Immigration Blog

After thousands of immigrants were played for fools by the CIS and DOS with the July Visa Bulletin, what should they do? Send flowers to the head of the CIS, of course (along with a note asking that they please not return your application).

This is what the folks at www.immigrationvoice.com are suggesting. If you would like to learn more about this initiative taking place over the next couple of days, please click on the link to the left.

Please also see the link to the USCIS’ response to the flowers, they will be sending them to hospitalized injured veterans at the Walter Reed Medical Center.

AILF is reporting that it does not need more plaintiffs who filed in July for the class-action lawsuit it will file against the USCIS and DOS at this time. Below is a what AILA wrote about the lawsuit:

“The response has been so strong that currently we do not need any more potential plaintiffs who submitted an adjustment application for receipt in July, unless the individuals have an unusual situation or especially compelling facts, such as an aging-out child. At this time, we also would like to hear from the “non-filers” — people who did not and do not plan to submit an adjustment application for receipt in July but would have done so “but for” the DOS and USCIS actions. These individuals will represent a separate class of plaintiffs. And we’d like to hear from more “other worker” adjustment applicants who applied in June, even if they have not yet received a rejection notice. These individuals will represent a separate class as well. They should read the FAQ, and complete and return to AILF the short form and retainer agreement at visabulletin@ailf.org.

If the lawsuit is successful (and we fully expect it will be), the court will certify classes, and all people who meet the class descriptions will receive the relief the court orders. The class members will not need to “sign up” with AILF to enjoy those rights.”

We will keep you posted.

This is not legal advice. Contact a qualified immigration lawyer to discuss your particular situation.

In deciding whether to apply to be a potential plaintiff in the AILF class-action suit to be filed against the USCIS and Department of State over the July Visa Bulletin fiasco, many understandably want to know what is the downside to being a named plaintiff in the lawsuit.

In reviewing the FAQs published by AILF, the only issues I see are: (1) plaintiffs’ names are public information (although there will likely be hundreds, maybe thousands of plaintiffs); (2) plaintiffs cases MAY be subject to greater scrutiny when being adjudicated (although retaliation by the government because you participated in the suit is unlawful and unlikely to occur); (3) plaintiffs may be called by the government to answer questions relating to the suit either in person or in writing and plaintiffs would be responsible for their transportation costs, this too is a very unlikely scenario; and (4) if a class is certified by the court, then those who would have been eligible to be plaintiffs in the lawsuit, even if they were not named plaintiffs, would be entitled to the same relief as the named plaintiffs.

We will be mailing and e-mailing FAQs, questionnaires and Retainer Agreements to our eligible clients today. Contact your immigration lawyer if you would like to participate in the suit or contact AILF directly at: visabulletin@ailf.org.

Did you file or would you have filed your adjustment of status application but for the “revised” visa bulletin? If so, whether you actually filed or not, you may be eligible to join the class of potential plaintiffs in the lawsuit being filed by AILF (if your priority date was current as of the original July visa bulletin issued on June 12, 2007).

New Frequently Asked Questions, a new Potential Plaintiff Questionnaire and the retainer agreement were made available today. These can be obtained from your immigration lawyer or by e-mailing ailf directly at: visabulletin@ailf.org. The answers to the FAQs explain everything quite clearly.

On June 12, the visa bulletin showed that almost all employment-based categories would be current in July. Thousands of eligible applicants rushed to have their medical examinations, complete questionnaires and compile the requisite documentation.

As we all know, on July 2, the visa bulletin was replaced not by a revised visa bulletin, but by a notice that no additional EB numbers would be available until at least October 1, 2007.

The DOS site has once again updated the visa bulletin page to read as follows:

“The Visa Bulletin for July 2007, posted on June 12, must be read in conjunction with the Update of July Visa Availability, posted on July 2.

The Update of July Visa Availability, posted on July 2, must be read in conjunction with the Visa Bulletin for July 2007, which was posted on June 12.”

