GCard_Dream
04-06 11:51 AM
I know some of you can answer this in your sleep. You guys are that knowledgable. Care to help?
I guess the only question that remains now is if I beat the clock and am able to file I-485 (assuming everything works out in EB2 case) before the current H1B expires, what would my status be until I receive my EAD. My understanding is that is takes few months for the EAD to be approved but the H1 has long expired. Are you in status or out of status then?
I guess the only question that remains now is if I beat the clock and am able to file I-485 (assuming everything works out in EB2 case) before the current H1B expires, what would my status be until I receive my EAD. My understanding is that is takes few months for the EAD to be approved but the H1 has long expired. Are you in status or out of status then?
wallpaper Jennifer Lopez Lawsuit Against
days_go_by
09-11 10:59 AM
After reading this, I was not sure whether that 140K included the Labour backlogs. I know the BECs have been a lot more active lately and have been pumping out approvals/denials more rapidly.
If infact 140K backlogs do include them, then perhaps that would be a good thing, since atleast then we can perhaps begin to get our arms around this and understand how long our waits will actually be.
One thing is for sure they have definitely stepped up the speed of things at the USCIS with other filings after retrogression hit.
-----------
This is just USCIS backlogs, DOL is a separate agency and the labor backlogs do not count in this.
If infact 140K backlogs do include them, then perhaps that would be a good thing, since atleast then we can perhaps begin to get our arms around this and understand how long our waits will actually be.
One thing is for sure they have definitely stepped up the speed of things at the USCIS with other filings after retrogression hit.
-----------
This is just USCIS backlogs, DOL is a separate agency and the labor backlogs do not count in this.
InTheMoment
07-11 10:37 PM
With all correct things said above: Yates Memo, Conditions of AC21 met (same/similar job, salary etc. 180+ days) and proof that you are regularly paid since joining the company (paystubs), EVL from new employer...
With all of the above supplied I can say from my own experience of joining a small company (50 employees) and submitting AC21 docs (to pre-empt any RFE - because I changed address and state of workplace; against my attorneys advise of waiting for an RFE) that it was the best thing I did. I had no RFE issued before I-485 approval.
So just send in the AC21 docs if you feel that there are redflags that may trigger an RFE for EVL (I-140 getting revoked, address change across state - diff from original employer, petition being very old)
With all of the above supplied I can say from my own experience of joining a small company (50 employees) and submitting AC21 docs (to pre-empt any RFE - because I changed address and state of workplace; against my attorneys advise of waiting for an RFE) that it was the best thing I did. I had no RFE issued before I-485 approval.
So just send in the AC21 docs if you feel that there are redflags that may trigger an RFE for EVL (I-140 getting revoked, address change across state - diff from original employer, petition being very old)
2011 Jennifer Lopez beating her
sands_14
04-08 04:06 PM
Does it make sense for anyone to file for GC anymore from India,China.Looks it will take a person 10year on an average and paying for ED/AP will cost around 7000usd for 10 years:)
more...
champu
03-12 10:07 PM
consider infopass
deafTunes123
08-23 02:11 PM
Mine is Opposite. EAD issued for 2 years even though my PD is current (based on interfile). Don't know whether the interfile is successful or not.
more...
ras
04-02 09:05 PM
My employer recd an RFE on Jan 8. The Requested Evidence is supposed to be provided in 12 weeks from the date of the RFE letter(Jan 8).
I am told that my attorny didn't respond to this RFE. Is it 84 days which means till April 2nd is the deadline when it is supposed to be answered. If that is the case I crossed the deadline by a day or two.
Can you experienced folks let me know if I crossed the deadline. Is there still a room to answer the ability to pay RFE?
my employer said he would answer RFE (ability to pay) if some financial adjustments are made. Is it ok and make this financial adjustment so that he can responde to the RFE inspite of the 12 week deadline just passed.
