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Free Subscription to SHUSTERMAN'S IMMIGRATION UPDATE
Back Issues of SHUSTERMAN'S IMMIGRATION UPDATE
Volume Eleven, Number One
SHUSTERMAN'S IMMIGRATION UPDATE is the most popular e-mail newsletter regarding U.S. immigration laws and procedures with over 43,000 subscribers located in more than 120 countries.
Published by the Law Offices of Carl Shusterman, 600 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 1550, Los Angeles, California, 90017. Phone: (213) 623-4592 X0
To subscribe, type in your name and e-mail address at http://shusterman.com/subscribe.html#subscribe and click on "Subscribe".
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Disclaimer: This newsletter is not intended to establish an attorney- client relationship. All information contained in this newsletter is generalized. Any reliance on information contained herein is taken at your own risk.
Comprehensive immigration reform proposals by Senators McCain and Kennedy, Cornyn and Kyl, Hagel and Specter will be considered by the Senate in February.
Each proposal contains a combination of the following elements: (1) a guest worker program; (2) stricter immigration enforcement; and (3) an expansion of the employment-based immigration system.
The guest worker program is, by far, the most controversial part of the package. To President Bush and its Congressional proponents, a guest worker proposal is simply a way of creating a procedure to allow U.S. companies to continue to employ millions of foreign-born workers to fill jobs which American choose not to perform.
Opponents of a guest worker program maintain that if employers simply raise their wages, American workers will do any job. Call me a "doubter". Our unemployment rate has been hovering around 5% for over a year. Yet, the Wall Street Journal recently ran an article about lettuce growers who, unable to harvest their crops, raised their rates to over $10 per hour. A few Americans applied, but none lasted more than a few hours. How many of the unemployed are willing and able to perform stoop labor in rural valleys?
The opponents of a guest worker program refuse to vote for any program which looks like an "amnesty". Chairman James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) of the Subcommittee on Immigration in the House of Representatives puts it simply: "A guest-worker program that applies to illegal aliens already here is an amnesty." Representative Sensenbrenner and over one hundred Republican Congressman in the House of Representatives are against any "amnesty". Since Chairman Sensenbrenner will be the chief House negotiator in any Senate-House Conference Committee on an immigration reform bill, this spells trouble for any guest worker program.
If the guest worker program does not include the 10 million plus illegal workers who are presently in the U.S., there is not the slightest possibility of either regularizing their immigration status or of deporting them. That is simply a fact, and building a huge fence on Mexico's border (no one ever suggests doing so along the Canadian border) with the U.S. will simply discourage illegal workers in the U.S. from returning home to visit their families. Also, it does nothing to stem the influx of illegal workers who enter the U.S. with visas and then overstay. Those in Congress who think that by criminalizing these people the problem is solved are kidding themselves and their constituents.
The real solution is to look reality square in the face, and fashion a solution which will penalize illegal workers, but, at the same time, allow them to participate in a guest worker program that will eventually result in them becoming permanent residents of the U.S. Unless there is a light at the end of the tunnel for them, what is the incentive for them to come out of the shadows and register for the program? The McCain-Kennedy bill contains such a program.
At least one ex-INS prosecutor (The one who writes this newsletter) knows that the government cannot solve the illegal alien problem by wishing it away, or by an enforcement-only approach. Ten years after President Clinton enacted a "get tough" at the border policy, the number of illegal workers in the U.S. has more than doubled. Congress must realize that, in the post-9/11, world, the United States simply cannot afford to have 10 million persons in the U.S. who are unknown to the government. Every citizen should write to his Member of Congress and tell them that he/she wants these people identified, fingerprinted, registered with the government, paying taxes and learning English.
Whether or not the Congress enacts a guest worker program, the United States has another immigration problem that needs to be solved, and solved now. Our country is educating less scientists, engineers, doctors and nurses than we did when I graduated from law school in 1973. In the meantime, countries in Asia are graduating far more of these professional workers than does the U.S. Fortunately, many of these professional workers have been supplementing the U.S. workforce for the past 30 years. Unfortunately, during the past year, huge backlogs in our immigration system have developed, and many of the best and brightest of these professionals are choosing to stay at home. This does not bode well for our security and our industries.
