Headlines:
Ø 1.
H-1B Update: FY 2010 Filing Starts April 1
- USCIS has put in place a
five-day window for H-1B filings if the agency receives 65,000 or more
applications within the first five business days in April.
Ø 2.
H-2A/H-2B: DOL Withdraws
Interpretation of FLSA On Relocation Expenses
- The interpretation said that the FLSA and its implementing regulations do
not require employers to reimburse workers under the H-2A and H-2B programs
for relocation expenses even when such costs result in the workers being
paid less than the minimum wage.
Ø 3.
H-2B Limits Hurting Maryland Crab Industry
- Approximately 150 Chesapeake Bay-area watermen and representatives of
related industries met with Maryland's First District Congressman Frank
Kratovil (D-Md.) to discuss the problem.
Ø 4.
E-Verify,
EB-5, Religious Worker and Conrad 30 Programs
Extended to September 30
- Congress has extended four immigration programs through September 30,
2009.
Ø 5.
Illinois E-Verify Statute Struck
Down as Unconstitutional -
Illinois cannot "dictate to Congress the standards that federal programs
must meet."
Ø 6.
White House
Extends
Deferred Enforced Departure for Liberians
- The previous DED grant expired on March 31, 2009; DED has been extended
for 12 months.
Ø 7.
Court Allows Concurrent Filings for Religious
Workers - The U.S.
District Court for the Western District of Washington ruled, in Ruiz-Diaz v.
U.S., that a USCIS regulation is "unreasonable and impermissible."
Ø 8.
Some Visa Categories Retrogress in April;
Cut-Off Dates May Slow
- The
employment third preference Other Worker cut-off date has been retrogressed
for all countries in order to hold the issuance level within the annual
limit.
Ø 9.
New I-9 Form Goes Into Effect
-
The new form, which is going into
effect April 3, 2009, reflects the Department of Homeland Security's amended
regulations.
Also in this issue:
New Publications and Items of Interest
Recent News from ABIL Members
Government Agency Links
Details...
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
(USCIS) has announced that it is accepting fiscal year (FY) 2010 H-1B
applications starting on April 1, 2009. In recent years, H-1B numbers have
been used up on the first day of the filing period, which has led to more
and more applications being filed in a rush. To alleviate difficulties
caused by so many H-1B applications being filed on the same day, USCIS has
put in place a five-day window for FY 2010 H-1B filings if the agency
receives 65,000 or more H-1B applications within the first five business
days in April, ending April 7, 2009. This means that if that situation
occurs, the selection process ("lottery") will be based on petitions
received during all of the five days, and the receipt date for all of those
cases likely will be the same: April 8, 2009.
Exempt from the 65,000 cap are those who:
(1) are employed at, or have received offers of employment from, an
institution of higher education, or a related or affiliated nonprofit
entity; (2) are employed at, or have received offers of employment from, a
nonprofit research organization or a governmental research organization; or
(3) have earned a master's or higher degree from a U.S. institution of
higher education. There is a 20,000 cap on master's degree exemptions.
The following are highlights of recent
H-1B developments:
Interim final rule.
USCIS issued an interim final rule effective March 24, 2008, governing
petitions filed on behalf of workers subject to the annual numerical
limitations applicable to the H nonimmigrant classification. This rule
provides that USCIS will include petitions filed on all of those first five
business days in the random selection process if USCIS receives a sufficient
number of petitions to reach the applicable numerical limit (including
limits on exemptions) on any one of the five business days on which USCIS
may accept petitions. USCIS has determined that a filing period of five
business days is sufficient to account for a wider range of mail delivery
times offered by the various mail delivery providers available to the
public.
This rule
also provides that if both the 65,000 and 20,000 caps are reached within the
first five business days available for filing H- 1B petitions for a given
fiscal year, USCIS must first conduct the random selection process for
petitions subject to the 20,000 cap on master's degree exemptions before it
may begin the random selection process of petitions to be counted toward the
65,000 cap. After conducting the random selection for petitions subject to
the 20,000 cap, USCIS then must add any non-selected petitions to the pool
of petitions subject to the 65,000 cap and conduct the random selection
process for this combined group of petitions. Therefore, those petitions
that otherwise would be eligible for the master's degree exemption that are
not selected in the first random selection will have another opportunity to
be selected for an H-1B number in the second random selection process. This
rule also clarifies that those petitions not selected in either random
selection will be rejected.