Will a delayed response for RFE for couple of days at USCIS does matter? Will they reject the evidence if they dont recieve in time?
Is it better to wait till the I140 is denied and then open an MTR? How easy and practical is it to open an MTR and successfully plead for the I140 approval?
Your early response helps me take a decision.
I have already filed 485 based on this RFE pending I140. that will go waste if I140 is denied.
I am told that my attorny didn't respond to this RFE. Is it 84 days which means till April 2nd is the deadline when it is supposed to be answered. If that is the case I crossed the deadline by a day or two.
Can you experienced folks let me know if I crossed the deadline. Is there still a room to answer the ability to pay RFE?
my employer said he would answer RFE (ability to pay) if some financial adjustments are made. Is it ok and make this financial adjustment so that he can responde to the RFE inspite of the 12 week deadline just passed.
Will a delayed response for RFE for couple of days at USCIS does matter? Will they reject the evidence if they dont recieve in time?
Is it better to wait till the I140 is denied and then open an MTR? How easy and practical is it to open an MTR and successfully plead for the I140 approval?
Your early response helps me take a decision.
I have already filed 485 based on this RFE pending I140. that will go waste if I140 is denied.
2010 jennifer-lopez-appeals-court-
anilvt
09-06 12:36 AM
similar thing happened to my friend when he got his green card ...it had some women picture on it ...he called them and told to return the GC and they attach his picture on it ....
take it easy change the title to wrong pic on AP ...blunder is very emotional word
take it easy change the title to wrong pic on AP ...blunder is very emotional word
more...
ramus
06-07 01:10 PM
Please contribute to IV..
Thanks.
I am surprised with this thread. There is no Deadline for employemnt based GC (this was mentioned by Sen. Robert (Bob) Men�ndez,NJ when requesting to move the FB deadline which is clearly mentioned in the bill as May 01, 2005) . Please read the summary and text carefully.
Summary:
First five years
Total number of merit-based green cards includes sum of:
a.) First five fiscal years have same number of green cards as made available to EB category in 2005. This number is 246,878.
b.) Any visa number not used by family based category.
How the total number will be divided between Current system and new merit-based system and Y visa holders --
- 10,000 (or more) reserved for exceptional aliens under �Y� visa category.
- 90,000 (exactly 90,000 � not more not less) for backlogged (pending or approved I-140 applications). Currently, this number is 140,000.
- Remaining possibly goes to new merits system. Until the merits system is ready for accepting petitions, the Y visa holders probably get a shot at this since the clause says �No more than 10,000� � leaving room to let it go up from 10,000 to whatever is left.
and the TEXT of the Bill
�(A) for the first five fiscal years shall be equal to the
33 number of immigrant visas made available to aliens
34 seeking immigrant visas under section 203(b) of this
35 Act for fiscal year 2005, plus any immigrant visas
36 not required for the class specified in (c), of which:
37 (i) at least 10,000 will be for exceptional aliens
38 in nonimmigrant status under section
39 101(a)(15)(Y); and
40 (ii) 90,000 will be for aliens who were the
41 beneficiaries of an application that was pending
42 or approved at the time of the effective date of
43 this section, per Section 502(d) of the [Insert
44 title of Act] ( Act not the bill)
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.�The amendments made by this section shall take
11 effect on the first day of the fiscal year subsequent to the fiscal year of
12 enactment.
So a bill becomes law only after signed by the president, and the effective date could be Oct 01, 2007 if not Oct 01, 2008.
So all the I-140 filed on of before Effective date are considered as pending!!
I don't know why even lawyers are getting confused here!:confused:
Thanks.
I am surprised with this thread. There is no Deadline for employemnt based GC (this was mentioned by Sen. Robert (Bob) Men�ndez,NJ when requesting to move the FB deadline which is clearly mentioned in the bill as May 01, 2005) . Please read the summary and text carefully.
