Retrogression Optimism

USCIS reports minimal new H1B filings. What does this mean? Obviously US employers are not in need of additional foreign workers. So, does this impact the Immigrant Visa Employment Based retrogression? Indirectly it does. Like H1 petitioners we can assume that Immigrant Perm petitioners who sponsored foreign workers under the perm/I-140 process no longer need those foreign workers. In some cases the petitioner has closed. More likely though as we go through recession petitioners will be unable to prove that they have the continued ability to pay the foreign worker. Namely, if the petitioner’s has no profitability or if the profit falls below the foreign workers offered wage the petition will be denied. I suspect this means that a substantial number of pending I-140/I-485 will ultimately be denied. As a consequence, visas which were allocated to pending filed cases will be made available. Once this happens the State Department will authorize the forward movement of Cut Off Dates. When? Who knows but the May 2009 visa bulletin indicates we will have no forward movement in the EB3 category until Oct 2009. Perhaps there is a silver lining in this recession for our foreign nationals stuck in a retrogression.

H1B Count

Still 20,000 h1b visas available this year.

A little known fact

Did you know that 4 million american children have an undocumented parent.  PEW Hispanic Ctr.

Obama to Push Immigration Bill

April 9, 2009 NY Times Report

Obama plans to begin addressing the creation of a path for illegal immigrants to become legal. Presumably this legislation would also address the continued retrogression of family and employment Immigrant Visas. Obama plans to speak publicly about the issue in May and over the summer he will convene working groups, including lawmakers from both parties.  The timetable is consistent with pledges Obama made to Hispanic groups in last year’s campaign.  These public statements fall on the heels of a an Immigration ICE raid in March that angered hispanic groups and seemed to take everyone by surprise including the President.  He said then that comprehensive immigration legislation, including a plan to make legal status possible for an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants, would be a priority in his first year in office.

Republicans, say they will seek to mobilize anti immigrant groups.  Just last month, Mr. Obama openly recognized that immigration is a potential minefield.  "I know this is an emotional issue; I know it’s a controversial issue...I know that the people get real riled up politically about this."  But, he said, immigrants who are long-time residents but lack legal status “have to have some mechanism over time to get out of the shadows.”

The new plan would not add new workers to the American work force, but that it would recognize millions of illegal immigrants who have already been working here. Despite the deep recession, there is no evidence of any wholesale exodus of illegal immigrant workers. New legislation would require the payment of fines and penalties and prevent future illegal immigration by strengthening border enforcement and cracking down on employers who hire illegal immigrants.

Obama on Immigration

IMMIGRATION

"The time to fix our broken immigration system is now… We need stronger enforcement on the border and at the workplace… But for reform to work, we also must respond to what pulls people to America… Where we can reunite families, we should. Where we can bring in more foreign-born workers with the skills our economy needs, we should."

-- Barack Obama, Statement on U.S. Senate Floor May 23, 2007

For too long, politicians in Washington have exploited the immigration issue to divide the nation rather than find real solutions. Our broken immigration system can only be fixed by putting politics aside and offering a complete solution that secures our border, enforces our laws, and reaffirms our heritage as a nation of immigrants.

Create Secure Borders: Protect the integrity of our borders. Support additional personnel, infrastructure and technology on the border and at our ports of entry.

Improve Our Immigration System: Fix the dysfunctional immigration bureaucracy and increase the number of legal immigrants to keep families together and meet the demand for jobs that employers cannot fill.

Remove Incentives to Enter Illegally: Remove incentives to enter the country illegally by cracking down on employers who hire undocumented immigrants.

Bring People Out of the Shadows: Support a system that allows undocumented immigrants who are in good standing to pay a fine, learn English, and go to the back of the line for the opportunity to become citizens.

Work with Mexico: Promote economic development in Mexico to decrease illegal immigration.

May Visa Bulletin - No Positive News

May 2009

EB1 - Current, EB2 - Current except for India Still Feb 15 2004 and China Still Feb 15 2005, EB3 - all Unavailable

H1B Count Update

USCIS Updates Count of FY2010 H-1B Petition Filings WASHINGTON April 9, 2009 — USCIS announced an updated number of filings for H-1B petitions for the fiscal year 2010 program. USCIS has received approximately 42,000 H-1B petitions counting toward the Congressionally-mandated 65,000 cap. The agency continues to accept petitions subject to the general cap. Additionally, the agency has received approximately 20,000 petitions for aliens with advanced degrees; however, we continue to accept advanced degree petitions since experience has shown that not all petitions received are approvable. Congress mandated that the first 20,000 of these types of petitions are exempt from any fiscal year cap on available H-1B visas. For cases filed for premium processing during the initial five-day filing window, the 15-day premium processing period began April 7. For cases filed for premium processing after the filing window, the premium processing period begins on the date USCIS takes physical possession of the petition. USCIS will provide regular updates as the processing of FY2010 H-1B petitions continue.