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Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Arizona Immigration Law: The Supreme Court Ruling

On June 25, 2012, the United States Supreme Court ruled that certain key provisions of Arizona's controversial immigration law (known as SB-1070) were unconstitutional, while upholding just one of its provisions. Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote the majority opinion.

To understand how the law may or may not affect foreign physicians working in the United States--and in Arizona specifically--it is important to first have an overview of the Supreme Court's mixed decision in the case. The sections of the Arizona immigration law that were struck down by the Supreme Court were as follows:

SB-1070: Failing to obtain and carry federal immigration registration documents is a crime. Supreme Court: "Permitting the state to impose its own penalties for the federal offenses here would conflict with the careful framework Congress adopted." SB-1070: It is a crime for undocumented immigrants to work or apply for work. Supreme Court: Federal law imposes civil penalties, not criminal penalties, for undocumented immigrants who engage in unauthorized work. Although the Arizona law "attempts to achieve one of the same goals as federal law--the deterrence of unlawful employment--it involves a conflict in the method of enforcement." SB-1070: Warrantless arrests are authorized when there is probable cause to believe a person has committed an offense warranting deportation. Supreme Court: Under federal law, an administrative document is issued when a non-citizen is subject to deportation. The U.S. Attorney General has discretion to authorize an arrest pending a removal decision. The Arizona law authorizes arrests without federal input. "The result could be unnecessary harassment of some aliens (for instance, a veteran, college student, or someone assisting with a criminal investigation) whom federal officials determine should not be removed."

In the high court's opinion, Justice Kennedy wrote that it is "fundamental that foreign countries concerned about the status, safety, and security of their nationals in the United States must be able to confer and communicate on this subject with one national sovereign, not the 50 separate states... Arizona may have understandable frustrations with the problems caused by illegal immigration while that process continues, but the state may not pursue policies that undermine federal law."

The provision of the Arizona immigration law that was upheld by the Supreme Court is as follows:

SB-1070: State and local police are authorized to check the immigration status of people who are lawfully stopped, detained, or arrested, if there is a reasonable suspicion that the individual is in the United States illegally. Supreme Court: "At this stage, without the benefit of a definitive interpretation from the state courts, it would be inappropriate to assume [the status-check provision] will be construed in a way that creates a conflict with federal law... This opinion does not foreclose other pre-emption and constitutional challenges to the law as interpreted and applied after it goes into effect."

William T. Robinson III, president of the American Bar Association (ABA), in a press release pertaining to the ruling, wrote the following regarding the provision of the Arizona law upheld by the Supreme Court: "In light of the court's ruling that upholds immigration status checks by state law-enforcement officials... that are conducted consistent with federal immigration and civil rights laws, the ABA calls on authorities to avoid unnecessary, prolonged detention of individuals who are lawfully present in the United States."

In our next article we will briefly discuss how this upheld provision of the Arizona immigration law may affect foreign nationals legally working and/or traveling in Arizona, and what documentation they should keep with them in the event of a lawful stop and immigration identification check.

Facing Deportation? An Immigration Attorney Is Your Best Bet Why It Is Important to Use an Attorney When Immigrating to the United States Protect Your Green Card Immigration For Medical Professionals: Permanent Residence Status Making an Application Under Skilled - Independent (Migrant) Visa (Subclass 175)

British People Are Not Very Excited About Immigration, Suggests Study

A new research undertaken recently in the UK shows that the people of the country, of late, have become rather negative about the after-effects of the mass movement of overseas people made to the nation--on the British society and its economy-during the course of the last 10 years or so. The study suggests that the demand for a reduction in the overall numbers of the individuals settling in the nation lately--in the backdrop of the largest recorded influx of migrants-has grown steadily.

The toughening public stance was evident most remarkably against the comparatively less qualified and less trained respondents. The study found that laborers from abroad--together with the students from overseas with not-too-good grades--were viewed as specifically unwanted. The findings of the research are likely to boost the plans of London to decrease the levels of immigration.

Meanwhile, the authors of the report, based on the said study, were quoted as saying that the available facts clearly show that the broad outlines of the followed course are perfectly in sync with the community views. They added that much more than anything, what exactly motivates the voters of the UK, in favor of migration, is the widely held opinion that the immigrants are very skilled.

The report continues that in the wake of the New Labor storming to power in 1997, together with the enactment of the Human Rights Act in 1998, migration to the country was made much easier even as most of the existing restrictions on asylum were done away with. That the development was soon followed by a big influx of fresh arrivals from the 8 nations of Europe--which became a part of the European Union (EU) in 2004--is too well known.

A close and thorough scrutiny of survey, done over a period of the last 20 years or so, reveals that there has been a constant growth in demands for comparatively lower net immigration. Although in 1995, nearly 39% of those interviewed opined that the number of overseas people allowed entry into the UK must be decreased, by 2011, the same had swelled to 51%. At 55%, it peaked in 2008.