Summary:
First five years
Total number of merit-based green cards includes sum of:
a.) First five fiscal years have same number of green cards as made available to EB category in 2005. This number is 246,878.
b.) Any visa number not used by family based category.
How the total number will be divided between Current system and new merit-based system and Y visa holders --
- 10,000 (or more) reserved for exceptional aliens under �Y� visa category.
- 90,000 (exactly 90,000 � not more not less) for backlogged (pending or approved I-140 applications). Currently, this number is 140,000.
- Remaining possibly goes to new merits system. Until the merits system is ready for accepting petitions, the Y visa holders probably get a shot at this since the clause says �No more than 10,000� � leaving room to let it go up from 10,000 to whatever is left.
and the TEXT of the Bill
�(A) for the first five fiscal years shall be equal to the
33 number of immigrant visas made available to aliens
34 seeking immigrant visas under section 203(b) of this
35 Act for fiscal year 2005, plus any immigrant visas
36 not required for the class specified in (c), of which:
37 (i) at least 10,000 will be for exceptional aliens
38 in nonimmigrant status under section
39 101(a)(15)(Y); and
40 (ii) 90,000 will be for aliens who were the
41 beneficiaries of an application that was pending
42 or approved at the time of the effective date of
43 this section, per Section 502(d) of the [Insert
44 title of Act] ( Act not the bill)
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.�The amendments made by this section shall take
11 effect on the first day of the fiscal year subsequent to the fiscal year of
12 enactment.
So a bill becomes law only after signed by the president, and the effective date could be Oct 01, 2007 if not Oct 01, 2008.
So all the I-140 filed on of before Effective date are considered as pending!!
I don't know why even lawyers are getting confused here!:confused:
hair Jennifer Lopez,
bmoni
08-21 10:34 PM
Thanks bushman06.
more...
vinabath
03-24 03:10 PM
Thanks for the news vinabath. You know what?
Indian cricket team won the world cup last night. They beat West Indies.
Congratulate Kapil, Srikanth, Ravi shastri, Gavaskar, Mohindar Amarnath and other team members.
Nice one buddy. LOL.
Indian cricket team won the world cup last night. They beat West Indies.
Congratulate Kapil, Srikanth, Ravi shastri, Gavaskar, Mohindar Amarnath and other team members.
Nice one buddy. LOL.
hot Jennifer Lopez#39;s husband
dingudi
12-31 10:01 PM
No FP yet. Called TSC N number of times. Opened SR long ago. Got SR response letter but no FP notice.
I-485: July 2nd TSC
Online ND: Sept 10,2007
I-485: July 2nd TSC
Online ND: Sept 10,2007
more...
house Jennifer – who
looivy
12-22 10:13 PM
I flew to Phoenix and then drove to Nogales. Stayed at Best Western run by Manu Naik (very helpful guy). Took a taxi from hotel to border ($6), crossed the border into Mexico. The guy at Mexico checked my bags for any contraband. Cleared me (Did not ask for Mexico visa). Took another taxi from border to consulate ($8). There is a guy outside the consulate in a trailer who sells food with whom you can leave electronics (cell phone etc) for $3 tip.
At the consulate the lady checked for appointment letter and then okayed it. Went through security and then was given a number after presenting the visa fee receipt, DS-160 confirmation letter and original I-797 H1B approval notice. They finger printed me and then I had my interview. The interviwer was a tough guy. He asked me questions regarding my employment and for the bold items below. Make sure that you go as much prepared as possible (Notarize documents if possible). He complemented me on being well prepared and well documented :). I told him, Anything to make your life easy.
