Bills, Rules & Politics

[sandykolu]

Thanks Q. I like this idea and I am going to do my part. All those people who have been pre-adjudicated and just waiting for numbers should unite. We have been waiting since 2009/2010, only to find that CO is willing to waste the visa's based on false pretext. In fact, I believe this is an opportunity for CO to make more money if they process the existing backlog and open up for the people beyond April 2010 for eb2 and others in eb1 and eb3 with their respective FAD's. We have to see beyond our individual categories because this impacts all of us. I feel for the folks beyond 2010 who have been waiting since 2012 just to get an EAD. This is indirectly impacting them too.
I believe there are 10-12k eb2 visas who are in eb2 preadjucated status. If you can help me with some estimates for people waiting in eb1, eb2 and eb3 who could be probably be pre-adjucated that will help me immensely to make the case stronger.

[GC-Immigrant]

I think CO is clearly saying that he thinks visas will be wasted because USCIS has less processing capability and he will not move dates because he sees no point.

What he is not saying is there is a pre processed demand beyond current dates and all they need is a visa. So the ball is in his court not USCIS' court - especially if CO thinks he will have visas and tehy will be wasted.

Can we call house homeland committee members DC office?

[GC-Immigrant]

Thanks Q. I like this idea and I am going to do my part. All those people who have been pre-adjudicated and just waiting for numbers should unite. We have been waiting since 2009/2010, only to find that CO is willing to waste the visa's based on false pretext. In fact, I believe this is an opportunity for CO to make more money if they process the existing backlog and open up for the people beyond April 2010 for eb2 and others in eb1 and eb3 with their respective FAD's. We have to see beyond our individual categories because this impacts all of us. I feel for the folks beyond 2010 who have been waiting since 2012 just to get an EAD. This is indirectly impacting them too.
I believe there are 10-12k eb2 visas who are in eb2 preadjucated status. If you can help me with some estimates for people waiting in eb1, eb2 and eb3 who could be probably be pre-adjucated that will help me immensely to make the case stronger.

People who have already filed 485 (Eb2-2010 April) should call congress members and reach out to DHS

[need4speed]

Thanks Q. I like this idea and I am going to do my part. All those people who have been pre-adjudicated and just waiting for numbers should unite. We have been waiting since 2009/2010, only to find that CO is willing to waste the visa's based on false pretext. In fact, I believe this is an opportunity for CO to make more money if they process the existing backlog and open up for the people beyond April 2010 for eb2 and others in eb1 and eb3 with their respective FAD's. We have to see beyond our individual categories because this impacts all of us. I feel for the folks beyond 2010 who have been waiting since 2012 just to get an EAD. This is indirectly impacting them too.
I believe there are 10-12k eb2 visas who are in eb2 preadjucated status. If you can help me with some estimates for people waiting in eb1, eb2 and eb3 who could be probably be pre-adjucated that will help me immensely to make the case stronger.

Agreed, we shouldn't remain as uninitiated outsider here. I am willing to contribute to get some expert opinion on our options. Do something when there is a glimmer of hope or an insidious tragedy awaits.

[qesehmk]

Can we call house homeland committee members DC office?

You can of course.

I personally think waves of EB-I immigrants showing up in DC in person week after week will make a much bigger impact. Instead of making this a one time 1000 people deal, I would rather have them space out over 10 weeks - 100 people each time. Makes people take notice. In american politics - 100 people gathering together is a big deal. It's not like in India where we have to have 500,000 people rally to make an impact.

[GC-Immigrant]

You can of course.

I personally think waves of EB-I immigrants showing up in DC in person week after week will make a much bigger impact. Instead of making this a one time 1000 people deal, I would rather have them space out over 10 weeks - 100 people each time. Makes people take notice. In american politics - 100 people gathering together is a big deal. It's not like in India where we have to have 500,000 people rally to make an impact.

Yes. My PD is 2012, but willing to show up in DHS, people who have PD until 2010 April should step up and approach DHS to reserve visa for already filed 485 applications.

[GC14Jan2010]

I am willing to be part of any action to oppose the Visa wastage too.

[qesehmk]

Trump administration now targeting students.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/06/politics/international-college-students-ice-online-learning/index.html

[getsaby]

This is really bad, I feel bad for the student who came to study genuinely in the US, it is not their fault!

[getsaby]

Lots of chatter regarding USCIS Spring 2020 agenda in Indian media:

https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/eAgendaMain?operation=OPERATION_GET_AGENCY_RULE_LI ST&currentPub=true&agencyCode=&showStage=active&agencyCd=1600


H4-EAD
https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/eAgendaViewRule?pubId=202004&RIN=1615-AC15

[qesehmk]

Trump is now blocking most of the legal paths to immigrate to the US
(https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/09/politics/trump-legal-immigration-coronavirus/index.html)
https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/09/politics/trump-legal-immigration-coronavirus/index.html (https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/09/politics/trump-legal-immigration-coronavirus/index.html)

Sadly I had predicted this long time back when EB folks were in speaking against illegal immigration. I had told you then that the goal is to stop not just illegal but all kinds of immigration.

[vsivarama]

Trump is now blocking most of the legal paths to immigrate to the US
(https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/09/politics/trump-legal-immigration-coronavirus/index.html)
https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/09/politics/trump-legal-immigration-coronavirus/index.html (https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/09/politics/trump-legal-immigration-coronavirus/index.html)

Sadly I had predicted this long time back when EB folks were in speaking against illegal immigration. I had told you then that the goal is to stop not just illegal but all kinds of immigration.

For those who are still speaking against illegal immigration, do not get sucked into the rhetoric, because there are plenty of bad faith actors trying to divide immigrants. A famous quote from history below states this perfectly.

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

A quote by Martin Niemöller a pastor and theologian

[Zenzone]

Trump is now blocking most of the legal paths to immigrate to the US
(https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/09/politics/trump-legal-immigration-coronavirus/index.html)
https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/09/politics/trump-legal-immigration-coronavirus/index.html (https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/09/politics/trump-legal-immigration-coronavirus/index.html)

Sadly I had predicted this long time back when EB folks were in speaking against illegal immigration. I had told you then that the goal is to stop not just illegal but all kinds of immigration.

Q - Is this anything incremental other than the fact that it summarizes everything that has already happened until now?

[qesehmk]

Q - Is this anything incremental other than the fact that it summarizes everything that has already happened until now?

Not incremental ... but the graphics and the numbers are stunning.

[jimmys]

Trump is now blocking most of the legal paths to immigrate to the US
(https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/09/politics/trump-legal-immigration-coronavirus/index.html)
https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/09/politics/trump-legal-immigration-coronavirus/index.html (https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/09/politics/trump-legal-immigration-coronavirus/index.html)

Sadly I had predicted this long time back when EB folks were in speaking against illegal immigration. I had told you then that the goal is to stop not just illegal but all kinds of immigration.

What did democrats do to legal immigrants? They always bundle us with illegals and make sure we don't get anything in the name of comprehensive immigration. Even the H-4 EAD happened because illegals were rewarded with DACA. Other than that, I haven't seen anything substantial done by democrats for legal immigrants in the last decade. FYI, even the S386 in the senate was blocked by a democrat right now. And, the Neufeld memo was done by Obama administration in 2010.

As far as legals are concerned neither GOP nor dems are hopefuls.

[jimmys]

Trump is now blocking most of the legal paths to immigrate to the US
(https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/09/politics/trump-legal-immigration-coronavirus/index.html)
https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/09/politics/trump-legal-immigration-coronavirus/index.html (https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/09/politics/trump-legal-immigration-coronavirus/index.html)

Sadly I had predicted this long time back when EB folks were in speaking against illegal immigration. I had told you then that the goal is to stop not just illegal but all kinds of immigration.

Even democrats winning Presidency and Congress won't change a thing in legal immigrants' kids aging out.

https://www.ndtv.com/offbeat/at-2-she-moved-from-india-to-usa-and-always-felt-american-until-it-was-time-for-college-2260353?pfrom=home-lateststories

[qesehmk]

What did democrats do to legal immigrants? They always bundle us with illegals and make sure we don't get anything in the name of comprehensive immigration. Even the H-4 EAD happened because illegals were rewarded with DACA. Other than that, I haven't seen anything substantial done by democrats for legal immigrants in the last decade. FYI, even the S386 in the senate was blocked by a democrat right now. And, the Neufeld memo was done by Obama administration in 2010.

As far as legals are concerned neither GOP nor dems are hopefuls.
Both dems and reps actually are pro immigration for different reasons. Dems for votes and republicans for business.
Trump is an outlier who is hell bent on bringing the entire immigration to a screeching halt.

[alpha0]

Any guess on what Trump's so called EO to establish merit based immigration will/can be? We know he can not change Immigration and Naturalizatoin Act thru EO. So i am sure he will try to screw up EB/FB even further using EO to charge up his base.

[qesehmk]

Any guess on what Trump's so called EO to establish merit based immigration will/can be? We know he can not change Immigration and Naturalizatoin Act thru EO. So i am sure he will try to screw up EB/FB even further using EO to charge up his base.

Frankly I was surprised by his announcement of path to citizenship for DACA kids. That is the right thing to do as these kids know no other place on earth as their country. This would be 180 degree turn from Trump's earlier stance on this issue.

I doubt he will actually do it though. He is desperate and is going to float a lot of balloons to see what sticks. I do not know if President can grant citizenship but I believe a president being head of the executive branch could simply ask the agency to grant citizenship as per the INA. There is no upper bar on how many persons can obtain green cards. And then they can of course apply for citizenship after 5 years or so.

Please take my opinion with a pinch of salt as I am not quite well read on law or constitution.

[alpha0]

Let's keep DACA aside for a moment. He needs latino support without enraging his base, so he will do some gimmick, not sure.

What can he do for so called merit based immigration thru EO? Definitely he can not change Eb1/2/3 criteria or number of GCs or allocations. Can he ask agencies to focus processing applications with certain wage levels on priority and push others under the carpet for time being and call it merit based?

[vedu]

Frankly I was totally surprised by his announcement of path to citizenship to DACA kids. That is the right thing to do as these kids know other place on earth as their country. This would be 180 degree turn from his earlier stance on this issue.

I doubt if he will actually do it because I think he is desperate and is going to float a lot of balloons to see what sticks. I do not know if President can grant citizenship but honestly I actually don't think he can't. Because the law lays out what can be done. But IMHO I don't think the law or teh constitution says this is the only way it can be done. So granting of citizenship or GCs - I believe a president can simply ask the agency to grant them.

Please take my opinion with a pinch of salt as I am well read on law or constitution.

It is not fair to say that this is a 180 degree turn for him. He was always willing to give citizenship pathway to DACA kids as part of his merit-based comprehensive immigration plan based on four important pillars: $25 billion fund for Border Security, DACA kids legalization, elimination of diversity lottery, limiting family sponsorship green cards to spouses and minor children only. Those were all fair points. He floated his plan early in his term and tried to work with both the parties. But unfortunately, democrats and republicans couldn't come to an acceptable agreement around these ideas.

[qesehmk]

It is not fair to say that this is a 180 degree turn for him. He was always willing to give citizenship pathway to DACA kids as part of his merit-based comprehensive immigration plan based on four important pillars: $25 billion fund for Border Security, DACA kids legalization, elimination of diversity lottery, limiting family sponsorship green cards to spouses and minor children only. Those were all fair points. He floated his plan early in his term and tried to work with both the parties. But unfortunately, democrats and republicans couldn't come to an acceptable agreement around these ideas.
Thanks Vedu. I meant to say at one point of time he requested supreme court to overturn DACA and thus the kids would have been subject to deportation. And now he is talking about EO on citizenship pathway. That's quite a change of heart!

[nbk1976]

We are talking about Trump here: the most corrupt, inept, unread president, who is totally uninterested in any public policy for the general good. He will talk big about plans only to later find a scapegoat. Not a single act by this administration to date was carried out competently or even in good faith. His cabinet and advisors are corrupt, racist, and just low-life grifters. Do we seriously think Trump is going to deliver an immigration reform to give respite to millions of brown people from "shithole" countries?

[vedu]

Thanks Vedu. I meant to say at one point of time he requested supreme court to overturn DACA and thus the kids would have been subject to deportation. And now he is talking about EO on citizenship pathway. That's quite a change of heart!

Yes, the logic behind that was with supreme court's overturn, he could create a "Do or Die" situation, and force the congress to come together and act. But nothing worked, neither did it work in eight years of previous administration. Garnering enough votes to pass something meaningful remains a distant dream! Also, many people have vested interests in maintaining the status quo because their business model thrives on the status quo continuation, and unfortunately they have powerful lobbies.

[jimmys]

We are talking about Trump here: the most corrupt, inept, unread president, who is totally uninterested in any public policy for the general good. He will talk big about plans only to later find a scapegoat. Not a single act by this administration to date was carried out competently or even in good faith. His cabinet and advisors are corrupt, racist, and just low-life grifters. Do we seriously think Trump is going to deliver an immigration reform to give respite to millions of brown people from "shithole" countries?

You meant to say Hilary Clinton would have been an incorruptible, honest, clean, and virtuous President who would have worked on delivering an immigration reform that gives respite to millions of brown legal immigrants from shithole countries? If you think so, I got a bridge to sell you!

[qesehmk]

Yes, the logic behind that was with supreme court's overturn, he could create a "Do or Die" situation, and force the congress to come together and act. But nothing worked, neither did it work in eight years of previous administration. Garnering enough votes to pass something meaningful remains a distant dream! Also, many people have vested interests in maintaining the status quo because their business model thrives on the status quo continuation, and unfortunately they have powerful lobbies.

Generally speaking of vested interests i.e. businesses - for EB the businesses are generally democrats owned businesses - particularly on the tech side, financials, healthcare etc. For undocumented ones or the H4s the businesses are typically republican ones - small entrepreneuers, agriculture etc. I do not trust Trump one bit. He just says stuff on the fly and the only stuff you can really bank is the racist stuff.

[nbk1976]

You meant to say Hilary Clinton would have been an incorruptible, honest, clean, and virtuous President who would have worked on delivering an immigration reform that gives respite to millions of brown legal immigrants from shithole countries? If you think so, I got a bridge to sell you!