Our country is losing its manufacturing base. For example, the U.S. automobile industry is firing tens of thousands of U.S. workers and G.M. and Ford are edging ever-closer to bankruptcy. Why? Because the American public is choosing to buy automobiles produced by Japanese and German companies.
Fortunately, thanks to the immigration of tens of thousands of Indian and Chinese engineers to the U.S., the top software, chip makers and biotech companies are still located in the U.S. But with our outdated immigration laws making it increasingly difficult for U.S. employers to hire talented foreign- born scientists and engineers, how long can America maintain its dominance in these industries? U.S. employers can vote with their feet the same as U.S. consumers. Make it impossible to bring a sufficient number of foreign-born engineers to the U.S., and Microsoft and Intel and other top U.S. companies will simply locate their new plants and hire their new engineers not in the U.S., but in India and China.
Most of the bills pending before Congress would increase employment-based immigration to 290,000 annually. This would help insure that our country maintains its number one position in science and technology.
We have posted a side-by-side comparison of these bills on our web site on our "Immigration Legislation" page at
The Immigration Service (CIS) lists its processing times for immigration petitions and applications on their web site.
Most immigration applications and petitions must be submitted to one of the following USCIS Service Centers: (1) Laguna Niguel, California; (2) Lincoln, Nebraska; (3) Mesquite, Texas; and (4) St. Albans, Vermont and (5) the National Benefits Center in Missouri.
These service centers periodically issue lists of their processing times for various types of petitions and applications. We link to the latest list issued by each service center.
Warning: Processing times may appear faster on the official lists than they are in reality.
To see how fast (or slow) your service center is processing a particular type of petition or application, see our Government Processing Times Page at
The AAO's most recent published processing times (August 25, 2005) may be found at
To check the Official Processing Times of your Department of Labor Regional Office and your State Workforce Agency (SWA), see
The State Department web site contains a "Visa Wait List" page which permits readers to choose a particular U.S. consular post and learn how long it takes the post to process temporary, nonimmigrant visas. See
Initially, these denials fell into two categories: Those based on Attorney, Agent or Employer error, and those arising from DOL computer programming glitches-denials automatically issued as a result of certain response combinations on Form ETA-9089.
Specifically, the DOL programming denials occurred when:
The Department of Labor has recognized these programming errors and made every effort to fix them. (However, we very recently received a denial stating that the individual was not qualified for a position requiring a Bachelor's degree plus one year of experience when, in fact, the applicant held a Master's degree and two years of relevant experience.)
A sampling of the types of denials deemed to be Attorney, Agent and Employer error are listed below:
So in the event of a denial, what do you do? Our suggestion is to search for the underlying reason for the denial. If it is clearly a computer error, we recommend immediate refiling, as requests for review can take months and months. This approach avoids keeping clients on hold, and waiting for reviews of denials based on trivial matters. In the case of a denial, be sure as well that your advertising has not gone stale, which would lead to additional costs and extended waiting periods. We therefore strongly suggest filing immediately after the mandatory 30-day lag time following a client's initial 30- to 60-day recruitment period.
For more information regarding PERM, see our "Department of Labor: Immigration Resources" page at
Our client, Mr. K, a green card holder and citizen of Iran, found himself in this very situation. In early July 2004, Mr. K had his citizenship interview, where he was informed that after undergoing a routine FBI background check, he would receive final decision on his case and be scheduled for his oath ceremony.
One hundred twenty days came and went without a response from the Immigration Service. Despite repeated inquiries, we were told that the background checks had not yet been completed. Frustrated with the wait, we filed a Petition for Hearing on Naturalization Application on behalf of our client with the Federal District Court.
The CIS immediately ruled on Mr. K's citizenship application, but not the way we expected. The Service not only denied Mr. K's application, they alleged he was deportable from the United States due to a prior criminal conviction, and placed him in removal proceedings.
Mr. K had been arrested back in 1999 and pled guilty to a felony charge. He received five years probation, with a fine and community service. Though not an aggravated felony, this conviction formed the basis for the Immigration Service's decision that he was ineligible for citizenship or even for permanent residence in the United States.