1. Passports (old and new)
2. The original Notice of Action (Form I-797).
3. Employment Contract
4. Labor certification (LCA)
5. The entire approved petition (I-129)
6. Original letters verifying your employment history and specific work skills.
7. Original degree certificates along with mark sheets.
8. Relevant diplomas or certificates, e.g. computer certification.
9. Visa fee receipt Banamex (Manu Naik makes it for you or you can try mexicoassistance dot com or something like that - both do it for a commission)
10. Employment letter from current employer
11. DS-160
12. DS-160 confirmation letter with barcode
13. DS-156 (just in case). They are all shifting to DS-160 slowly. Nogales did not need it but I still took it with me.
14. DS-157 (just in case). They are all shifting to DS-160 slowly. Nogales did not need it but I still took it with me.
15. Payslips
16. All previous I-797s
17. Original AP (For your own backup if applicable)
18. Original EAD (For your own backup if applicable)
19. I-485 Notice of action
20. Appointment confirmation printout
21. Company annual report (if any)
22. Company's tax returns (if applicable)
23. Your personal tax returns for last 5 years. He asked for last three years.
24. Marriage certificate (if applicable)
25. Take your business card, if you have one
26. Driver license
It may not hurt to take your company's documents (tax returns if it is small or annual report if it is a big company) with you.
The guy said that I can pick up visa the same day. If they tell you to pick it up the next day, just go back to border (Mexican side) and there are few hotels where you can stay for the night. Killed my time at local Walmart and ate at Applebees but you can eat at other fast food joints at a nearby mall. Make sure that you take ample $1, $5, $10 and $20 bills.
Nobody speaks frikkin English (unlike Tijuana). I had a tough time communicating when ordering food.
Picked up the visa at 4 PM, took a taxi back to border and showed my new shiny H1B visa to the border agent. I told him that nobody asked me for my I-94 in the morning when I left USA. He took it cool and took the I-94 from me and asked me to staple the I-94 attached to my I-797 to my passport. Drove back to Phoenix.
Hope this was helpful.
Good luck!
At the consulate the lady checked for appointment letter and then okayed it. Went through security and then was given a number after presenting the visa fee receipt, DS-160 confirmation letter and original I-797 H1B approval notice. They finger printed me and then I had my interview. The interviwer was a tough guy. He asked me questions regarding my employment and for the bold items below. Make sure that you go as much prepared as possible (Notarize documents if possible). He complemented me on being well prepared and well documented :). I told him, Anything to make your life easy.
1. Passports (old and new)
2. The original Notice of Action (Form I-797).
3. Employment Contract
4. Labor certification (LCA)
5. The entire approved petition (I-129)
6. Original letters verifying your employment history and specific work skills.
7. Original degree certificates along with mark sheets.
8. Relevant diplomas or certificates, e.g. computer certification.
9. Visa fee receipt Banamex (Manu Naik makes it for you or you can try mexicoassistance dot com or something like that - both do it for a commission)
10. Employment letter from current employer
11. DS-160
12. DS-160 confirmation letter with barcode
13. DS-156 (just in case). They are all shifting to DS-160 slowly. Nogales did not need it but I still took it with me.
14. DS-157 (just in case). They are all shifting to DS-160 slowly. Nogales did not need it but I still took it with me.
15. Payslips
16. All previous I-797s
17. Original AP (For your own backup if applicable)
18. Original EAD (For your own backup if applicable)
19. I-485 Notice of action
20. Appointment confirmation printout
21. Company annual report (if any)
22. Company's tax returns (if applicable)
23. Your personal tax returns for last 5 years. He asked for last three years.
24. Marriage certificate (if applicable)
25. Take your business card, if you have one
26. Driver license
It may not hurt to take your company's documents (tax returns if it is small or annual report if it is a big company) with you.
The guy said that I can pick up visa the same day. If they tell you to pick it up the next day, just go back to border (Mexican side) and there are few hotels where you can stay for the night. Killed my time at local Walmart and ate at Applebees but you can eat at other fast food joints at a nearby mall. Make sure that you take ample $1, $5, $10 and $20 bills.
Nobody speaks frikkin English (unlike Tijuana). I had a tough time communicating when ordering food.
