Openers

Dear Readers:

The end of the federal fiscal year is coming at the end of this month. For most of the world, October will roll around and no one will notice anything new. For immigration lawyers and their clients, the new fiscal year typically brings changes and crises. This year is no different. Consider the following:

- the green card category for religious workers officially sunsets September 30th (though we received word this week that legislation to extend this category may work its way through Congress in time)

- On October 1st, the H-1B cap drops to 65,000 from 195,000 (even during this recession, the number of visas issued against the cap has not dropped to even close to 65,000)

- DV-2003 applications must be completed by September 30th and given the history of this program, many people will be scrambling to get these cases adjudicated)

There are a couple of other important changes will happen when the clock strikes midnight on September 30th. The $1000 H-1B worker re-training fee will disappear (at least for a short time) so the filing fee will drop to $130 (plus $1000 for premium processing). The H-1B dependency rules go away as well for companies with large percentages of H-1B workers. For doctors, the 46 state Conrad 30 programs will get new allotments of J-1 waiver slots.

Of course, the issue most likely to get press attention - and for good reason - is the H-1B cap drop. We'll be following this issue closely in the weeks to come.

This week a story came to my attention which upset me and it is one we have chosen to highlight in this issue. A soldier coming back from Iraq should be greeted as a hero. The men and women who fought there and are still there risking their lives deserve the thanks of a grateful nation. That's not the experience Army Pvt. Juan Escalante had when he came home from war. Escalante came to this country illegally when he was four years old. After high school last year, he bought a fake green card in order to join the military and fight for the only country he really knows. Now Juan, his parents and his ten and twelve year old brothers are facing deportation due to their illegal status. At least one undocumented alien was among the soldiers killed in Iraq. It is not known how many others are defending this country (though the military has revealed the nearly 40,000 immigrants are serving or have recently served in Iraq). You probably won't hear the anti-immigrant types talk about immigrant soldiers when they wax on about all the immigrants coming here to collect our welfare (or steal our jobs). But those who really know immigrants in this country know that they are following in a long tradition of immigrants before them making sacrifices to help their adopted land. Any immigration officer who takes pleasure in deporting Private Escalante should be ashamed of themselves. Should there be no relief from deportation, one would hop a member of Congress will step in and propose a special bill to help this soldier and his family.

We also have the rest of the week's news as well as a guest article by Gary Endelman and an essay by Eduardo Aguirre, the nation's chief immigration officer.

In firm news, today I'll be moderating the second of three ILW.com telephone seminars entitled "Immigration for the Spirit, Body And Soul: Entertainers/Artists/Athletes, Chefs/Cooks, Religious Workers." Today's program is on chefs, cooks and hospitality workers. On Thursday, October 9th, I'll be moderating the third program on religious workers. You can register at www.ilw.com.

On Wednesday, I will be speaking at the annual meeting of the International Bar Association in San Francisco. Those of you attending the conference can hear me speak on a panel comparing immigration laws around the world for artists and athletes.

Finally, as always, we remind readers that we're lawyers who make our living representing immigration clients. We would love to discuss becoming your law firm. Just go to http://www.visalaw.com/intake.html to request an appointment or call us at 800-748-3819 or 901-682-6455.

Regards,

Greg Siskind