You can access the Immigration Solutions free monthly news and podcast for July 2010 here.

Make sure to sign up for our news and media if you’d like to receive our information through email.  You can sign up on our blog to receive blog posts through email, as well.

For Immediate Release

Immigration Solutions is proud to now offer Global Immigration Services. Our new Global Immigration Services offers a comprehensive yet streamlined approach to fulfilling corporate global immigration needs.  When making a choice for a global partner many organizations feel they have two choices:

• Choose the firm that fits your budget; or
• Choose the firm that offers personalized services

Through our international network of global immigration experts, Immigration Solutions can offer services that are low cost – high touch.  Gone are the days of compromising your budget for a high touch service.

Our Global Immigrations Services focus on visas for foreign countries.  We secure all the appropriate immigration documents so your employee can legally live and work in a foreign country.  We secure the work permit, entry visa, and residence permit (as applicable) for each location.  We offer personalized services such as accompanying employees to medical exams and local registration appointments.  If you’re sending an employee to a country that requires legalizations, not to worry… our experts are well versed in securing Apostilles and Authentications. Additional services also include business visa assistance to meet your short term travel needs.

In the forthcoming days and months, we will be adding global immigration material to our website, a global corner to our newsletter, and global immigration updates on our current blog.  We are excited to offer this new product line and look forward to assisting you with your global immigration needs.

If you have an immediate need or would like to consult with our office, or request a proposal for services, please email us directly at  global@immigrationsolution.net.    We’re looking forward to doing business with you.

California-based client receives FAR E-Verify contract language and waits until the 11th hour to get their I-9’s in order:

In order to properly enroll in the DHS FAR E-Verify free Internet-Based program, or a vendor-based Designated Agent program, the contractor must rely upon the accuracy of their I-9’s and the information provided by their employees on the I-9 form.  We recommend a proactive approach to this issue by obtaining a pre-EVerify I-9 audit (can be a random audit or a complete audit depending upon the condition of your I-9s) to pinpoint reoccurring issues and correc them – with accompanying I-9 compliance training and the establishment of policy and procedure around how your company will handle this function – then you’re ready to enroll in E-Verify.

If you have questions or require any of the above services, our distinguished team of attorneys and specialists are available to work with you on your compliance needs.

Leslie Davis, Managing Director
Immigration Solutions

• Date: Thursday, March 18, 2010
• Time: 11am – 12 Noon  PST.  For the time in your area: http://www.timezoneconverter.com/cgi-bin/tzc.tzc
• RSVP:      info@immigrationsolution.net
• Who should Attend:  Employers who sponsor L-1A employees and employees who are going through the L-1A adjudication process
• Agenda:

1. What is the Intracompany Transferee L-1A Manager/Executive Visa?
2. What are the requirements?
3. What is the eligibility criteria to obtain an L-1A visa?
4. Why is it so difficult to obtain an L-1A visa in today’s business climate?
5. The insidious RFE’s and Intensified Scrutiny
6. Open Q&A

The regulations have not changed for obtaining L-1A visas, but the good old days are certainly over when entrepreneurs told you how easily they had obtained their L-1A visas and green-cards via the L route.  Now, you are more likely to hear people who have received L-1A visa approvals talk about what good jobs their attorneys did in ensuring compliance with the stringent standards that are being meticulously enforced by the USCIS.

Our Speaker for this Event will be:  Thomas J. Joy, Esq, Supervising Attorney, Immigration Solutions.  Formerly, Managing Partner Hirson Wexler Perl, Los Angeles, CA; Senior Attorney, Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy; Supervising Attorney, Law Office of Bernard Wolfsdorf

This is a free teleconference for our clients and readership.  Dial in and access information will be provided a few days in advance of the conference call.  RSVP now to reserve your place on the call.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) last week provided AILA (the American Immigration Lawyers Association) with information regarding enforcement issues at Newark Airport.  The CBP have been assisting ICE with an investigation of certain H-1B non-immigrants and particular employers who hire H-1B workers.  This created events where H-1B visa holders were detained as a result of  employers being under investigation by ICE.

This incident has been a strong reminder that non-immigrants in work-related status such as H-1B, L-1, E and O-1 classification should be prepared for the potential of additional scrutiny when entering the United States after travel abroad.  CBP will question arriving non-immigrants about their employer, and may request documentation to prove that the nonimmigrant is still employed according to the petition that was filed on their behalf.

The above-mentioned incident where CBP engaged in more extensive questioning, has caused many H-1B visa holders and their employers to have concern about documentation that their employees will need to re-enter the USA following foreign travel.

