. Maybe make a purchase with your name.  Go to the church, get involved in community service. If you are sending money home, then keep those receipts. Get utilities bill in all your names, even if you are sharing them. Buy something on layaway. Get any record you can with your name on it.  And yes, best of all, if you can afford it, enroll in some school.

The next thing to do would be to save money. You are here illegally and there will be some sort of fines involved. Traditionally fines have been $1000/-   That was on top of the actual form fee. Add attorney's fees.  All this will add up.  Although its impossible to say how much money it will cost, I would think before buying my next beer if I was you.

Contact Houston Immigration Lawyer, or Houston Immigration Attorney Annie Banerjee, for more information

Back of WHICH line, Mr. President?

The draft bill that the White house has been drafting which was recently “leaked” to the media has the President stating that the illegal immigrants will have to go to the “BACK OF THE LINE.”   But there are many lines in Immigration.  My question is Which line?

The ways to get Residency for legal people is through employment,  family, Asylum or by lottery (Diversity).  Visas have per country restrictions.  The same number is given to every country, irrespective of the size of the country. Thus for skilled professionals from India and China, there is a long lineup for educated legal people.  People born in India for instance, with a Master’s Degree (and this applies to people with Master’s Degree from an American University) has been waiting in line since 2004 just to get their Permanent Residency. Thats 9 years.  How does this jive with a “Path to Citizenship within 8 years ” that the administration has been promising? Lets face it, most illegal immigrants have at best a high school degree. Should they be allowed to jump over the legal non immigrants from India with a Master’s Degree?

In the family category,   brothers and sisters of  United States Citizens from Philippines   have been waiting since 1989.  They are patiently waiting in Philippines and did not enter illegally as did the people who crossed borders.  Should they now just enter this country illegally?

There is No line up for Asylum and Diversity visas.

The second question is how will we grant this “path to citizenship” to the 11 million illegal residents. Most of them are uneducated and don’t have steady permanent employers. Their relatives are most often illegal. Its not like Mexico will persecute them if they went back to Mexico, so no need to give them Asylum. (note: Asylum has no lines, and if amnesty is asylum then there would be no “back of the line.” ) And if Mexicans needed to enhance “diversity” , we would not even be having this conversation.  It’s only their voting power that is motivating this whole legislation.  So will we create a new category?

Will we clear ALL backlog by artificially increasing the numbers this one time?  If so, what about that very bright Master’s Degree holder who just happened to be born in India and just happened to have not applied before the passing of this legislation? Would the next Sergey Brin have to stand behind these 11 million people? Will they then not simply leave and go to EU?

Also Mr. President, any legislation that is passed WITHOUT the input of 2 parties is not the way our system is supposed to work.  We stand for the checks and balances. Did you not teach Constitutional Law?

However that is not to say that the the Republican plan is all good either.  Granting non immigrant visas to some of these 11 million people is like telling them to self deport.  They wont leave when their visas expire.

But my last plea is to the Democrats. Why do you hate Computer Professionals on H-1B?  Because unless you hate them, why do you still have the completely absurd, unconstitutional “Control” memo from 2010? And why are you selectively enforcing it to the computer consulting industry ONLY? Where is the rule of law that we all fought to reinstate from the Presidency of W Bush?

Contact Houston Immigration Lawyer, or Houston Immigration Attorney Annie Banerjee, for more information

PERM Advertisement

In a recent case, In the Matter of Oracle America, Inc. the Board of Alien Labor Certification (BALCA) held that if an advertisement says travel May be required, and the ETA 9089 does not say so, then the  PERM will be denied.  This is true even though there was one  advertisement for several positions, and the travel was required.

The PERM regulations hold that the advertisement cannot be more restrictive than the actual 9089 perm form. However the PERM form is unforgivable. No one sees the form but the Department of Labor. And if one forgets to cross the Ts and dot the Is, it results in a denial. There is no way to correct it, once the Holy highness of DOL lay their eyes on it.  If the Advertisements say XYZ, and you inadvertently leave out Z, and the DOL looks at the perm, you cannot withdraw anything. You have to defend your ground.  Because of course the almighty DOL never makes any mistake. I dont know of any court, any other agency that is so unforgiving as the DOL.

The court held that the job description for all the jobs were similar.  There is also a suggestion that too broad job description for different positions in one advertisement may not be feasible anymore. Although this is allowable under the PERM regulations, I think the DOL will soon clamp down on it, stating that the description has to be specific, or else the US Citizens wont know how to apply.

If there were USCs available to do the job, the Employer would not go through the whole hassle of advertising and paying a lawyer and going through the laborious Labor Certification process.  Thus is actual fact, the only person that the DOL looks out for are people who use the copy and paste function in their computer, thereby eliminating any risk of accidentally  leaving out any information in the form.

Contact Houston Immigration Lawyer, or Houston Immigration Attorney Annie Banerjee, for more information

Comprehensive Immigration is Indeed Bipartisan

Unlike gun control, abortion or gay marriage, Immigration is not a for or against issue.  Both Democrats and Republicans want to reforms Immigration, they just want different things.

The Republicans want business immigration, and the Democrats want to help the illegal Hispanic population. And both sides are tied to their voting blocks.  Democrats think that they can get the Hispanic votes, and the Republicans think they can get the business owner votes.  However there are Hispanics who vote Republican and the business using the most number of Employment based visas, the Computer Industry in Silicon Valley, largely vote Democrat. Both sides need to compromise to get Comprehensive Immigration done.

