waitingnwaiting
05-31 08:23 AM
Mr. SENSENBRENNER (for himself and Mr. POLIS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To provide relief for the shortage of nurses in the United States, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘Emergency Nursing Supply Relief Act’.
SEC. 2. NURSING SHORTAGE RELIEF.
(a) Increasing Visa Numbers- Section 106 of the American Competitiveness in the Twenty-first Century Act of 2000 (Public Law 106-313; 8 U.S.C. 1153 note) is amended by adding at the end the following:
‘(e) Visa Shortage Relief for Nurses-
‘(1) IN GENERAL- Subject to paragraph (2), for petitions filed any time prior to September 30, 2014, for employment-based immigrants (and their family members accompanying or following to join under section 203(d) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(d))), which are or have been approved based on Schedule A, Group I as defined in section 656.5 of title 20, Code of Federal Regulations, as promulgated by the Secretary of Labor, the numerical limitations set forth in sections 201(d) and 202(a) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1151(d) and 1152(a)) shall not apply.
‘(2) LIMITATION ON NUMBER OF VISAS- The Secretary of State may not issue more than 20,000 immigrant visa numbers in any one fiscal year (plus any available visa numbers under this paragraph not used during the preceding fiscal year) to principal beneficiaries of petitions pursuant to paragraph (1).
‘(3) EXPEDITED REVIEW- The Secretary of Homeland Security shall provide a process for reviewing and acting upon petitions with respect to immigrants described in paragraph (1) not later than 30 days after the date on which a completed petition has been filed.
‘(f) Fee for Use of Visas Under Subsection (a)-
‘(1) IN GENERAL- The Secretary of Homeland Security shall impose a fee upon each petitioning employer who uses a visa provided under subsection (e) to provide employment for an alien as a professional nurse, except that--
‘(A) such fee shall be in the amount of $1,500 for each such alien nurse (but not for dependents accompanying or following to join who are not professional nurses); and
‘(B) no fee shall be imposed for the use of such visas if the employer demonstrates to the Secretary that--
‘(i) the employer is a health care facility that is located in a county or parish that received individual and public assistance pursuant to Major Disaster Declaration number 1603 or 1607; or
‘(ii) the employer is a health care facility that has been designated as a Health Professional Shortage Area facility by the Secretary of Health and Human Services as defined in section 332 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254e).
‘(2) FEE COLLECTION- A fee imposed by the Secretary of Homeland Security pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be collected by the Secretary as a condition of approval of an application for adjustment of status by the beneficiary of a petition or by the Secretary of State as a condition of issuance of a visa to such beneficiary.’.
(b) Capitation Grants To Increase the Number of Nursing Faculty and Students; Domestic Nursing Enhancement Account- Part D of title VIII of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 296p et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
‘SEC. 832. CAPITATION GRANTS.
‘(a) In General- For the purpose described in subsection (b), the Secretary, acting through the Health Resources and Services Administration, shall award a grant each fiscal year in an amount determined in accordance with subsection (c) to each eligible school of nursing that submits an application in accordance with this section.
‘(b) Purpose- A funding agreement for a grant under this section is that the eligible school of nursing involved will expend the grant to increase the number of nursing faculty and students at the school, including by hiring new faculty, retaining current faculty, purchasing educational equipment and audiovisual laboratories, enhancing clinical laboratories, repairing and expanding infrastructure, or recruiting students.
‘(c) Grant Computation-
‘(1) AMOUNT PER STUDENT- Subject to paragraph (2), the amount of a grant to an eligible school of nursing under this section for a fiscal year shall be the total of the following:
‘(A) $1,800 for each full-time or part-time student who is enrolled at the school in a graduate program in nursing that--
‘(i) leads to a master’s degree, a doctoral degree, or an equivalent degree; and
‘(ii) prepares individuals to serve as faculty through additional course work in education and ensuring competency in an advanced practice area.
‘(B) $1,405 for each full-time or part-time student who--
‘(i) is enrolled at the school in a program in nursing leading to a bachelor of science degree, a bachelor of nursing degree, a graduate degree in nursing if such program does not meet the requirements of subparagraph (A), or an equivalent degree; and
‘(ii) has not more than 3 years of academic credits remaining in the program.
‘(C) $966 for each full-time or part-time student who is enrolled at the school in a program in nursing leading to an associate degree in nursing or an equivalent degree.
‘(2) LIMITATION- In calculating the amount of a grant to a school under paragraph (1), the Secretary may not make a payment with respect to a particular student--
‘(A) for more than 2 fiscal years in the case of a student described in paragraph (1)(A) who is enrolled in a graduate program in nursing leading to a master’s degree or an equivalent degree;
‘(B) for more than 4 fiscal years in the case of a student described in paragraph (1)(A) who is enrolled in a graduate program in nursing leading to a doctoral degree or an equivalent degree;
‘(C) for more than 3 fiscal years in the case of a student described in paragraph (1)(B); or
‘(D) for more than 2 fiscal years in the case of a student described in paragraph (1)(C).