CBP does have the authority to inquire about these issues, however, recent events indicate that their line of questioning may become more extensive and may result in more situations where arriving employees will be put in secondary inspection.  Secondary Inspection is where CBP officers wish to question the alien concerning their intent in the USA and conduct a more thorough interview and review any additional documentation that the individual may have brought with them, as well as information on electronic devices (cellphones and laptops).  They may even conduct Internet searches on the individual and the employer.  Therefore, employees entering the USA in H-1B classification or other employment based visas should be prepared for the possibility of additional scrutiny, and for the possibility of secondary inspection, regardless of where and when they enter – be it an airport or a land border.

We highly recommend that entering non-immigrants bring the following additional information with them in the event they are asked to produce evidence of their employment:

1)      Copies of 2 recent paycheck vouchers

2)      A copy of the USCIS petition that their status is based upon

3)      Current/Original I-797 approval notice

4)      A current letter of employment verification from a company officer or HR professional confirming job title and dates of employment  on business letterhead – is an excellent idea, as well.

We have heard recent reports that employers may also be contacted by CBP to confirm information related to the employment relationship and job duties.

We will provide updates to you on this issue and intend to monitor it very closely.  If you or your employees have encountered any additional scrutiny and would like to relay your experiences, please contact Immigration Solutions.

Details

When: Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Time: 11:00 a.m. – 12 noon PST
Click Here to view time conversion for your area

RSVP: info@immigrationsolution.net

Reserve your space now | This will be a most informative teleconference that you will not want to miss.

Our Agenda will be as follows:

• How to prepare for H-1B quota issues
• Tougher standards (difficult RFEs)
• We will review the new 19-page USCIS Memo regarding employer-employee relationships
• Critical new information for Healthcare and IT staffing agencies
• New Documentation Requirements
• Comprehensive Immigration Reform and expectations for 2010
• Open Q&A

In this conference, we will convey critical and comprehensive information to our clients and readership which we are making public and are offering at no charge.

In the last year, signs have been in place concerning greater enforcement and over-burdensome Requests For Evidence (RFE’s) by USCIS, including site visits by 4 federal agencies (USCIS, DHS, FDNS and DOL).  Higher standards are being imposed with each filing season for all employers who file H-1B petitions for degreed professionals.

We are seeing that this is not just taking place with H-1B initial filings, but with extensions, L visas and we have even heard of site visits to employers who filed O-1 petitions.

Our Featured Speaker: Thomas Joy, Supervising Attorney | Immigration Solutions

Immigration Solutions’ supervising attorney, Thomas Joy, will moderate this conference.  Mr. Joy has over 25 years’ practicing immigration law with some of the leading firms in the nation.  Mr. Joy has been interviewed on television regarding current immigration issues, has published articles on various current immigration concerns, and has conducted seminars for corporations, law firms and professional organizations, both in and outside of the USA. He travels throughout the USA and the world representing clients at USCIS offices and US embassies and consulates. In addition, he advises and accompanies employers and recruiters on international recruitment drives who seek the top candidates in the IT and healthcare industries.

About Us

Immigration Solutions continues to be at the cutting edge of developments in business immigration. We are dedicated to providing our clients with the solutions required today to circumvent the complexities of immigration law. We understand the challenges that you deal with on a daily basis and design practical and strategic business models to answer your needs. This focused approach produces win-win results for everyone!

If you are not yet a client of Immigration Solutions, we would be pleased to speak further with you concerning your needs, our services & solutions, and our newly developed corporate rates.

CNN posted an interesting article on 12/23/09 that echoed what all of us have been saying in healthcare immigration and staffing, that the USA is facing an ever worsening nursing shortage as the population grows older.

Here are some of the comments:

America has had a nursing shortage for years, said Peter Buerhaus, workforce analyst at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing in Nashville, Tenn. But by 2025, the country will be facing a shortfall of 260,000 RNs, he said.  “In a few short years, just under four out of 10 nurses will be over the age of 50,” said Buerhaus. “They’ll be retiring out in a decade. And we’re not replacing these nurses even as the demand for them will be growing.”

Barry Pactor, international director of global health care for consulting company HCL International, agrees that more nurses should be trained within the U.S. system. But as a short term solution for this “huge shortage,” he said the U.S. government should loosen immigration restrictions on foreign health care workers.

“I don’t see this as foreign nurses taking American jobs, because these are vacancies that already exist and cannot be [filled] by nurses currently in training,” he said. “We’d be filling in the gaps until the training can catch up with the demand.” 

