In a move to cut down on fraud, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services revamped the Employment Authorization Document and the Certificate of Citizenship form last fall.

The new forms will deter fraud and strengthen security, according to USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas. “These enhanced documents are more secure than ever,” he said in a press release. “They advance our efforts to safeguard against fraud and protect the integrity of the immigration system.”

The application process for these forms is unchanged. But the look and feel of the documents is radically different.

The forensic laboratory at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement helped USCIS develop the new EAD card. It uses new technology and tactile elements in order to help with easy card authentication, according to the release.

The new card, which looks similar to a driver’s license, has a photo of the cardholder as well as his or her fingerprint – and are both laser engraved. The card number and the case number are now both published on the front of the card.

The ICE forensic laboratory, which has been around since 1978, is the country’s authority on document authentication.

The old cards are still valid until they expire and will be replaced with new ones as people apply for renewal.

The agency hopes the new card will help law enforcement and employers more quickly identify the card and recognize the holder as being authorized to work in the country, according to the release.

USCIS also redesigned the N-560 Form, or the Certificate of Citizenship. This document goes to people who became citizens while living in the United States or people who were born outside the country to American citizens and applied for U.S. citizenship.

The agency has applied more tamper-proof printing methods to the new documents (which look similar to a birth certificate). It has a multi-colored background and a watermark to discourage fraud. It also has a digitized approval signature.

Previously issued Certificates of Citizenship are valid indefinitely, according to the release.

The new certificate does not make the list of accepted I-9 documents. Until 2007, the certificate was usable for proof of employment eligibility and identity under list A. The certificate is still on I-9’s list C that establishes employment authorization.

The agency is in an ongoing effort to update more secure and fraud-resistant documentation. USCIS created new Permanent Residency Cards in 2010 and redesigned the N-550 Certificate of Naturalization adding a photo and a signature.

A. Banerjee is a Houston immigration lawyer in Texas. Before selecting an immigration lawyer in Houston Texas, contact the Law Offices of Annie Banerjee by visiting their information filled web site at http://www.visatous.com.

The American Enterprise Institute and the Partnership for a New Economy recently commissioned a study looking at the relationship between immigration and the job market in the United States.

The groups did the study to help advise policymakers in hopes that immigration policy changes could spur economic growth, according to a press release from AEI.

The study found that the current immigration policy is not hurting but enhancing the job market. The agencies conducting the survey sought to use the data to advocate for specific policy changes that could boost U.S. job growth.

Researchers looked to find out if immigrants take jobs that would be filled by U.S. citizens, if they create jobs, or if there is no net effect. They also looked into what types of jobs were being taken or created by the immigrants.

The study outlined two broad schools of thought on how immigration impacts the labor market. The first idea says that immigrants and native-born Americans share the same skill sets and must compete for the same jobs. The second idea says that Americans and immigrants have different skills and complement each other in the resulting diversified work force.

Employers and policymakers both point to two groups as being critical to the U.S. economy – immigrants with advanced degrees and temporary work visa holders. Researchers looked at Census Bureau data and temporary worker applications to look at states individually to try and learn how likely an American citizen is to have a job in states with more immigrants. The study went on to look at the benefits these immigrants receive relative to their taxes.

Researchers came up with four significant findings. Immigrants with advanced degrees boost U.S. employment; temporary workers, skilled and unskilled, boost U.S. employment; no evidence shows immigrants hurt U.S. employment; and foreign-born workers pay more in U.S taxes than they use in benefits.

The data on immigrants with advanced degrees showed that workers who studied in the STEM fields – science, technology, engineering and mathematics – at U.S. universities had a big positive impact on jobs here. For every 100 skilled workers with advanced degrees from U.S. schools, 262 jobs were created for American-born workers between 200 and 2007.

Foreign-born workers with advanced STEM degrees from schools around the world including the United States also had a positive impact on jobs with 86 jobs created for every 100 high-skilled immigrant working here.

The addition of 100 temporary workers also resulted in more jobs for native-born Americans, according to the study. H-1B workers created 183 jobs for every 100 immigrants and H-2B workers created a whopping 464 jobs for Americans.

The researchers used the data from the survey to make policy suggestions aimed at boosting the American economy.