Picked up the visa at 4 PM, took a taxi back to border and showed my new shiny H1B visa to the border agent. I told him that nobody asked me for my I-94 in the morning when I left USA. He took it cool and took the I-94 from me and asked me to staple the I-94 attached to my I-797 to my passport. Drove back to Phoenix.
Hope this was helpful.
Good luck!
tattoo Jennifer Lopez attended
gimme Green!!
08-19 12:43 PM
i dont know what ADIT is.
there was no mention of 'ADIT' or 'Card ordered' in my email.
I got the email that said:
============================
Application Type: I485, APPLICATION TO REGISTER PERMANENT RESIDENCE OR TO ADJUST STATUS
Current Status: Approval notice sent.
We mailed you a notice that we have approved this I485 APPLICATION TO REGISTER PERMANENT RESIDENCE OR TO ADJUST STATUS. Please follow any instructions on the notice. If you move before you receive the notice, call customer service.
=============================
there was no mention of 'ADIT' or 'Card ordered' in my email.
I got the email that said:
============================
Application Type: I485, APPLICATION TO REGISTER PERMANENT RESIDENCE OR TO ADJUST STATUS
Current Status: Approval notice sent.
We mailed you a notice that we have approved this I485 APPLICATION TO REGISTER PERMANENT RESIDENCE OR TO ADJUST STATUS. Please follow any instructions on the notice. If you move before you receive the notice, call customer service.
=============================
more...
pictures Weight loss upsets husband .
cpolisetti
03-31 03:56 PM
She was also available for Q&A earlier today on Washington Post. I am quoting one question and answer in particular. Probably she can help in more visibilty of our voice?
Here is the link for todays Q&A:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2006/03/30/DI2006033001345.html
Question from Washington, D.C.: Thank you for your informative article on a topic that needs more attention.
I'm trying to get an sense of the scope of the problem from the perspective of an H-1B visa holder. Just how long does it typically take professionals from India and China/Taiwan to get a green card through their employer these days? What disinsentives are there for employers, other than the risk that the green card may not be approved and their employee will have to return to their home country?
Answer from S. Mitra Kalita: Absent from much of this debate are the voices of H-1B holders themselves and I thank you for your question. I talked to someone who wouldn't allow himself to be quoted by name (so I did not use him in today's story) but this particular individual's story is one I hear often: He has been here for nine years, first on a student visa, then an H-1B. His employer applied for his green card in 2002 and he has been waiting four years because it is tied up in the backlog for labor certification. He said he is giving it six more months and if it doesn't come through, he's heading back to India. This stage is the one that a lot of observers agree where a worker risks being exploited. They are beholden to the employer because of the green card sponsorship (an H-1B visa can travel with a worker from one company to another, however) and cannot get promoted because that is technically a change in job classification -- and would require a new application. On the other hand, a lot of companies say that they know once someone gets a green card, they are out the door because suddenly they can start a company, go work for someone else, get promoted... Anyway, I could go on and on with background on this but instead I will post a story I did last summer on the green card backlog. Hang on.
Todays article:
Most See Visa Program as Severely Flawed
By S. Mitra Kalita
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, March 31, 2006; D01
Somewhere in the debate over immigration and the future of illegal workers, another, less-publicized fight is being waged over those who toil in air-conditioned offices, earn up to six-figure salaries and spend their days programming and punching code.
They are foreign workers who arrive on H-1B visas, mostly young men from India and China tapped for skilled jobs such as software engineers and systems analysts. Unlike seasonal guest workers who stay for about 10 months, H-1B workers stay as long as six years. By then, they must obtain a green card or go back home.
Yesterday, the House Judiciary Committee heard testimony for and against expanding the H-1B program. This week, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved legislation that would increase the H-1B cap to 115,000 from 65,000 and allow some foreign students to bypass the program altogether and immediately get sponsored for green cards, which allow immigrants to be permanent residents, free to live and work in the United States.
But underlying the arguments is a belief, even among the workers themselves, that the current H-1B program is severely flawed.
