Temporary Protected Status (TPS) Granted to Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone

Almost lost in the media attention given to the President's announcement on immigration yesterday was an announcement by the Department of Homeland Security extending Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, to Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.  The move is meant to permit people who are present in the United States as of November 20, 214 to remain here for eighteen months while the Ebola outbreak continues in their home countries.

Those who qualify for the protection have until May 20, 2015 to apply.

TPS is a status designated by the U.S. Government to countries when it would be inhumane to require nationals from that country to return home.  Is permits people who are present in the United States to remain here without fear of deportation.  Aliens granted TPS may be given work authorization.

TPS does not lead to permanent residency or citizenship.  It is merely a temporary status, that expires once the U.S. Government determines that the conditions in the home country have improved.

TPS has been extended in the past due to such humanitarian reason as war and natural disasters.

By:  William J. Kovatch, Jr.
(703) 837-8832
wkovatch@kovatchlegalservices.com

President Obama's Speech on Immigration, November 20, 2014

H-1B Cap for Fiscal year 2015 Met

On April 7, 2014, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services received enough H-1B petitions to account for the annual quota for fiscal year 2015.  In fact, USCIS announced that it had received enough petitions to account for the 20,000 H-1B visas set aside for alien holding advanced degrees from U.S. schools.

H-1B visas are also known as specialty worker visas.  They are visas that allow a person to come to the United States temporarily to work for a U.S. employer.  To qualify, the alien worker must be coming to perform a job that requires the equivalent of a bachelor's degree or higher.

H-1B visas are initially granted for three years.  The visas begin on October 1, the start of the fiscal year.  Application can be submitted up to 6 months before the start of the fiscal year, or April 1.  There are 65,000 H-1B visas available every year.  Another 20,000 H-1B visas are available for alien workers who hold an advanced degree from a U.S. institution.

In some years, the annual quota is not met until later in the year.  However, when U.S. employers need skilled foreign workers, the H-1B quota can be met early in the H-1B filing season.  If more than enough H-1B petitions are received by USCIS before April 7, a lottery is held to see which applicants receive the available visas.

By:  William J. Kovatch, Jr.
(703) 837-8832
wkovatch@kovatchlegalservices.com

Congress to Increase H-1B Caps?

A bill, called the Immigration Innovation Act or I2, (I-Squared) has been introduced in Congress in an effort to expand the number of foreign workers who can obtain temporary visas to work for U.S. companies.  The bill would expand the number of H-1B visas available each year on a sliding scale, depending on the demand by U.S. empoyers for such workers.

The H-1B visa is open to workers to be employed in specialty occupations.  A specialty occupation is defined as an occupation that requires a bachelor's degree, or its equivalent, or higher as the normal entry requirement for the position.

Each year, there are 65,000 temporary visas available for specialty workers.  Another 20,000 visas are set aside specifically for workers who hold a U.S. master's degree.  The temporary visas can eventually lead to permanent residency.  They are often used for U.S. companies seeking to fill high-tech positions, although any job which requires a bachelor's degree may be able to qualify for the basis of an H-1B visa.

U.S. employers may apply for the H-1B visas up to six months before the visas are to take effect.  The visas become available at the beginning of the fiscal year, or October 1.  This means that an employer may submit an application as early as April 1.  In times of an expanding economy, it is not uncommon for the cap of all 85,000 visas to to be met on the first day of filing.

If passed, I2 would raise the number of H-1B visas available each year from 65,000 to 115,000. More H-1B visas could be made available, depending on the demand.  If the cap is met within the first 45 days of when petitions can be filed, another 20,000 wold be made available.  If the cap is met within the first 60 days, then another 15,000 would be made available.  If the cap is met within the first 90 days, then another 10,000 visas would be made available.  If the cap is met again by the 275th day on which petitions can be filed, another 5,000 visas would be made available.  Under the proposed legislation, the cap on foreign workers holding U.S. master's degrees would be eliminated.

