J Visa (by GehiLaw)
The Exchange Visitor (J) non-immigrant visa category is for individuals approved to participate in work-and study-based exchange visitor programs. Participants are integral to the success of the program. Here you can learn more about obtaining the J-1 Visa and other relevant visas.
The O Visa (by GehiLaw)
O visa is a non-immigrant visa for foreign workers who wish to remain in the United States temporarily to work. It is given to those who have extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics, or extraordinary achievements in the motion picture and television field. The immigrant must have earned an internationally recognized award or have other qualifications such as commanding a high salary or providing significant contributions to her field.
Breaking News! Retrogression Dates of EB2 Visa could affect Applicants of China and India.
(Source: youtube.com)
A conditional permanent resident receives a green card valid for 2 years. In order to remain a permanent resident, a conditional permanent resident must file a petition to remove the condition during the 90 days before the card expires. The conditional card cannot be renewed. The conditions must be removed or you will lose your permanent resident status.
Infosys alleged of US Visa Fraud in Lawsuit
Whistleblower employee blames company for his depression, isolation
India’s leading IT firm Infosys, which reportedly employs more than 15,000 people in the US and has more than $6.8 billion in revenues, has been named in a lawsuit alleging the company was involved in visa fraud, the New York Times reported.
Jack B. Palmer, a software project manager for Infosys, filed the lawsuit against the company claiming he was punished for knowing of the company’s misdeeds. The company allegedly had asked Palmer to write “welcome letters” for B-1 visa workers from India. He refused stating that these letters falsely claimed the foreign employee is coming to visit rather than to work, the NYT article said.
Days after he refused to write the notices, Palmer alleged, it leaked within the company. He said one manager threatened to fire him, he received angry calls from co-workers and in November 2010, according to court documents, a death threat was found, neatly printed, on the chair in his office, the NYT article reported.
Palmer says, he has been “harassed by superiors and co-workers, sidelined with no work assignment, shut out of the company’s computers, denied bonuses and hounded by death threats,” the article quoted him as saying.
“You’re around people every day, and then all of a sudden you are staring at four walls,” Palmer wrote in an e-mail. “No one will hire me and I can’t quit, so they just torture me. I have become numb and cumbersome to this world. Palmer has struggled with drinking, gained and lost 20 pounds and taken medication for anger and depression, reported NYT.
After the lawsuit was filed, Federal investigators have zeroed in on the company to investigate if they use workers from India for certain kinds of jobs here that were not allowed under their B-1 visas. The federals will also be examining numerous irregularities in the company’s hiring practices and documents, the NYT article said.
India protests US Visa Fee Hike at WTO
Complain targets new law that doubles work visa fees
India has launched a complaint at the World Trade Organization over the cost of US work visas, which it says are too high and discriminate against a group of Indian IT firms, IBN Live reported.
The complaint is at the level of WTO “consultations” between the two parties - the last step to resolve a disagreement before entering a full-fledged legal dispute, newsreports said.
“India is taking up consultations on this issue and hopes to solve it amicably,” an official at the trade ministry was quoted as saying by IBN Live.
The official did not say when the complaint was taken to the WTO, but said Trade Minister Anand Sharma raised the visa issue with US Commerce Secretary John Bryson on a visit to India in late March.
India’s complaint is about a US law from 2010 that almost doubled visa fees for skilled temporary workers to $4,500 per applicant. The bill’s sponsor, Senator Charles Schumer, a Democrat from New York, said at the time that the move was aimed at a small group of companies exploiting US law to import workers from abroad.
“I think the government of India is right that this is a barrier to trade,” Vineet Nayyar, CEO of large Indian software services exporter Tech Mahindra, was quoted as saying by IBN Live. Nayyar, however, said Indian industry did not expect the visa fees to be reduced and would either become more efficient or raise prices marginally to offset the cost.
Nationwide Immigration Sweep Nets 3,100
Half of those arrested had felony convictions
In one of the largest sweep of its kind, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said last week it had arrested about 3,100 illegal immigrants from across the nation, the Washington Post reported.
The six-day operation — dubbed “Cross Check” — nabbed offenders across the nation, including in all 50 states, three territories and the District of Columbia. The offenders represented 116 nationalities. Of those, 1,477 taken into custody had felony convictions such as murder, manslaughter, attempted murder, kidnapping, child abuse, assault and other offenses, the Post reported.
More than 1,900 agency officers and agents were involved in the sweep. Just last year, the ICE pledged to focus on deporting illegal immigrants with serious criminal histories and those who posed national security threats, while going easier on many who stay out of trouble. The arrests underscored that focus, the agency’s director, John Morton said in newsreports.
“More than 1,000 of the people arrested had multiple criminal convictions. The most severe cases included murder, manslaughter, drug trafficking and sexual crimes against minors,” Morton was quoted as saying by Fox News.
The totals included an estimated 50 gang members and 149 convicted sex offenders. The cases of at least 204 of them were referred to federal prosecutors for a variety of serious charges, including illegal re-entry after deportation, a felony that can carry up to 20 years in prison, newsreports said.
The Obama administration has faced criticism from across the political spectrum for tightening its controls on illegal immigration. The administration has deported about 1 million people in the past three years, some 400,000 yearly, reportedly a record-setting pace. In news interviews, Morton dismissed such concerns, noting that all of those arrested had either criminal backgrounds or a previously outstanding immigration order
This past Monday, a federal lawsuit was filed in the Brooklyn court by an advocacy group named Immigration Equality. Immigration advocates joined several gay married couples to file a lawsuit against the 1996 law of DOMA. The lawsuit challenges the federal Defense of Marriage Act.
The claim is made against the federal law because it violates the constitutional rights of gay couples and prevents them from sponsoring their spouses for green cards. Each of the five couples is struggling to obtain U.S. citizenship for a foreign-born spouse.
The 1996 law of DOMA, does not allow the federal government to recognize same-sex marriages and denies federal benefits to married gay couples therefore the federal government does not recognize lesbian and gay couples for immigration purposes.
Rachel Tiven, executive director of Immigration Equality stated, “The families in today’s lawsuit meet every qualification for immigration benefits, with the sole exception that they happen to be lesbian or gay.”
Advocates compared the issues with that of a heterosexual marriage, and claimed it is not fair, the government would recognize and approve the foreign-born spouse without an issue so why do gay couples not have that same benefits as heterosexual couples.
To read the article in full please sees the link below:
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/married-gay-couples-sue-immigration-rights-16064433#.T3vc4qtSTmM