To ensure the fair and equitable
distribution of cap numbers, the interim rule also precludes a petitioner
(or its authorized representative) from filing, during the course of any
fiscal year, more than one H-1B petition on behalf of the same beneficiary
if such person is subject to the 65,000 cap or qualifies for the master's
degree exemption. USCIS said it recognizes that, on occasion, an employer
may extend the same worker two or more job offers for distinct positions and
therefore have a legitimate business need to file two or more separate H-1B
petitions on behalf of the same person. This rule precludes this practice if
the beneficiary is subject to the numerical limitations or qualifies for the
master's degree exemption.
In cases
where USCIS does not discover that duplicative or multiple petitions were
filed until after approving them, the rule also provides that USCIS may
revoke all such petitions if they were approved after this rule becomes
effective.
The rule
does not, however, preclude related employers from filing petitions on
behalf of the same worker. USCIS said it recognizes that an employer and one
or more related entities (such as a parent, subsidiary, or affiliate) may
extend the same worker two or more job offers for distinct positions and
therefore have a legitimate business need to file two or more separate H-1B
petitions on behalf of the same person.
For
example, USCIS noted, a Fortune 500 company may be the parent company of
numerous U.S.-based subsidiaries whose business is to engage in either the
food, beverage, or snack industries. Each line of business may, in turn, be
divided into several business units and operate distinct companies (e.g.,
restaurant, bottled beverage plant, cereal manufacturer) with different EIN
numbers and addresses. Although all the subsidiaries are ultimately related
to the parent company through corporate ownership, this rule does not
prohibit different subsidiaries from filing one H-1B petition each on behalf
of the same worker so long as each employer/subsidiary has a legitimate
business need to hire the worker for a position within that subsidiary's
corporate structure. Thus, in this example, if the bottled beverage plant
owned by the Fortune 500 company and the cereal manufacturing company owned
by the same Fortune 500 company are each in need of the services of a Chief
Financial Officer, both may file one petition each on behalf of the same
worker. A subsidiary should not file an H-1B petition for a worker just to
increase the person's chances of being selected for an H-1B number where
that subsidiary has no legitimate need to employ the worker and is, instead,
only filing a petition to facilitate the worker's hiring by a different,
although related, subsidiary.
The
interim final rule is available at
http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/pdf/E8-5906.pdf.
USCIS
issued a notice about the FY 2010 H-1B cap and filing period at
http://www.uscis.gov/files/article/H-1B_Filing_20mar2009.pdf.
A related Q&A document is available at
http://www.uscis.gov/files/article/H-1B_filing_qa_20mar2009.pdf.
H-1B employers receiving TARP funding.
Meanwhile, USCIS has announced additional H-1B requirements for employers
receiving Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funding before hiring H-1B
specialty occupation workers. The new "Employ American Workers Act" (EAWA),
signed into law by President Obama as part of the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act on February 17, 2009, was enacted to ensure that companies
receiving covered funding do not displace U.S. workers. Under this
legislation, any company that has received covered funding and seeks to hire
new H-1B workers is considered an "H-1B dependent employer." All H-1B
dependent employers must make additional attestations to the Department of
Labor (DOL) when filing the Labor Condition Application (LCA).
EAWA applies to any LCA and/or H-1B
petition filed on or after February 17, 2009, involving any employment by a
new employer, including concurrent employment and regardless of whether the
beneficiary is already in H-1B status. The EAWA also applies to new hires
based on a petition approved before February 17, 2009, if the H-1B employee
had not started working before that date.
EAWA does not apply to H-1B petitions
seeking to change the status of a beneficiary already working for the
employer in another work-authorized category. It also does not apply to H-1B
petitions seeking an extension of stay for a current employee with the same
employer.
The USCIS
notice is available at
http://www.uscis.gov/files/article/H-1B_TARP_20mar2009.pdf.
USCIS has issued a related Q&A document at
http://www.uscis.gov/files/article/H-1B_TARP_qa_20Mar2009.pdf.
Revised Form I-129.
USCIS has revised Form I-129, Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker, to include a
question asking whether the petitioner has received covered funding. USCIS
has posted this form at
http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=f56e4154d7b3d010VgnVCM10000048f3d6a1RCRD&vgnextchannel=db029c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD.