The share of those people--who opined that the economic after-effects of overseas movement of people to the UK from abroad is very negative for Britain--headed north from 11% in 2002 to 21% 10 years later, with much fewer continuing to be on the fence on the issue. Apart from this, the share of those respondents--who disclosed that the cultural impact of immigration is exceedingly bad--swelled from 9% to become 21% during the course of the same time-frame.

In a related development, a separate survey has discovered that 70% of individuals favor putting a restriction on the overall figures of the overseas students given entry to the various colleges & universities of the UK. Almost the same percentage opines that those, who are not much comfortable with the English language, must be expelled from the nation, and even more opine that those overseas people--who work when they should be actually pursuing their studies--must be exiled from the country.

Choosing Your EB-5 Investment Visa Advisor

The EB5 investment visa allows you to live permanently in the United States. It needs an investment of $500,000 in one of the approved centers for EB5. If you are going to consider the EB5 investment visa, you need to consult a good advisor who can offer their services in an effective way, by assisting you in concluding which is the appropriate regional center to match your requirements.

A good advisor would spent his extensive time in making full scale visits to the approved EB5 programs, and would be concerned with the performance and reliability of the regional centers, which you are considering, and often the projects that are within the center.

There have been several instances where the EB5 investor has only focused on one angle of the regional center while neglecting other important problems. Absolutely it is very important you do not get this wrong as it can put you at the risk of losing $500,000 of your investment, and your permanent visa, and face banishment minus your investment.

So here are few problems that you may want to check out regarding selection of the good consultant or advisor to advise you on negative and positive aspects of several regional centers. Most of the advisors would charge fee, but there are some independent experienced advisors who can provide the full service without charging any fees to the client.

Has the advisor visited the regional centers for many times?

It is very important that the advisor has recently spent his time visiting the approved regional centers. You should know what is happening actually in the programs presently. These all visits should be in detail. Some consultants have not at all visited, or actually any authoritative regional center program.

Some consultants never visit Regional Centers have the restricted knowledge simply that is restricted to sales information that the regional centers have given them. Such kind of advisors not be aware of the issues that are happening behind the actual scene.

Does the consultant understand the intricacies and complexities of the creation of jobs economic models of several programs?

However, different programs would have different job models, the advisor should know about all these models in order to handle the critical issues that can be raised at the time of processing.

Is the consultant have sufficient knowledge about which center have program that is currently subjected to different kinds of litigation, or which consultant had been the knowledge of Secret service investigation? All these are important, critical problems regarding the investment of you $50,000 for the EB5 investment visa.

Does your advisor work only with the investor? Or do they also suggest the Regional Centers?

What is your advisors experience? Do they have maximum success rate? Experience would be essential. Do the clients are coming from at least 20 countries, from different places of the world, considering this is very important. There may be suggestion if all their clients come from only one country.

Bi-National Couple to Face Separation

The story of the bi-national couple, Jon Eric Evans and his husband Nedo is similar to that of the other bi-national couples in the United States. Nedo who is a non US citizen has two options, he must either stay illegally in the United States or must leave his love and return to his hometown, Croatia.

Both of them fell in love and are likely to face separation, as they are of the same sex. Jon and Nedo met each other when Jon traveled to Europe to finish a college degree. He loved Croatia and also fell in love with Nedo, a Croatian. He says that Nedo is his soul mate.

He explained how and where he met Nedo. He had seen Nedo for the first time when he was sitting in a coffee bar. Nedo had come to the coffee bar in order to check out the American in the coffee bar as he was told about a handsome American in the coffee bar, by one of the workers.

Jon says that Nedo was beautiful. Jon had seen him again in another coffee bar and he also noticed that Nedo was looking at him and he also hid himself from Nedo. Jon saw Nedo for the third time when he went with his friend from the United States to the store where Nedo worked. It was a coincidence as John did not know that Nedo was working in that store. Nedo got Jon's cell phone number, while they were talking in that store.

Jon and Nedo lived together in San Francisco. Jon said that they were happy and had gone through a lot of tough times and were still taken care of. Nedo took part in the Diversity Visa lottery program conducted by the US Congress, every year. He has been trying his luck to become eligible for an immigrant visa through the Green Card lottery program. Jon says that the Green Card lottery program is their only hope.

Nedo who is in school is unable to continue his studies and he is not involved much in studies as he misses his family and wants to be with his family. Nedo's student visa is valid only till February 2013 and Jon is not sure about what will happen in the next year, after the expiration of his student visa. He says that they will have to live in the United States in a fear, if Nedo overstays his visa. He is afraid that their relationship may come to an end, if Nedo is deported from the United States.