Did I even mention what Clinton would have done? She is not president. What she might have done is never going to be written in history. What Trump has said and what he has done is for all to see. I am so sorry I offended you and besmirched your dear leader’s name.

[vedu]

Did I even mention what Clinton would have done? She is not president. What she might have done is never going to be written in history. What Trump has said and what he has done is for all to see. I am so sorry I offended you and besmirched your dear leader’s name.

You are absolutely right! So far, we can only definitively talk about what Mr. Clinton, Mr. Bush, Mr. Obama, and Mr. Trump could or couldn't do for people in the backlog! And the record so far is consistent across the board!!

[alpha0]

You are absolutely right! So far, we can only definitively talk about what Mr. Clinton, Mr. Bush, Mr. Obama, and Mr. Trump could or couldn't do for people in the backlog! And the record so far is consistent across the board!!

There is a reason they have acting director and acting secretary/ deputy sectary at USCIS and DHS. Administration knows that even republican senate will not approve their nominations.

[vedu]

There is a reason they have acting director and acting secretary/ deputy sectary at USCIS and DHS. Administration knows that even republican senate will not approve their nominations.

I have personally benefited from the current administration's policies. First, all my immigration needs (visitor visa for relatives, H1-b renewal, EAD renewal, etc.) were met promptly without any issues/problems. Also, when the current administration bumped prevailing wage requirements in our area significantly, my employer was forced to readjust the salaries significantly on upside benefiting me. And now with the focus on merit and restrictive policies, there is an outside chance that the resulting significant spillover will finally see me in the green area. So, I have no complaints and I don't know what you guys are talking about!

[vsivarama]

I have personally benefited from the current administration's policies. First, all my immigration needs (visitor visa for relatives, H1-b renewal, EAD renewal, etc.) were met promptly without any issues/problems. Also, when the current administration bumped prevailing wage requirements in our area significantly, my employer was forced to readjust the salaries significantly on upside benefiting me. And now with the focus on merit and restrictive policies, there is an outside chance that the resulting significant spillover will finally see me in the green area. So, I have no complaints and I don't know what you guys are talking about!

And I have personally benefited from the coronavirus. I used to travel a lot for my job and now I get to stay home and spend more time with my family. Because of the stock market volatility I could make a killing with my trades. I am in general getting more calls for job openings/interviews in my field. By your logic does that mean coronavirus is the best thing to happen to humanity? I do NOT think so. There are millions suffering because of the covid situation. I am worried now more than ever for the safety of my family.

[vedu]

And I have personally benefited from the coronavirus. I used to travel a lot for my job and now I get to stay home and spend more time with my family. Because of the stock market volatility I could make a killing with my trades. I am in general getting more calls for job openings/interviews in my field. By your logic does that mean coronavirus is the best thing to happen to humanity? I do NOT think so. There are millions suffering because of the covid situation. I am worried now more than ever for the safety of my family.

Now, it is ludicrous that you compare administrative policies and views on immigration to Coronavirus situation! I am not subscribed to any extreme political ideologies, and have no problem admiring every administration's efforts on immigration issues. For example, I equally appreciate what President Obama did with H4 EADs and his other initiatives on immigration.

Charlie Munger wrote in his "Poor Charlie's Almanack" book:

"Intense political animosity should be avoided because it causes much mental malfunction, even in brilliant brains".

He further wrote:

“Another thing I think should be avoided is extremely intense ideology, because it cabbages up one’s mind. You’ve seen that. You see a lot of it on TV, you know preachers for instance, they’ve all got different ideas about theology and a lot of them have minds that are made of cabbage. But that can happen with political ideology. And if you’re young it’s easy to drift into loyalties and when you announce that you’re a loyal member and you start shouting the orthodox ideology out what you’re doing is pounding it in, pounding it in, and you’re gradually ruining your mind. So you want to be very careful with this ideology. It’s a big danger."

[qesehmk]

You are absolutely right! So far, we can only definitively talk about what Mr. Clinton, Mr. Bush, Mr. Obama, and Mr. Trump could or couldn't do for people in the backlog! And the record so far is consistent across the board!!

Others are more or less consistent in their support for immigration. Trump is opposed to all kinds of immigration - legal or otherwise. And he is dead against "Brown" immigration. Do you think that difference is potato-potata?

[qesehmk]

Now, it is ludicrous that you compare administrative policies and views on immigration to Coronavirus situation! I am not subscribed to any extreme political ideologies, and have no problem admiring every administration's efforts on immigration issues. For example, I equally appreciate what President Obama did with H4 EADs and his other initiatives on immigration.

Charlie Munger wrote in his "Poor Charlie's Almanack" book:

"Intense political animosity should be avoided because it causes much mental malfunction, even in brilliant brains".

He further wrote:

“Another thing I think should be avoided is extremely intense ideology, because it cabbages up one’s mind. You’ve seen that. You see a lot of it on TV, you know preachers for instance, they’ve all got different ideas about theology and a lot of them have minds that are made of cabbage. But that can happen with political ideology. And if you’re young it’s easy to drift into loyalties and when you announce that you’re a loyal member and you start shouting the orthodox ideology out what you’re doing is pounding it in, pounding it in, and you’re gradually ruining your mind. So you want to be very careful with this ideology. It’s a big danger."

You already have shown you are too smart to figure out that all this disfunction is going to help YOU and then if the world of all other immigrants blows - so be it.

That's what your previous argument about benefits boils down to. And yes that's what @vsivarama is referring to. I guess you didn't catch that.

[vsivarama]

I was making a general point and looks like the point was completely lost on you. My broader take is just because it does not affect me or has a positive impact on my life does not make something great! If you would like to read so much into my political ideologies and my indoctrination's have at it. I have had problems with the previous administrations and have given props to current administration when deserved (for e.g. doing it's best to refrain from endless wars even when surrounded by war hawks). Immigration is something, I cannot give props to this administration. They may use all the right rhetoric like merit based immigration or how lawful immigration is better than unlawful immigration etc. But when it comes to policies (which betray intent) it is apparent that this administrations wants no immigration period! So while you may be happy with the rhetoric, I am disappointed/horrified by its intent.

[vsivarama]

For everyone who stand to be positively impacted by the dysfunction and yes that most definitely includes me, I would like to suggest a thought experiment. Let's imagine the current administration gets a second term with majorities in both house and senate. And they decide to implement re-certification of all the labor applications by setting the bar so high that 99.9% of the all the current labor certificate holders won't be able to clear it and thus pushing them out of the country. In such a scenario what good would be a spillover of 100000+ visa numbers to EB? Would you be gung ho about this admin then? For everyone who thinks this cannot happen and is a radical idea are you willing to bet your future on it though?

[gten20]

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/trump-administration-backs-down-restrictions-international-students-n1233808

Good news for international students. Trump backed down for now. I wont be surprised if they started site visits for H1B's as H1B visa holders cannot work from home either.

[rhythm]

Also, when the current administration bumped prevailing wage requirements in our area significantly, my employer was forced to readjust the salaries significantly on upside benefiting me.

This.

I'm seeing this happening around me a lot recently. The upside in salary is indeed significant and I believe this is becoming a real deterrent for visa abusers.

[vedu]

For everyone who stand to be positively impacted by the dysfunction and yes that most definitely includes me, I would like to suggest a thought experiment. Let's imagine the current administration gets a second term with majorities in both house and senate. And they decide to implement re-certification of all the labor applications by setting the bar so high that 99.9% of the all the current labor certificate holders won't be able to clear it and thus pushing them out of the country. In such a scenario what good would be a spillover of 100000+ visa numbers to EB? Would you be gung ho about this admin then? For everyone who thinks this cannot happen and is a radical idea are you willing to bet your future on it though?

Before performing this thought experiment, let's just have a thought experiment around the HEROES Act (H.R.6800) which was proposed by democrats and recently passed in the house. So far, it is declared DOA by the republican senate, but that can change anytime. It can be passed any time before October 1st (the start of the new year for USCIS). Under this act, there is complete "ELIMINATION OF FALL ACROSS" for fiscal years 2021 and 2022. This is not even a thought experiment. There is a real possibility that it will be passed in some modified form. Then it doesn't matter who comes to the power next. Don't count your chickens before they hatch.

[srimurthy]

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/trump-administration-backs-down-restrictions-international-students-n1233808

Good news for international students. Trump backed down for now. I wont be surprised if they started site visits for H1B's as H1B visa holders cannot work from home either.
what will they do with site visits? All sites are closed at most places and looking at the new cases it may be in the same state for some more time.

[vsivarama]

Before performing this thought experiment, let's just have a thought experiment around the HEROES Act (H.R.6800) which was proposed by democrats and recently passed in the house. So far, it is declared DOA by the republican senate, but that can change anytime. It can be passed any time before October 1st (the start of the new year for USCIS). Under this act, there is complete "ELIMINATION OF FALL ACROSS" for fiscal years 2021 and 2022. This is not even a thought experiment. There is a real possibility that it will be passed in some modified form. Then it doesn't matter who comes to the power next. Don't count your chickens before they hatch.

I was obviously pointing out the same. Do not count your chickens before they hatch. But if you want to know my opinion on the clause in the Heroes act (I have recently given it some serious thought) I believe, I am fine with it and NOT because democrats are proposing it (saying that in case people want to assume I am some radical left). While, I will be disappointed that I will have to wait longer but in the broader scheme of things those numbers would not have been available if it were business as usual. They belonged to FB so I have no problem with them going back to FB. More importantly I know that there is no malintent behind the clause. The thought process here is obviously that if they look the other way and give the current admin a victory here, this could lead to other similar rules across all categories. They do not want to set a precedent and enable the admin by not offering a fight. Being rule oriented and consistent has it's downsides. FB folks are not our enemies and immigration does not need to be a zero-sum game.

[vedu]

I was obviously pointing out the same. Do not count your chickens before they hatch. But if you want to know my opinion on the clause in the Heroes act (I have recently given it some serious thought) I believe, I am fine with it and NOT because democrats are proposing it (saying that in case people want to assume I am some radical left). While, I will be disappointed that I will have to wait longer but in the broader scheme of things those numbers would not have been available if it were business as usual. They belonged to FB so I have no problem with them going back to FB. More importantly I know that there is no malintent behind the clause. The thought process here is obviously that if they look the other way and give the current admin a victory here, this could lead to other similar rules across all categories. They do not want to set a precedent and enable the admin by not offering a fight. Being rule oriented and consistent has it's downsides. FB folks are not our enemies and immigration does not need to be a zero-sum game.

While I respect your views on this, let me tell you my views. Personally, my PD is close to being current, and EB GC demand is going to be so subdued for the next 1-2 years, hence my case is not dependent on what happens to crossover visas. I am already in the sweet spot. But there are so many immigrants suffering in the country (due to kids aging out, inability to change jobs, death of the primary sponsor in the family, etc.), and this is their last hope in the near term. And I care more about sufferings of people who are in the country vs. people who are outside. You believe it or not...unfortunately this has become a zero-sum game because of congress's unwillingness (both republicans and democrats) to accept a reasonable compromise. So no matter which side you take on this or any other regulations (S.386, etc.), you end up choosing who benefits and who don't.

[vsivarama]

I hear you and agree with most of your sentiments. But the broader question that Q, others and I have raised has never been answered or maybe I missed it. As the saying goes you live by the sword you die by the sword. What is the guarantee that when the FB has been successfully dismantled, the admin would not train it's fire on EB. When that happens the point about all the immigrant sufferings in the country (due to kids aging out, inability to change jobs, death of the primary sponsor in the family, etc.) will be moot. When we play with fire we should all be aware of the consequences.

[vedu]

I hear you and agree with most of your sentiments. But the broader question that Q, others and I have raised has never been answered or maybe I missed it. As the saying goes you live by the sword you die by the sword. What is the guarantee that when the FB has been successfully dismantled, the admin would not train it's fire on EB. When that happens the point about all the immigrant sufferings in the country (due to kids aging out, inability to change jobs, death of the primary sponsor in the family, etc.) will be moot. When we play with fire we should all be aware of the consequences.

Okay, let me answer that broader question as well. Currently, it is my belief that not a single genuine EB application case will be harmed ( even with the mandatory labor re-certification, etc., etc.) under this or any future democratic or republican administration irrespective of who is saying what. Many administrations came and left, but this country has always been the melting pot of immigrants! There are enough checks and balances in the system for any single person to do lasting damage!

If you say that EB immigrants are going to be harmed next by DT, and if that comes true, I will be the first one to come back to your post and accept I was wrong. There is no shame in accepting when you are proved wrong. I am not subscribed to any specific ideology. As John Maynard Keynes once said, "when the facts change, I change my mind - what do you do, sir?"

[NeelVohra]

There are enough checks and balances in the system for any single person to do lasting damage!

If you say that EB immigrants are going to be harmed next by DT...

Just a note... Lets not forget about the possibility of wastage of EB visa numbers this FY. That causes irreparable harm already. Lasting, not necessarily. They are achieving their goals already.

[vedu]

Just a note... Lets not forget about the possibility of wastage of EB visa numbers this FY. That causes irreparable harm already. Lasting, not necessarily. They are achieving their goals already.

Yes, this is the fact, and not an opinion! So, I agree with your statements wholeheartedly!

[Zenzone]

USCIS Policy Update: https://www.uscis.gov/news/alerts/applying-discretion-uscis-adjudications

USCIS to use discretion before issuing EADs. Feels pretty routine to me. But saw this making some rounds in attorney twitter feeds today and hence decided to research a bit. I don't see anything out of the ordinary jumping out here except for today's twitter sensationalization nevertheless sharing with you all.

[android09]

There has been only 3 EB2-I and 3 EB3-I applications approved in the last 3 weeks (in trackitt). So they have pretty much stopped processing EB2 and EB3 applications. It does not matter what visa bulletin says. EB1 though seems to be still getting approvals.

So just saw this on the house appropriations bill. If this is passed by the house and senate, then spillover is poof ...gone.

https://appropriations.house.gov/news/press-releases/appropriations-committee-approves-fiscal-year-2021-homeland-security-funding

"Rep. Meng – The amendment allows unused FY20 diversity visas, employment visas, and family-based visas to remain available in FY21 in addition to what would otherwise be available for FY21, and allows any unused visas at the end of FY21 to remain available during FY22. The amendment was adopted by voice vote."