While USCIS encourages petitioners,
whenever possible, to use the most up-to-date form, the agency said it will
not require use of the revised form in time for the start of the filing
period for fiscal year 2010. However, USCIS urges H-1B petitions who have
already prepared packages for mailing using the previous Form I-129 (January
2009 version) to complete only the page in the revised version of the Form
I-129 (March 2009) that has the new question on EAWA attestation
requirements and to file this single page with the prepared package. The
single page referenced is the first page on the H-1B Data Collection and
Filing Fee Exemption Supplement.
USCIS reminds petitioners that a valid
LCA must be on file with DOL at the time the H-1B petition is filed with
USCIS. This means that if the petitioner indicates on its petition that it
is subject to the EAWA, but the LCA does not contain the proper attestations
relating to H-1B dependent employers, USCIS will deny the H-1B petition.
Meanwhile, Bank of America has withdrawn many job offers to MBA students
graduating from U.S. business schools because of the H-1B limitation on TARP
funding. About a third of MBA students at leading U.S. schools who go into
finance and banking jobs come from outside the U.S. David Schmittlein, dean
of MIT's Sloan School of Management, worried that "[t]here might be an
inclination for people from around the world to vote with their feet."
H-1B success stories.
The American Immigration Lawyers Association is collecting examples of the
important contributions made by H-1B workers. If you have any such examples,
please e-mail them to
H-1Bsuccess@aila.org.
2. H-2A/H-2B: DOL Withdraws
Interpretation of FLSA On Relocation Expenses
Effective March 26, 2009, the Department
of Labor (DOL or the Department) withdrew an interpretation of the Fair
Labor Standards Act (FLSA) published on December 18 and 19, 2008. The
interpretation had said that the FLSA and its implementing regulations do
not require employers to reimburse workers under the H-2A and H-2B
nonimmigrant visa programs, respectively, for relocation expenses even when
such costs result in the workers being paid less than the minimum wage. The
Department withdrew this interpretation for further consideration and it
"may not be relied upon as a statement of agency policy."
The withdrawal notice, which was
published in the Federal Register on March 26, 2009, is available at
http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/pdf/E9-6623.pdf.
3. H-2B Limits Hurting Maryland Crab
Industry
Many crab processing plants in Dorchester
County, Maryland, may stay closed when the crabbing season opens on April 1,
2009, because crab-pickers from Mexico and Central America have been unable
to get H-2B visas, according to reports. Approximately 150 Chesapeake
Bay-area watermen and representatives of related industries recently met
with Maryland's First District Congressman Frank Kratovil (D-Md.) to discuss
the problem.
Congressman Kratovil recently sent a
letter, along with Senators Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) and Benjamin Cardin
(D-Md.), to the Departments of Labor and Homeland Security, that discussed
the H-2B visa shortage's effects on Maryland's crab industry. Congressman
Kratovil noted that "[a]llowing bureaucratic delays to [a]ffect an economy
that is already hurting would do my constituents and their families an
injustice and lead to further American job loss. Through no fault of their
own, small businesses will not be able to employ the seasonal employees that
they need to survive and prosper. Everything possible must be done to ensure
local business have the workers they need to succeed, especially in the
current environment." Congressman Kratovil is an original co-sponsor of H.R.
1136, "Save Our Small Seasonal Businesses Act of 2009," which would allow
any H-2B temporary worker who came to the U.S. during at least one of the
past three years to continue to qualify for temporary admission. The law
also proposes a permanent extension of the H-2B program.
Jack Brooks, president of the Chesapeake
Bay Seafood Industries Association, cited University of Maryland research
that found that every H-2B temporary worker creates two-and-a-half jobs for
shore residents.
The text of Rep. Kratovil's letter is
available at
http://kratovil.house.gov/2009/01/mikulski-cardin-and-kratovil-to-feds-h2b-employers-need-your-help.shtml.
4. E-Verify, EB-5, Religious Worker and
Conrad 30 Programs Extended to September 30
Congress recently extended until
September 30, 2009, four immigration programs: E-Verify, the EB-5 immigrant
investor pilot program, the religious workers program and the Conrad State
30 program. The first two provisions were extended as part of the 2009
Omnibus Appropriations law in early March; the other two provisions were
extended in a separate bill (H.R. 1127) in mid-March.
