OUTSIDE THE BOX THINKING, DELIVERING CUTTING EDGE SOLUTIONS!

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Once you are approved under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) can you legally travel outside of the United States? This is one of the many questions being asked about the DACA process. The answer is yes, but it is restricted and can be risky! After DACA approval you must apply and receive advance parole from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) using Form I-131, Application for Travel Document ($360 filing fee) for any foreign travel.

USCIS normally only grants advance parole for foreign travel under the following reasons; Humanitarian purposes, Educational purposes and Employment purposes. Vacation travel is not considered a valid reason. Please note that your Deferred Action will be dismissed automatically if you travel outside the U.S. without receiving advance parole!

If you were ordered deported or removed before you were granted Deferred Action you need to clear that up before traveling even if you have already been approved for advance parole. Before you actually leave the U.S., you should seek to reopen your case with the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) and obtain administrative closure or termination of your removal proceeding. If you do not receive closure or termination before leaving this country you could be considered deported or removed and your Deferred Action terminated. Simply, you would not be allowed to return to the United States!

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Thousands of uniquely talented foreign students enroll in colleges and universities in the United States on a yearly basis. Some find sponsoring employment and are able to petition for a H-1B nonimmigrant visa; however, there remains a large majority that are left with no available options to remain in this country once their education is completed.

It would seem counterintuitive to educate the foreign-born and then send them home. Furthermore, U.S. companies are finding it increasingly difficult to procure visas to transfer existing foreign employees to the U.S. to continue work on products, services and projects. Current immigration policies are not working well for U.S. businesses.

Still in Committee

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MVP Law Group, P.A. makes available the information and materials in this forum for informational purposes only. The information is general in nature and does not constitute legal advice or any contractual obligations. Further, the use of this site, and the sending or receipt of this information, does not create an attorney-client relationship between us. Therefore, your communication with us through this forum will not be considered as privileged or confidential.

Question #1 – H-1B Nonimmigrant Visa

I am an employer. When should we begin to prepare our H-1B CAP subject cases? Once prepared, can we submit them prior to April to ensure our petitions are accepted?

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Starting Friday, Feb. 1, those who receive an immigrant visa package from a U.S. consulate or embassy abroad will be required to pay a new $165 immigrant fee.

We are aware of the effect that any new fee has on the communities we serve. However, the fee is necessary to cover the costs of producing and delivering permanent resident cards.

Important Points to Remember

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Eight high ranking U.S. Senators, four Democrats and four Republicans have developed and agreed on a framework for Immigration Reform. This newly released outline is entitled, “Bipartisan Framework for Comprehensive Immigration Reform“. The first sentence of the framework is “We recognize that our immigration system is broken.” This sentence tells all about the need for comprehensive immigration reform in this country.

This framework is built on four main points which they call the “four basic legislative pillars” to achieve the goal of immigration reform. We have listed these “pillars” below. Each pillar is then taken individually and explained in more detail as part of the framework. We have also included links to the complete transcript of this document and to some Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) from Senator John McCain’s web site.

We at MVP Law Group feel that this is a real start! Just having a bipartisan agreement between the Senators is a great achievement but to have a framework for immigration reform shows that there could be actual movement in this important area.

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The H-2B non-agricultural temporary worker program allows U.S. employers to bring foreign nationals to the United States to fill temporary non-agricultural jobs.

The H-2B cap limit for first half of FY 2013 (October 1 – March 31) is 33,000. As of the last count (1/18/2013); 26,831 beneficiaries have been approved and 3,914 are still pending for a total of 30,745.

The H-2B cap limit for the second half of FY 2013 (April 1 – September 30) is 33,000. As of the last count (1/18/2013); 924 beneficiaries have been approved and 2,401 are pending for a total of 3,325.

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We wanted to find a new way to engage our reader base. Every other Friday, we will post the ten (10) best/most frequently asked questions received during the week from our h1bvisalawyerblog, Facebook, and Twitter readers. We will answer those questions and provide the Q&A on our H-1B Visa Lawyer Blog.

If you have a burning question, are seeking assistance with a difficult immigration related case, wish to discuss your views on Comprehensive Immigration Reform, DREAMers, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, priority dates, the monthly visa bulletin, adjustment applications, etc., please contact us by submitting your question/comment/viewpoint in our comment box provided on our H-1B Visa Lawyer Blog.

Our next “Q & A Forum” will take place this Friday, February 1, 2013. Act now and submit your questions!

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As we posted on 1/17/13, “USCIS Begins Transition to Online Centralized Policy Manual“, the USCIS has started the transition to a centralized online policy manual. The first phase of the policy manual covers Citizenship and Naturalization. They have been offering webinars on the subject during the month of January. There is still one webinar left for this month, Wednesday, January 30 (1 – 2 p.m.). For complete information and how to sign-up please view the USCIS Outreach web page on the subject. If interested I would hurry; they have been filling up fast.

Related PDF files:

Meeting Invite

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The USCIS has updated their Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) on their web site. The new FAQs cover a wide range of DACA subjects including “Lawful Status” and “Travel Outside of the U.S.” and are marked, “NEW”. These new questions and answers have been added to the already existing list and add to the knowledge base for this subject.

For more information please read the USCIS FAQs updated January 18, 2013 on DACA.

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These USCIS statistics on DACA cases from 8/15/12 to 1/17/13 show a total of 394,533 DACA requests accepted for processing, 371,103 biometric services appointments scheduled, and 154,404 requests approved. The data also show the number of accepted requests from the top countries of origin and states of residence.

View the (.PDF) USCIS Report, “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Process (January, 2013)”

For further information regarding Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, please visit www.uscis.gov/childhoodarrivals.

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