When we appeared before the Immigration Judge, we pointed out that the Immigration Service had demonstrated a serious misunderstanding of the law. Mr. K obtained permanent residency in 1986, a full 13 years prior to his 1999 conviction. The law states, however, that a permanent resident of five years or more in the U.S. can not have his residency revoked due to one conviction of a crime of moral turpitude, provided the crime does not constitute an aggravated felony.
The government attorney agreed, and the Immigration Judge ruled in favor of Mr. K.
As for our client's citizenship application, case law in the 9th Circuit provides that once a complaint is filed in Federal Court, the CIS loses jurisdiction over the application. We made the U.S. Attorney's Office aware of this. They then agreed to stipulate that his case be remanded to the CIS and decided within strict time limits.
Bottom line: Mr. K was sworn in as a U.S. citizen in January 2006.
On a side note, Mr. S, a citizen of India, applied for naturalization and received his interview. After waiting patiently for nearly two years to be sworn-in, Mr. S hired our law firm to file a Petition for Hearing on Naturalization application in Federal District Court. The litigation prompted the Immigration Service and the FBI to complete processing of his application. Both Mr. S and Mr. K were sworn in as citizens on the very same day!
The morale of the story: Why wait when you can litigate?
We link to the AILF Practice Advisory regarding circumventing naturalization delays from our "Deportation" page at
For technical PERM questions, use plc.help@dol.gov
National Processing Centers
Chicago
PLC.Chicago@dol.gov
312-886-8700
Atlanta
PLC.Atlanta@dol.gov
404-893-0101
Backlog Elimination Centers
Philadelphia
info@phi.dflc.us
484-270-1500
Dallas
info@dal.dflc.us
214-237-9111
For proof of pending Application for Labor Certification on H-1B extensions beyond 6 years only:
Update from the Backlog Elimination Centers:
In January, the remaining DOL Regional Offices were closed and the pending applications for Labor Certification were sent to Backlog Elimination Centers in Philadelphia and Dallas.
DOL expects to complete any required data entry on the new cases from the regional offices within a few weeks.
The target for full data entry and to have 45 day letters sent out on all cases is still June 2006. However, DOL hopes to finish even earlier.
For more information, see our "Department of Labor Immigration Resources" page at
My wife and I booked flights and made hotel reservations for November, one of the coolest months. I read "Freedom at Midnight," a book about the departure of the British from India and, on September 10th, my wife and I rented and watched the movie "Gandhi," which we had seen and enjoyed several years before. The next morning the world changed in an ugly and violent way, and we cancelled our vacation to India.
That was in 2001.
A few years later, my son married a lovely and intelligent young woman whose parents had immigrated to the U.S. from India many years before. In late 2005, my wife and I decided to join my daughter-in-law's family for our long-delayed vacation to India. In addition, we planned to take a week to ourselves to take a luxury train ride through Rajasthan.
We flew to San Francisco where we received visitor's visas valid for ten years. We read CDC reports, got multiple injections against a variety of diseases and purchased a plethora of pills just in case.
MIDNIGHT IN MUMBAI
Our flight lasted all through Christmas Day. I watched an Indian-made love story. Little did I know that the male lead in the film, Shah Rukh Khan, was the Tom Cruise of India. I saw his face on numerous billboards and newspaper articles throughout our stay.
We landed in Mumbai (formerly Bombay) where a driver met us at the airport and navigated through traffic that made the 405 freeway in Los Angeles seem like a drag strip in comparison.
Car, buses, motorcycles, bicycles and even animals and intrepid pedestrians jostled for position at every light. Unless jet lag was causing me to hallucinate, I could swear that the vehicles were "talking" to each other. Beep, beep, I'm passing you on the right. Beep, beep, I'm squeezing in with less than six inches to spare between you and the bus on your left. Where were the lanes? Where were the police? In Mumbai, I was told, all you needed to drive were "good brakes, a good horn and good luck."
On our way to the hotel, we passed families living in hovels just inches from the highway. We also passed thousands upon thousands of men asleep on the sidewalks. I later read that the homeless population of Mumbai numbers over 2 million, and that the total population is over 26 million and climbing rapidly. Mumbai is well on its way to becoming the largest city in the world. Los Angeles is tiny in comparison.