Opponents say the highly skilled foreign workers compete with and depress the wages of native-born Americans.
Supporters say foreign workers stimulate the economy, create more opportunities for their U.S. counterparts and prevent jobs from being outsourced overseas. The problem, they say, is the cumbersome process: Immigrants often spend six years as guest workers and then wait for green card sponsorship and approval.
At the House committee hearing yesterday, Stuart Anderson, executive director of the National Foundation for American Policy, a nonprofit research group, spoke in favor of raising the cap. Still, he said in an interview, the H-1B visa is far from ideal. "What you want to have is a system where people can get hired directly on green cards in 30 to 60 days," he said.
Economists seem divided on whether highly skilled immigrants depress wages for U.S. workers. In 2003, a study for the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta found no effect on salaries, with an average income for both H-1B and American computer programmers of $55,000.
Still, the study by Madeline Zavodny, now an economics professor at Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Ga., concluded "that unemployment was higher as a result of these H-1B workers."
In a working paper released this week, Harvard University economist George J. Borjas studied the wages of foreigners and native-born Americans with doctorates, concluding that the foreigners lowered the wages of competing workers by 3 to 4 percent. He said he suspected that his conclusion also measured the effects of H-1B visas.
"If there is a demand for engineers and no foreigners to take those jobs, salaries would shoot through the roof and make that very attractive for Americans," Borjas said.
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers-USA says H-1B salaries are lower. "Those who are here on H-1B visas are being worked as indentured servants. They are being paid $13,000 less in the engineering and science worlds," said Ralph W. Wyndrum Jr., president of the advocacy group for technical professionals, which favors green-card-based immigration, but only for exceptional candidates.
Wyndrum said the current system allows foreign skilled workers to "take jobs away from equally good American engineers and scientists." He based his statements about salary disparities on a December report by John Miano, a software engineer, who favors tighter immigration controls. Miano spoke at the House hearing and cited figures from the Occupational Employment Statistics program that show U.S. computer programmers earn an average $65,000 a year, compared with $52,000 for H-1B programmers.
"Is it really a guest-worker program since most people want to stay here? Miano said in an interview. "There is direct displacement of American workers."
Those who recruit and hire retort that a global economy mandates finding the best employees in the world, not just the United States. And because green-card caps are allocated equally among countries (India and China are backlogged, for example), the H-1B becomes the easiest way to hire foreigners.
It is not always easy. Last year, Razorsight Corp., a technology company with offices in Fairfax and Bangalore, India, tried to sponsor more H-1B visas -- but they already were exhausted for the year. Currently, the company has 12 H-1B workers on a U.S. staff of 100, earning $80,000 to $120,000 a year.
Charlie Thomas, Razorsight's chief executive, said the cap should be based on market demand. "It's absolutely essential for us to have access to a global talent," he said. "If your product isn't the best it can be with the best cost structure and development, then someone else will do it. And that someone else may not be a U.S.-based company."
Because H-1B holders can switch employers to sponsor their visas, some workers said they demand salary increases along the way. But once a company sponsors their green cards, workers say they don't expect to be promoted or given a raise.
Now some H-1B holders are watching to see how Congress treats the millions of immigrants who crossed the borders through stealthier means.
Sameer Chandra, 30, who lives in Fairfax and works as a systems analyst on an H-1B visa, said he is concerned that Congress might make it easier for immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally to get a green card than people like him. "What is the point of staying here legally?" he said.
His Houston-based company has sponsored his green card, and Chandra said he hopes it is processed quickly. If it is not, he said, he will return to India. "There's a lot of opportunities there in my country."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2006/03/30/DI2006033001345.html
Here is the link for todays Q&A:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2006/03/30/DI2006033001345.html
Question from Washington, D.C.: Thank you for your informative article on a topic that needs more attention.