‘(d) Eligibility- In this section, the term ‘eligible school of nursing’ means a school of nursing that--
‘(1) is accredited by a nursing accrediting agency recognized by the Secretary of Education;
‘(2) has a passage rate on the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses of not less than 80 percent for each of the 3 academic years preceding submission of the grant application; and
‘(3) has a graduation rate (based on the number of students in a class who graduate relative to, for a baccalaureate program, the number of students who were enrolled in the class at the beginning of junior year or, for an associate degree program, the number of students who were enrolled in the class at the end of the first year) of not less than 80 percent for each of the 3 academic years preceding submission of the grant application.
‘(e) Requirements- The Secretary may award a grant under this section to an eligible school of nursing only if the school gives assurances satisfactory to the Secretary that, for each academic year for which the grant is awarded, the school will comply with the following:
‘(1) The school will maintain a passage rate on the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses of not less than 80 percent.
‘(2) The school will maintain a graduation rate (as described in subsection (d)(3)) of not less than 80 percent.
‘(3)(A) Subject to subparagraphs (B) and (C), the first-year enrollment of full-time nursing students in the school will exceed such enrollment for the preceding academic year by 5 percent or 5 students, whichever is greater.
‘(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to the first academic year for which a school receives a grant under this section.
‘(C) With respect to any academic year, the Secretary may waive application of subparagraph (A) if--
‘(i) the physical facilities at the school involved limit the school from enrolling additional students; or
‘(ii) the school has increased enrollment in the school (as described in subparagraph (A)) for each of the 2 preceding academic years.
‘(4) Not later than 1 year after receiving a grant under this section, the school will formulate and implement a plan to accomplish at least 2 of the following:
‘(A) Establishing or significantly expanding an accelerated baccalaureate degree nursing program designed to graduate new nurses in 12 to 18 months.
‘(B) Establishing cooperative intradisciplinary education among schools of nursing with a view toward shared use of technological resources, including information technology.
A BILL
To provide relief for the shortage of nurses in the United States, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘Emergency Nursing Supply Relief Act’.
SEC. 2. NURSING SHORTAGE RELIEF.
(a) Increasing Visa Numbers- Section 106 of the American Competitiveness in the Twenty-first Century Act of 2000 (Public Law 106-313; 8 U.S.C. 1153 note) is amended by adding at the end the following:
‘(e) Visa Shortage Relief for Nurses-
‘(1) IN GENERAL- Subject to paragraph (2), for petitions filed any time prior to September 30, 2014, for employment-based immigrants (and their family members accompanying or following to join under section 203(d) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1153(d))), which are or have been approved based on Schedule A, Group I as defined in section 656.5 of title 20, Code of Federal Regulations, as promulgated by the Secretary of Labor, the numerical limitations set forth in sections 201(d) and 202(a) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1151(d) and 1152(a)) shall not apply.
‘(2) LIMITATION ON NUMBER OF VISAS- The Secretary of State may not issue more than 20,000 immigrant visa numbers in any one fiscal year (plus any available visa numbers under this paragraph not used during the preceding fiscal year) to principal beneficiaries of petitions pursuant to paragraph (1).
‘(3) EXPEDITED REVIEW- The Secretary of Homeland Security shall provide a process for reviewing and acting upon petitions with respect to immigrants described in paragraph (1) not later than 30 days after the date on which a completed petition has been filed.
‘(f) Fee for Use of Visas Under Subsection (a)-
‘(1) IN GENERAL- The Secretary of Homeland Security shall impose a fee upon each petitioning employer who uses a visa provided under subsection (e) to provide employment for an alien as a professional nurse, except that--
‘(A) such fee shall be in the amount of $1,500 for each such alien nurse (but not for dependents accompanying or following to join who are not professional nurses); and
‘(B) no fee shall be imposed for the use of such visas if the employer demonstrates to the Secretary that--
‘(i) the employer is a health care facility that is located in a county or parish that received individual and public assistance pursuant to Major Disaster Declaration number 1603 or 1607; or
‘(ii) the employer is a health care facility that has been designated as a Health Professional Shortage Area facility by the Secretary of Health and Human Services as defined in section 332 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254e).
‘(2) FEE COLLECTION- A fee imposed by the Secretary of Homeland Security pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be collected by the Secretary as a condition of approval of an application for adjustment of status by the beneficiary of a petition or by the Secretary of State as a condition of issuance of a visa to such beneficiary.’.
(b) Capitation Grants To Increase the Number of Nursing Faculty and Students; Domestic Nursing Enhancement Account- Part D of title VIII of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 296p et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
‘SEC. 832. CAPITATION GRANTS.
‘(a) In General- For the purpose described in subsection (b), the Secretary, acting through the Health Resources and Services Administration, shall award a grant each fiscal year in an amount determined in accordance with subsection (c) to each eligible school of nursing that submits an application in accordance with this section.
