Publications

November, 2007

DIVERSITY VISA PROGRAM, 2009 LOTTERY

For the Diversity Visas natives of the following countries are not eligible because their countries sent more than 50,000 immigrants to the U.S. over the past 5 years:

BRAZIL, CANADA, CHINA (mainland-born), COLOMBIA, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, ECUADOR, EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, HAITI, INDIA, JAMAICA, MEXICO, PAKISTAN, PHILLIPINES, PERU, POLAND, RUSSIA, SOUTH KOREA, UNITED KINGDOM (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and VIETNAM. Persons born in HONG KONG SAR, MACAU SAR and TAIWAN are eligible.

To enter, provided you are not a native of one of the above countries, you may qualify as a native of your country because you were born there, or if your spouse was born in a qualified country.

You must have a high school education or its equivalent or 2 years of work experience within the past 5 years in an occupation requiring at least 2 years of training or experience.

The Department of State will only accept completed Electronic Diversity Visa (E-DV) Entry Forms during the registration period. No more than one entry may be made.

Electronic photographs must accompany the application for you, a spouse if any, and each unmarried child under 21 years of age including legally adopted children and step children, even if the child does not reside with you or you do not intend the child to immigrate with you. A separate photograph must be submitted for each child. A digital photograph for each member of the family must be submitted online with the E-DV Entry Form. You may use a new digital photograph or scan a photographic print with a digital scanner.

NATURALIZATION: TIME ALLOWED FOR
IMMIGRATION TO MAKE A DECISION

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently decided that the Immigration Service has only 120 days after the interview to adjudicate a naturalization petition. The Court stated that the statute intended the Immigration Service to decide from the time of the examination (which the Service need not conduct until after the FBI has concluded its examination) but once the Immigration Service has afforded an applicant an interview it must make a decision within 120 days. A Writ of Mandamus would lie if the Immigration Service fails to live up to its 120 days responsibility.

SOCIAL SECURITY AND IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT

The Bush Administration had a plan to use Social Security records to enforce immigration laws and to catch undocumented alien. Federal Judge Charles R. Breyer of the Northern District of California has barred the Department of Homeland Security from enforcing a rule requiring employers to fire workers if their Social Security numbers could not be verified within 90 days. The assumption the government mistakenly made was that workers whose numbers did not match the Social Security’s database were illegal immigrants using fake identities.

Judge Breyer found that the Social Security’s database is riddled with errors unrelated to immigration status. The Judge held that legal employees may be fired simply because they are unable to resolve the discrepancy within 90 days even though the records of the Social Security Administration are in a jumble. The records have numerous data entry mistakes, misspellings, name changes and the result would cause irreparable harm to innocent persons. It has been estimated by the AFL-CLO that over 600,000 workers would be vulnerable to firing.

The costs would massively affect small businesses without a survey of the costs and impact.

The Government has recently been engaged in an oppressive enforcement strategy. For example, in agriculture, rigorous enforcement has resulted in a shortage of workers resulting in rotting crops, and farmers relocating to Mexico. These foolish crackdowns have created havoc in the agrarian economy without any resolution of the problem. The decision of Judge Breyer has barred the Social Security Administration from sending out about 140,000 no match letters covering more than eight million employees.

For more information, or for help, call us at (212) 944-9420 or e-mail us at:
info@oltarsh.com

Our assistance is only a phone call, or e-mail communication away!

New York Immigration Lawyers > Immigration Publications > November 2007