I'm trying to get an sense of the scope of the problem from the perspective of an H-1B visa holder. Just how long does it typically take professionals from India and China/Taiwan to get a green card through their employer these days? What disinsentives are there for employers, other than the risk that the green card may not be approved and their employee will have to return to their home country?
Answer from S. Mitra Kalita: Absent from much of this debate are the voices of H-1B holders themselves and I thank you for your question. I talked to someone who wouldn't allow himself to be quoted by name (so I did not use him in today's story) but this particular individual's story is one I hear often: He has been here for nine years, first on a student visa, then an H-1B. His employer applied for his green card in 2002 and he has been waiting four years because it is tied up in the backlog for labor certification. He said he is giving it six more months and if it doesn't come through, he's heading back to India. This stage is the one that a lot of observers agree where a worker risks being exploited. They are beholden to the employer because of the green card sponsorship (an H-1B visa can travel with a worker from one company to another, however) and cannot get promoted because that is technically a change in job classification -- and would require a new application. On the other hand, a lot of companies say that they know once someone gets a green card, they are out the door because suddenly they can start a company, go work for someone else, get promoted... Anyway, I could go on and on with background on this but instead I will post a story I did last summer on the green card backlog. Hang on.
Todays article:
Most See Visa Program as Severely Flawed
By S. Mitra Kalita
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, March 31, 2006; D01
Somewhere in the debate over immigration and the future of illegal workers, another, less-publicized fight is being waged over those who toil in air-conditioned offices, earn up to six-figure salaries and spend their days programming and punching code.
They are foreign workers who arrive on H-1B visas, mostly young men from India and China tapped for skilled jobs such as software engineers and systems analysts. Unlike seasonal guest workers who stay for about 10 months, H-1B workers stay as long as six years. By then, they must obtain a green card or go back home.
Yesterday, the House Judiciary Committee heard testimony for and against expanding the H-1B program. This week, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved legislation that would increase the H-1B cap to 115,000 from 65,000 and allow some foreign students to bypass the program altogether and immediately get sponsored for green cards, which allow immigrants to be permanent residents, free to live and work in the United States.
But underlying the arguments is a belief, even among the workers themselves, that the current H-1B program is severely flawed.
Opponents say the highly skilled foreign workers compete with and depress the wages of native-born Americans.
Supporters say foreign workers stimulate the economy, create more opportunities for their U.S. counterparts and prevent jobs from being outsourced overseas. The problem, they say, is the cumbersome process: Immigrants often spend six years as guest workers and then wait for green card sponsorship and approval.
At the House committee hearing yesterday, Stuart Anderson, executive director of the National Foundation for American Policy, a nonprofit research group, spoke in favor of raising the cap. Still, he said in an interview, the H-1B visa is far from ideal. "What you want to have is a system where people can get hired directly on green cards in 30 to 60 days," he said.
Economists seem divided on whether highly skilled immigrants depress wages for U.S. workers. In 2003, a study for the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta found no effect on salaries, with an average income for both H-1B and American computer programmers of $55,000.
Still, the study by Madeline Zavodny, now an economics professor at Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Ga., concluded "that unemployment was higher as a result of these H-1B workers."
In a working paper released this week, Harvard University economist George J. Borjas studied the wages of foreigners and native-born Americans with doctorates, concluding that the foreigners lowered the wages of competing workers by 3 to 4 percent. He said he suspected that his conclusion also measured the effects of H-1B visas.
"If there is a demand for engineers and no foreigners to take those jobs, salaries would shoot through the roof and make that very attractive for Americans," Borjas said.
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers-USA says H-1B salaries are lower. "Those who are here on H-1B visas are being worked as indentured servants. They are being paid $13,000 less in the engineering and science worlds," said Ralph W. Wyndrum Jr., president of the advocacy group for technical professionals, which favors green-card-based immigration, but only for exceptional candidates.