‘(b) Purpose- A funding agreement for a grant under this section is that the eligible school of nursing involved will expend the grant to increase the number of nursing faculty and students at the school, including by hiring new faculty, retaining current faculty, purchasing educational equipment and audiovisual laboratories, enhancing clinical laboratories, repairing and expanding infrastructure, or recruiting students.
‘(c) Grant Computation-
‘(1) AMOUNT PER STUDENT- Subject to paragraph (2), the amount of a grant to an eligible school of nursing under this section for a fiscal year shall be the total of the following:
‘(A) $1,800 for each full-time or part-time student who is enrolled at the school in a graduate program in nursing that--
‘(i) leads to a master’s degree, a doctoral degree, or an equivalent degree; and
‘(ii) prepares individuals to serve as faculty through additional course work in education and ensuring competency in an advanced practice area.
‘(B) $1,405 for each full-time or part-time student who--
‘(i) is enrolled at the school in a program in nursing leading to a bachelor of science degree, a bachelor of nursing degree, a graduate degree in nursing if such program does not meet the requirements of subparagraph (A), or an equivalent degree; and
‘(ii) has not more than 3 years of academic credits remaining in the program.
‘(C) $966 for each full-time or part-time student who is enrolled at the school in a program in nursing leading to an associate degree in nursing or an equivalent degree.
‘(2) LIMITATION- In calculating the amount of a grant to a school under paragraph (1), the Secretary may not make a payment with respect to a particular student--
‘(A) for more than 2 fiscal years in the case of a student described in paragraph (1)(A) who is enrolled in a graduate program in nursing leading to a master’s degree or an equivalent degree;
‘(B) for more than 4 fiscal years in the case of a student described in paragraph (1)(A) who is enrolled in a graduate program in nursing leading to a doctoral degree or an equivalent degree;
‘(C) for more than 3 fiscal years in the case of a student described in paragraph (1)(B); or
‘(D) for more than 2 fiscal years in the case of a student described in paragraph (1)(C).
‘(d) Eligibility- In this section, the term ‘eligible school of nursing’ means a school of nursing that--
‘(1) is accredited by a nursing accrediting agency recognized by the Secretary of Education;
‘(2) has a passage rate on the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses of not less than 80 percent for each of the 3 academic years preceding submission of the grant application; and
‘(3) has a graduation rate (based on the number of students in a class who graduate relative to, for a baccalaureate program, the number of students who were enrolled in the class at the beginning of junior year or, for an associate degree program, the number of students who were enrolled in the class at the end of the first year) of not less than 80 percent for each of the 3 academic years preceding submission of the grant application.
‘(e) Requirements- The Secretary may award a grant under this section to an eligible school of nursing only if the school gives assurances satisfactory to the Secretary that, for each academic year for which the grant is awarded, the school will comply with the following:
‘(1) The school will maintain a passage rate on the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses of not less than 80 percent.
‘(2) The school will maintain a graduation rate (as described in subsection (d)(3)) of not less than 80 percent.
‘(3)(A) Subject to subparagraphs (B) and (C), the first-year enrollment of full-time nursing students in the school will exceed such enrollment for the preceding academic year by 5 percent or 5 students, whichever is greater.
‘(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to the first academic year for which a school receives a grant under this section.
‘(C) With respect to any academic year, the Secretary may waive application of subparagraph (A) if--
‘(i) the physical facilities at the school involved limit the school from enrolling additional students; or
‘(ii) the school has increased enrollment in the school (as described in subparagraph (A)) for each of the 2 preceding academic years.
‘(4) Not later than 1 year after receiving a grant under this section, the school will formulate and implement a plan to accomplish at least 2 of the following:
‘(A) Establishing or significantly expanding an accelerated baccalaureate degree nursing program designed to graduate new nurses in 12 to 18 months.
‘(B) Establishing cooperative intradisciplinary education among schools of nursing with a view toward shared use of technological resources, including information technology.
wallpaper Valentines Day Gifts
small2006
12-31 10:43 AM
And they say why Albert Pinto "Plassey" is an angry man?
My current H1 is expiring soon. My 3 year H1 extension is pending. I had receipt notice but NJ DMV at Wayne refused to accept that. My current License is valid only till the middle of the next month.
Any body in the same boat? What shall I do?
Try the TRENTON office. They are pretty cool. It may work there.
My current H1 is expiring soon. My 3 year H1 extension is pending. I had receipt notice but NJ DMV at Wayne refused to accept that. My current License is valid only till the middle of the next month.
Any body in the same boat? What shall I do?
Try the TRENTON office. They are pretty cool. It may work there.
hebbar77
05-02 01:07 AM
Your sense of humor is pretty low class, crass and ill-informed.
Thank you brother!!
Thank you brother!!
2011 top 10 gifts for valentines
amitjoey
05-22 05:12 PM
Guys, this is the time to show the core group that we are a bunch of people thankful that there is IV to help us fight this fight.
