Brazilian Congress recently approved a legislation-for the first time- authorizing the use of binding arbitration clause to resolve individual labor disputes.
Until recently, the Brazilian legislators were silent on the use of arbitration clause in cases involving individual disputes, while the Brazilian courts did allow arbitration clause in disputes involving labor unions against companies, but it prohibited the arbitration clause in disputes involving individuals.
Judge Hovelled stayed her decision until February 12, 2016 because the “immediate vacatur of the 2008 Rule would be seriously disruptive” and “would force ‘thousands of foreign students with work authorizations . . . to scramble to depart the United States.’”
Unless DHS passes a new rule this decision will adversely affect three key areas of business immigration:
“The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) proposes to expand eligibility for provisional waivers of certain grounds of inadmissibility based on the accrual of unlawful presence to all aliens who are statutorily eligible for a waiver of such grounds, are seeking such a waiver in connection with an immigrant visa application, and meet other conditions. The provisional waiver process currently allows certain aliens who are present in the United States to request from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) a provisional waiver of certain unlawful presence grounds of inadmissibility prior to departing from the United States for consular processing of their immigrant visas—rather than applying for a waiver abroad after the immigrant visa interview using the Form I-601, Waiver of Grounds of Inadmissibility (hereinafter “Form I-601 waiver process”). DHS proposes to expand its current provisional waiver process in two principal ways. First, DHS would eliminate current limitations on the provisional waiver process that restrict eligibility to certain immediate relatives of U.S. citizens. Under this proposed rule, the provisional waiver process would be made available to all aliens who are statutorily eligible for waivers of inadmissibility based on unlawful presence and meet certain other conditions. Second, in relation to the statutory requirement that the waiver applicant demonstrate that denial of the waiver would result in “extreme hardship” to certain family members, DHS proposes to expand the provisional waiver process by eliminating the current restriction that limits extreme hardship determinations only to aliens who can establish extreme hardship to U.S. citizen spouses or parents. Under this proposed rule, an applicant for a provisional waiver would be permitted to establish the eligibility requirement of showing extreme hardship to any qualifying relative (namely, U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident spouses or parents).
DHS is proposing to expand the provisional waiver process in the interests of encouraging eligible aliens to complete the visa process abroad, promoting family unity, and improving administrative efficiency.”
Special Immigrant Juvenile Status is for foster youth; it allows undocumented youth immigrant to stay in the country, work, and eventually get a green card.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) invites you to participate in a stakeholder teleconference on Thursday, July 2, from 1 to 2 p.m. (Eastern) to discuss the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designations and registration extension for Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has extended the deadline for initial registration from May 20, 2015, to Aug. 18, 2015, for eligible nationals of Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone (and people without nationality who last habitually resided in one of those three countries).
Q: Is this the same issue as last year? Was it not fixed?
Q: What is going on? Why can’t the Department issue visas, passports, and other travel documents?
Q: How is this affecting consular operations?
Passports
Visas
Q: Can you print a visa without using the data system?
Q: Can the Department just print travel letters for those who need to travel quickly?
Q: What caused this outage? Was it a malicious action or hack?
Q: How long before you restore full system functionality?
Starting May 26, 2015, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will temporarily suspend premium processing for all H-1B Extension of Stay petitions until July 27, 2015. During this time frame, petitioners will not be able to file Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service, for a Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, requesting an extension of the stay for an H-1B nonimmigrant. USCIS will continue to premium process H-1B Extension of Stay petitions filed with Form I-907 premium requests prior to May 26, 2015.
USCIS will refund the premium processing fee if:
Premium processing remains available for all other Form I-129 H-1B petitions, including petitions subject to the H-1B cap that are requesting a change of nonimmigrant status or consular notification.
This temporary suspension will allow USCIS to implement the Employment Authorization for Certain H-4 Spouses final rule in a timely manner and adjudicate applications for employment authorization filed by H-4 nonimmigrants under the new regulations.
The immigration and Nationality Act sets the number of immigrant visas that may be issued to individuals seeking a green card each year.
Immigrant visas available to “immediate relatives” of U.S. citizens are unlimited, so are always available. Immediate relatives include, parents of a U.S. citizen, spouses of a U.S. citizen and, unmarried children under the age of 21 of a U.S. citizen.
Immigrant visa numbers for individuals in a “preference category” are limited, so are not always available.
The U.S. Department of State is the agency that distributes visa numbers. Family sponsored preference categories are limited to a minimum of 226,000 per year and employment based preference visas are limited to a minimum of 140,000 per year. In addition, there are limits to the percentage of visas that can be allotted to each country.
To distribute the visas among all preference categories, the Department of State gives out the visas by providing visa numbers according to the preference category and one’s priority date.
The priority date is used to determine an individual’s place in line in the visa queue. When the priority date becomes current, the individual will be eligible to apply for an immigrant visa.
Children Reported as Found Abandoned in Nepalese Hospitals
Generally, children reported as found abandoned at a Nepal hospital would fall within the scope of the U.S. suspension of adjudication of abandonment based adoption petitions in Nepal.