Jon says that they had joined the DOMA project, in order to fight for their marriage and to stay in the United States together. They expect a legislation that will allow the same-sex couples to remain together and enjoy the same rights that the heterosexual couples enjoy. Jon also wants the United States to legally recognize Nedo as his husband.

How Will I Benefit If I Hire an Immigration Attorney?

In order to migrate to a country like the United States, you will need to services of an immigration attorney. An immigration attorney is a lawyer who has specialized in all the immigration laws, and can help people with the legal process of obtaining citizenship of a country. These lawyers have all the knowledge about the conditions, legal procedures and requirements pertaining to immigration to a country.

The process of applying for a visa is not something that can be done by most individuals on their own. The assistance of an immigration lawyer proves to be extremely beneficial in the visa application process. There is no formal requirement of hiring an attorney when applying for a visa, but it is always preferred to hire one because they provide extremely beneficial assistance in helping you file for immigration to another country.

Some countries have very complicated and confusing immigration laws. Plus, it is difficult to keep yourself up to date with any changes that take place in the immigration laws of a country. Lawyers on the other hand have all this knowledge, plus they are very up to date with any changes in laws. They are well-versed in their field of work and they are experts at avoiding any sort of mistakes that could take place which would either delay your immigration, or lead to a rejection of your visa.

When people were asked about their feedback about the services they received from an immigration lawyer, most of the answers were positive and some claimed that everyone should hire an attorney, especially if they haven't been through the visa application and immigration process before. Those who have gone through the process of immigration without an attorney admit that they had influential and strong sponsors and relatives, which gave them an edge in the immigration process.

The best places to find out about immigration attorneys are through immigration resource communities and centers. Once you've found yourself a list of prospective attorneys, always check the qualifications, education and experience of the attorney. It's good to ask about how successful he/she has been in getting their clients through the immigration process as well. You will need to discuss your situation with the attorney before the attorney can decide which visa is suitable for you, since there are several types of visas. Without an attorney, it might be a bit difficult to determine which visa is applicable to you and your situation.

Attorneys are experts at getting you to pick the right course of action and strategy for your immigration process. For instance, the attorneys convince some of their clients to apply for a non-immigrant visa and then apply for an immigrant visa after some time, which allows them to gain citizenship much faster, and relatively easily than if they would have applied for immigration visa directly. It's best not to take a risk on your own, and let the expert determine the course of action. If you can afford to, always hire an immigration attorney to help you with your visa applications.

Canberra Reduces Visa Pass Mark for Skilled Immigration

In a positive development, from migrant's viewpoints, the Department of Immigration and Citizenship of Australia has reduced the present pass mark required for their program of SkillSelect. Now it is much easier for the workers from Britain and other nations to move to the Kangaroo Land, for work purposes.

Last month, Canberra had revealed that come July 1, 2012, and the required pass marks to make the grade for EOI - SkillSelect will be brought down and made 60 points. Earlier--to successfully cater to the requirements for qualified migration--the aspirants had to gain 65 points. The development, i.e., the bringing down of the pass mark, is positive--the reason being it implies there would be an increase in the number of migrants who will have the qualifications to file an application for a visa of the country.

Who stand to gain!

Aspirants under these visa categories (all point based) stand to gain:

Skilled Independent (subclass 189) Visa: It's for trained overseas workers, who do not have sponsorship from a job-provider/company, a state or territory, or a member of family.

Skilled - Nominated (subclass 190) visa: It's for trained overseas workers who have a nomination from a state or territory of Australia.

Skilled - Nominated or Sponsored (Provisional) (subclass 489) visa: It's for qualified overseas workers who have a nomination from a state or territory, or sponsorship from a qualified relative staying in a chosen region of Down Under.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson from Immigration Australia was quoted as saying that the new development was a key component of the restructuring to the nation's skilled migration program.

These visas will remain open for new aspirants until January 1, 2013 even as the pass mark (points test) for them will continue to be 65 points:

Skilled Independent (Residence) Visa (Subclass 885): The said visa enables the students from abroad--who have done their course studies during the past 6 six months inside the Kangaroo Land, and those having certain temporary permits/visas--to file an application for the permanent residency status.

Skilled - Sponsored (Residence) visa (subclass 886): Although the said visa works in the identical manner, as the Subclass 885, the candidates must have a sponsorship from a qualified relative staying inside the country, or get nominated from an involved government or state organization.

Skilled - Regional Sponsored (Provisional) Visa (Subclass 487): The given visa/permit is a 3-year provisional permit/visa for the students from abroad and certain holders of visa who fail to fulfill the requirements involving a permanent skilled permit/visa. It requires the aspirants to be have nomination from either an involved territory or a state government organization, or have sponsorship from a qualified relative staying inside a chosen region of Down Under.

The above mentioned categories of visa fall under the fresh SkillSelect program. Via the said program--prior to their visa may be duly processed-- the candidates have to present an Expression of Interest (EOI).