We need to stand united and raise awareness and sign up for the $20minimum a month recurring contribution.
I understand that some of you do intend to contribute and have contributed generously in the past,
But here are some mindsets, All of us fall in these 4 mindsets.
1) you probably think "why should I sign up for a monthly recurring contribution program". I am a generous contributor and I contribute almost monthly anyways.
2) I have contributed enough.
3) I will contribute if I feel like, when I see something comming out of this effort.
4) I do not have to contribute.
If you are in category 1).I can tell you, I understand because I have been a generous contributer in the past. But guys, the reason I signed up for a monthly recurring contribution is that it helps IV know that 'X' amount of funds are guaranted every month, this way they can plan better.
Category 2) Contributed enough - Okay why dont just sign up for a minimum amount of $20/month once more. What is enough is not enough.
Category 3) This has been discussed, I do not want to talk about this category of members.
Category 4) Again - No Comments-
Lets show the core team that all of us fall in the first 2 categories.
The last thing we want the core to do is bite their fingers over funds. We do not want the core to get stressed out over funds. They have enough real work to do already.
I give all of the ones that have not set up a monthly recurring contribution benefit of doubt. May be you were not aware that this organisation and the lobby money has come out of pockets of ordinary hard working people like you. But this is our last chance. WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?.
We need to stand united and raise awareness and sign up for the $20minimum a month recurring contribution.
I understand that some of you do intend to contribute and have contributed generously in the past,
But here are some mindsets, All of us fall in these 4 mindsets.
1) you probably think "why should I sign up for a monthly recurring contribution program". I am a generous contributor and I contribute almost monthly anyways.
2) I have contributed enough.
3) I will contribute if I feel like, when I see something comming out of this effort.
4) I do not have to contribute.
If you are in category 1).I can tell you, I understand because I have been a generous contributer in the past. But guys, the reason I signed up for a monthly recurring contribution is that it helps IV know that 'X' amount of funds are guaranted every month, this way they can plan better.
Category 2) Contributed enough - Okay why dont just sign up for a minimum amount of $20/month once more. What is enough is not enough.
Category 3) This has been discussed, I do not want to talk about this category of members.
Category 4) Again - No Comments-
Lets show the core team that all of us fall in the first 2 categories.
The last thing we want the core to do is bite their fingers over funds. We do not want the core to get stressed out over funds. They have enough real work to do already.
I give all of the ones that have not set up a monthly recurring contribution benefit of doubt. May be you were not aware that this organisation and the lobby money has come out of pockets of ordinary hard working people like you. But this is our last chance. WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?.
more...
malibuguy007
04-01 03:23 PM
We should try and get at least $500 today to get the momentum going.
msp1976
03-03 08:29 PM
Legal Immigrants in Limbo
It is that time of the year again. Immigration reform is in the air. Recently, there were raids on many businesses and the resulting arrests were given wide publicity. The Bush administration is showing its zeal to pursue the 'illegal immigrants' and 'Undocumented workers' and enforce the immigration laws. The pro-immigration and anti-immigration organizations are ratcheting up their activities. One of the common refrains of the anti-immigration groups is 'If they want to come to this country, let them come legally'. So let us examine what the people trying to immigrate legally face.
A significant number of the high skilled immigrants who immigrate to the United States are categorized by the existing immigration law as 'Employment Based' immigrants. We would refer to this as the EB immigration in this article. The EB immigrants constituted almost 22% of the total immigrants to United States in year 2005. The EB immigration process consists of four steps. There might be minor variations but the time periods for the processing described in this article remain very close to reality.
1. Labor Certification - The US Department of Labor (DOL) administers this program. This process takes anywhere from 3 to 5 years. There are people in this queue who had applied for certification in 2001. Now imagine waiting that long for the first step. However, to its credit, the DOL has implemented a new program which has significantly reduced the time required for this process to less than 6 months. However, this program is beneficial to only those applicants who filed after December 2005.
2. Immigrant Visa application - After obtaining the Labor Certification, the employer petitions the USCIS for approving the certified immigrant for permanent residency. This process can take anywhere between 1 to 10 months.
3. Adjustment of Status - If a immigrant visa is available, (and there are only 140,000 that are available each year, with a cap of 7% of these per country) the USCIS then allows the immigrant to file for adjustment of status and if approved, formally grants permanent resident status more commonly referred to as the Green Card. It is during this stage that the immigrant is subjected to background checks by the FBI and medical checks by USCIS approved physicians. Currently, the FBI background checks are taking anywhere from 8 months to a whopping two years. Also, immigrants from countries like India and China which are the main source of high skilled immigrants find themselves unable to even file for the adjustment of status because of unavailability of visa numbers. Given the current scenario, it is unknown how long it will take for these immigrants to be able to file for adjustment of status, but it is very likely to exceed 4 to 5 years
4. Citizenship – Five years after the Green Card is approved, the immigrant may apply for citizenship to the USCIS. At this stage, he has to undergo an additional background check, take a citizenship test before being eligible for approval.