This bill has received bi-partisan support, as it is co-sponsored by such Republicans as Orrin Hatch and Marco Rubio, and such Democrats as Bill Nelson and Mark Warner.

However, passage of the bill is not assured.  Senators Dick Durbin and Charles Grassley, for example, have been critical of the H-1B program, arguing that it permits U.S. employers to bypass hiring available U.S. workers.  U.S. technology companies, by contrast, have been pushing for the expansion of available H-1B visas.

The President has promised to press for comprehensive immigration reform this year.  The Obama Administration's strategy has been to push through a single bill addressing various immigration issues.  By contrast, the Republicans, many of whom believe it critical to press for reform in the aftermath of the 2012 election defeat, wish to press forward with many bills, each addressing a discrete immigration issue.  The goal for Republicans appears to be to avoid a show-down within the party over anything perceived by the far-right to be amnesty.  Whether this bill passes, or is absorbed by a larger, more comprehensive bill, remains to be seen.

By:  William J. Kovatch, Jr.
(703) 837-8832
info@kovatchimmigrationlaw.com

An Overview of the Process to Hire Foreign Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Workers

In the push for comprehensive immigration reform, U.S. businesses are pressing for more visas for science, technology, engineering and math ("STEM") workers.  Even on the campaign trail, Governor Romney stated that every science and math student graduating from a U.S. institution should have a green card stapled to the diploma.

But how difficult is it to get a visa for a foreign STEM worker?  The fact is that the process is tedious.  Moreover, a foreign worker can wait years for a permanent residency visa to become available.

In the article linked here, I give an overview of the process of hiring a foreign STEM worker, both on a temporary visa and on a permanent residency visa.  The process takes planning, resources and effort.  Most STEM workers start off with an H-1B temporary visa for specialty workers.  Annual quotas are tight, and deadlines are important.

Hiring a foreign worker permanently requires an effort to show that there are no U.S. workers who are ready, willing, able, and available to fill the position.  This is called the labor certification process, and requires that the employer go through a recruiting process.

Even after a visa petition is granted, because of annual limits, it may take years for the visa to be available.  If a worker is employed through an H-1B visa, it takes coordination and timing to make sure that the worker can remain in the United States until the permanent residency visa is available.

By:  William J. Kovatch, Jr.
(703) 837-8832
info@kovatchimmigrationlaw.com

What is the Diversity Visa Lottery?

You may have heard people talking about "winning the lottery" when they explain how they came to the United States.  What exactly does "winning the lottery" mean?  Can just anyone get a visa by winning a lottery?

It is true that U.S. law provides for a lottery to make visas available for 50,000 people each year.  But, that is a deceptively simple way of explaining it.  The program is called the diversity visa lottery.  The idea is to give countries that have traditionally sent fewer immigrants to the United States the chance to have their nationals come to the United States.

Visas through the lottery are made available to countries that have sent the fewest immigrants to the United States in the last five years.  No on country can account for more than 7% of the total of visas available for that year.  Plus, there are qualifications that the immigrant must meet.  The immigrant must have a high school education, or have been working in an occupation that requires two years of training for two of the past five years.

The qualification requirement is where many applicants get tripped up.  There is no requirement that a person meet the qualifications to enter the lottery.  A foreigner simply registers for the lottery online when the registration is open.  This means that a person can win the lottery, think they have a visa, and then become greatly disappointed when the Consulate inform them that they don't have the required education or occupation.

At any rate, the lottery may be on its way out.  In all of the talk of immigration reform, some Republicans are proposing the elimination of the diversity visa lottery, and expanding the number of immigrant visas available to graduates with advanced degrees in science and engineering by 50,000.  Whether this happens remains to be seen.  A bill that would have eliminated the lottery almost passed the House of Representatives in September.

Click here and you can read more about the diversity visa lottery in another article I wrote on the subject.

By:  William J. Kovatch, Jr.
(703) 837-8832
info@kovatchimmigrationlaw.com