Thoughts?

[idliman]

So just saw this on the house appropriations bill. If this is passed by the house and senate, then spillover is poof ...gone.

https://appropriations.house.gov/news/press-releases/appropriations-committee-approves-fiscal-year-2021-homeland-security-funding

"Rep. Meng – The amendment allows unused FY20 diversity visas, employment visas, and family-based visas to remain available in FY21 in addition to what would otherwise be available for FY21, and allows any unused visas at the end of FY21 to remain available during FY22. The amendment was adopted by voice vote."

Thoughts?

Sad. This will prevent blockbuster spillover of 80K+.

It is not all gloom and doom. CO said USCIS will waste 25K GCs from 2020 quota. Assuming that these 25K+ unused numbers due to furlough gets carried over next year, it is still not bad (may be 30K+ EB to EB carryover). However, for the utilization to be above 90%, a change of administration needs to happen. If Stephen Miller is still in White House on 21 January 2021, forget about spillovers, calculations and everything. He will find a way for not using the existing quota plus carry-over quota.

I start sensing that in any scenario a change in administration is better for backlogged folks. I don't want to get into another discussion on D's or R's, who's better? I am just thinking from the selfish angle of what is going to benefit backlogged folks.

[EB32010]

Sad. This will prevent blockbuster spillover of 80K+.

It is not all gloom and doom. CO said USCIS will waste 25K GCs from 2020 quota. Assuming that these 25K+ unused numbers due to furlough gets carried over next year, it is still not bad (may be 30K+ EB to EB carryover). However, for the utilization to be above 90%, a change of administration needs to happen. If Stephen Miller is still in White House on 21 January 2021, forget about spillovers, calculations and everything. He will find a way for not using the existing quota plus carry-over quota.

I start sensing that in any scenario a change in administration is better for backlogged folks. I don't want to get into another discussion on D's or R's, who's better? I am just thinking from the selfish angle of what is going to benefit backlogged folks.

Did you see all restrictions ICE will have if this bill is passed? No way this is passing in Senate.

[qesehmk]

"Rep. Meng – The amendment allows unused FY20 diversity visas, employment visas, and family-based visas to remain available in FY21 in addition to what would otherwise be available for FY21, and allows any unused visas at the end of FY21 to remain available during FY22. The amendment was adopted by voice vote."

Thoughts?

Do you see that this is just one taiwanese american looking after her people's interest from taiwan in FB category.

What's with the Indian American lawmakers ? Dems or Reps?

Shows the fallacy of so called "Advocacy efforts" by IV. There is no advocacy. They are totally irrelevant.

[smuggymba]

Do you see that this is just one taiwanese american looking after her people's interest from taiwan in FB category.

What's with the Indian American lawmakers ? Dems or Reps?

Shows the fallacy of so called "Advocacy efforts" by IV. There is no advocacy. They are totally irrelevant.

We all know how much you hate IV for whatever reasons but it's not their fault if Indian-Americans like Pramila/Ro et all don't "openly" support or introduce bills benefiting Indians.

The Indian-American politicians actually go above an beyond to not show their Indian-ness...it has nothing to do with IV. It's old and established behavior and mentality even before IV came into existence.

[qesehmk]

We all know how much you hate IV for whatever reasons but it's not their fault if Indian-Americans like Pramila/Ro et all don't "openly" support or introduce bills benefiting Indians.

The Indian-American politicians actually go above an beyond to not show their Indian-ness...it has nothing to do with IV. It's old and established behavior and mentality even before IV came into existence.

If you think rationally instead of seeing hate in this you would try to test this as a hypothesis.
1) Have indian lawmakers opposed it.? - Answer - not that we know of.
2) Does IV claim advocacy? - Yes '
3) If IV didn't try - why? May be this at least supports my hypothesis.
4) If IV did try and fail - this directly proves my hypothesis.

In case of #4 an interesting question to ask (think beyond hate) why advocacy can fail? One possible answer is that most of the Indian lawmakers are from california and washington and they don't want to go against tech companies.

I honestly have ZERO vested interest in you getting a GC. And yet I bother to spend my time and post something that will give you direction. Honestly people like you don't deserve it (my advice).

[4WatItsWorth]

I honestly have ZERO vested interest in you getting a GC. And yet I bother to spend my time and post something that will give you direction. Honestly people like you don't deserve it.
You are one angry man (or woman), I think! It’s unfortunate to see this forum becoming another trackitt. There, at least, the owner is not directly attacking people himself (at least not openly). BTW, you are running a forum with ads and also selling a subscription. So, there is a vested interest, I guess. And, after waiting for more than a decade, OP deserves some sympathy, and their green card.

[qesehmk]

You are one angry man (or woman), I think! It’s unfortunate to see this forum becoming another trackitt. There, at least, the owner is not directly attacking people himself (at least not openly). BTW, you are running a forum with ads and also selling a subscription. So, there is a vested interest, I guess. And, after waiting for more than a decade, OP deserves some sympathy, and their green card.

Believe me this is not by any stretch of imagination my primary source of income. If you dont believe me try doing it yourself. People have offered donations to run this site that I have declined because the ads pay for the server cost and that's enough. I don't want to profit off of this site. Generally speaking if my mind was on money I would never post. But I am passionate about this injustice and that reflects in my posts.

You can compare this to other forums and that's fair. We run this in a civil transparent and objective manner. Unlike other forums we never delete a post (unless it is spam advertisement). But when you run a large forum all kinds of fools show up. And I agree I don't tolerate fools easily.

So lets just focus on the question "Why none of the indian lawmakers are on board with the plight of almost a million desi folks ?". It's a worthwhile thing to ponder. It is 10 times easier to have five indian lawmakers strike down Meng's amendment that remove country caps. Just saying ...

[AceMan]

I honestly have ZERO vested interest in you getting a GC. And yet I bother to spend my time and post something that will give you direction. Honestly people like you don't deserve it.

Q, this is unbecoming of you. I personally had disagreement with person to whom you responded in the past.

However you run a website, and giving an opinion that he don't deserve a GC is biased and totally uncalled for.

[qesehmk]

Q, this is unbecoming of you. I personally had disagreement with person to whom you responded in the past.

However you run a website, and giving an opinion that he don't deserve a GC is biased and totally uncalled for.
Ace - I said he doesn't deserve my advice.

[AceMan]

Thanks for clarifying it. As you can see another person had the same doubt.
I know you are passionate and pretty strong views which I am in agreement most of the times. As a former IV supporter I see their recent actions totally dishonest, distasteful.

The leadership coterie should move to Margdarshak roles, instead of running the stale old arguments.

[qesehmk]

Thanks for clarifying it. As you can see another person had the same doubt.
I know you are passionate and pretty strong views which I am in agreement most of the times. As a former IV supporter I see their recent actions totally dishonest, distasteful.

The leadership coterie should move to Margdarshak roles, instead of running the stale old arguments.

No worries Ace. IV can do what they want. Honestly all I am trying to do is to continuously stress that all stars are and will be aligned against H1B desi folks unless they act.

We can either accept it or fight it. But having right perspective and grasp of the problem is key.

Just FYI for everybody - in case some of you actually want to do different kind of advocacy, here is an inspiring story of a desi girl I recently came across.

The name is Kshama Sawant. She came to the US sometime around 2006. And she has completely changed the dialogue around minimum wage in the US. Because of her now everybody in the US is talking about minimum wage at $15. Google her. She is in Seattle. If some of you are in seattle, and want to do your own advocacy, go and see her and just talk to her. She may not have any advice on immigration. But I am sure you will be inspired.

[4WatItsWorth]

I saw you clarified what you meant.

[AceMan]

No worries Ace. IV can do what they want. Honestly all I am trying to do is to continuously stress that all stars are and will be aligned against H1B desi folks unless they act.

We can either accept it or fight it. But having right perspective and grasp of the problem is key.



H1 Desi folks beyond 2015 has to different perspective, compared to people before 2010 which happened to my time frame. We were 2nd hand Honda Civic/Accord Toyota Corolla/Camry crowd when we came in. The younger guys more risk taking (purely my opinion) with BMW's/ Merc's/Jags/Audi's. They don't need our perspective who according them don't know to work hard, earn more and party hard.



Just FYI for everybody - in case some of you actually want to do different kind of advocacy, here is an inspiring story of a desi girl I recently came across.

The name is Kshama Sawant. She came to the US sometime around 2006. And she has completely changed the dialogue around minimum wage in the US. Because of her now everybody in the US is talking about minimum wage at $15. Google her. She is in Seattle. If some of you are in seattle, and want to do your own advocacy, go and see her and just talk to her. She may not have any advice on immigration. But I am sure you will be inspired.

Will check her details. I am based at NYC. It does not stop me, from following a person who can inspire.

[qesehmk]

The younger guys more risk taking (purely my opinion) with BMW's/ Merc's/Jags/Audi's. They don't need our perspective who according them don't know to work hard, earn more and party hard.

:) True! My wife's nephew is pursuing MBA. He is on F1. Covid doesn't matter. Gets two internships and that too in strategy.
The younger folks are more informed and go getters. All power to them!

[Blue_fairy]

No worries Ace. IV can do what they want. Honestly all I am trying to do is to continuously stress that all stars are and will be aligned against H1B desi folks unless they act.

We can either accept it or fight it. But having right perspective and grasp of the problem is key.

Just FYI for everybody - in case some of you actually want to do different kind of advocacy, here is an inspiring story of a desi girl I recently came across.

The name is Kshama Sawant. She came to the US sometime around 2006. And she has completely changed the dialogue around minimum wage in the US. Because of her now everybody in the US is talking about minimum wage at $15. Google her. She is in Seattle. If some of you are in seattle, and want to do your own advocacy, go and see her and just talk to her. She may not have any advice on immigration. But I am sure you will be inspired.



Lol.. most of us here in Seattle want her out for doing what she is doing. She is a socialist pest, nothing less nothing more.

[smuggymba]

If you think rationally instead of seeing hate in this you would try to test this as a hypothesis.
1) Have indian lawmakers opposed it.? - Answer - not that we know of.
2) Does IV claim advocacy? - Yes '
3) If IV didn't try - why? May be this at least supports my hypothesis.
4) If IV did try and fail - this directly proves my hypothesis.

In case of #4 an interesting question to ask (think beyond hate) why advocacy can fail? One possible answer is that most of the Indian lawmakers are from california and washington and they don't want to go against tech companies.

I honestly have ZERO vested interest in you getting a GC. And yet I bother to spend my time and post something that will give you direction. Honestly people like you don't deserve it (my advice).

Let me clear Q - I'm not an active supporter of IV; have donated in the past and might do in future just because I like their agenda (I don't like how they talk/send the message). In fact, I have visited the congressman office on my own too and never with IV.

So the 4 questions you asked me - I don't give a shot since I'm not an IV spokesperson. Go and ask them directly if you want.

Your problem is - anyone who mentions the word IV, it triggers the badmouth in you. I know you from the days you used of post calculations on IV website and know you had a clear fallout with them and I don't care. I joined this forum in 2011 (9 years ago) because of the info/discussions and no BS like trackitt.

I know it's "your" website; you don't need to repeat that.

My original comment was about how careless Indian-American politicians are towards Indians but you took it out of context because I mentioned IV. I even remember that days when you had the word "IV" censored to "**". Again, the point was Rep Meng is looking out for her lobby and rightly so and Indian-American politicians are not and have never and never will. This has nothing to do with IV.

[qesehmk]

Lol.. most of us here in Seattle want her out for doing what she is doing. She is a socialist pest, nothing less nothing more.

Most people in Seattle elected her to the city council. So definitely wrong on that one.

She is a socialist - correct. An unabashed one. Although I am not a socialist I admire her because she already has made an impact on MILLIONS of americans because quite a few businesses bumped min wage to $15 !!!! You must be out of your mind to call her a pest.

A pest - lets see is - a corrupt politician, a corrupt businessman, all kinds of religious leaders not productive to society, smoking ganja, raping kids and women. There may be others too. This list is not exhaustive of course. But I feel sorry that you consider her a pest.

[qesehmk]

Your problem is - anyone who mentions the word IV, it triggers the badmouth in you.

smuggy - nobody mentioned IV other than me. It's you who attacked me for mentioning them. While I have very poor opinion of them, I still wish them well. My point was to point out the fallacy behind the work they do.



I know it's "your" website; you don't need to repeat that.

While technically and legally that is true - I never said so. I have always treated this a community website and me being a custodian. At least two dozen people have actively contributed to maintaining this (totally FREE) and we have acknowledged them right on the home page.

However let me end this by saying if somebody puts a thought forward, then we should stay on the thought instead of going in many different directions. Let me put a useful thought and hopefully you might agree.

There are two ways lawmakers can be pursuaded. 1) Big money 2) Public opinion.

We are not big money. But we can sway public opinion. In my opinion there will be millions of Americans who will find country quota as very unamerican thing. So it will be worthwhile for any advocacy to work towards that. Congress will follow. Just look at DACA. More Americans support it than oppose it. It will take 2 3 years but it will bear fruit someday.

[delguy]

If you think rationally instead of seeing hate in this you would try to test this as a hypothesis.
1) Have indian lawmakers opposed it.? - Answer - not that we know of.
2) Does IV claim advocacy? - Yes '
3) If IV didn't try - why? May be this at least supports my hypothesis.
4) If IV did try and fail - this directly proves my hypothesis.

In case of #4 an interesting question to ask (think beyond hate) why advocacy can fail? One possible answer is that most of the Indian lawmakers are from california and washington and they don't want to go against tech companies.

I honestly have ZERO vested interest in you getting a GC. And yet I bother to spend my time and post something that will give you direction. Honestly people like you don't deserve it (my advice).

Though you have good points Q but I think the problem is with the backlogged community itself. Not only IV but many orgs came up in last few years to resolve the backlogged issue and failed. Even IV telegram has hardly 1800 members and I doubt if even 500 of them are active ones. We have probably half a million impacted by these backlogs and visa issues and even if 50K from them start giving some time to advocacy, I am sure it will be resolved. That wont happen though. After looking at it closely, I doubt the issue will be resolved by so called advocacy efforts, unless as a part of broader immigration fix for DACA.