As can be seen from the description above, the whole process can take 5 to 10 years just to obtain the Green Card and an additional 5 years after that to obtain citizenship. There are people waiting to be sure of their status for even more than that. Given the uncertainty and lack of action from Congress to address the backlogs, some of the EB legal immigration applicants have come together and formed the organization http://immigrationvoice.org/. The goals include reduced waiting time for green card applications for EB immigrations, increased numbers for employment based green cards and ability to get certain benefits if the visa numbers are unavailable.
Let me make clear what this wait entails. When you are working on a work permit like H-1B, your employer sponsors you for a particular position in the future as a part of the EB immigration process. What that means in reality is that your employer cannot promote you even if you are capable and the employer is willing. In the convoluted logic of EB immigration, if you get a promotion you have to start from step 1 again. That means you are back at the end of the 5 to 10 year queue. Also, spouses of the applicants are not allowed to work even if they are qualified until the primary applicant can file for adjustment of status. Now keep trying to explain to your spouse to keep his/her career on hold for 10 years. The net result of these impediments is that a large number of these people prefer going back to their countries of origin or other countries that offer easier and faster ways to obtain permanent residency and citizenship. That is a big loss to this country.
And this is just for high-skilled and skilled workers, so our question and challenge to the anti-immigration lobby is ‘Are you willing to put your money where your mouth is and pressure Congress to pass a Comprehensive Immigration Reform to ensure that people can immigrate to the United States legally in a reasonable amount of time?’
United States is undergoing an unprecedented change in demographic situation. The Baby boomer generation consists of 77 million citizens born in the years 1946 to 1964. The leading edge of this generation is entering their 60s in 2006 and a large number of the baby boomers would start retiring soon. This is a double whammy to the US economy. Even now, the employers ranging from small businesses in the north-east to big corporations like Microsoft are facing serious labor shortages. When a large chunk of US labor force starts retiring every year, businesses are going to be even more hard pressed to find suitable workers. At the same time, the demands for social services from this large retiree population would keep growing. The US economy would find it harder and harder to support an ever larger population in need of Social services support. Unless something is done to deal with the coming labor crunch, United States is facing a huge economic and social services meltdown. The businesses would either fold in face of global competition or go where they can find labor that would allow them to be competitive leading to additional job cuts in the US. The immigration policy this country adopts would determine the future of this country. The only solution to deal with the labor crunch is to allow more employment based immigration.
As mentioned earlier, the total number of Employment based immigrants allowed per year by current law is 140,000 and it also includes the dependents of these immigrants. This limit was established in the early 90s when population of United States was smaller and a lot younger. This number has to undergo a sharp upward revision to account for the coming demographic challenge this country is facing.
The current immigration law has rules that prohibit immigration from any country in excess of 7% of the overall immigration. As far as employment based immigration is concerned, this limit is of 7% is illogical. Skills are not evenly distributed in the world and companies do not hire people based on the country they come from but for the skill set they possess to get the job done. As president Bush aptly described "It makes no sense to say to a young scientist from India, you can't come to America to help this company develop technologies that help us deal with our problems". This cap of 7% has caused the applicants from large countries like China and India to wait for years on end. As we all know, these countries are undergoing rapid growth. If the United States does not make an effort to retain this valuable human capital, those countries are going to benefit at United States’ cost.
Every year, thousands of students from various countries come to the United States to pursue higher education. In a fairly large number of cases, the universities and various endowments provide financial aid to these students. It would make sense for United States to make an effort to retain this talent that has been educated in a large number of cases by the American taxpayers. It is a reality that the talent is sorely needed. Abolishing the country limits on the employment based immigration would make it easier to retain this talent and help ease the skilled labor crunch.
The USCIS has serious issues in dealing with the magnitude of immigration benefits processing expected of the service. The Bush administration has made some not entirely successful attempts to improve the workings of the troubled federal agency. The United States does not become safer if an immigration benefits application sits entangled in a bureaucratic nightmare for years on end. The USCIS should be mandated to process all existing backlogs in a reasonable time frame and provided the resources and leadership to accomplish this goal.
In the cacophony of anti-illegal immigration rhetoric, no one seems to be paying attention to the plight of the legal immigration applicants waiting for years for their applications to get processed. The United States is supposed to be the land of opportunity. The Congress should make an effort to ease the hardships of the people who have followed the law and are trying to immigrate legally so that these deserving immigrants also get a chance to pursue their American Dreams.
It is that time of the year again. Immigration reform is in the air. Recently, there were raids on many businesses and the resulting arrests were given wide publicity. The Bush administration is showing its zeal to pursue the 'illegal immigrants' and 'Undocumented workers' and enforce the immigration laws. The pro-immigration and anti-immigration organizations are ratcheting up their activities. One of the common refrains of the anti-immigration groups is 'If they want to come to this country, let them come legally'. So let us examine what the people trying to immigrate legally face.
