No Mercy Policy

Date: Sunday, December 21, 2003 4:39 PM

JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER

www.ZaZona.com

Immigration lawyers and H-1B visa holders are complaining that it's
"harsh and unreasonable" that H-1B workers have to leave our country if
they lose their job. The contention that it's unreasonable is faulty
because H-1B workers are supposed to be used on a temporary basis
because when their are labor shortages. Obviously if an H-1B loses his
or her job, they are no longer needed, and therefore should go back to
their home country. This policy is the law, and it's the responsibility
of every foreign worker that wants to come here with an H-1B visa that
they are indentured to their employer, and that their visa will be
revoked if they lose their job. H-1Bs have no justification for
complaining about this policy because they agreed to all its terms when
they volunteered to sign the visa agreement.

The so-called "no mercy policy" was put into place to protect US
workers and to prevent H-1Bs from becoming permanent residents. This
policy is one of the few immigration policies that have mercy for the
USA and it's hard working citizens.

There were hints in the article that some H-1Bs might circumvent the US
policy by moving to Mexico or Canada before applying for new H-1Bs.
This is a dangerous loophole that should be closed. We know that
law-evading H-1Bs are applying for TN (Trade NAFTA) visas from Canada
so that they can come back to the United States. The TN visa is much
easier to obtain than H-1Bs and it contains no proctections for
American workers. Currently the number of TN visas allowed from Canada
is unlimited so it's a viable backdoor for foreign workers to come into
the U.S. - especially since Canada's immigration policies are so lax.

NAFTA mandates that the TN visa shall become unlimited from Mexico as
of January 1, 2004. You can bet we will see exiled H-1Bs from Mexico
using TN visas to sneak back into the U.S. Another option they might
use is to immigrate to Mexico and then use a TN visa in order to
circumvent the meager restriction in the H-1B visa law.

According to the second article, Indians are having no trouble getting
H-1Bs. If that is true, why is it a big deal when we deport those that
don't work?

The deputy director of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services,
William R Yates, revealed something about who he considers to be their
customers. Yates seems to think that his customers are the immigration
lawyers at AILA and the companies that apply for visas. He didn't
mention whether he felt his agency should answer to the American
public!

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?msid=181647

Anti-migration laws, no mercy policy

ISHANI DUTTAGUPTA

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2003 04:26:21 AM ]
Born in India , 30 years old, holder of a bachelor's degree, working in
a computer related occupation and earning an average of $53,000
annually. Thats the US Citizenship and Immigration Services'
description of a typical H-1B visa holder in 2002.

But now it will be more accurate to add unemployed and back in India to
that. As the annual quota reverts to 65,000 from October 1 and the US
economy is spooked by recessionary pressure, Indian professionals are
increasingly finding themselves without jobs in the US . Says
Mumbai-based lawyer and immigration expert Sudhir Shah: "There are
47,813 petitions pending adjudication. Within the next 20 days many
more will be filed. So far, there were no fears of reaching the cap of
1,95,000 for FY 2003. But after October, panic and pandemonium will
surely cause the 65,000 visas available for the FY 2004 to go much
faster. Once the reduced cap is reached there will be no H-1Bs till
October 1, 2005 ."

Caught in the anti-immigration and recessionary crossfire, which has
seen about 94,000 unemployed computer professionals in the US , the
laid-off H1B workers face a long and rocky road ahead.

"The US government believes that the law does not afford any latitude
to them,'' says Maryland-based attorney Sheela Murthy. In fact, after
lay-off, the rules are very clear and tough. "H1B workers must leave
the US within 10 days after their visa expires. A laid off worker can
apply for a grace period within 10 days and this is granted on a
case-to-case basis,'' says Dr Arun C Vakil, an immigration expert and
consultant based in Mumbai.

In interpreting the grace period, Murthy is even more stringent. "The
rule does not recognize or provide any "grace period" for maintaining
status after employment termination, she says. Such stringent
rules have resulted in about 40,000 H1B visa holders returning to India
in the last two years. More so because these days visa extensions often
get tied to the issue of brief status lapses. Almost all lawyers and
experts are unanimous in decrying the tough conditions attached to laid
off H1B workers. "Although the interpretation may have legal
justification, the result seems harsh and unreasonable, considering the
fact that the lay off or termination is completely beyond the control
of the H1B worker. This strict position may also appear contrary to
allowing H1B workers admission to the US since they helped to fill a
critical need when the US was suffering acute shortages of qualified,
skilled workers. It would be fair if they were to allow reasonable
grace period," says Murthy.

In future, the US economy is likely to face the need for workers with
tech skills. In the short term, the laid-off H1B workers maybe able to
find jobs if given some time.

But is it the end of the road for those laid-off? "They go to
body-shoppers whoemploy them and file for visas to ensure that they
maintain legal status. They can then be sub-contracted to other
companies with 10-20% of their pay as service fees. A last resort, but
a valid way to remain in the US,'' says Vakil.Another option is that
when both husband and wife have jobs and one loses it, the partner can
file for H-4 dependent status for the other. Some people shift to
countries like Mexico and Canada before applying for new H-1Bs.

H1-B route to US is a little easier
URMI A GOSWAMI

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ MONDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2003 01:21:38 AM ]

Click for more>>

NEW DELHI: The picture seems a little less bleak for those planning to
go to the US via the H1-B route. According to the US Citizenship and
Immigration Services, the allotted 65,000 visas from October 2003 to
September 2004 is likely to last until sometime in the spring of 2004.

However, the USCIS has said that it will provide a projected date for
reaching the cap at the end of January 2004. (Is a job in the US still
your dream?)

In mid-December deputy director of the US Citizenship and Immigration
Services William R Yates told American Immigration Lawyers Association,
(AILA) "We are not near the cap at this time. As I stated last week we
will release information at the end of January regarding where we stand
and at that time will decide whether we need to notify customers of a
projected cap date. Of course it is theoretically possible that
we could reach the cap by the end of the calendar year but we would
have to receive record levels of filings. I still believe that we will
hit the cap this spring, but I wont be more specific until I see the
numbers in January."

Part of the reason why it is believed that the cap will only be met by
spring, is the number of cap-subject filings made to date. However,
immigration attorneys in the US are still advising against delays in
application.

The fact is that there were 18,000 pending H-1B applications from the
fiscal year ending September 30, 2003.

Reviewing of these petitions started from the beginning of fiscal year
2004, that is October 1. Of these petitions those approved for visas
would count against the cap (65,000) of the fiscal year 2004. On top of
that, nearly 7,000 H1-B visas have been set aside for Singapore and
Chile under the free trade agreements.

Support this Newsletter and ZaZona.com by donating:
www.zazona.com/Donations.htm

To Subscribe or Unsubscribe send an email to

Back to archives