A MESSAGE FROM SISKIND, SUSSER, HAAS & DEVINE

Dear Readers:

Legislative battles on immigration are lower key this year, but, nevertheless, important issues are being debated in Congress. The good news is that most of the bills being seriously debated are much more pro-immigrant than in the recent past. The House of Representatives, for example, has just passed legislation making it easier for older adopted children to get green cards. A fight to restore national interest waivers for physicians working in medically underserved parts of this country is nearly finished. The “Fix 96” campaign to reverse some of the harshest excesses of the 1996 immigration act has real support. 

Unfortunately, the news on the legislative front is not all rosy. One real problem looming on the horizon is Congress’ failure to take up legislation to raise the H-1B cap.  Many believe the cap for this fiscal year will be hit even earlier next year. The problem could be compounded by the INS’ apparent miscount of visa numbers last year. The INS claims to have undercounted the number of approvals last year by as many as 20,000 and are considering taking the numbers from this year’s count. We’ll report more on this subject in this month’s issue.

This month marks the first month that the US Information Agency is no more. The USIA’s responsibilities for administering the J-1 Exchange Visitor Visa program have been transferred to the State Department. The public was promised that the transition would be done in such a way that the public would hardly notice the changes. Unfortunately, that has not been the case. This month, we cover the transition and some of the problems J visa holders are having as a result.

We’ll report on these and a number of other issues as well as our regular features – including government processing times, the State Department Visa Bulletin, Visa Spotlight, News Bytes, News from the Courts, Border News and more.

In Siskind, Susser, Haas & Devine firm news, the firm has again been in the media again. Last month, we mentioned that the firm had been interviewed by the Wall Street Journal. That article was published shortly after the newsletter was released and can be found on our web page at http://www.visalaw.com/news/. The firm was also prominently mentioned in articles in LatinoLink, L’Espresso (an Italian magazine) and the Miami Herald. Greg Siskind also authored an article on using advanced features of e-mail in a law practice in the latest issue of the Tennessee Bar Journal. Greg also delivered a number of speeches around the country last month related to his best-selling book The Lawyers Guide to Marketing on the Internet, published by the American Bar Association. His latest book, the J Visa Guidebook, published by Matthew Bender/Lexis Publishing, is also selling briskly. It can be ordered by calling 800-533-1637.

And as always, we remind readers that this publication is put out by Siskind, Susser, Haas & Devine, an immigration law firm, and we are available for telephone or in-person consultations to answer immigration questions and discuss our representing individuals and employers in immigration matters. If interested, please go to http://www.visalaw.com/intake.html.

Sincerely, 

Greg Siskind 

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Disclaimer: This newsletter is provided as a public service and not intended to establish an attorney client relationship. Any reliance on information contained herein is taken at your own risk.