Finally (and fortunately) we arrived at our hotel located near the "Gate of India," which was built early in the 20th Century for a visit by the Prince of Wales, and which was where the British left India when the country became independent in 1947.
At our hotel we were met by a huge man wearing a fabulous red outfit, a black turban and neatly-cropped whiskers. In my half-slumbering state, I imagined that I was in the presence of royalty. In fact, almost every upscale hotel in Mumbai has a similar looking man to control traffic in front of the hotel.
My wife and I registered, took the elevator to a high floor, opened the door to our room, headed for the bed and sank into a well-deserved sleep...
See a photograph of me and my fellow travelers at the Taj Mahal (near the end of my Indian adventure) at
10:15 - 11:30am White Memorial Medical Center
Southern California Association of Health Care Recruiters
Topic: "Update on Rules for Immigrating Foreign-Born RNs and PTs"
7:00 - 8:00am Pennsylvania Convention Center
Location: 113 C American College of Physicians
Topic: "Visa and Immigration Issues for IMGs"
For more information, see http://www.acponline.org/cme/as/2006/?hp
10:00am - Noon, CDT
Texas Hospital Association
Topic: Immigration and Health Care Staffing
We will link to more information about these important teleconferences in our March 2006 newsletter.
10:00 - 11:00am
Pacific Coast Association of Health Care Recruiters
Topic: "Immigration of Nurses and Allied Health Care Professionals"
6:30 - 8:30pm Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center
American Immigration Lawyers Association
Topic: "Doctors and Healthcare Workers"
For more information, see http://shusterman.com/pdf/aila2006.pdf
Links to the transcripts of all of our chats are posted online on our "Chat" page at
We link to selected audio programs regarding immigration produced by National Public Radio at
Dear Peter,"A decent Star Wars fan"? - Leo, you should be on Jeopardy!The individuals are Chewbacca and Peter Mayhew from left to right. Chewbacca is the character played by Peter Mayhew in the Star Wars series (Episodes III, IV, V, and VI). The fictional character Chewbacca is a Wookie and from the planet of Kashyyk. In the story, Chewbacca was a very loyal citizen of his planet. He was taken captive by the Empire governed by the evil emperor Papaltine otherwise known as Darth Sideous. Han Solo freed him and Chewbacca swore his loyalty to Han. They became a well known duo, later helping Luke Skywalker in his quest to rid the universe of the Empire's dominion.
Peter Mayhew, the tall actor who plays Chewbacca, was born on May 19, 1944 in Barnes, London, England. He began acting after he was cast in a role playing a minotaur after auditioning for the role when it required someone with "large feet". George Lucas searched for a tall person to play Chewbacca, and Peter fit the role. Peter now lives in Granbury, Texas and owns his own business. He took the oath to become a naturalized citizen of the Untied States on October 17, 2005 at a ceremony in Arlington, Texas.
I am an immigrant from Buenos Aires, Argentina. I currently live in Chino, California. I recently graduated from Cal Poly Pomona with a Bachelors in Graphic Design and am working as a freelance Graphic Designer. I love mountaineering, rock climbing, backpacking, and practically anything that deals with the outdoors. I have been a Shusterman newsletter subscriber for about two years and use the website to get information on the Dream Act and any other immigration updates as I am not a naturalized citizen. I am a decent Star Wars fan and had most of the knowledge about the Trivia Quiz already in my own noggin. I also went to the Star Wars website just to get a bit more information on Peter.
Leo
Carl Shusterman
Certified Specialist in Immigration Law, State Bar of California
Former U.S. Immigration & Naturalization Service Trial Attorney (1976-82)
Board of Governors, American Immigration Lawyers Association (1988-97)
Phone: (213) 623-4592 Fax: (213) 623-3720
Law Offices of Carl Shusterman, 600 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1550
Los Angeles, California 90017
"It never ceases to surprise me that, in a world of 6.5 billion people, 98 percent are 'stayers,' living in the country of their birth; that the remaining two percent, international migrants of a bewildering variety of origins, migration motives, and modes of adaptation to their new environments, are at heart ambitious, determined, and intrepid souls, which is what makes migration the 'selective' process that it is; and that, all things considered, so little focused attention is paid to either of those two facts."
February 1, 2006
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