The link can be found to the left. This looks like word games from an agency that is preparing to defend itself against lawsuits and a possible congressional inquiry.

In other news, a Chicago law firm has already filed a class-action lawsuit. AILF’s suit should be filed shortly and will allow those who were eligible to file but did not, to participate as plaintiffs. A revised questionnaire and FAQs will be made available soon to include this sub-class.

I inquired with AILF about the class-action lawsuit for the July Visa Bulletin mess. The latest news is that: (1) the suit will be filed soon, (2) plaintiffs do not have to be represented by counsel but will have to complete and submit a retainer agreement to be represented by AILF (of course, if you are represented, participate in the suit through your lawyer), (3) those who would have been eligible to file I-485 applications per the originally published July 2007 DOS Visa Bulletin but who do NOT file WILL be eligible to partake in the lawsuit (a separate questionnaire for such potential plaintiffs should be available through AILF as of early next week).

Please contact AILF (www.ailf.org) or your immigration lawyer for FAQs on the lawsuit and the potential plaintiff questionnaire (both to be updated this week, as well as the retainer agreement.

Today I found two interesting articles that illustrate two very different examples of our dysfunctional immigration system.  Microsoft is heading to Canada to open a research center and a five-year-old girl faces deportation in Boston.

As the broken US immigration system continues to cause financial and emotional hardship
for millions of aliens, both legal and undocumented, we pay a price. Companies are unable to being the talent they need to the US due to arbitrary low numerical limitations on non-immigrant work visas or because valuable employees have to face situations such as the July Visa Bulletin fiasco. These companies then resort to either outsourcing or moving their plants or offices overseas. Are these financial losses to the country taken into account when anti-immigrants crunch their numbers?  Please see the link to an article from www.vrunet.com about Microsoft opening a research center in Vancouver, Canada because they are unable to hire the foreign talent they require to the US.

On the other side of the spectrum, a five-year old undocumented girl faces removal from the United States to El Salvador and separation from her parents.  Please see the link to the Boston.com article.

I’ll divide the developments into “good news” and “bad news”.

First, the bad news:
– Cap-subject H-1B Visas for the 2008 fiscal year exhausted in a single day
– Senate comprehensive immigration bill fails
– I-140 Premium Processing temporarily suspended
– CIS announces dramatic fee increase effective July 30 (see our link)
– Department of Labor regulation effective July 16 states that: (1) employers must pay for all PERM legal fees and associated expenses, and (2) certified labor certifications will generally expire after 180 days
– Revised DOS Visa Bulletin leaves no EB numbers available until at least October 2007

The good news?

– Nothing recent to report.

Please feel free to comment if I missed any major developments.

On another note, the mainstream press is finally reporting on the July Visa Bulletin mess. Please see the link to the article in the New York Times.

In a rush to use up all of the EB visa numbers that would have been made available in July, the USCIS apparently approved thousands of cases in June. In fact, AILA reported that several CIS officials notified them that they were instructed by CIS HQ to pull all I-485 applications that had been pending for more than six months whether or not background checks had cleared (this information was NOT confirmed by USCIS HQ). As a result of this unprecedented action, many approvals of pending I-485 Applications can be expected in the coming week.

Another quirk in the CIS rush to approve I-485s is that some lawyers report having received phone calls in June from the CIS to answer questions on applications.  This is normally done by the issuance of a “Request for Additional Evidence” by mail.
If and when a televised congressional hearing takes place, I will be glued to C-SPAN…enjoy your fourth!

As word of the DOS July revised visa bulletin fiasco gets out, those affected are frustrated and want to take action. Many who were eligible to file their applications prior to the revised July visa bulletin are doing so, knowing full well that their cases will be rejected and that their next step will be to take part in a massive lawsuit against the government. This is one track.

Another track is congressional intervention. Those who were wronged by the visa bulletin bait and switch were legal immigrants, many of whom have waited for years and “played by the rules”. We link to a statement by Congresswoman Lofgren. This is a start. Those who caused this debacle need to be held accountable.