USCIS recognizes that the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare (MoWCSW) of the Government of Nepal has stated that street children (“foundlings”) or children found in the streets are not eligible for intercountry adoption, but that this ban by MoWCSW does not extend to children reported to be abandoned in hospitals. While children reported to be found abandoned at a hospital are not within the scope of the MoWCSW ban, these casesare within the scope of the U.S. abandonment suspension on the adjudication of adoption petitions for children in Nepal reported as having been found abandoned, unless a birth parent can be identified and proper relinquishment procedures have been followed.
Nepalese hospitals currently do not have mechanisms in place to verify the true identity of a baby’s parent(s) during the hospital admission process. Under Nepali law, birth parents cannot relinquish a child directly to the hospital. Therefore, children reported to be found abandoned at Nepali hospitals generally would not be eligible for U.S. intercountry adoption processing at this time because the origin of these children is uncertain, and the identity of the birth parents cannot be sufficiently ascertained.
USCIS and the U.S. Department of State continue to strongly recommend that prospective adoptive parents refrain from adopting children from Nepal due to grave concerns about the reliability of Nepal’s adoption system. We also strongly urge adoption service providers not to accept new applications for adoption from Nepal.
The U.S. Government continues to encourage the Government of Nepal to work with the international community, including the Permanent Bureau of the Hague Conference on Private International Law, to implement the Hague Adoption Convention and reform its adoption process to protect children and families.
There are special filing instructions in place for adoption petitions under the orphan system involving Nepali orphans. For more information, please see the page called “Special Instructions for How and When to File Adoption Petitions on Behalf of Nepali Children.”
USCIS and Department of State Roles
USCIS is responsible for the adjudication of the Form I-600, Petition to Classify Orphan as an Immediate Relative. In overseas locations where USCIS does not have an office, such as Nepal, USCIS has delegated limited authority to Department of State consular officers at U.S. embassies and consulates to accept in-country filings of Forms I-600 in certain circumstances and to approve petitions that are clearly approvable. Form I-600 petitions found by the consular officers to be “not clearly approvable” are then forwarded to the USCIS office overseas with jurisdiction over that location for adjudication. The USCIS office in New Delhi, India, has jurisdiction over petitions filed with the U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu, Nepal.
Joint USCIS and Department of State Delegation
In November 2014, a joint USCIS and Department of State delegation traveled to Nepal to learn more about the Government of Nepal’s current child welfare system and adoption procedures. The delegation also demonstrated the U.S. government’s support for Nepal’s efforts to seek permanent solutions for children in need of families and safeguard the integrity of intercountry adoptions. Over the four-day visit, the delegation met with government officials, representatives of foreign governments and various non-governmental organizations.
For more information about the visit, please see the alert posted on the Department of State website.
Recent History
On August 6, 2010, the Department of State and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services jointly decided to suspend adjudication of new adoption petitions and related visa issuances for children who purportedly were abandoned in Nepal.
In early August 2010, a joint assessment team from the U.S. Department of State and USCIS travelled to Nepal and performed a detailed analysis of the evidence being presented to document the abandonment of children in Nepal. The team found that information presented in support of orphan petitions included vague and self-contradictory testimony and documents. Local officials were often uncooperative or appeared to purposefully mislead or deter investigations. The U.S. Government committed to complete the processing of the 65 cases where U.S. families had received an official referral of a Nepali child before the announcement of the suspension (these cases are referred to as “pipeline” cases).
On January 5, 2011, Nepal’s Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare announced that children found by the police and considered abandoned will not be available for intercountry adoption until further notice.
In January 2012, Nepal’s Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare announced on its website that there may be children who could be considered eligible for intercountry adoption by the Government of Nepal as relinquishment cases (meaning that the children had become orphans by virtue of having been relinquished by their birth parent(s)). Due to the concerns regarding the reliability of Nepal’s adoption system, any future relinquishment cases received by the U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu will require thorough investigations, which may include birth parent interviews and DNA testing. USCIS cannot estimate the time any investigations may take to complete. Prospective adoptive parents should be aware that investigations may require significant time and would likely result in an increased financial burden.
For more information about adoptions from Nepal, please see the Department of State website here.
On April 21, 2015 the Senate reached agreement that proposed immigration amendments will not be included in the list of Amendments to S. 178, the anti-human trafficking bill that has stalled the confirmation vote for Attorney General nominee Loretta Lynch. Four Senators—Sen. David Vitter (R-LA), Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK), Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), and Sen. Thom Thillis (R-FL)—had proposed amendments that would have restricted constitutional birthright citizenship, eliminated protections for unaccompanied children, and granted DHS broad power to detain non-citizens for prolonged periods, among other harmful measures. Prior to reaching an agreement, Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) had urged his Republican colleagues not to “destroy this human-trafficking legislation that is so important.” The Senate is scheduled to hold Lynch’s confirmation vote on Thursday.