A significant number of the high skilled immigrants who immigrate to the United States are categorized by the existing immigration law as 'Employment Based' immigrants. We would refer to this as the EB immigration in this article. The EB immigrants constituted almost 22% of the total immigrants to United States in year 2005. The EB immigration process consists of four steps. There might be minor variations but the time periods for the processing described in this article remain very close to reality.
1. Labor Certification - The US Department of Labor (DOL) administers this program. This process takes anywhere from 3 to 5 years. There are people in this queue who had applied for certification in 2001. Now imagine waiting that long for the first step. However, to its credit, the DOL has implemented a new program which has significantly reduced the time required for this process to less than 6 months. However, this program is beneficial to only those applicants who filed after December 2005.
2. Immigrant Visa application - After obtaining the Labor Certification, the employer petitions the USCIS for approving the certified immigrant for permanent residency. This process can take anywhere between 1 to 10 months.
3. Adjustment of Status - If a immigrant visa is available, (and there are only 140,000 that are available each year, with a cap of 7% of these per country) the USCIS then allows the immigrant to file for adjustment of status and if approved, formally grants permanent resident status more commonly referred to as the Green Card. It is during this stage that the immigrant is subjected to background checks by the FBI and medical checks by USCIS approved physicians. Currently, the FBI background checks are taking anywhere from 8 months to a whopping two years. Also, immigrants from countries like India and China which are the main source of high skilled immigrants find themselves unable to even file for the adjustment of status because of unavailability of visa numbers. Given the current scenario, it is unknown how long it will take for these immigrants to be able to file for adjustment of status, but it is very likely to exceed 4 to 5 years
4. Citizenship – Five years after the Green Card is approved, the immigrant may apply for citizenship to the USCIS. At this stage, he has to undergo an additional background check, take a citizenship test before being eligible for approval.
As can be seen from the description above, the whole process can take 5 to 10 years just to obtain the Green Card and an additional 5 years after that to obtain citizenship. There are people waiting to be sure of their status for even more than that. Given the uncertainty and lack of action from Congress to address the backlogs, some of the EB legal immigration applicants have come together and formed the organization http://immigrationvoice.org/. The goals include reduced waiting time for green card applications for EB immigrations, increased numbers for employment based green cards and ability to get certain benefits if the visa numbers are unavailable.
Let me make clear what this wait entails. When you are working on a work permit like H-1B, your employer sponsors you for a particular position in the future as a part of the EB immigration process. What that means in reality is that your employer cannot promote you even if you are capable and the employer is willing. In the convoluted logic of EB immigration, if you get a promotion you have to start from step 1 again. That means you are back at the end of the 5 to 10 year queue. Also, spouses of the applicants are not allowed to work even if they are qualified until the primary applicant can file for adjustment of status. Now keep trying to explain to your spouse to keep his/her career on hold for 10 years. The net result of these impediments is that a large number of these people prefer going back to their countries of origin or other countries that offer easier and faster ways to obtain permanent residency and citizenship. That is a big loss to this country.
And this is just for high-skilled and skilled workers, so our question and challenge to the anti-immigration lobby is ‘Are you willing to put your money where your mouth is and pressure Congress to pass a Comprehensive Immigration Reform to ensure that people can immigrate to the United States legally in a reasonable amount of time?’
United States is undergoing an unprecedented change in demographic situation. The Baby boomer generation consists of 77 million citizens born in the years 1946 to 1964. The leading edge of this generation is entering their 60s in 2006 and a large number of the baby boomers would start retiring soon. This is a double whammy to the US economy. Even now, the employers ranging from small businesses in the north-east to big corporations like Microsoft are facing serious labor shortages. When a large chunk of US labor force starts retiring every year, businesses are going to be even more hard pressed to find suitable workers. At the same time, the demands for social services from this large retiree population would keep growing. The US economy would find it harder and harder to support an ever larger population in need of Social services support. Unless something is done to deal with the coming labor crunch, United States is facing a huge economic and social services meltdown. The businesses would either fold in face of global competition or go where they can find labor that would allow them to be competitive leading to additional job cuts in the US. The immigration policy this country adopts would determine the future of this country. The only solution to deal with the labor crunch is to allow more employment based immigration.
As mentioned earlier, the total number of Employment based immigrants allowed per year by current law is 140,000 and it also includes the dependents of these immigrants. This limit was established in the early 90s when population of United States was smaller and a lot younger. This number has to undergo a sharp upward revision to account for the coming demographic challenge this country is facing.
The current immigration law has rules that prohibit immigration from any country in excess of 7% of the overall immigration. As far as employment based immigration is concerned, this limit is of 7% is illogical. Skills are not evenly distributed in the world and companies do not hire people based on the country they come from but for the skill set they possess to get the job done. As president Bush aptly described "It makes no sense to say to a young scientist from India, you can't come to America to help this company develop technologies that help us deal with our problems". This cap of 7% has caused the applicants from large countries like China and India to wait for years on end. As we all know, these countries are undergoing rapid growth. If the United States does not make an effort to retain this valuable human capital, those countries are going to benefit at United States’ cost.
