The Visa Bulletin

The last attempt to post ended up unreadable. Hopefully, this will be better:

July 2009 Visa Bulletin - http://TheVisaBulletin.com

The DREAM Act is The “Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act.” This Act was proposed before, but never passed. In fact, in 2007, a filibuster in the Senate held back the Act from going through. However, on March 26th, 2009, it was proposed once again.

The DREAM Act is for certain immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally while they were children, but graduated high school, lived in the US for 5 continuous years, and are of good moral character. The Act sets out to provide these immigrants with an opportunity for temporary residency, which would later qualify them for permanent residency. Specifically, the Act requires that the immigrant spend 2 years in military service, complete 2 years of college, or have 2 years of credit in a 4-year college program, all within a 6-year period of time.

Conservatives refer to the Act as another avenue for “amnesty” while Liberals claim that the U.S. should welcome all immigrants, especially those who have adapted to American life. But a real analysis of the advantages and disadvantages might provide some insight as to why this Act keeps getting stalled.

Advantages:

- By forcing these immigrants back to their home countries, the U.S. could experience a “brain drain.” In effect, the U.S. would educate several immigrants and then force them out of the country. It would be more prudent to utilize the talent the U.S. educates.

- Extending good will to a populace brings positive returns and vice versa. In other words, the DREAM Act seeks to solve the problem of several illegal immigrants being in the U.S. because their parents made certain choices when the immigrant child herself was too young. Now, the immigrant child has grown up in American culture, getting an American education, learning an American language. But when the effectively American person applies for a job, she is ineligible for employment. This could embitter a population. Instead, the U.S. may find it more advantageous to extend good will in exchange for loyalty and nationalism.

- It encourages immigrants to acquire higher education.

Disadvantages:

- There is some component of truth to what the Conservatives argue in that those immigrants who would qualify would be getting somewhat of a “free ride.” Granted, many of them might’ve gone through quite a bit in the hope of becoming legal before the DREAM Act passed (if such were the case), but in effect, they would have been able to get away with illegal immigration.

- It may encourage future illegal immigrants who hope that eventually lawmakers will pass another law of the same sort in the future.

So, what are your thoughts — in favor of the DREAM Act, or opposed? Why? Post your thoughts below! And don’t forget to keep posting on April 2009 Visa Bulletin as well!

Greetings All!

I am writing this post today to inform each of you that TheVisaBulletin.com was recently acquired from its previous developer and is now under new management. My name is Arshil Kabani, and I am the new owner and blog post writer for TheVisaBulletin.com. My team and I look forward to interacting with all of you and providing valuable content for all my new readers.

Additionally, over the coming weeks, you are all in for some exciting new modifications that will take place on the site. The goals for our new undertaking include 1) adding fresh, current, and frequently updated content to the site, and 2) a complete overhaul of the website design (as you can already see). In order to provide you all with an easy and pleasant user experience, the best website designers have been hired to redesign the site. In the weeks to come, they will be working hard to improve TheVisaBulletin.com.

Also, starting soon, visitors to TheVisaBulletin.com can expect more than just the monthly U.S. Visa Bulletin. TheVisaBulletin.com will be your new resource for fresh, current, and updated content concerning immigration news, laws, policies, etc.

Thank you to all readers for your continued support. Please keep up the fantastic commitment each of you have made to educating yourselves and communicating with other like-minded individuals.

Please feel free to provide any feedback or ideas that you may have regarding the upcoming modifications to TheVisaBulletin.com. You can comment on the site, or email the website Administrator at: Admin@TheVisaBulletin.com.

The Visa Bulletin for April 2009 was posted by the State Department earlier today. Screenshots posted below.

Family Preference Categories

Employment Preference Categories

D. EXPIRATION OF TWO EMPLOYMENT VISA CATEGORIES

Employment Fourth Preference Certain Religious Workers:

Pursuant to Section 2(a) of the Special Immigrant Nonminister Religious Worker Program Act (Pub. L. 110-391), the nonminister special immigrant program expires on March 6, 2009.

Employment Fifth Preference Pilot Program Categories (I5, R5):

Pursuant to Section 144 of the Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2009 (Public Law 110-329), the immigrant investor pilot program expires on March 6, 2009.

The cut-off dates for the above categories are shown as “Unavailable” for April. Congress is considering an extension for each of these categories, but there is no certainty when such legislative action may occur. If legislation to extend either of these categories is enacted, the cut-off date for that category would immediately become “Current.”

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Please feel free to post your comments concerning the April 2009 Visa Bulletin below:

From USCIS.gov.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) advises customers that, due to a tremendous increase in the number of applications filed, processing of fee payments and entry of cases into our tracking system is behind schedule. As a result, applicants can expect notices of receipt to be delayed. USCIS is working hard to deal with the increased volume and has published the following frequently asked questions in order to provide additional information to applicants.

What is the cause of the receipt delay?

The receipt delay was caused by a significant workload increase, in part based upon filings by individuals attempting to beat a planned fee increase and a significant influx of applications associated with visa availablility [sic] in the Department of State’s July 2007 Visa bulletin. This resulted in an influx of applications and fees that exceeded USCIS’ capacity to timely issue receipts and deposit application fees.

Read more…

Before a labor certification can be approved by the Department of Labor (DOL), the Employer must show that they have made a good-faith effort to recruit qualified U.S. workers.

The Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals (BALCA) reversed a labor certification denial, in a decision released January 19, 2007, finding that the Employer made a good-faith recruitment effort for a Cook position. Outback Steakhouse, 2005-INA-00096. 

Read more…