The Senate Schumer-McCain bill has four broad categories:

1. Establish a hard path of citizenship to the 11 million illegal immigrants

2. Somehow prioritize Immigration to recognize how the American economy will grow by retaining the brightest and the best

3. Create an effective Employment verification system

4. Admit future workers to meet America's needs, ie protect the borders for future influx of illegal immigrants.

These are broad goals. The debate will be in the details. Would immigration be prioritized by the education of the workers? Would country specific quotas be removed?

President Obama has said that more visas would be added to one time to move the lines. Right now Bachelor Degree holders from India, legal residents , have to wait in line for 10.5 years, while Master's Degree holders have to wait for 8.5 years before they get their Immigration. It simply wont be fair for Dreamers with a basic high school education ( and most dreamers have only a high school education) to jump in front of them.

Yet unlike the Indians and Chinese, Mexicans hold more political clout. And Obama and the Democrats seem more focused on painting a bright life for dreamers rather than the Indian and Chinese legal residents with Bachelors degrees or higher. The media highlight the one or two dreamers who have college degrees. But there are no statistics as to how many people have college degrees versus a mere high school degree in DACA applications. 

The same unfairness will be in the gay and lesbian couples. If someone can get their visa for having a straight partner, why should a gay or lesbian couple be denied the same right? And will the religious right go for equality in benefits, even if DOMA is struck down? 

Contact Houston Immigration Lawyer, or Houston Immigration Attorney Annie Banerjee, for more information

Is COMPREHENSIVE Immigration solely a Latino issue?

The Senate has formed a bi partisan committee to work on Immigration issues and plans to put forward a bill as early as March. The committee is headed by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D, NY) who said that the main purpose of the bill was to make sure that illegal immigrants be given a "clear path to citizenship." I understand that the 11 million illegal immigrants are performing a valuable service to this country and SHOULD be made citizens. What I don't understand is why the Democrats and the Obama Administration is so opposed to highly skilled workers legally here, in the United States, and have to wait for years to get their citizenship. These are the "STEM" people, (Science Tech, Engineering and Math) graduates  (mostly masters degree holders and higher) from India and China.

The Democrats have been issuing Executive orders like DACA and making 601 waivers easier. I firmly believe that this is necessary.  But why do they keep the unconstitutional Neufeld memo of Jan 08, 2010 injecting a inane "control" issue into H-1Bs and then using it selectively against the Computer Consulting Industry ONLY, thereby trying to cripple that industry?  What does that say about the intent of Democrats?

Why did ALMOST ALL democrats vote against the Marco Rubio Sponsored STEM bill? If they are so opposed to piecemeal legislation, why issue piecemeal Executive orders?

I am a Democrat, I voted for Obama.  I am just saying the word COMPREHENSIVE means all, not just the Latino issue.  Silicon Valley also votes and pays for campaigns. And we do need highly qualified Science and Math jobs because America does not have enough of them, more than we need the blue colored Latino jobs. Lets make it COMPREHENSIVE, not just a Latino issue.

Contact Houston Immigration Lawyer, or Houston Immigration Attorney,  Annie Banerjee, for more information

Why I came to America

 I want to start this first blog of the year on a personal note.  I came to this country in 1985 because I wanted liberty.  I was a women in India. The rape case in India and the ensuing uproar about women's status brought all those memories back to me afresh.

Back in the early 80s I was a student in the English Department of a prestigious liberal arts college in India, Presidency College, Kolkata. I remember the very day that  I formed a resolution to leave India. A Rhode Scholar, Oxford educated female Professor said, "we are happy when our male students get a good job, but for our female students, we are happy when they get married." I sat there devastated. I was planning to sit the Administrative Services Exam and get a job in India.  But if a liberal women said things like this, what were my chances of success as a women.

Of course this was not the ONLY instance of being treated as a second class citizen for being a women, that I had experienced. In India we did not have the freedom to go around as we wanted. In crowded trams and buses, or even in roads,  males routinely groped women. We could not say anything, because the "shame" would be for the women, not the men who freely violated us, or made cat calls. After dusk, we women were not allowed to go out by ourselves.  Even when I was 18, I had to take my 6 or 7 year old brother to go a short distance to my friend's house. This was humiliating to say the least.

I had to wear a saree in grades 11 and 12 to school. Not only did I not know how to tie the yards of plain cloth to my body, but it restricted lower body movement and in hot summer months it was painful. Life's little inconveniences, but they do add up. I did not run, bike or swim----apart from studying and music,  the only other activity I did was walking to College and libraries. We were bred to be wives and mothers and were given no success ethics in terms of a career. And we had to conform to the mores of what the "village" thought, not free thinking. I dont think I ever questioned the fact that I had an option to not marry or have children. My daughter is choosing that option, and my mother simply cannot understand it. After all, that's what a female does in a society of 1.2 billion people.

When I came to America, I had to fight all those years of pre-programming. Law School taught me free thinking. I learned to bike and swim in my 40s. And yes, I developed a strong hatred for the saree.

There is a popular myth that these days  unless you are an asylee,  people  to America for economic freedom.  That is simply not true. Ever since the dawn of immigration with the Pilgrims, people came to this country to seek freedom.  Even if the means of Immigration is through employment, the reason for Immigration may be freedom. And we in America should strive to preserve those freedom, to become the beacon for people of all colors, nationality and sexual orientation.  The country that our forefathers left behind is changing. Lets not,  in the name of  preservation,  restrict abortion or gay rights. For in the end, we want to become the haven that people all over the world covet.

Contact Houston Immigration Lawyer, or Houston Immigration Attorney Annie Banerjee, for more information