Every year, thousands of students from various countries come to the United States to pursue higher education. In a fairly large number of cases, the universities and various endowments provide financial aid to these students. It would make sense for United States to make an effort to retain this talent that has been educated in a large number of cases by the American taxpayers. It is a reality that the talent is sorely needed. Abolishing the country limits on the employment based immigration would make it easier to retain this talent and help ease the skilled labor crunch.
The USCIS has serious issues in dealing with the magnitude of immigration benefits processing expected of the service. The Bush administration has made some not entirely successful attempts to improve the workings of the troubled federal agency. The United States does not become safer if an immigration benefits application sits entangled in a bureaucratic nightmare for years on end. The USCIS should be mandated to process all existing backlogs in a reasonable time frame and provided the resources and leadership to accomplish this goal.
In the cacophony of anti-illegal immigration rhetoric, no one seems to be paying attention to the plight of the legal immigration applicants waiting for years for their applications to get processed. The United States is supposed to be the land of opportunity. The Congress should make an effort to ease the hardships of the people who have followed the law and are trying to immigrate legally so that these deserving immigrants also get a chance to pursue their American Dreams.
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psk79
06-23 01:13 PM
Well, there are many folks here including me who filed around first week of june.. I haven't heard anyone getting the EAD yet. I haven't seen any lud's after the receipts. Hopefully, one more week to go and then we are all good to get the 2yr EAD....
2010 Valentine#39;s Day is approaching
pappu
05-10 09:42 AM
2007 DC Rally Blog
Immigration Voice rally in DC - Live updates (http://dcrally.blogspot.com/)
----------
Full Page color ad in Roll Call
http://immigrationvoice.org/media/forums/iv/rollcal3a.pdf
Immigration Voice rally in DC - Live updates (http://dcrally.blogspot.com/)
----------
Full Page color ad in Roll Call
http://immigrationvoice.org/media/forums/iv/rollcal3a.pdf
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seahawks
09-22 03:53 AM
First it wasn't 1000, we had over 2000 people registered and many joined after or did not register. So please don't say 1000, it is extremely painful for everyone who attended to be considered as "not counted".
1. Politically having a rally in D.C makes it more visible for all the law makers there. Laws/amendments and all the political activity happens there. Rallies else where would make it to one or two news cycle but won't be remembered after wards.
2. Meeting lawmakers, staff from various constituents wrapped around an event like a rally helps a lot in getting the message across. It raises a lot of awareness.
3. I would have agreed with you that numbers like 100,000 matters, but after being there and seeing the amazing capabilities of IV to organize meetings and having members meet over 100+ meetings with law makers, staff, talking to to them, sharing personal stories, advertisement and media campaigns around D.C has convinced me that it has and will make a difference! Personally for me, it was an eye opener on how the system works and I totally understood exactly why IV leaders set it up this way just by being around and them for a few days!
1. Politically having a rally in D.C makes it more visible for all the law makers there. Laws/amendments and all the political activity happens there. Rallies else where would make it to one or two news cycle but won't be remembered after wards.
2. Meeting lawmakers, staff from various constituents wrapped around an event like a rally helps a lot in getting the message across. It raises a lot of awareness.
3. I would have agreed with you that numbers like 100,000 matters, but after being there and seeing the amazing capabilities of IV to organize meetings and having members meet over 100+ meetings with law makers, staff, talking to to them, sharing personal stories, advertisement and media campaigns around D.C has convinced me that it has and will make a difference! Personally for me, it was an eye opener on how the system works and I totally understood exactly why IV leaders set it up this way just by being around and them for a few days!
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hunkuncontrolled
04-02 02:05 PM
You are an anti-immigrant troll. Good we caught you.
I know your kind
Now you will go to your site and announce how bravely you fought with H1Bs
Oh really . My bad ...lol:D
I know your kind
Now you will go to your site and announce how bravely you fought with H1Bs
Oh really . My bad ...lol:D
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vedicman
03-10 09:22 AM
IV community, do you think there is anything we can learn from the Wisconsin gatherings??????????? They are able to mobilize 50,000 people or more in a matter of hours and days. IV campaign for 200 people is running for over a month! And as per the core team, we are yet to reach that number...............
BTW, before anyone takes up arguments over WI issues, you are focusing on the wrong issue. I am only interested in the number of people that are mobilized, and why is it that we cannot do the same.
Why is it a letter/FB/twitter can generate thousands of people to come out and protest, while the same newsletter/FB/twitter has had such a poor response for us. Are we not motivated enough? Or do we not actually care for the GC? Or do we get pleasure in just complaining? :confused: :mad:
BTW, before anyone takes up arguments over WI issues, you are focusing on the wrong issue. I am only interested in the number of people that are mobilized, and why is it that we cannot do the same.