The American Enterprise Institute suggests giving priority to immigration applicants with advanced degrees in STEM fields and increasing the number of green cards for high-skilled workers.

A qualified immigration attorney can help skilled workers and employers work with immigration services to get visas to work in the United States.

A. Banerjee is a Houston immigration lawyer in Texas. Before selecting an immigration lawyer in Houston Texas, contact the Law Offices of Annie Banerjee by visiting their information filled web site at http://www.visatous.com.

The U.S. State Department provides B-1 visas for citizens of other countries to come to the United States to conduct business.

Most people travelling to the United States from around the world need a non-immigrant visa in order to enter the country. The visitor visas are B-1 for business and B-2 for citizens of foreign countries coming here for pleasure, tourism or medical treatment.

Business travel visas are given for a variety of reasons. Some foreign citizens come to the United States to consult with associates, attend seminars or conferences in their industry, or negotiate and close business contracts. Others come as athletes to compete in American contests or lecturers who speak at events.

There are 35 countries that participate in a visa waiver program and citizens of those countries usually do not need a B-1 visa when travelling to the United States for business.

Those countries are Andorra, Hungary, New Zealand, Australia, Iceland, Norway, Austria, Ireland, Portugal, Belgium, Italy, San Marino, Brunei, Japan, Singapore, Czech Republic, Latvia, Slovakia, Denmark, Liechtenstein, Slovenia, Estonia, Lithuania, South Korea, Finland, Luxembourg, Spain, France, Malta, Sweden, Germany, Monaco, Switzerland, Greece, the Netherlands, and United Kingdom.

Qualification for a B-1 visa is determined by the U.S. Embassy in the country where the applicant holds citizenship. It is important to apply well in advance of the proposed travel date as the application process can be time-consuming, according to the State Department.

The application process will likely require an interview at the embassy. Applicants who are younger than 14 or older than 79-years-old usually do not need to interview in the process.

The embassy will ask for some documentation including an online DS-160 form, a valid passport (that will remain valid for six months after an applicant plans to leave the United States) and a photograph.

There are often fees associated with acquiring a B-1 visa as well. The State Department recommends applicants contact the U.S. Embassy in their country as soon as they know they need to travel to find out more about the necessary fees.

There are provisions in the rules that allow domestic employees or personal assistants to travel with their employers.

Carrying a B-1 visa is not a guarantee that a businessperson from another country will be granted access to the United States at a port of entry. The Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protection have the ultimate say on who can enter.

Companies hoping to bring business associates to the United States to work on projects, sign real estate deals or attend conferences can benefit from hiring a qualified law firm to help make the process as smooth as possible for the traveler.

A. Banerjee is a Houston immigration lawyer in Texas. Before selecting an immigration lawyer in Houston, Texas, contact the Law Offices of Annie Banerjee by visiting their information filled website at http://www.visatous.com.

As certain politicians continue to focus on illegal immigration, the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees and Border Security focused on the challenges of America’s business brain drain and the inequities of the legal immigration process in late July. The CEO of NASDAQ, President of Cornell University, the General Counsel for Microsoft Corporation, the Associate Professor of Public Policy for the Rochester Institute of Technology, and an esteemed female doctor all spoke before a recent Senate hearing to discuss “The Economic Imperative for Enacting Immigration Reform”.

NASDAQ’s president Robert Greifeld spoke about how 14 of the active NASDAQ companies have foreign-born founders, and with outdated immigration policies the U.S. is on the brink of not incubating enough talent. He explained how an estimated 17,000 graduate students must return to their home countries as the U.S. green card backlogs have barred them from staying to contribute to the workforce or start their own company. Greifeld was also discouraged by the number of visas that are left unused because of bureaucratic red tape. Between 1992 and 2009, 506,410 green cards were not used, and only 180,039 were recaptured.

Microsoft’s General Counsel Brad Smith explained how immigration laws must be brought up to 2011 standards. He voiced how structural changes to immigration have not been made since 1990, when the needs for high-tech jobs were still in the initial stages. In May, Microsoft had 4,551 unfilled job positions, and 2,629 of them were for computer science roles. But with immigration country caps, skilled individuals from India and China, for example, must wait for years before they can ever get lawful residency status in the U.S. And Smith is finding it hard to find talent stateside to make matters worse.