[smuggymba]

There are two ways lawmakers can be pursuaded. 1) Big money 2) Public opinion.

1.) Big Money - Indians don't open their wallets easily. Like I mentioned earlier, I have donated in the past to IV but even my donations aren't enough (I have donated $700.00 in the last 8-9 years which even I'm not proud of). We're willing to spend 5K on laywer but not on lobbying. There's scope of improvement in $$$ area for every Indian stuck in backlog.

I have 5 friends with PD after mine and they have donated a total of $0.00 in their entire life. Per them, money can't do anything; it's about luck :)

2.) Public Opinion - Some good work has been done here over the last few years e.g. CEO's of Salesforce/Apple tweeting support for removing country caps. I actually met Tony Prophet, who is Salesforce's diversity officer (ran into him at a lounge @ Tokyo airport last year) and introduced myself and thanked him for the support to remove country caps. He was very pleased and said he will continue to raise his voice. Despite resistance on the ground many republicans have supported HR1044. I was looking at the FB feed of Dan Crenshaw (Rep from Texas) and there's nothing but hatred for his support of HR1044 and he actually made a video for his constituents to tell them about HR1044. So, overall some progress has been made and we should thank both Dems and Reps on both sides of the aisle. You don't pass a bill without public opinion so that's a big win.

Now, no one can't convince a complete hardcore opponent who hates immigrants no matter what - no amount of money and public opinion (e.g. Durbin) can't change them.

We can spend 1000 dollars each and file lawsuits in every county in the country and maybe that will lead to a national level class action suit - but if it were that easy, it would have been done by now (there are voices that say it's DoA and some say it should be tried). I would love to part of one.

[qesehmk]

Though you have good points Q but I think the problem is with the backlogged community itself. Not only IV but many orgs came up in last few years to resolve the backlogged issue and failed. Even IV telegram has hardly 1800 members and I doubt if even 500 of them are active ones. We have probably half a million impacted by these backlogs and visa issues and even if 50K from them start giving some time to advocacy, I am sure it will be resolved. That wont happen though. After looking at it closely, I doubt the issue will be resolved by so called advocacy efforts, unless as a part of broader immigration fix for DACA.
Sorry to hear that. And that's why those who choose to protest and stand up for themselves are special. What you say is sadly true.

[qesehmk]

I have donated in the past to IV but even my donations aren't enough (I have donated $700.00 in the last 8-9 years which even I'm not proud of). ..

I applaud you Smuggy. Whether it is $20 or $700, a donation is a donation. I also applaud you for actively seeking support from senior leaders at workplace.

Big Money means businesses that buy influence. EB-Indians can never buy influence. Buying influence is a different game. e.g. most of the energy and DoT policy or direction of defense budget is driven by big money and American people are rarely involved. This is legal corruption.

Lawsuits could be a good way to generate public opinion. So even if EB-I loses lawsuits, media will take note. Opinions - for and against will be made. People will become more sympathetic. This is doable. Public opinion can also be shaped by writing articles, facebook posts, even TV ads and paid media, townhalls etc. There are 1.5 million Indian American citizens who will help. But it requires focus, intensity and structure within the community that is affected first hand i.e. H1B and GC applicants. If I were IV , I would create a framework to generate public opinion and let state chapters drive actions. Everywhere transparency and democracy is the key. Somehow IV is quite secretive and IMHO it has hurt their cause.

I think approaching leadership for support is an interesting experience. In my experience the higher you go, the leader never takes a stance on public issue unless he is sure that is where the wind is blowing. So building public opinion becomes all the more important other than striking on country quota in a court of law (if that were feasible).

[idliman]

The delay in issuing the VB is making me think that something is cooking behind the scenes. Let me type something crazy. A rumor in immigration attorney circles is that DT’s new EO is going to make VB current for all of India, allowing everyone to get EADs. The rumor (the person) was obviously excited to share / discuss this with me. The rumor was not specific as to FD or FA. I immediately questioned the rumor (the person) and gave my analysis, that EO / CO are in perfect position to make EB-I current. There is no demand and GCs are still remaining. I told the rumor to not get very excited and said the show is being run by Stephen Miller who had dedicated his life to make sure that EB-I people are forced to self deport.

I did not want to make everyone excited in predictions forum. So, decided to post in Politics. While, I hope that this might become true and everyone gets benefits, I am not impacted by this.

What a crazy day!

[EB32010]

The delay in issuing the VB is making me think that something is cooking behind the scenes. Let me type something crazy. A rumor in immigration attorney circles is that DT’s new EO is going to make VB current for all of India, allowing everyone to get EADs. The rumor (the person) was obviously excited to share / discuss this with me. The rumor was not specific as to FD or FA. I immediately questioned the rumor (the person) and gave my analysis, that EO / CO are in perfect position to make EB-I current. There is no demand and GCs are still remaining. I told the rumor to not get very excited and said the show is being run by Stephen Miller who had dedicated his life to make sure that EB-I people are forced to self deport.

I did not want to make everyone excited in predictions forum. So, decided to post in Politics. While, I hope that this might become true and everyone gets benefits, I am not impacted by this.

What a crazy day!
How reliable is “rumor”?

[idliman]

How reliable is “rumor”?
I have no reason to suspect any foul play by the rumor (the person) or his 2nd degree source. Lets call the person “source”. The "source" was obviously very excited and like all girls/guys who came recently (5-6 years), did not have GC on her/his radar. Some people are happy with their H1B's when they cannot foresee GC's (unlike pre 2010/2011 folks). Maybe I should have asked her/him to find out the law firm this came from.

OK, Lets discuss the points from “Psychology of Rumors” published in 1947.


People Spread Rumors When There’s Uncertainty
Not valid for the source.
People Spread Rumors When They Feel Anxiety
Not valid for the source.
People Spread Rumors When the Information is Important
Valid.
People Spread Rumors When They Believe the Information
Valid
People Spread Rumors When it Helps Their Self-Image
Not Valid.
People Spread Rumors When it Helps Their Social Status
Not Valid.

It is 2 out of 6. Psychology major's please chime in.

I think there is a chance that this *might* be true. EO's and other things take time to evolve and this might have been discussed at some point of time. The information is true at a point in time and might not be true now. Whether this will materialize after being screened by multiple people from the admin and eventually decided by "The Donald", is anyone's guess. You should remember that the current admin has a history of claiming victory, when something goes in their favor naturally without any of their actions. They are good at claiming "I did it". The visa processing was already at a stand-still in consulates due to Covid, before the EO came.

Good Night. Peace.

[Blue_fairy]

Most people in Seattle elected her to the city council. So definitely wrong on that one.

She is a socialist - correct. An unabashed one. Although I am not a socialist I admire her because she already has made an impact on MILLIONS of americans because quite a few businesses bumped min wage to $15 !!!! You must be out of your mind to call her a pest.

A pest - lets see is - a corrupt politician, a corrupt businessman, all kinds of religious leaders not productive to society, smoking ganja, raping kids and women. There may be others too. This list is not exhaustive of course. But I feel sorry that you consider her a pest.

Sure, I should have said most people in the tech industry don't align with her way of thinking. Kshama makes all kind of statements to stay relevant - and the noise you hear in the news is just a part of her plan. The committee that passed minimum wage law in Seattle had 24 members (including kshama) working with the mayor. Contrary to what you may believe, Kshama doesn't have the kind of pull here that is required to force an agenda on 23 committee members.

[qesehmk]

Sure, I should have said most people in the tech industry don't align with her way of thinking. Kshama makes all kind of statements to stay relevant - and the noise you hear in the news is just a part of her plan. The committee that passed minimum wage law in Seattle had 24 members (including kshama) working with the mayor. Contrary to what you may believe, Kshama doesn't have the kind of pull here that is required to force an agenda on 23 committee members.
The reality is that she was the first one to propose $15 min wage and she made it happen. Of course you do need other votes. But nobody before her dared to envision it. Today even Biden has subscribed to the idea and is part of his manifesto.

Even if you and I are not socialist - I find it inspiring that coming from India she made a huge policy impact by directly engaging people.

[idliman]

The strong radio silence is a good indicator that something big is going to happen next week
03AUG2020
11:30 AM

Official Schedule
The President meets with U.S. Tech Workers and signs an Executive Order on Hiring American
Cabinet Room
Restricted In-House Pool

At 12:30, He has lunch with VP Pence.

[Turbulent_Dragonfly]

03AUG2020
11:30 AM

Official Schedule
The President meets with U.S. Tech Workers and signs an Executive Order on Hiring American
Cabinet Room
Restricted In-House Pool

At 12:30, He has lunch with VP Pence.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-03/trump-to-limit-u-s-contractors-use-of-foreign-workers

[getsaby]

Yeee..........more power to Trump, I wonder what he has next for us!

[Blue_fairy]

here is the latest EO - https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-aligning-federal-contracting-hiring-practices-interests-american-workers/

[Ramsen]

03AUG2020
11:30 AM

Official Schedule
The President meets with U.S. Tech Workers and signs an Executive Order on Hiring American
Cabinet Room
Restricted In-House Pool

At 12:30, He has lunch with VP Pence.

I agree. Usually federal jobs are much less in numbers. If they are not able to find US workers even for that small numbers no point in USA having top class Universities

[qesehmk]

Stock·holm syn·drome


noun
noun: Stockholm syndrome


feelings of trust or affection felt in many cases of kidnapping or hostage-taking by a victim toward a captor.

[qesehmk]

Here is an incomplete list of politicians that are rabidly anti-immigrant and even racist.
1) Donald Trump
2) Jeff Sessions
3) Steven King
4) David Ritter
5) Brian Kemp
6) Ron DeSantis
7) Paul Gossar

I do not remember IV EVER calling any one of them racist. As far as I am concerned, IV has gone to dogs. You should not let such idiots represent you. They are mixing right wing politics with immigration.

[AceMan]

Here is an incomplete list of politicians that are rabidly anti-immigrant and even racist.
1) Donald Trump
2) Jeff Sessions
3) Steven King
4) David Ritter
5) Brian Kemp
6) Ron DeSantis
7) Paul Gossar

I do not remember IV EVER calling any one of them racist. As far as I am concerned, IV has gone to dogs. You should not let such idiots represent you. They are mixing right wing politics with immigration.

The first person is not by any stretch a racist. The complete irony is the basket cases who support him are the people whom he despise the most.

In fact it is going to be sad watching him lose this election against a silent Biden unless he gets some divine intervention. As a President you are the representative of the people who did not vote for you as well.

[vbollu]

Here is an incomplete list of politicians that are rabidly anti-immigrant and even racist.
1) Donald Trump
2) Jeff Sessions
3) Steven King
4) David Ritter
5) Brian Kemp
6) Ron DeSantis
7) Paul Gossar

I do not remember IV EVER calling any one of them racist. As far as I am concerned, IV has gone to dogs. You should not let such idiots represent you. They are mixing right wing politics with immigration.

I agree with you on this, these are opposing any kind of immigration from day one on wards, where as Durbin is not like that. He is talking immigration in the senate floor from past 12-15 years and he is one the who supported the bill in 2011. Right now in any body view he is the only one senator who is stopping the bill and obviously every one target is Durbin. Personally I don't support calling him racist or with any other name, even in normally life I don't use such words. Earlier I thought he is a decent guy and me and my wife made several calls every day before pandemic and requested please work with lee with good faith and pass the bill, but none of the things got worked. Day by day he is introducing new bills and creating obstacles for current bill, showing his worst behavior.

[jimmys]

The first person is not by any stretch a racist. The complete irony is the basket cases who support him are the people whom he despise the most.

In fact it is going to be sad watching him lose this election against a silent Biden unless he gets some divine intervention. As a President you are the representative of the people who did not vote for you as well.


All DJT has to do is, bring "silent Biden" to the presidential debate.

[vsivarama]

All DJT has to do is, bring "silent Biden" to the presidential debate.

Frankly, too much is being made out of the debates. Worst case scenario is that JB is going to sleep walk through all the debates. Even then, DJT cannot whitewash his record of 160K deaths and counting on his watch.

[qesehmk]

The first person is not by any stretch a racist. The complete irony is the basket cases who support him are the people whom he despise the most.

In fact it is going to be sad watching him lose this election against a silent Biden unless he gets some divine intervention. As a President you are the representative of the people who did not vote for you as well.
The first person said he doesn't want brown immigration and norway would be ok. That makes him racist.

[idliman]

Maybe we should ask for separate EB GC carve out for people good in native games like Gilli Danda, Snakes & Ladders, Hopscotch, Pallankuzhi, etc. I can get a document written in native language (from a village) and translated into English by a certified translator outlining my expertise.

I have analyzed this situation over the last few years (sometimes even in sleep) and came to the conclusion that the entire world is getting benefited because of the backlog of one single country. No one will let it go that easily. You need a leader that can show this inequality to the whole world.

It looks like CIR is the way to go. Problem is it happens only once in a blue moon (every 20 years or so) where there is rare cosmic alignment. The gang of 8 could not get it through House. The last relevant immigration proposal was the AC21 about 20 years back.

[Turbulent_Dragonfly]

Maybe we should ask for separate EB GC carve out for people good in native games like Gilli Danda, Snakes & Ladders, Hopscotch, Pallankuzhi, etc. I can get a document written in native language (from a village) and translated into English by a certified translator outlining my expertise.

I have analyzed this situation over the last few years (sometimes even in sleep) and came to the conclusion that the entire world is getting benefited because of the backlog of one single country. No one will let it go that easily. You need a leader that can show this inequality to the whole world.

It looks like CIR is the way to go. Problem is it happens only once in a blue moon (every 20 years or so) where there is rare cosmic alignment. The gang of 8 could not get it through House. The last relevant immigration proposal was the AC21 about 20 years back.

