E-Verify Reaches 50 States, Additional U.S. Territiories

Posted February 20, 2012

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that Self Check, a free online service of E-Verify that allows workers to check their own employment eligibility status, is now available in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands.  Launched in March 2011 by Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas, the announcement delivers on the goal of expanding Self Check nationally within one year.

“We are pleased to complete, ahead of schedule, our expansion of this important tool for employees,” said USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas during a press conference at the agency’s field office in Orlando, Fla. “Since our initial launch in March, approximately 67,000 people have used Self Check and we anticipate that participation will dramatically increase with service now available to individuals across the country.”

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CRITICAL CHANGE TO WAIVERS OF INADMISSIBILITY PUBLISHED IN FEDERAL REGISTER

Posted January 7, 2012

Major changes are pending to the method in which waivers of inadmissibility based on extreme hardship to a U.S. citizen are processed (I-601 applications under INA §212(a)(9)(B)), announced January 6, 2012 by the Department of Homeland Security.  If you have been unlawfully present in the United States for a period greater than six months, and are thus subject to the three or ten-year bar to admission if you leave the country, and you have a spouse or child that is a U.S. citizen, this directly impacts you.

The new rule significantly changes the government’s method of processing and approving I-601 waiver applications, allowing the Department of Homeland Security in the United States to accept and issue provisional approval of I-601 waivers on grounds of unlawful presence while the applicant remains in the United States.  Upon provisional approval by DHS, the applicant could then apply for the immigrant visa at a U.S. consulate abroad without an eternal wait for the waiver.

To be sure, the ‘provisional’ qualifier likely adds an extra layer of review at the U.S. consulate to ensure all immigrant visa qualifications are met (including, importantly, the primary requirement that the U.S. citizen relative would suffer ‘extreme hardship’ due to separation), but the difference in waiting time would likely be weeks compared to years.  Current practice is for the applicant for an I-601 waiver of inadmissibility, if otherwise qualified for permanent residence through a qualifying immediate family relationship, to leave the United States for often two years or more to wait for processing of the waiver by USCIS, and then further review and delay at the U.S. consulate in their home country.

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Immigrant Entrepreneurs Account for Nearly Half of Top U.S. Venture-Backed Companies

Posted December 21, 2011

A study recently published by the National Foundation for American Policy highlights the pressing need for reform in investment and entrepreneur visa categories.  Immigrants have started nearly half of the country’s top 50 venture funded companies, and are a pervasive presence in key management and product development positions.  The companies analyzed are all privately held and have received venture capital financing in the past three years, key indicators for future success.  According to the study, of the top 50 companies, 23 had at least one immigrant founder, and 37 employed at least one immigrant in a key management or product development role.  Not surprisingly, the country providing the most entrepreneurs for such high-potential companies is India, followed by Israel, Canada, Iran and New Zealand.

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USCIS Rolls Out Beta Version of New Online System ELIS

Posted December 7, 2011

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has offered an online preview of their new ‘transformational’ interactive system for immigrants and representatives, dubbed ELIS, or the USCIS Electronic Immigration System.  The system is designed to streamline the application process for immigration benefits by increasing security, accuracy and consistency in adjudications within a contained electronic universe accessible through the internet.  You can take a video tour of a prototype of the new system here.

When made publicly available, ELIS will initially only support applications to extend, change or reinstate nonimmigrant status (I-539) for certain applicants.  For such applicants, the system will allow you to create an individual account online, securely manage your interactions with USCIS and obtain detailed case status and assistance related to your application.  Over time, as ELIS is tested and proves reliable, other nonimmigrant and immigrant application benefit processes will be incorporated into the system and become available online.

While ELIS should improve elements of the application process for limited benefit categories, the system should not be seen as a substitute for an informed decision-making process regarding your short and long term immigration goals.  The federal government has a vested interest in reducing their own costs and providing a more secure, accurate and speedy service to U.S. immigrants and nonimmigrants. ELIS will represent a welcome modernization of the world’s largest administrative immigration system.  Individual users of ELIS should be advised, however, that rules and regulations which govern your eligibility and qualification for immigration benefits have not changed.  This is an interactive process transformation only.  ELIS will not make obtaining benefits more likely; just more quickly, and perhaps easier, for straightforward cases.

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