Updates in Immigration

• Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America's Security and Prosperity Act of 2009 (CIR ASAP) Introduced in the House

  
  On December 15, Representative Luis V. Gutierrez, Democrat of Illinois, introduced the Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America's Security and Prosperity Act of 2009 "C.I.R. A.S.A.P." The Gutierrez bill provides that undocumented immigrants in the United States could obtain legal status, and even citizenship, while remaining in the U.S., by meeting several requirements, including passing a criminal background check, paying a $500 fine, demonstrating that they have been working, and learning English.

  
  While the bill has been criticized for many of its provisions, it does aim to promote family unity, offer more visas for workers and relatives, eliminate local enforcement of federal immigration law, and increase the per country limit of visa numbers from 7% to 10%, which would prove especially helpful for Indian and Chinese nationals presently subject to long visa quota backlogs. The bill also calls for enhanced border security and enforcement of immigration laws for employers hiring unauthorized workers.



• USCIS Reaches FY 2010 H-1B Cap

  
  On December 23, 2009, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it has received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap for fiscal year (FY) 2010. December 21, 2009 is the “final receipt date” for new H-1B specialty occupation petitions requesting an employment start date in FY 2010. USCIS has also received more than 20,000 H-1B petitions filed on behalf of persons exempt from the cap under the “advanced degree” exemption. Properly filed cases will be considered received on the date that USCIS physically receives the petition; not the date that the petition was postmarked. USCIS will reject cap-subject petitions for new H-1B specialty occupation workers seeking an employment start date in FY 2010 that arrive after Dec. 21, 2009. USCIS will apply a computer-generated random selection process to all petitions that are subject to the cap and were received on Dec. 21, 2009. USCIS will use this process to select petitions needed to meet the cap. USCIS will reject, and return the fee, for all cap-subject petitions not randomly selected.



• HIV No Longer a Ground of Inadmissibility

  
  Effective January 4, 2010, Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection will no longer make an alien inadmissible under section 212(a)(1)(A)(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (Act).



• Good news for asylum seekers

  
  On December16, 2009, ICE assistant secretary John Morton announced that the government would no longer detain asylum seekers if they can prove their identities, are not dangerous or a flight risk, and have a credible fear of persecution or torture in their home countries. ICE plans to release arriving aliens who have a credible fear of persecution or torture and are currently detained. Then new policy will go into effect on January 4, 2010.



• USCIS plans a significant expansion of onsite inspections of companies hiring H-1B workers

  
  There has been a recent increase in H-1B site visits and I-9 audits by the United States Citizenship Immigration Services’ Office of Fraud Detection and National Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. US immigration officials have a plan to conduct 25,000 on-site inspections of companies hiring foreign workers over this fiscal year. These site visits have been unannounced. They can occur at the employer’s principal place of business and/or at the H-1B nonimmigrant’s work location, as indicated on the H-1B petition.
  (Form I-129).