The E-Verify program allows employers to
electronically verify the work eligibility of new workers. The EB-5 pilot
program allows immigrant investors to invest in "regional centers" around
the country and thereby obtain a green card. The religious workers program
allows certain foreign religious workers to obtain green cards. The Conrad
State 30 program allows certain foreign doctors to get a green card by
working in medically underserved areas.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
(USCIS) announced on March 12, 2009, that as a result of the extension of
the EB-5 pilot program, USCIS will continue to receive, process, and
adjudicate all Regional Center Proposals and Forms I-526, Immigrant
Petitions by Alien Entrepreneur, and Forms I-485, Applications to Register
Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, affiliated with EB-5 regional centers
relying on "indirect" job creation analysis. Currently, there are 45
regional centers throughout the U.S.
The USCIS announcement is available at
http://www.uscis.gov/files/article/EB-5_12mar09.pdf.
5. Illinois E-Verify Statute Struck Down
as Unconstitutional
The U.S. District Court for the Central
District of Illinois has overturned a statute enacted by Illinois that
prohibited employers from enrolling in any employment eligibility
verification systems "until the Social Security Administration (SSA) and
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) databases are able to make a
determination on 99% of the tentative nonconfirmation notices issued to
employers within 3 days, unless otherwise required by federal law."
The court said that Illinois's statute
"frustrates Congress' purpose by prohibiting Illinois employers from
participating in the Federal Program unless the Federal Program meets
Illinois' standard for accuracy and speed." Illinois cannot "dictate to
Congress the standards that federal programs must meet, the court said,
noting that "this clearly frustrates the Congressional purpose of making the
Federal Program available to all employers. The Illinois Act is invalid
under the Supremacy Clause."
Illinois had argued that its statute did
not frustrate the federal verification program because Congress had
established it as a test program, and the federal government has been able
to test the program for years. "This is no answer," said the court. "Even if
Congress established the Federal Program as a test program, Congress is
entitled to set the terms of the testing and the length of testing, not
Illinois. Congress determined that all employers in the fifty states would
be allowed to participate. Illinois cannot say no, or require the federal
government to meet Illinois' standards."
The court concluded: "Section 12(a) of
Illinois Public Act 95-138 is hereby declared to be invalid in violation of
the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution, and the State of
Illinois is permanently enjoined from enforcing this invalid act. All
pending motions are denied as moot."
The case is available at
http://op.bna.com/dlrcases.nsf/id/jcwl-7q9mhj/$File/United States v.
Illinois Op.pdf.
6. White House Extends Deferred Enforced
Departure for Liberians
On March 20, 2009, the White House issued
a memorandum deferring for 12 months the removal of any eligible Liberian
national, or person without nationality who last habitually resided in
Liberia, who is present in the U.S. and who is under a grant of deferred
enforced departure (DED) as of March 31, 2009. The previous DED grant
expired on March 31, 2009.
The memorandum is available at
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Presidential-Memorandum-Regarding-Deferred-Enforced-Departure-for-Liberians/.
A related Q&A document is available at
http://www.uscis.gov/files/article/Liberiaqa_26mar2009.pdf.
7. Court Allows Concurrent Filings for
Religious Workers
The U.S. District Court for the Western
District of Washington recently ruled, in Ruiz-Diaz v. United States, that a
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) regulation is
"unreasonable and impermissible." The challenged regulation, 8 CFR
§ 245.2(a)(2)(i)(B), permits some people to file a visa petition and an
application for adjustment of status concurrently while requiring others,
including religious workers, to wait until USCIS has approved the employer's
visa petition before filing their application for adjustment of status. The
court found that "the Attorney General does not have discretion to choose
who is eligible to apply for adjustment of status (that determination having
been made by Congress), to interpret the same statutory provision in
different ways depending on the classification of the applicant, or to waive
a statutory requirement. Defendants may not, therefore, reject or refuse to
accept plaintiffs' applications for adjustment of status based on the
regulation barring religious workers from concurrent filing."
The court
did not evaluate the constitutionality of the regulation or its validity
under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
Ruiz-Diaz
potentially provides religious workers who have filed I-360 petitions with
the ability to concurrently file adjustment of status applications. This
would allow religious workers whose underlying R visa status is expiring
(the R is valid for five years) to remain in the U.S. as adjustment of
status applicants. At present, the I-360 approval process is lengthy, after
which point the religious worker can file an adjustment application, due to
the need to conduct a site investigation on each filing.
The case is available at
http://www.scribd.com/doc/13628825/RuizDiazvUS309.