Esteemed endocrinologist Dr. Puneet S. Arora, who is also a member of Immigration Voice, spoke at the hearing too. As an immigrant from New Delhi, India, she has experienced the immigration process firsthand. She advocates for the country cap to be deleted in exchange for a first come, first serve immigration petition process. Arora echoes Smith’s suggestion of rolling over unused immigrant visa numbers to the next fiscal year. With the brain drain in important science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields (STEM), the employment-based green card limit should be raised to 290,000 visas if not eliminated altogether for STEM jobs, she says. As many people wait for years without knowing when and if they will get a visa, she would like to see job portability so that an immigrant would not “lose their place in the green card line” if they changed jobs, but were still contributing to the economy.

In Texas, Houston immigration attorney Annie Banerjee has more than 10 years of successfully guiding individuals, families, and businesses through the maze of immigration matters. Attorney Banerjee is an immigrant, and knows the care and attention to detail that each person deserves to get their American dream underway. She has helped many immigrants contribute in big and small ways to the U.S. economy and make a better life for themselves and their family.

For more information:
Law Offices of A. Banerjee
131 Brooks Street Suite #300
Sugar Land, Texas 77478
Phone: (281) 242-9139
Fax: (281) 242-2058

2027 Sheridan Street
Houston, Texas 77030
Phone: (713) 793-6339
annie@visatous.com

A. Banerjee is a Houston immigration lawyer in Texas. Before selecting an immigration lawyer in Houston Texas, contact the Law Offices of Annie Banerjee by visiting their information filled web site at http://www.visatous.com.

Domestic violence and human trafficking exists in all facets of life. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) does give immigration protection to individuals who have been battered or suffered from mental or physical abuse from the crime of human trafficking. The USCIS allows these people and their children to file for immigration without the perpetrator knowing.

Through the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) the following types of women can apply for naturalization:

- Those who have been abused in the United States by their U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse, and entered into the marriage in good faith, not just for immigration benefits

- Those who have been abused by their U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse abroad while the spouse was employed by the U.S. government or a member of the U.S. uniformed services

- The parent of a child who has been subjected to abuse by their U.S. citizen or permanent spouse

- A mother who has been abused by their U.S. citizen son or daughter

VAWA went into law in 1994 and was reauthorized in 2000 and 2005. This year it will expire if not reauthorized. Recently, the Senate held a hearing to celebrate “The Violence Against Women Act: Building on Seventeen Years of Accomplishments”. The American Immigration Lawyers Association has long adopted efforts to lessen violence against immigrant women, family violence, and programs to help victims.

On July 12, Texas House of Representative Lamar Smith introduced H.R. 2497, the Hinder the Administration’s Legalization Temptation Act (HALT Act). Many immigration attorneys feel the HALT Act will hurt immigrant victims of domestic violence and battery as it will deny them protections against deportation that were allowed under deferred action mechanisms.

“USCIS grants Deferred Action to approved self-petitioners awaiting adjustment so they can work legally and escape their abusers’ economic control,” the AILA said in a letter to House representatives. “By eliminating Deferred Action as a tool for helping victims of domestic violence and other victims of crimes, HALT would restore a powerful weapon to batterers’ and crime perpetrators’ arsenals against victims vulnerable to removal.”
VAWA has been a cause that both political parties have embraced for 17 years. But if legislation like HALT takes precedence and VAWA is not re-authorized, immigration attorneys worry what the legacy for an immigrant woman’s rights will be.

Houston immigration attorney Annie Banerjee sees the importance of VAWA every day in her immigration law practice. She champions her clients’ rights to a safe environment, opportunities to remain lawfully in the United States, and achieve their citizenship goals. The Law Offices of Annie Banerjee are known for their skill at helping individuals and families with all their immigration concerns for more than 10 years.

For more information:
Law Offices of A. Banerjee
131 Brooks Street Suite #300
Sugar Land, Texas 77478
Phone: (281) 242-9139
Fax: (281) 242-2058

2027 Sheridan Street
Houston, Texas 77030
Phone: (713) 793-6339
annie@visatous.com

A. Banerjee is a Houston immigration lawyer in Texas. Before selecting an immigration lawyer in Houston Texas, contact the Law Offices of Annie Banerjee by visiting their information filled web site at http://www.visatous.com.