Stars and planets have to align may not be far from the truth. The issue is every time a Democrat has come to the WH (since I came here in 2000) and they had the Senate/House, there has been a crisis of Biblical proportions unfolding. In 2008, it was the economic crisis and now even if they make it, they have Covid + Economy + BLM protests to deal with. Usually it will take a year or more to resolve it and by then it will be time for the mid terms. Then they will lose one Chamber and gridlock for the next 2 yrs. Rinse and repeat. These 4 year terms with mid terms are maddening to me. Every other year is always an “election year” and nothing will get done past June. I cut out cable a few years back and barely watch the news because it’s unwatchable because of the polarized coverage on BOTH sides. I used to look forward to Fall sports and working with my daughter since she is a high caliber softball player, but all that is done and over with for this year so it’s going to be a long Fall and Winter. I can’t wait for the elections to get over for one year of relative Political peace so to speak and sincerely hope that all our families make it to Spring without losing anyone.

[idliman]

It's Friday. See source article at:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/stuartanderson/2020/08/06/h-1b-visas-and-trumps-next-merit-based-immigration-plan/#351c59fa79bd

The legal justification part is:

Trump’s thinking, Axios reported, is “heavily influenced” by former Bush administration attorney John Yoo, who wrote in a National Review article, the Supreme Court's 5-4 DACA [Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals] ruling last month “makes it easy for presidents to violate the law.”

“I said, ‘Why not just take the DACA opinion itself and do a search-replace. And every time it says ‘DACA’ ... replace it with ‘skills-based immigration system,’” Yoo said he told the White House. “This gives President Trump an alternative to create such a program, at least for a few years,” reported the Associated Press. “Not long after the conversations, Trump began promising a series of new executive orders on a range of issues.” Legal scholars dispute Yoo’s interpretation of the Supreme Court decision, arguing it restricted, not expanded executive branch authority.

I was wondering what can he do legally without passing a law. In my understanding, the president has authority to prioritize something for a valid reason (Covid or Workload prioritization for DACA). Is he going to prioritize processing of GCs based on his Merit metrics? If he does that he has to make everyone current. I don't think he would do anything like that, as it will provide EAD's to millions. He prioritize the processing of EAD's too based on the Merit scheme. Sure the immigration attorneys will have fun. With my scarce to zero legal expertise, I am wondering if there is even a 10% legal validity or justification. Of course he can just do whatever he wants and acts like he always does.

The last time, I did a check on Sen Tom Cotton's merit based metrics, I did not get enough points even with top most educational qualification. That's because it gave points based on current age and not age when you first arrived in USA. So if you are a back logger who arrived 15-25 years back, you will get zero points for age.

Anyway the wise people of this forum, care to speculate?

[qesehmk]

It's Friday. See source article at:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/stuartanderson/2020/08/06/h-1b-visas-and-trumps-next-merit-based-immigration-plan/#351c59fa79bd

The legal justification part is:


I was wondering what can he do legally without passing a law. In my understanding, the president has authority to prioritize something for a valid reason (Covid or Workload prioritization for DACA). Is he going to prioritize processing of GCs based on his Merit metrics? If he does that he has to make everyone current. I don't think he would do anything like that, as it will provide EAD's to millions. He prioritize the processing of EAD's too based on the Merit scheme. Sure the immigration attorneys will have fun. With my scarce to zero legal expertise, I am wondering if there is even a 10% legal validity or justification. Of course he can just do whatever he wants and acts like he always does.

The last time, I did a check on Sen Tom Cotton's merit based metrics, I did not get enough points even with top most educational qualification. That's because it gave points based on current age and not age when you first arrived in USA. So if you are a back logger who arrived 15-25 years back, you will get zero points for age.

Anyway the wise people of this forum, care to speculate?

Look no further than the last sentence of the first paragraph of the Forbes article. Very well sums it up what DJT is upto. They view all immigration as unnecessary and rather dangerous to American way of life.

As per John Yoo he is the same immoral person who defended Bush Govt during Iraq war and argued that torture is ok.

[idliman]

Look no further than the last sentence of the first paragraph of the Forbes article. Very well sums it up what DJT is upto. They view all immigration as unnecessary and rather dangerous to American way of life.

As per John Yoo he is the same immoral person who defended Bush Govt during Iraq war and argued that torture is ok.

I was looking from the standpoint of will it help some of the EB people in backlog? Obviously many of us in backlog are better qualified in any merit scheme when compared to Pizza workers, Uber drivers & such. So any ray of hope?

[vedu]

I was looking from the standpoint of will it help some of the EB people in backlog? Obviously many of us in backlog are better qualified in any merit scheme when compared to Pizza workers, Uber drivers & such. So any ray of hope?

In my opinion, there are no new immigration bills that can be passed and help people in backlog in near future. So, the only thing that can help is these restrictionist policies and the resulting spillover/spill across, etc., etc. No matter how much restrictionist the policies will become, they can never harm genuine merit-based cases which are present inside the country, but can only help them by lowering the demand pressure significantly.

Also, CIR has never been a first term agenda for any president, so it will not happen for four years if there is a new administration. The best the new administration will do is to reverse current administration's restrictive policies and will replace them with "Welcoming" policies, which will bring back the demand pressure. Of course, I can be wrong on this last point about CIR, but it is highly unlikely.

[qesehmk]

I was looking from the standpoint of will it help some of the EB people in backlog? Obviously many of us in backlog are better qualified in any merit scheme when compared to Pizza workers, Uber drivers & such. So any ray of hope?

Very hard to say without A) knowing the details of his proposal B) understanding the legal standing of whatever those proposals are.

However I tend to agree that Trump's interpretation of DACA loss as a nod from SC to implement new laws is totally flawed and hence will be struck down immediately if a new administration comes in.

DACA was more about effective utilization of executive branch resources. What Trump is attempting to do is create executive priorities that cut existing laws.

e.g. Obama saying he does not have resources to deport children (even though technically they are violating federal immigration law) recognizes the law.

Trump saying he is going to allocate visas but in a different way than current laws is actual violation of laws.

p.s. - Trump can use DACA interpretation to say he will stop issuing visas and I believe courts will agree with him using DACA ruling as precedent.

[vsivarama]

I was looking from the standpoint of will it help some of the EB people in backlog? Obviously many of us in backlog are better qualified in any merit scheme when compared to Pizza workers, Uber drivers & such. So any ray of hope?

Helping qualified people is not the priority of this or any admin/congress. Look at the S386 fiasco. We currently do not have a skills only based immigration system in US. All we have are diversity based immigration programs, out of which one happens to consider skills as an after thought. I do not see a way an EO can be used to help people based on merit as currently we do not have a merit only based program and that can only be created through congress.

[vedu]

Helping qualified people is not the priority of this or any admin/congress. Look at the S386 fiasco. We currently do not have a skills only based immigration system in US. All we have are diversity based immigration programs, out of which one happens to consider skills as an after thought. I do not see a way an EO can be used to help people based on merit as currently we do not have a merit only based program and that can only be created through congress.

This is unfortunately true! Ideally, I would like my US Citizen kids to live in a society based on "Meritocracy" and not based on "Nepotism".

[AceMan]

Look no further than the last sentence of the first paragraph of the Forbes article. Very well sums it up what DJT is upto. They view all immigration as unnecessary and rather dangerous to American way of life.

As per John Yoo he is the same immoral person who defended Bush Govt during Iraq war and argued that torture is ok.

I did not interpret it that way. There are words like thinking, influence. There is lot of assumptions here to create a smoke screen.

[qesehmk]

I did not interpret it that way. There are words like thinking, influence. There is lot of assumptions here to create a smoke screen.

I am ok with new merit based immigration .... but that is hardly an improvement over current system which is market driven merit based as opposed to government driven merit based that trump is going to propose.

Then when you add politics into the mix - it is going to turn into a disaster IMHO. But that's just my opinion and there are bigger issues in immigration like lack of sufficient numbers. So merit based or not is just shuffling chairs on the deck.

[AceMan]

I am ok with new merit based immigration .... but that is hardly an improvement over current system which is market driven merit based as opposed to government driven merit based that trump is going to propose.

Then when you add politics into the mix - it is going to turn into a disaster IMHO. But that's just my opinion and there are bigger issues in immigration like lack of sufficient numbers. So merit based or not is just shuffling chairs on the deck.

There are multiple concerns here. US sees the receiver of benefits as some body with greater need than themselves irrespective of political affiliation.

However the backlogged people are seen as rich snooty people and our needs always appear to be shallow in front of the law makers. It comes as we don’t need it in their eyes

[vsivarama]

The rich snooty people are more likely to be job creators. So not sure if lawmakers are ready to discount that. Any merit based plan without country quotas is a good plan, but it needs to have a plan for backlogged folks with points for US job experience, salaries and priority dates. They can always have variable points for different occupation classifications for which the points are adjusted based on labor shortage.

[AceMan]

The rich snooty people are more likely to be job creators. So not sure if lawmakers are ready to discount that. Any merit based plan without country quotas is a good plan, but it needs to have a plan for backlogged folks with points for US job experience, salaries and priority dates. They can always have variable points for different occupation classifications for which the points are adjusted based on labor shortage.

Merit based bill is nothing more than a distraction and a go slow tactic. I can categorically say it is never, I repeat it is never going to happen for the next 30 years.

A country where the technology grew exponentially over the last 3 decades still holds on to the numbers from 1990. Enough said!!!

[vsivarama]

I agree that Merit based bill is nothing but a distraction. But if they ever want to upgrade from the dark ages, that's the way to go. If you just look at avg salaries of immigrants filed for GCs, Indians ranks somewhere among the top countries. Yet ROW use the bad faith argument that their merit folks would be disadvantaged by passing S386.

[qesehmk]

Merit based bill is nothing more than a distraction and a go slow tactic. I can categorically say it is never, I repeat it is never going to happen for the next 30 years.

A country where the technology grew exponentially over the last 3 decades still holds on to the numbers from 1990. Enough said!!!
Don't despair my friend. Your pain is real and I will never discount that.

American experience as painful as it is - is probably the most magnificent thing in human history. This country will do the right thing and the numbers will increase. Don't lose hope. Also most lawmakers are actually decent people ... they are constrained by their constituents. Most constituents too are decent people. All this racism bigotry and hate we listen are just a few people.

When all said and done - you will be so proud to be an American (and if you are like me you will be just as much proud of your Indian heritage too!). The greatness of USA is that USA is perfectly OK you identifying with both countries. Unfortunately India is run by cowards who take away your passport once you get an American passport.

[AceMan]

Don't despair my friend. Your pain is real and I will never discount that.

American experience as painful as it is - is probably the most magnificent thing in human history. This country will do the right thing and the numbers will increase. Don't lose hope. Also most lawmakers are actually decent people ... they are constrained by their constituents. Most constituents too are decent people. All this racism bigotry and hate we listen are just a few people.

When all said and done - you will be so proud to be an American (and if you are like me you will be just as much proud of your Indian heritage too!). The greatness of USA is that USA is perfectly OK you identifying with both countries. Unfortunately India is run by cowards who take away your passport once you get an American passport.


No despair, very much in the stage of acceptance after all the initial anger, denial, negotiations etc things are bound to happen in time. Lack of GC could have had some impact on my international travel plans, otherwise with my career it did not hinder me at all.

I always had conservative views, back in India my views aligned with congress till early 2000s. India is my motherland and US is my Karam land. I want to have my GC and citizenship of US, as this is the place most of my last 15 years is spent.

With 2011 dates, GC looks about 2-3 years away minimum and naturalizations another 5 years down the lane. Tentatively 2030’s.

[jimmys]

Unfortunately India is run by cowards who take away your passport once you get an American passport.

China, Singapore, and many countries don't allow dual citizenship. What's the cowardliness in not allowing dual citizenship? Even US didn't allow dual citizenship until 1970s.

[qesehmk]

China, Singapore, and many countries don't allow dual citizenship. What's the cowardliness in not allowing dual citizenship? Even US didn't allow dual citizenship until 1970s.
Many countries do not allow because they are oppressive, lack freedom, are suspicious of their own ability to enforce laws, or their citizen's allegiance. US to my knowledge never restricted dual citizenship. But I may be wrong.

[smuggymba]

Unfortunately India is run by cowards who take away your passport once you get an American passport.

Was it allowed during the UPA/Congress regime or is it just a cheap shot at BJP? Also, it's a policy issue and even I don't agree with it (OCI is ok) but where the heck is "cowardice" in it. This is too funny.

[smuggymba]

Many countries do not allow because they are oppressive, lack freedom, are suspicious of their own ability to enforce laws, or their citizen's allegiance. US to my knowledge never restricted dual citizenship. But I may be wrong.

Being a regular visitor to Singapore and having many colleagues there who have been there 20+ years and still don't have a Singapore passport tell about Singapore's "selective" immigration policy. It's worse than UAE who are at least clear that it will never happen.

Do you think Singapore is a coward for not doing so?

[qesehmk]

I never said BJP. Its the ruling class which mostly is babus. Politicians come and go .... babus are here forever :)


Was it allowed during the UPA/Congress regime or is it just a cheap shot at BJP? Also, it's a policy issue and even I don't agree with it (OCI is ok) but where the heck is "cowardice" in it. This is too funny.


Being a regular visitor to Singapore and having many colleagues there who have been there 20+ years and still don't have a Singapore passport tell about Singapore's "selective" immigration policy. It's worse than UAE who are at least clear that it will never happen.

Do you think Singapore is a coward for not doing so?
Absolutely so!
p.s. - Honestly don't know much about Singapore. But if they dont allow multiple citizenships then of course they are cowards.

[qesehmk]

KAMALA HARRIS

First ever black woman, first ever Indian american woman as VP pick.

[Pundit Arjun]

KAMALA HARRIS

First ever black woman, first ever Indian american woman as VP pick.

Of South Indian and Jamaican Origin :)

[Turbulent_Dragonfly]

Just in case desis get excited about Kamala Harris being on the ticket: It's illegal for foreign nationals to donate to Election campaigns. Only US Citizens and Green Card holders can donate. You also cannot funnel any funds indirectly through other USCs or solicit donations from other parties and funnel them through. In short, stay off the lawn! The repercussions will be very serious.

Contribution rules (from Joe Biden's website):

I am a U.S. citizen or lawfully admitted permanent resident (i.e., green card holder).

This contribution is made from my own funds, and funds are not being provided to me by another person or entity for the purpose of making this contribution.

I am making this contribution with my own personal credit card and not with a corporate or business credit card or a card issued to another person.