This is an extremely informative Q&A session between AILA and  USCIS that addresses the following major  topics:

1)  Excessive documentation requests for L-1 RFEs including L-1Bs involving placements at 3rd party sites

2)  H-1B Cap Exempt employers

3)  Right of Counsel for H-1B Site Visits…..and more

To highlight a few USCIS responses:

1) AILA provided examples to USCIS of explaining its RFE requests by providing examples (rather than endless lists of mandatory documents) of how to respond

2)  Re Counting periods of time abroad for L-1 Eligibility:  USCIS stated,  “Contrary to the AFM, precedent decisions and long practice, USCIS now states that only time in the US in L status, rather than any ‘authorized periods of stay in the US for the foreign employer’, does not interrupt the prior year of employment.

3)  Right to Counsel during the course of audits and site visits & training for Investigative Officers:

a.  “USCIS is in the process of amending several forms (Form I-129 instructions) and receipt notices to advise that USCIS may conduct compliance site inspections at any time pre or post adjusication.  There are currently no plans to provide advance notice of a site inspection conducted under the ASVVP”.

b.  Advance notice is provided by FDNS officers when conducting site visits/administrative inquiries on cases containing elements of suspeced fraud unless the officer believes that advance notice would jeopardize or hamper the site visit.  FDNS officers also provide notice to attorneys of record when conducting site visits under the Benefit Fraud Assessment and Compliance Program.

c.  Are petitioners/beneficiaries informed of their right to call their attorney and have the attorney present before questioning commences?  “Participation in an ASVVP compliance site inspection/any USCIS site visit, is volunary”.

d.  “A petitioner/beneficiary/other persons will be allowed to contact their counsel if they are immediately available (in person or by phone), however, such contact should not unduly delay the process or entail unusual accommodations in which case the site inspection or site visit may be terminated”.

e.  Site visits will not be rescheduled if an attorney cannot be present.  If the employer’s attorney is not available, the Inspector will note this in their report.  The report will be reviewed for follow-up action, if appropriate.

4)  Site Visit Officer Training:  “Training is provided to site inspectors and immigration officers during their basic training after their entry on duty.  The inspectors collect and report information which is then analyzed by immigration officers who do have appropriate immigration law training.”

Other topics in this report covered termination of empoyment authorization documents, I-130 denials that are appealed, Civil Surgeons training and monitoring, etc.   Well worth the read through.

We link to the Q&A document

It has been reported that some 20,000 more unannounced employer site visits will be taking place over the next few months by FDNS, but this time it will be to employers who have filed H-1B extensions to determine if there is ongoing compliance by the employer.

It’s been asked, do they have the legal right to do this – just show up and demand to speak with a company’s representative or executive officer?  Yes, they do, although it hasn’t been acted upon to the extent we are now observing until your $500 Fraud Detection and Prevention government filing fee created the revenue to employ some 6,500 FDNS agents.  Up until now, USCIS or DOL agents have always been in a position to do onsite employer visits when they thought necessary – but it’s been rarely acted upon.  Presently, you can add ICE and FDNS to this group – because we’re in a hunt ‘em down, enforcement climate – and it’s the employers who are being targeted.

So, how does an employer handle this?  We don’t recommend that you wait to ask this question and to get your documentation organized when the agent comes knocking.  This is serious business now, and they are not just targeting the small to medium-size employer or the employer who has financial issues and can’t respond to requests to prove the ability to pay the offered wage to the employee.

Therefore, it is recommended that you discuss this with your immigration counsel now.  If you don’t have a representative, we are available to walk you through a program that will not only assist you in organizing your Public Access information and files, but we will give you the tools to prepare the company representative that will handle the agent site visit and to prepare them for the questions that will be asked, what documentation should be organized now and beeasily accessible to present to the agent when requested – and overall, how to successfully respond to a government site visit at your place of employment.

The NCSBN has an excellent Resource Manual available for International Nurses and was developed as a user-friendly resource.

The manual focuses on 3 main topics related to foreign nurses:  Education, English Exam and Immigration.  Very intelligently, each chapter has 4 sections:  Definitions, Issues, FAQs and Resources.

It is important to understand that each state is responsible for the licensure of nurses within the state. Variations exist among the states.  It is very important to be working with a knowledgeable certification and licensure specialist or be in direct contact yourself with the State Board.

Immigration Solutions are specialists in health care immigration – for all occupations.  We have placed hundreds of foreign health care personnel with US hospitals and top medical facilities in the USA.  We have worked with some of the most reputable international staffing professionals in the industry; have attended countless recruitment events abroad and in the USA, and interface one-on-one with the health care professional and their families throughout the entire process.  We continue to advise and consult with some of the top recruiters and medical facilities in the USA.

Contact Immigration Solutions for all of your US and Canadian health care immigration matters.  Here is the link to the NCSBN Manual and here is a link to our healthcare brochure.