8. Some Visa Categories Retrogress in
April; Cut-Off Dates May Slow
Because of high
adjustment of status demand, the Department of State said it has been
necessary to retrogress the April employment third preference cut-off dates
in an attempt to hold demand within the fiscal year (FY) 2009 annual limit.
Because over 60 percent of the Worldwide and Philippines employment third
preference demand received this year by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Services has been for applicants with priority dates before January 1, 2004,
the cut-off date has been retrogressed to March 1, 2003, to help ensure that
future demand is reduced significantly. This cut-off date applies
immediately. Further retrogression or unavailability at any time cannot be
ruled out.
The Department noted
that it has also been necessary to retrogress the employment third
preference Other Worker cut-off date for all countries to hold the issuance
level within the annual limit.
During the past year, many preference
categories have experienced steady and sometimes rapid cut-off date
movement. Such action is normally followed by an increase in applicant
demand. Heavy applicant demand for numbers in some categories could require
cut-off date movements to slow, stop, or even retrogress at some point
during the remainder of FY 2009, the Department said, to hold visa use
within the applicable annual numerical limits. Should such action occur, it
would most likely be only temporary in nature, pending the start of the new
fiscal year in October.
The Visa Bulletin for April 2009 is
available at
http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/bulletin/bulletin_4438.html.
9. New I-9 Form Goes Into Effect
The new I-9 Employment Eligibility
Verification Form (I-9) is available at
http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/I-9_IFR_02-02-09.pdf.
The new form, which is going into effect April 3, 2009, reflects the
Department of Homeland Security's amended regulations governing the types of
acceptable documents and receipts that employees may present to their
employers for employment authorization verification.
An updated version of the I-9 Handbook
for Employers also has been released. The new Handbook includes instructions
on completing the form. The handbook is available at
http://www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments/m-274_3apr09.pdf.
New Publications and Items of Interest
Updated I-9 handbook.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has released an updated Handbook
for Employers that includes instructions on completing the Employment
Eligibility Verification Form (I-9), along with the form. The handbook is
available at
http://www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments/m-274_3apr09.pdf.
EB-5 recommendations.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' Ombudsman has released
recommendations for the EB-5 immigrant visa. Congress allocates
approximately 10,000 immigrant visas per year to the EB-5 category
(including derivative visas for the spouses and minor children of
investors), although fewer than 1,000 visas are used annually. The ombudsman
said this underutilization is caused by a confluence of factors, including
program instability, the changing economic environment, and more inviting
immigrant investor programs offered by other countries.
The ombudsman's recommendations included,
among other things, (1) finalizing regulations to implement a 2002 EB-5 law
that offers a certain subgroup of EB-5 investors a pathway to cure
deficiencies in their previously submitted petitions; (2) offering a
"Special Handling Package" option to EB-5 investors for faster adjudication
of Forms I-526, I-829, and related applications for a higher fee; and (3)
prioritizing the review and processing of all regional center EB-5 related
petitions and applications to foster the immediate creation and preservation
of jobs.
The report is available at
http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/CIS_Ombudsman_EB-5_Recommendation_3_18_09.pdf.
REAL ID implementation.
The Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General (OIG)
released a new report in March 2009, "Potentially High Costs and
Insufficient Grant Funds Pose a Challenge to REAL ID Implementation." The
Inspector General found that many state officials considered REAL ID
implementation costs prohibitive because of requirements such as the
reenrollment of all current driver’s license and identification card holders
and the new verification processes.
Further, state officials in 17 of the 19
states the OIG contacted said they needed more timely guidance from the
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to estimate the full cost of
implementing REAL ID. State officials also said that REAL ID grants did not
sufficiently mitigate the costs, and they viewed as ineffective
communication of grant information by DHS.
The OIG recommended that the DHS
Assistant Secretary for Policy (1) ensure that DHS develops and disseminates
necessary guidance related to the REAL ID card marker, facility security,
verification systems, and best practices that would assist stakeholders in
implementing REAL ID; and (2) establish a communications plan to ensure that
stakeholders receive the necessary REAL ID program and grant guidance.
The report is available at
http://www.dhs.gov/xoig/assets/mgmtrpts/OIG_09-36_Mar09.pdf.
Entrepreneurs returning to home countries.