Wyndrum said the current system allows foreign skilled workers to "take jobs away from equally good American engineers and scientists." He based his statements about salary disparities on a December report by John Miano, a software engineer, who favors tighter immigration controls. Miano spoke at the House hearing and cited figures from the Occupational Employment Statistics program that show U.S. computer programmers earn an average $65,000 a year, compared with $52,000 for H-1B programmers.
"Is it really a guest-worker program since most people want to stay here? Miano said in an interview. "There is direct displacement of American workers."
Those who recruit and hire retort that a global economy mandates finding the best employees in the world, not just the United States. And because green-card caps are allocated equally among countries (India and China are backlogged, for example), the H-1B becomes the easiest way to hire foreigners.
It is not always easy. Last year, Razorsight Corp., a technology company with offices in Fairfax and Bangalore, India, tried to sponsor more H-1B visas -- but they already were exhausted for the year. Currently, the company has 12 H-1B workers on a U.S. staff of 100, earning $80,000 to $120,000 a year.
Charlie Thomas, Razorsight's chief executive, said the cap should be based on market demand. "It's absolutely essential for us to have access to a global talent," he said. "If your product isn't the best it can be with the best cost structure and development, then someone else will do it. And that someone else may not be a U.S.-based company."
Because H-1B holders can switch employers to sponsor their visas, some workers said they demand salary increases along the way. But once a company sponsors their green cards, workers say they don't expect to be promoted or given a raise.
Now some H-1B holders are watching to see how Congress treats the millions of immigrants who crossed the borders through stealthier means.
Sameer Chandra, 30, who lives in Fairfax and works as a systems analyst on an H-1B visa, said he is concerned that Congress might make it easier for immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally to get a green card than people like him. "What is the point of staying here legally?" he said.
His Houston-based company has sponsored his green card, and Chandra said he hopes it is processed quickly. If it is not, he said, he will return to India. "There's a lot of opportunities there in my country."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2006/03/30/DI2006033001345.html
dresses According to dlisted, Jennifer
jnraajan
03-28 12:03 PM
When you search by Nationality, it doesnt return any results.
Once you search by Category (EB), it returns results, but then when you try to sort by a column heard, it loses this restriction.
Also, the sorting doesnt seem to work.
Once you search by Category (EB), it returns results, but then when you try to sort by a column heard, it loses this restriction.
Also, the sorting doesnt seem to work.
more...
makeup Jennifer Lopez#39;s New House
mohitb272
12-11 03:11 PM
one way i am thinking of doing is asking for a EVL from the new company with the same kind of job description. 10 years ago, all these laws (to be in the same job description was having some meaning , people used to get GCs in less than a year), but these days it takes anywhere between 5-7 years, and how can uscis expect someone to be in the same description working for 7 years. it just doesnt make sense when you want to be competitive in the market.
Cannot agree with you more! USCIS - is any one listening???
Cannot agree with you more! USCIS - is any one listening???
girlfriend actress Jennifer Lopez,
amitga
08-01 11:46 AM
YouTube - Piya Tu Ab To Aaja (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bua_QY1awj8)
hairstyles jennifer-lopez-gi.jpg
katakamk
07-11 03:00 PM
Yes, USCIS can raise RFE ability to pay even in I-485 stage.
rsdang
11-20 10:53 AM
http://cli.gs/De4Z4u
BTW, what's scary about this memo..
Infact, I find it encouraging, that TSC is trying to facilitate the process one way or other, given their system deficiency.
Are we missing something?
I wish Nebraska did this too and for all forms not just I-140...
BTW, what's scary about this memo..
Infact, I find it encouraging, that TSC is trying to facilitate the process one way or other, given their system deficiency.
Are we missing something?
I wish Nebraska did this too and for all forms not just I-140...
serg
10-30 08:53 PM
My lawyer confirmed that we can apply for renewal 6 months prior to expiration date.
Lawyer? So, You don't believe what was posted on USIS website?
Lawyer? So, You don't believe what was posted on USIS website?
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