I am at least eighteen years old.

I am not a federal contractor.

[jimmys]

Of South Indian and Jamaican Origin :)

To be precise, Ms. Harris is of Tamil and Jamaican origin.

[jimmys]

Just in case desis get excited about Kamala Harris being on the ticket: It's illegal for foreign nationals to donate to Election campaigns. Only US Citizens and Green Card holders can donate. You also cannot funnel any funds indirectly through other USCs or solicit donations from other parties and funnel them through. In short, stay off the lawn! The repercussions will be very serious.

Contribution rules (from Joe Biden's website):

I am a U.S. citizen or lawfully admitted permanent resident (i.e., green card holder).

This contribution is made from my own funds, and funds are not being provided to me by another person or entity for the purpose of making this contribution.

I am making this contribution with my own personal credit card and not with a corporate or business credit card or a card issued to another person.

I am at least eighteen years old.

I am not a federal contractor.

Interesting. I thought only USCs can contribute to US elections.

[idliman]

Interesting. I thought only USCs can contribute to US elections.
According the FEC https://www.fec.gov/updates/foreign-nationals/;



The following groups and individuals are considered "foreign nationals" and are subject to the prohibition:

Foreign citizens (not including dual citizens of the United States);
Immigrants who are not lawfully admitted for permanent residence;
Foreign governments;
Foreign political
Foreign corporations;
Foreign associations;
Foreign partnerships; and
Any other foreign principal, as defined at 22 U.S.C. § 611(b), which includes a foreign organization or “other combination of persons organized under the laws of or having its principal place of business in a foreign country.”


Individuals: The "green card" exception
The Act does not prohibit individuals with permanent resident status (commonly referred to as “green card holders”) from making contributions or donations in connection with federal, state or local elections, as they are not considered foreign nationals.

[EB2IndSep09]

This is obviously a pattern with this Admin:

Wreck the EPA from inside out: loosen regulations
Wreck the Dept of Edu: Push charter schools
Wreck the USCIS/DoS: Reduce immigration
Wreck USPS: Restrict mail-in ballots....

the list goes on.

Privatizing armed forces could be next

[Turbulent_Dragonfly]

Privatizing armed forces could be next

Yeah this admin would not like anything more than ruling by fiat if allowed to do so. All the conservatives who keep whining about being "Constitutionalists, not Conservatives"? Just crickets, not a peep from them.

[TB12TB12]

Privatizing armed forces could be next



Blackwater and it's newer iteration and spawns have been around for more than 2 decades now. So that is already done.

[TB12TB12]

Are we looking for the VB to be released by next Friday? DT had promised his merit based EO (that will cover DACA too), lately there is no news on that. If it is still in works, maybe the VB will come only after that. It looks like the FB to EB spillover will happen in October. CO should have great visibility of how many GCs are in play and move the dates.



In recent days, DT has not mentioned merit based EO even once. There are only 11 working days left in August. So we will know soon.

[Blue_fairy]

Oh the dangling carrot

https://www.ndtv.com/indians-abroad/joe-biden-promises-to-h-1b-reform-eliminate-country-quota-for-green-cards-2280077?pfrom=home-topscroll

[qesehmk]

Oh the dangling carrot

https://www.ndtv.com/indians-abroad/joe-biden-promises-to-h-1b-reform-eliminate-country-quota-for-green-cards-2280077?pfrom=home-topscroll

Despite all the unnecessary namecalling on Durbin, the chances of this happening is very high - especially under Biden. Keep fingers crossed.

p.s. - Republicans too can do it now. Such a shame that they made their own senator Lee a bakra. But this has backfired on them. People can see who is really holding the bill. It's the white house.

[TB12TB12]

Despite all the unnecessary namecalling on Durbin, the chances of this happening is very high - especially under Biden. Keep fingers crossed.

p.s. - Republicans too can do it now. Such a shame that they made their own senator Lee a bakra. But this has backfired on them. People can see who is really holding the bill. It's the white house.

Not unless Senate goes to Democrats else Mitch will hold up lot of bills (as he did when BO was President) even if Biden get White House. Also, S386 is very different than it's sister bill HR1044 which means extensive committee work for reconciliation and re votes.

Agree with everything else. Namecalling without understanding anyone's position and allowing the person time to change their position just does not work.

[bodhi2000]

Blackwater and it's newer iteration and spawns have been around for more than 2 decades now. So that is already done.

Yup they invaded Iraq just to profit these guys.

[Turbulent_Dragonfly]

Yup they invaded Iraq just to profit these guys.

All modern war is for profit. The days of taking up arms because of moral reasons and the good of the world at large ended in WW2.

[qesehmk]

All modern war is for profit. The days of taking up arms because of moral reasons and the good of the world at large ended in WW2.
All wars in human history have always been about money .... none were ever about anything else.

[idliman]

Axios (https://www.axios.com/gao-chad-wolf-ken-cuccinelli-dhs-ineligible-ea1b7dc9-eefe-4687-b230-3a0bd3200bad.html)
Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf and his acting deputy Ken Cuccinelli are ineligible to be serving in their positions, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) decided in a report released Friday.

What happened: GAO found that the administration did not properly follow federal law governing how certain leadership vacancies in federal agencies can be filled.

There are articles in WaPo, WSJ and Hill on the same issue. Schumer calls for Wolf, Cuccinelli to step down after watchdog says their appointments violate law. Republicans are keeping mum.

[Turbulent_Dragonfly]

If any charges are brought on them, obviously they will already have a get out of jail card ready and printed. If they are asked to testify, they will refuse to do so and ignore all subpoenas and if compelled, they will sit at the hearing and read the same statement over and over again. The House is a toothless chamber as it has been proved over and over again in the past couple of years.

[getsaby]

The other/dark side of democracy abused to the fullest by the current administration!

[usvisas]

Leahy again calling on USCIS to delay furlough - https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/LeahyUSCIS81820.pdf

[alpha0]

Leahy again calling on USCIS to delay furlough - https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/LeahyUSCIS81820.pdf

I hope USCIS listens this time as well. I was reading the letter and senator mantioned "unintended consequences" where as many feel that those are the intended consequences and achieving those consequences may be the most important driver for furloughs.

[texas_]

It is clearly mentioned in the letter that USCIS will still be in surplus going into FY21 without the Furlough
:D

[EB2IndSep09]

I hope USCIS listens this time as well. I was reading the letter and senator mantioned "unintended consequences" where as many feel that those are the intended consequences and achieving those consequences may be the most important driver for furloughs.

Let us keep aside whether it is Intentional or Unintentional for a moment.
The senator has quoted the facts with enough data in his letter, now it is the obligation for the receivers to either deny the information or provide the rationale why furlough is still necessary.
God bless you senator! people like you still keep hope alive.

[qesehmk]

Of course these are deliberate actions designed to stifle immigration. The political appointees of current administration are driving these forces.

Sen. Leahy (D) is being civil and trying to keep the agency apolitical which is the right thing to do.

[oraclept]

The filing dates for both EB2I/EB3I will go very deep in 2010 or beyond in Oct-Dec 2020 quarter. USCIS can collect a lot of fees(updated fees starting October. 50% increase for I-485 AOS.) through filings and will help them to alleviate some financial pressure for FY2021. How much they move their FADs are a different issue altogether but filing dates will move for both categories.
they will simply say we cannot process dates.. its so much injustice. they can make money... by just moving the dates.... no one will ask..
Atleast we know nazism is bad on face.. USCIS and their junta.. do things.. hurt immigrants and especially indians...
I think priority will be to process current cases rather than backlogged cases which depends on spillover....

[alpha0]

Year 2020 is ending up with a disappointment for EB2I and to EB3I (to a lesser extent). EB1I had a lottery year courtesy of COVID. EB2I had lot of promises, but had an anti-climatic finish (courtesy of the Political appointees & other villains). So what can we expect in the beginning of 2021 (Oct 2020 VB)? With the political appointees are still ruling, what is the minimum movement required by INA for EB2I / EB3I?

From approval trends, almost all of pre-adjudicated cases in NSC should clear (EB2I / EB3I) before October. TSC may end up with about 1000 or less applicants still remaining in pre-adjudicated queue (EB2I / EB3I).

Every year will be a disapointment till country quota is removed. If we rely solely on spillovers for movement, then we will be disappointed again and again. Dont we see that it almost took a decade to clear 2009 and it is still not clear for eb2+3? This year there was a very good chance due to Covid situation but they chose to waste 25k (or may be more) majority of which would have benefitted EB India. As Q said, it is a systematic bias against India.

[Turbulent_Dragonfly]

https://www.breitbart.com/economy/2020/08/20/state-dept-oks-100000-extra-green-cards-foreign-visa-workers-2021/

Still trying to digest this and determine if this is old news or what but it just got published.

[vsivarama]

https://www.breitbart.com/economy/2020/08/20/state-dept-oks-100000-extra-green-cards-foreign-visa-workers-2021/

Still trying to digest this and determine if this is old news or what but it just got published.

Maybe they just realized that their best laid plans to curb legal immigration has not worked as well as they had hoped and hence now trying the scare tactics as law is not on their side. Unemployment among the IT folks is between 3-4% far lower than the national unemployment rate. This is their way of festering doubt and hate by obfuscating the facts.

[EB2IndSep09]

https://www.breitbart.com/economy/2020/08/20/state-dept-oks-100000-extra-green-cards-foreign-visa-workers-2021/

Still trying to digest this and determine if this is old news or what but it just got published.

Unable to digest this b.s :mad:
QUOTE
The economic reality is that India’s population of 1.3 billion is so huge and poor that it produces roughly 20 million new workers each year — including millions who are willing to work in the United States for 30 years at low wages to get green cards. India’s government, U.S. investors, and the Fortune 500’s staffing companies are trying to get many of those workers into the U.S. labor market. UNQUOTE

[Justmyself]

Wait..a couple of yrs back didn’t the same guys write about us being the highest income earners in the country and how much they hated us buying expensive cars?

[vsivarama]

Wait..a couple of yrs back didn’t the same guys write about us being the highest income earners in the country and how much they hated us buying expensive cars?

Why go back a couple of years back. They could have written about us being high income earners and the very next sentence how we work for low wages and their readers will believe it. I have noticed that logical reasoning is a seldom used skill among conspiracy theory seekers. If they go by average wages by Perms filed per country, India is be consistently ranked among the top 10 countries (Meaning Indian Diaspora usually work in high paying fields.)

[idliman]

https://www.breitbart.com/economy/2020/08/20/state-dept-oks-100000-extra-green-cards-foreign-visa-workers-2021/

Still trying to digest this and determine if this is old news or what but it just got published.
With this kind of hatred, I would think the movement will be bare minimum that is required by INA in2021. The rest of the regular and spillover GCs will be wasted in 2021, unless there is a strong oversight of USCIS. A change of leadership is required for the full utilization of FB to EB spillover.

[srimurthy]

With this kind of hatred, I would think the movement will be bare minimum that is required by INA in2021. The rest of the regular and spillover GCs will be wasted in 2021, unless there is a strong oversight of USCIS. A change of leadership is required for the full utilization of FB to EB spillover.
The 16K FB spillover numbers from 2019 were not included until Aug in the EB number calculations. So next year if the 100K (as most are predicting) spillover from FB 2020 to EB2010, that information may not be available until Aug and then it may be too late to use or allocated all those in a couple of months. So we will see the dates in EB2 and EB3 India moving at the regular pace only.
If with Eb2 pre-adjudicated cases available from 2012 onwards in the queue and they still could not move the dates in the last three months or so, I see no reason to be optimistic that we will clear 2009 for EB2 and EB3 next year.

[usvisas]

Union leader battles to avoid USCIS furloughs


https://www.samessenger.com/essex/news/union-leader-battles-to-avoid-uscis-furloughs/article_5d98dd00-e325-11ea-9326-17efa73aa4e0.html

[gs1968]

https://www.breitbart.com/economy/2020/08/20/state-dept-oks-100000-extra-green-cards-foreign-visa-workers-2021/

[AceMan]

https://www.breitbart.com/economy/2020/08/20/state-dept-oks-100000-extra-green-cards-foreign-visa-workers-2021/


Without even checking, I can assure you it will be written by Neil Munro. Just wait and watch when he follows his old boss who cheated his followers. And yes, I confirm it was written by him.

[gs1968]

Without even checking, I can assure you it will be written by Neil Munro. Just wait and watch when he follows his old boss who cheated his followers. And yes, I confirm it was written by him.

It just came across on my social media feed and I thought it would be useful to post it. Absolutely no new information and in fact Spec and Q have given us far more details on the calculations and timelines without having to endure the fear mongering in that article. Many people in this thread have already commented on how unrealistic it is to expect that kind of processing power from the USCIS to use up all those numbers. Sen.Leahy whose state has one of the 4 processing centers is obviously working hard to avoid the furloughs but I don't see much support from the other Senators.More focus on the USPS than the USCIS I presume. Unless the funding situation/administrative mindset changes dramatically it is going to be a slow crawl to the end of the year which will include the 1st quarter of FY21.
Litigation to fully use the 250K is always an option but it is unclear what the standing is to enforce. The law states that the unused FB visas are available for use in the next year's EB quota and that worldwide a minimum of 140K green cards are to issued annually. As long as the USCIS can prove that there is no wilful holding back of visa issuance and they are working to the best of their capacity to meet the 140K goal it is unlikely that the courts will take punitive action.

[idliman]

gs1968, I understand that without an admin change things will crawl to a stop. In case the 46th president is taking oath on 20JAN21, what can be the positive implications for backlogged folks? I assume that CO will remain in the same position. Maybe they he & USCIS will try to process most of the spillover with a supportive admin? Can a repeat of 2012 happen?

[srimurthy]

gs1968, I understand that without an admin change things will crawl to a stop. In case the 46th president is taking oath on 20JAN21, what can be the positive implications for backlogged folks? I assume that CO will remain in the same position. Maybe they he & USCIS will try to process most of the spillover with a supportive admin? Can a repeat of 2012 happen?

If you can mess up the vote and count and USPS, and the fundamentals of the democracy messing up USCIS is not a big deal.