The Kauffman Foundation has released a study by Harvard professor Vivek
Wadhwa, "America's Loss Is the World's Gain: America's New Immigrant
Entrepreneurs, Part IV." The report notes that a substantial number of
highly skilled immigrants have begun returning to their home countries after
studying and/or working in the U.S. Most returnees originally came to the
U.S. for professional and educational development opportunities, and the
majority of returnees cited career and quality of life as the main reasons
to return to their home countries rather than stay in the U.S. Many cited
opportunities to start businesses in their home countries that they felt
were better than those in the U.S., as well as family considerations. Many
returnees considered care for aging parents to be much better in their home
countries, for example. For more information on this report, see
http://www.kauffman.org/newsroom/united-states-losing-immigrants-who-spur-innovation-and-economic-growth.aspx.
Recent News from ABIL Members
Steve Clark (bio:
http://www.abil.com/lawyers/lawyers-clark.cfm)
addressed the Suffolk University Law School seminar on advanced
immigration strategies on March 6http://www.abil.com/lawyers/lawyers-clark.cfm, 2009. Mr. Clark discussed strategies
for dealing with PERM labor certifications where the employer has had
layoffs, responding to Requests for Evidence involving L-1B specialized
knowledge petitions and I-140 employment-based petitions involving
porting to a new job where the initial employer has ceased operations.
On Tuesday, April 7, 2009, Steve
Garfinkel (bio:
http://www.abil.com/lawyers/lawyers-garfinkel.cfm)
will provide an immigration law update at the Spring Conference of the
Personnel Administrators of North Carolina (http://www.pancweb.org)
in Wilmington, North Carolina.
Charles H. Kuck (http://www.abil.com/lawyers/lawyers-kuck.cfm)
co-authored an article, "Unauthorized Practice of Immigration Law in the
Context of Supreme Court's Decision in Sperry v. Florida," which was
published recently in the William Mitchell Law Review, Vol. 35, Issue 1.
On April 2, 2009, Steve Yale-Loehr
(bio:
http://www.abil.com/lawyers/lawyers-loehr.cfm)
will speak on a panel on immigration law issues affecting international
law students as part of the annual conference of the NALP: Association
for Legal Career Professionals in Washington, DC.
On April 21, 2009, Mr. Yale-Loehr
will lead a seminar on EB-5 immigrant investor issues for members of the
American Immigration Lawyers Association at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New
York City.
Government Agency Links
Follow these links to access current
processing times of the USCIS Service Centers and the Department of Labor,
or the Department of State's latest Visa Bulletin with the most recent
cut-off dates for visa numbers:
USCIS Service Center processing times
online:
https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/jsps/ptimes.jsp
Department of Labor processing times and
information on backlogs:
http://www.foreignlaborcert.doleta.gov/times.cfm
Department of State Visa Bulletin:
http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/bulletin/bulletin_1360.html
The Alliance of Business Immigration
Lawyers (ABIL) is an entity that offers a single point of contact for
customer needs, news alerts, staff training and other programs that benefit
the client through the collaboration of the 140 member attorneys and their
460 staff. Corporate counsel, human resource professionals, in-house
immigration managers and other corporate decision-makers turn to ABIL
attorneys for outstanding legal skills and services. ABIL's work also
includes advocating for enlightened immigration reform, providing speakers
and media sources, presenting conferences, publishing books and articles on
cutting-edge immigration topics, and sharing best practices, all with the
ultimate goal of offering value-added services to business immigration
clients.
The Alliance of Business Immigration
Lawyers' Web site is:
http://www.abil.com/
Contact Your Flynn & Clark Attorney for Further Information
Steven A. Clark
Jane P. Devlin
Vincent W. Lau
Mary E. Gilbert
FLYNN & CLARK, P.C.,
is a member of ABIL, The Alliance of Business Immigration Lawyers. ABIL is an
entity that offers a single point of contact for customer needs, news alerts,
staff training and other programs that benefit the client through the
collaboration of the 140 member attorneys and their 460 staff. Corporate
counsel, human resource professionals, in-house immigration managers and other
corporate decision-makers turn to ABIL attorneys for outstanding legal skills
and services. ABIL's work also includes advocating for enlightened immigration
reform, providing speakers and media sources, presenting conferences, publishing
books and articles on cutting-edge immigration topics, and sharing best
practices, all with the ultimate goal of offering value-added services to
business immigration clients. This newsletter if produced through Flynn &
Clark's collaboration with ABIL.
Disclaimer/Reminder
This e-mail does not constitute direct legal
advice and is for informational purposes only. The information provided should
never replace informed counsel when specific immigration-related guidance is
needed.