Why is it a letter/FB/twitter can generate thousands of people to come out and protest, while the same newsletter/FB/twitter has had such a poor response for us. Are we not motivated enough? Or do we not actually care for the GC? Or do we get pleasure in just complaining? :confused: :mad:
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sachuin23
04-21 12:54 PM
A Quick Question.
Can parents stay here for 5 1/2 months go back for say a month or two and come back again for 5 1\2 months? Would this pattern be suspected during visa renewal?
Can parents stay here for 5 1/2 months go back for say a month or two and come back again for 5 1\2 months? Would this pattern be suspected during visa renewal?
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claudia255
10-05 10:24 AM
That is great News! Hope they will materialize in some sort of relief for all EB immigrants.
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thankgod
06-03 01:27 PM
May I add, these posts are very much relevant here as these kids are immigrants and their kids. They might become an entrepreneur or scientist in the future and it shows the value of the skilled immigrants.
We need to come out of our EB2/EB3 narrow mind and how it's going to help me today.
How come you applied 140 with out a priority date. :)
I am not seeing your priority date in your profile.
We need to come out of our EB2/EB3 narrow mind and how it's going to help me today.
How come you applied 140 with out a priority date. :)
I am not seeing your priority date in your profile.
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javadeveloper
12-31 03:05 PM
How can you judge God's intentions when you don't know Him? Can you prove that God does not exist?
I prayed god to get my GC before 2008.If God really exists I'll get my GC in 2008.If not it's a proof that God doesn't exists.
I'll have to wait for few more hours to prove.
I prayed god to get my GC before 2008.If God really exists I'll get my GC in 2008.If not it's a proof that God doesn't exists.
I'll have to wait for few more hours to prove.
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indyanguy
09-22 04:09 PM
Had called last time.. Called again.. Hope they stay long enough without recess to discuss this bill tomorrow !!!! :mad:
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BharatPremi
11-08 12:32 PM
BharatPremi is my "IV person of the Day" - I see a lot of energy in his posts, and yes yabadaba, everyone must loosen up a bit, and look at the positive in every message.
BharatPremi's response was also appropriate and was a stronger version of our responses :)
Thanks.
BharatPremi's response was also appropriate and was a stronger version of our responses :)
Thanks.
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hsbaluja
12-07 11:28 AM
Hey Guys,
When I check case status online for my 765 Application, it is showing
Application Type: I765, APPLICATION FOR EMPLOYMENT AUTHORIZATION
Current Status: Approval notice sent.
On November 21, 2007, we mailed you a notice that we have approved this I765 APPLICATION FOR EMPLOYMENT AUTHORIZATION. Please follow any instructions on the notice. If you move before you receive the notice, call customer service.
I haven't yet received EAD. How long it usualy take to get EAD after this status. Any Idea??
When I check case status online for my 765 Application, it is showing
Application Type: I765, APPLICATION FOR EMPLOYMENT AUTHORIZATION
Current Status: Approval notice sent.
On November 21, 2007, we mailed you a notice that we have approved this I765 APPLICATION FOR EMPLOYMENT AUTHORIZATION. Please follow any instructions on the notice. If you move before you receive the notice, call customer service.
I haven't yet received EAD. How long it usualy take to get EAD after this status. Any Idea??
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chris
09-29 07:28 PM
if your PD remains current for at least three months in a row and everything else is clear, there is good chance you are out of the pipeline.
My PD is current for almost a year and Name check is cleared in July 2008.
No soft or hard LUD's sofar. :mad:
My PD is current for almost a year and Name check is cleared in July 2008.
No soft or hard LUD's sofar. :mad:
bbct
01-13 12:51 PM
Atleast they are moving EB2 by few months so the chances of old cases getting approved is high.
vxg
08-03 03:26 PM
USCIS procedures suggest that for preadjudicated cases, they assign visas in order of PD, which should be the case now as focus appears to be on preadjudication. However, if there are no preadjudicated cases, as seemingly was the case last year, they have no way to do it in PD sequence. In that case, they pick files case by case in sequence of receive date (not the RD on your receipt, but the date when someone entered case data, which is close to ND) which works better for USCIS (but not for us) with wide open cut off dates.
What makes people think that USCIS has preadjudicated cases in the order of priority date. If they have preadjudicated cases from 2005,2006 and left the cases from 2003 -2004 then it is the same mess an d i can bet that knowing USCIS chance of this are very very high so even if your date gets current it is still luck whether you get GC ornot.
EB2 - I
PD: Jul 2004
What makes people think that USCIS has preadjudicated cases in the order of priority date. If they have preadjudicated cases from 2005,2006 and left the cases from 2003 -2004 then it is the same mess an d i can bet that knowing USCIS chance of this are very very high so even if your date gets current it is still luck whether you get GC ornot.
EB2 - I
PD: Jul 2004
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