[jimmys]

gs1968, I understand that without an admin change things will crawl to a stop. In case the 46th president is taking oath on 20JAN21, what can be the positive implications for backlogged folks? I assume that CO will remain in the same position. Maybe they he & USCIS will try to process most of the spillover with a supportive admin? Can a repeat of 2012 happen?

Repeat of 2012? Remember the same supportive admin retracted the filing dates in 2015. So be realistic in your expectations even if there's new a President. If there's a new admin, their priority would be Family Immigration. Employment Immigration may come sometime later (or not at all).

[vedu]

gs1968, I understand that without an admin change things will crawl to a stop. In case the 46th president is taking oath on 20JAN21, what can be the positive implications for backlogged folks? I assume that CO will remain in the same position. Maybe they he & USCIS will try to process most of the spillover with a supportive admin? Can a repeat of 2012 happen?

One benefit of the new administration taking oath in Jan 21 is hopefully it will be too late for them to steal our cheese worth 100,000 and give it back to FB. Then they will have 9 months left in the year and if they don't process all that cheese for EB, then you can pin the blame on them. Current administration will be nowhere to be blamed then! :D

[usvisas]

House Passes Emergency Bill to Halt Immigration-Agency Cuts

....goes into Senate

https://www.wsj.com/articles/house-passes-emergency-funding-to-halt-immigration-agency-cuts-11598141852

[android09]

House Passes Emergency Bill to Halt Immigration-Agency Cuts

....goes into Senate

https://www.wsj.com/articles/house-passes-emergency-funding-to-halt-immigration-agency-cuts-11598141852

Sorry, this is a paywall site. Cannot read the entire article. Is there any hidden pills in the emergency bill ?

[android09]

Here is the section by section summary:

https://cleaver.house.gov/sites/cleaver.house.gov/files/Emergency%20USCIS%20Stabilization%20Act%20Section-By-Section.pdf

[vsivarama]

Any Validity to the below story?

https://www.hammondlawgroup.com/blog/2020/09/04/h-1b-visa-changes-imminent/

[qesehmk]

Any Validity to the below story?

https://www.hammondlawgroup.com/blog/2020/09/04/h-1b-visa-changes-imminent/
Sounds quite believable to me. Elections are nearing ... this will be timed for maximum effect.

[bodhi2000]

Sounds quite believable to me. Elections are nearing ... this will be timed for maximum effect.

What are the chances, this will withstand a lawsuit?

[qesehmk]

What are the chances, this will withstand a lawsuit?

I am not aware any laws being violated here. So my I would say this will withstand any legal challenge. The key provision seems to be that whoever wants H1 labor must sponsor themselves. Thus small staffing companies will be affected (big ones like McKinsey or Tata or Infosys won't be affected).

[bodhi2000]

I am not aware any laws being violated here. So my I would say this will withstand any legal challenge. The key provision seems to be that whoever wants H1 labor must sponsor themselves. Thus small staffing companies will be affected (big ones like McKinsey or Tata or Infosys won't be affected).


How about the fact that they are not following the regular rule making process? I.e. they're skipping the comment period?

[vsivarama]

How about the fact that they are not following the regular rule making process? I.e. they're skipping the comment period?

There will be multiple lawsuits. As I understand it it will impact all major players as well like (TCS, Kforce, Delloite etc.). I think, as I understand it, it's the beneficiary, the petitioner and the third party. Even if my understanding is not accurate it will still affect the big players as they do place a lot of resources at the client site who are not on their pay roll. Plus in the second case, there could be some anti trust lawsuits in the making as well, because it would decimate the small business and encourage consolidation and monopolies. They also would need to justify not having a comment period which they might say was necessary to bring the economy back on track, but the ~3% unemployment rate in IT industries (not sure what the rate is for other fields like core engineering/medical etc.) is way below the national average which is a tough sell. Then there is the do no harm clause which is a standard used in judging these cases. So let's hope the law will prevail.

[qesehmk]

How about the fact that they are not following the regular rule making process? I.e. they're skipping the comment period?
Rule making sounds like a legislative and/or executive procedural thing. I am 99% sure that by itself has no judicial recourse i.e. can't be challenged in the courts. The only way something can be challenged in the courts is when that something violates constitution / fundamental rights / or existing laws.

[FarAwayfromGC]

Rule making sounds like a legislative and/or executive procedural thing. I am 99% sure that by itself has no judicial recourse i.e. can't be challenged in the courts. The only way something can be challenged in the courts is when that something violates constitution / fundamental rights / or existing laws.


There is some information here to check :

Excerpts from "A Guide to the Rulemaking Process - - Prepared by the Office of the Federal Register "

When do the courts get involved in rule making?

Individuals and corporate entities may go into the courts to make a claim that they have been,
or will be, damaged or adversely affected in some manner by a regulation. The reviewing court
can consider whether a rule: is unconstitutional; goes beyond the agency’s legal authority; was
made without following the notice‐and‐comment process required by the Administrative
Procedure Act or other law; or was arbitrary, capricious, or an abuse of discretion. An agency
head can also be sued for failing to act in a timely manner in certain cases.
If a court sets aside (vacates) all or part of a rule, it usually sends the rule back to the agency to
correct the deficiencies. The agency may have to reopen the comment period, publish a new
statement of basis and purpose in the Federal Register to explain and justify its decisions, or restart
the rule making process from the beginning by issuing a new proposed rule.

Public (we) can approach an attorney and file a suit in a federal court .

[android09]

There is some information here to check :

Excerpts from "A Guide to the Rulemaking Process - - Prepared by the Office of the Federal Register "

When do the courts get involved in rule making?

Individuals and corporate entities may go into the courts to make a claim that they have been,
or will be, damaged or adversely affected in some manner by a regulation. The reviewing court
can consider whether a rule: is unconstitutional; goes beyond the agency’s legal authority; was
made without following the notice‐and‐comment process required by the Administrative
Procedure Act or other law; or was arbitrary, capricious, or an abuse of discretion. An agency
head can also be sued for failing to act in a timely manner in certain cases.
If a court sets aside (vacates) all or part of a rule, it usually sends the rule back to the agency to
correct the deficiencies. The agency may have to reopen the comment period, publish a new
statement of basis and purpose in the Federal Register to explain and justify its decisions, or restart
the rule making process from the beginning by issuing a new proposed rule.

Public (we) can approach an attorney and file a suit in a federal court .

I distinctly remember what happened the last time we went to court on advise from an immigration lawyer in 2015.

[sudiva]

I have received below information from a group message. Looks genuine and hence thought of sharing here.
-------------------------------------
IMPORTANT MESSAGE:
New rule coming into effect in one month which ADDS H1B/L1 TO MANDATORY BIOMETRICS ALONG WITH EVERY DEPENDENTS WHEN APPLYING FOR EXTENSION AND TRANSFER.

The rule proposal is now opened for commenting from stake holders like H-1B/L-1/any visa.

This is applicable to every extension and every transfer and It appears even 1 day old citizen kids are also expected to appear for biometrics.

Please help yourself and help other who are in country on Visa.

ACTION ITEM:
1) Please forward the message to everyone. Let it reach maximum with in the community.
2) Submit comments for the rules. US Law requires USCIS to review each and every comment before rules comes into effect. These comments are used as supporting document during a lawsuit. So, it is super important.

Have your comment on this by clicking “submit a formal comment button” at top right corner. ��

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/09/11/2020-19145/collection-and-use-of-biometrics-by-us-citizenship-and-immigration-services


Q: What to Enter while entering comments?
A: You can explain your difficulties based in your current H4 biometrics experience and also question the effectiveness and purpose of this action considering hardship caused. Explain it detailed as possible. Consider this! "Your comment statement could be the winning statement against this rule".

[qesehmk]

I have received below information from a group message. Looks genuine and hence thought of sharing here.
-------------------------------------
IMPORTANT MESSAGE:
New rule coming into effect in one month which ADDS H1B/L1 TO MANDATORY BIOMETRICS ALONG WITH EVERY DEPENDENTS WHEN APPLYING FOR EXTENSION AND TRANSFER.

The rule proposal is now opened for commenting from stake holders like H-1B/L-1/any visa.

This is applicable to every extension and every transfer and It appears even 1 day old citizen kids are also expected to appear for biometrics.

Please help yourself and help other who are in country on Visa.

ACTION ITEM:
1) Please forward the message to everyone. Let it reach maximum with in the community.
2) Submit comments for the rules. US Law requires USCIS to review each and every comment before rules comes into effect. These comments are used as supporting document during a lawsuit. So, it is super important.

Have your comment on this by clicking “submit a formal comment button” at top right corner. ��

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/09/11/2020-19145/collection-and-use-of-biometrics-by-us-citizenship-and-immigration-services


Q: What to Enter while entering comments?
A: You can explain your difficulties based in your current H4 biometrics experience and also question the effectiveness and purpose of this action considering hardship caused. Explain it detailed as possible. Consider this! "Your comment statement could be the winning statement against this rule".

I will second this. This is important. Do protest and comment if this hurts you.

p.s. - I do not think citizen kids will be fingerprinted. That may not consistent with US laws.

[redtogreen]

I have been out of loop after repeated disappointment in the last couple of bulletins. Today was different. My only q.... is there any inconspicuous threat to the bullish visa bulletin interms of any impending bill/legislation/rule etc.,? Someone please respond and rest this doubt to peace.

[Zenzone]

I have been out of loop after repeated disappointment in the last couple of bulletins. Today was different. My only q.... is there any inconspicuous threat to the bullish visa bulletin interms of any impending bill/legislation/rule etc.,? Someone please respond and rest this doubt to peace.

Looks like you are worried about the unknown. If you file in good order by end of Oct 31st (assuming your date is current now) you should be okay as I don't see any impending regulation that adversely impact AOS imminently. So put your anxieties to rest and focus on the pprwrk :). Good Luck!

[gs1968]

I have been out of loop after repeated disappointment in the last couple of bulletins. Today was different. My only q.... is there any inconspicuous threat to the bullish visa bulletin interms of any impending bill/legislation/rule etc.,? Someone please respond and rest this doubt to peace.
I can try and game this out for you as much as I can. The House has passed a CR this week and this is expected to be passed by the Senate next week. The Bill could have been passed this week by the Senate but it is felt that the Democrats objected. Part of it might be due to spite about the Supreme Court nomination and partly to keep vulnerable GOP senators one more week off the campaign trail. The CR runs through December 11. The visa reclamation amendment introduced by Rep.Grace Meng in the COVID relief and DHS appropriations Bills was not included in this CR but the premium processing language was. This would mean that the Visa bulletins through January 2021 are probably safe from any visa transfer back to FB

Once we reach early December there a re a couple of scenarios that are possible depending on the results of the election

1. If the Democrats win all three the most likely scenario and that which has been used before is to pass another CR into early February and let the incoming Congress and administration take it up from there. It is possible that the amendment above may be added to that CR if there is a desire to do so. Several people on this forum have suggested that that is unlikely and I agree but if the transferred visas have not been used yet a portion of it can be reapportioned back to FB as those categories are also severely backlogged. If the CR runs through Feb/Mar 2020 then an omnibus appropriations Bill is most likely combining all departments into one. As the Senate never passed any appropriations Bills for this fiscal year and the House did the House Bills are likely to be the basis for the Omnibus. This is where the risk of inclusion of the Grace amendment comes in but by then FY 2021 would have gone far too deep. It is also likely that the environment will generally be more immigrant friendly and there will be aggressive movement of FB categories to make up for lost time reducing any spillover chances for FY22. We have to remember that there will potentially be another 60000 visas available for EB for FY22 for the months of OCT/NOV/DEC of this year as the ban was extended to dec 31

2.If Trump wins and the Senate remains in GOP hands there is a possibility that the ban will be extended resulting in further visas available to EB categories

3.CIR may be a priority and make all of this discussion a moot exercise

Regulatory changes take a while to implement and with no legislation impending I see no immediate risk. Zenzone said it correctly when he mentioned his date movements PROVIDEDthat the visas are optimally used. This would require an increase in processing speed and capacity by 80% over current levels which might be difficult. Also if scenario 1 becomes a reality the USCIS is going to be swamped by the reversal of so many Trump era regulations and flood of applications in other categories. At this time the EB category is the only game in town
Hope this helps

[redtogreen]

I can try and game this out for you as much as I can. The House has passed a CR this week and this is expected to be passed by the Senate next week. The Bill could have been passed this week by the Senate but it is felt that the Democrats objected. Part of it might be due to spite about the Supreme Court nomination and partly to keep vulnerable GOP senators one more week off the campaign trail. The CR runs through December 11. The visa reclamation amendment introduced by Rep.Grace Meng in the COVID relief and DHS appropriations Bills was not included in this CR but the premium processing language was. This would mean that the Visa bulletins through January 2021 are probably safe from any visa transfer back to FB

Once we reach early December there a re a couple of scenarios that are possible depending on the results of the election

1. If the Democrats win all three the most likely scenario and that which has been used before is to pass another CR into early February and let the incoming Congress and administration take it up from there. It is possible that the amendment above may be added to that CR if there is a desire to do so. Several people on this forum have suggested that that is unlikely and I agree but if the transferred visas have not been used yet a portion of it can be reapportioned back to FB as those categories are also severely backlogged. If the CR runs through Feb/Mar 2020 then an omnibus appropriations Bill is most likely combining all departments into one. As the Senate never passed any appropriations Bills for this fiscal year and the House did the House Bills are likely to be the basis for the Omnibus. This is where the risk of inclusion of the Grace amendment comes in but by then FY 2021 would have gone far too deep. It is also likely that the environment will generally be more immigrant friendly and there will be aggressive movement of FB categories to make up for lost time reducing any spillover chances for FY22. We have to remember that there will potentially be another 60000 visas available for EB for FY22 for the months of OCT/NOV/DEC of this year as the ban was extended to dec 31

2.If Trump wins and the Senate remains in GOP hands there is a possibility that the ban will be extended resulting in further visas available to EB categories

3.CIR may be a priority and make all of this discussion a moot exercise

Regulatory changes take a while to implement and with no legislation impending I see no immediate risk. Zenzone said it correctly when he mentioned his date movements PROVIDEDthat the visas are optimally used. This would require an increase in processing speed and capacity by 80% over current levels which might be difficult. Also if scenario 1 becomes a reality the USCIS is going to be swamped by the reversal of so many Trump era regulations and flood of applications in other categories. At this time the EB category is the only game in town
Hope this helps

Thanks a lot!! This is exactly what I was trying to understand. So looks like we are fine for now. Latest news in town is abt Democrats coming up with a scaled down version of the Heroes act, will need to keep an eagle eye on that one. Nevertheless if ( the big fat 'IF')some anti- spillover language is included in that bill and passed after Sep 30th, it should not impact FY2021, right?

