Home > Newsletter > June 2009
No Visa Number For Third Preference Employment Based Cases
The Visa Bulletin for June indicates that immigrant visa (green card) numbers for the third preference and "other worker" employment based categories are unavailable for the month of June. The annual quota in both categoires has been reached and there will be no further visa availability until the beginning of the 2010 fiscal year on October 1, 2009.Supreme Court Holds that Government Misused Identity Theft Statute Against Foreign Workers
On May 4, 2009, the Supreme Court unanimously held that a federal identity theft law requires proof that the offender knowingly used an identification number that belonged to another person. The federal government had been using the identity theft statute which imposes a two year mandatory prison term to prosecute foreign workers who had presented their employers with fake social security cards and alien registration cards even though they were unable to prove that the individuals knew the numbers belonged to other people. Justice Alito ponited out that the individuals liability should not turn on chance: if his number belongs to a real person, two years will be added to his sentence, but if he is lucky and his number does not belong to another person, he is not liable. Justice Breyer cited the statute's legislative history, finding that Congress' identity theft examples only involved offenders who knew that they had taken the identity of a real person. This is a victory not only for the petitioner Flores-Figueroa, but also and immigrants those of us who were upset at the recent criminal prosections of foreign national workers following the immigration raid at the Postville, Iowa meat-packing plant. This decision properly distinguishes true "identity thieves" from individuals whose only wrongdoing was to present a fake identity document in order to work to support their families.Updated H1B Count
As of May 5, 2009, USCIS had received approximately 45,000 H-1B petitions that would count towards the federall mandated 65,000 cap for fiscal year 2010. Of the 65,000, approximately 5,000 are set aside for nationals of Chile and Singapore based upon a treaty, leaving the actual number at about 60,000. USCIS is continuing to accept petitions, however, with many people graduating in May we anticipate that the remaining 15,000 will be claimed very soon.
Department of State Publishes New Skills List for J1 Visa Holders
The US Department of State has published a revised version of the Skills List, which will take effect June 28, 2009. The Skills List identifies those fields which involve specialized knowledge or skills that are in short supply in the J-1 foreign national's home country. When a J-1 visa holder comes to the US to engage in a field that appears on the Skills List for the home country, he or she becomes subject to a two year home residency requirement, which requires them to return home for two years before they may petition for an H-1B or L visa or apply for permanent residency. It appears that the list is "retroactive" so that individuals from countries that are no longer on the Skills Lst will no longer be subject to the two year rule.