[redtogreen]

Looks like you are worried about the unknown. If you file in good order by end of Oct 31st (assuming your date is current now) you should be okay as I don't see any impending regulation that adversely impact AOS imminently. So put your anxieties to rest and focus on the pprwrk :). Good Luck!

Thanks, not the unknown but things can move pretty quickly when it is political. So wanted to understand where we are😊. I filed my AOS in 2012, so am hopeful of becoming current sometime this year if things move as projected in the visa bulletin.

[gs1968]

There is unlikely to be any COVID relief Bill before the election. Partly because the 2 sides are more than a trillion dollars apart and partly because the democrats will not want to give the GOP and President Trump a victory just before the elections. Any bill if passed by the House is most likely a messaging bill likely to die in the senate. As I mentioned earlier it is not sure what will happen if passed after Sept 30

[EB22010Dec]

There is unlikely to be any COVID relief Bill before the election. Partly because the 2 sides are more than a trillion dollars apart and partly because the democrats will not want to give the GOP and President Trump a victory just before the elections. Any bill if passed by the House is most likely a messaging bill likely to die in the senate. As I mentioned earlier it is not sure what will happen if passed after Sept 30

@gs1968
So if the bill passes today, which it is looking like it might, what happens to spill over that is already applied?

[JoinedToAsk]

Here's the bill (https://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20200511/BILLS-116hr6800ih.pdf) that House passed: It seem page 1731 states that spillover for 2021 and 22 will be stopped.

Am I reading this correctly?

[Zenzone]

@gs1968
So if the bill passes today, which it is looking like it might, what happens to spill over that is already applied?

As far as I see, the new skinny bill still contains immigration provisions in it.

But here is some additional context based on news reporting -

According to Pelosi, the vote on the revised Heroes bill is independent of ongoing negotiations with Mnuchin. If Pelosi and Mnuchin agree on a new proposal, a new bill would need to be separately drafted and voted on in both the House and Senate before being signed into law. The total cost of the package and funding allocations like a child tax credit have remained chief sticking points.

[Zenzone]

@gs1968
So if the bill passes today, which it is looking like it might, what happens to spill over that is already applied?

These are two different bills. The bill that will be passed (if at all) is a separate bill as clarified by Pelosi.

[rohanvus]

Hello experts,

My I140 was approved from location A(HQ office)and I am working at location B currently on H1B(our branch office) and working here since last 10 years), its same company and same job description and position at location A is still valid. My priority date is Dec 2, 2011. Now my Filling Date is current (Based on Eb2 to EB3 downgrade) and my Final Action date is still in future. I would like to file for I485 before the Filling Date retrogress.

Do I have to move to location specified in I140\PERM at the time of filling (and file and H1B amend to add location A before I485 filling).
If I do not have to move now, my understanding is that I will have to move and join at my PERM location as soon as get my EAD based on I485 filling. Is my understanding correct?

[JoinedToAsk]

As far as I see, the new skinny bill still contains immigration provisions in it.

But here is some additional context based on news reporting -

According to Pelosi, the vote on the revised Heroes bill is independent of ongoing negotiations with Mnuchin. If Pelosi and Mnuchin agree on a new proposal, a new bill would need to be separately drafted and voted on in both the House and Senate before being signed into law. The total cost of the package and funding allocations like a child tax credit have remained chief sticking points.

So, if the skinny bill has immigration provisions, will it stop the spill over? Is there a text available for the bill? Do you know?

[qesehmk]

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-economy-was-trumps-one-remaining-advantage-now-he-might-have-blown-it/

This is a political article. But I am posting it here because of its relevance to the bill in congress and the spillover provision.

As I had noted earlier, Pelosi had the upper hand here and in her heart of hearts she knew that she wins by not having a deal. That's one reason I was and am sure Spillover won't be touched. The more crazy provisions you put in the bill, the likely it won't be agreed upon. So that to me was a tell tale sign of this was doomed.

We shouldn't be crying over - rather should be celebrating that a danger seems to have averted. Not that there was too much of a danger anyway. I think EB can take the 261K visas to the bank now.

[idliman]

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-economy-was-trumps-one-remaining-advantage-now-he-might-have-blown-it/

This is a political article. But I am posting it here because of its relevance to the bill in congress and the spillover provision.

As I had noted earlier, Pelosi had the upper hand here and in her heart of hearts she knew that she wins by not having a deal. That's one reason I was and am sure Spillover won't be touched. The more crazy provisions you put in the bill, the likely it won't be agreed upon. So that to me was a tell tale sign of this was doomed.

We shouldn't be crying over - rather should be celebrating that a danger seems to have averted. Not that there was too much of a danger anyway. I think EB can take the 261K visas to the bank now.
Q, you are a Citizen. So you probably have better reading on the pulse of the country than backloggers whose world revolves around H1B renewals, EAD/AP renewals and anticipated VB movements.

My work environment is predominantly Republican (dictated by the nature of our business). I am the only "H1B" and only "brown" engineer in a 400 mile radius. After the first presidential debate, I asked an young female colleague of mine (born and brought up in NC) about election prospects. She vouches that DT will win by a landslide and a lot of blacks will vote for DT. She says in a get-together with her hubby's IT colleagues (a PA based retirement firm famous for low rate index mutual funds) and all of them think that DT will win. This was very surprising for me. These are educated suburban folks with top level pay. She told me that all major news channels have an agenda and don't believe it. I came to the understanding that there is a huge disconnect with how backloggers think versus how the heart of the country thinks. I agree that "Nate Silver" is the golden boy of statistics and even he got the 2016 elections wrong. Honestly, I don't think anyone will know who is going to win until the election results come out on NOV3rd. This is my personal opinion.

Now to the topic of SO. As long as they keep fighting, the Rep. Grace Meng amendment will not happen. I am happy with that. I am not ready to say DT had already lost.

[qesehmk]

Q, you are a Citizen. So you probably have better reading on the pulse of the country than backloggers whose world revolves around H1B renewals, EAD/AP renewals and anticipated VB movements.

My work environment is predominantly Republican (dictated by the nature of our business). I am the only "H1B" and only "brown" engineer in a 400 mile radius. After the first presidential debate, I asked an young female colleague of mine (born and brought up in NC) about election prospects. She vouches that DT will win by a landslide and a lot of blacks will vote for DT. She says in a get-together with her hubby's IT colleagues (a PA based retirement firm famous for low rate index mutual funds) and all of them think that DT will win. This was very surprising for me. These are educated suburban folks with top level pay. She told me that all major news channels have an agenda and don't believe it. I came to the understanding that there is a huge disconnect with how backloggers think versus how the heart of the country thinks. I agree that "Nate Silver" is the golden boy of statistics and even he got the 2016 elections wrong. Honestly, I don't think anyone will know who is going to win until the election results come out on NOV3rd. This is my personal opinion.

Now to the topic of SO. As long as they keep fighting, the Rep. Grace Meng amendment will not happen. I am happy with that. I am not ready to say DT had already lost.

Totally agree. There is a huge disconnect between what Trump supporters think vs what polls are telling us.

I generally have excellent clarity on most things. But this year two things have completely confounded me. 1) The solidarity of trump vote completely baffles me. Don't understand why trump is not trailing by 20%. 2) I don't understand the reality of COVID. How did it come about and why china seem to be doing ok but US and India are not. Don't get me wrong. I love China. But I am just wondering is COVID an accident gone wrong or a deliberate geopolitical game or just a natural phenomena.

As per US immigration politics - as you said - as long as these guys keep fighting the Meng amendment won't see light of the day. In fact I hope it doesn't see light of the day even when they move ahead. But there is always 1% chance.

p.s. - Last month, I actually did finally become citizen after resisting it for almost four years. I already felt quite American in my heart but the thought of letting go of my Indian passport was quite sad. This year I had to either renew GC or go for citizenship. I chose citizenship. But nobody can take our Indianness away. Can they?

[vsivarama]

Q, you are a Citizen. So you probably have better reading on the pulse of the country than backloggers whose world revolves around H1B renewals, EAD/AP renewals and anticipated VB movements.

My work environment is predominantly Republican (dictated by the nature of our business). I am the only "H1B" and only "brown" engineer in a 400 mile radius. After the first presidential debate, I asked an young female colleague of mine (born and brought up in NC) about election prospects. She vouches that DT will win by a landslide and a lot of blacks will vote for DT. She says in a get-together with her hubby's IT colleagues (a PA based retirement firm famous for low rate index mutual funds) and all of them think that DT will win. This was very surprising for me. These are educated suburban folks with top level pay. She told me that all major news channels have an agenda and don't believe it. I came to the understanding that there is a huge disconnect with how backloggers think versus how the heart of the country thinks. I agree that "Nate Silver" is the golden boy of statistics and even he got the 2016 elections wrong. Honestly, I don't think anyone will know who is going to win until the election results come out on NOV3rd. This is my personal opinion.

Now to the topic of SO. As long as they keep fighting, the Rep. Grace Meng amendment will not happen. I am happy with that. I am not ready to say DT had already lost.

Polls were not wrong the last time around. The political pundits were wrong who interpreted the polls. HRC did win the popular vote with 2.1% (which was within the +/- 2% margin of error) and just before the election the popular vote average for HRC was between 3-4%. A lot of people have learnt the wrong lessons from 2016. It went from taking the polls with a grain of salt (factoring in the margin of error) to, do not trust the polls at all. Plus we did not have a lot of swing state polling for the rust belt last time around. Now can things turn around? Yes, it's possible. Just do not write off the polls completely. They will show the swing if things turn around.

[Zenzone]

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-economy-was-trumps-one-remaining-advantage-now-he-might-have-blown-it/

This is a political article. But I am posting it here because of its relevance to the bill in congress and the spillover provision.

As I had noted earlier, Pelosi had the upper hand here and in her heart of hearts she knew that she wins by not having a deal. That's one reason I was and am sure Spillover won't be touched. The more crazy provisions you put in the bill, the likely it won't be agreed upon. So that to me was a tell tale sign of this was doomed.

We shouldn't be crying over - rather should be celebrating that a danger seems to have averted. Not that there was too much of a danger anyway. I think EB can take the 261K visas to the bank now.

Q - Thanks for sharing this here. This bill never had a chance as such and even Pelosi during the times of negotiations said it won't be this bill that will advance even if there was a deal. Either way looks like SO is good and real.

[Zenzone]

Totally agree. There is a huge disconnect between what Trump supporters think vs what polls are telling us.

I generally have excellent clarity on most things. But this year two things have completely confounded me. 1) The solidarity of trump vote completely baffles me. Don't understand why trump is not trailing by 20%. 2) I don't understand the reality of COVID. How did it come about and why china seem to be doing ok but US and India are not. Don't get me wrong. I love China. But I am just wondering is COVID an accident gone wrong or a deliberate geopolitical game or just a natural phenomena.

As per US immigration politics - as you said - as long as these guys keep fighting the Meng amendment won't see light of the day. In fact I hope it doesn't see light of the day even when they move ahead. But there is always 1% chance.

p.s. - Last month, I actually did finally become citizen after resisting it for almost four years. I already felt quite American in my heart but the thought of letting go of my Indian passport was quite sad. This year I had to either renew GC or go for citizenship. I chose citizenship. But nobody can take our Indianness away. Can they?

Congrats on becoming a citizen!

[Zenzone]

Polls were not wrong the last time around. The political pundits were wrong who interpreted the polls. HRC did win the popular vote with 2.1% (which was within the +/- 2% margin of error) and just before the election the popular vote average for HRC was between 3-4%. A lot of people have learnt the wrong lessons from 2016. It went from taking the polls with a grain of salt (factoring in the margin of error) to, do not trust the polls at all. Plus we did not have a lot of swing state polling for the rust belt last time around. Now can things turn around? Yes, it's possible. Just do not write off the polls completely. They will show the swing if things turn around.

Ya...when the pendulum swings it swings to the other extreme very quickly. Good news is we are a under a month from finding out who's right :p

[rabp77]

Ya...when the pendulum swings it swings to the other extreme very quickly. Good news is we are a under a month from finding out who's right :p

in 2016, lots of key states the polls had HRC only slightly ahead of DJT. Some crazy events also changed the topic of discussion in the last 10 days before the election, and polls did not have time to reset for those changes. I agree with vsivarama polls were not entirely wrong. Polls were predicting a close election in the battleground states in 2016.

A big factor determining election result is voter optimism at the end of october. If voters are optimistic that things are improving, they in general vote for the incumbent, and also give a slight preference to republicans. If voters believe things are going to get worse, the incumbent loses. We still have a few weeks till end of october to see if there can be swings in voter optimism. Unlikely, but 2020 already has produced many surprise.

[gcpursuit]

https://www.aila.org/advo-media/issues/all/dhs-dol-rules-alterning-h1b-prevailing-wage-levels

I am thinking the DOL rule might impact a lot of people if they enforce that a "senior" role warrants a level 3 or level 4 wage. Any thoughts on this?

[Zenzone]

https://www.aila.org/advo-media/issues/all/dhs-dol-rules-alterning-h1b-prevailing-wage-levels

I am thinking the DOL rule might impact a lot of people if they enforce that a "senior" role warrants a level 3 or level 4 wage. Any thoughts on this?

This rule is about to get quashed through an injunction. Not a chance. However, separately speaking its not entirely illogical to expect a senior role to pay that level of wage. My 2 cents.

[gcpursuit]

This rule is about to get quashed through an injunction. Not a chance. However, separately speaking its not entirely illogical to expect a senior role to pay that level of wage. My 2 cents.

I agree that Level 4 wage should be used for Senior Roles. However, the prevailing wages have changed so much with this rule that level 4 wages will be near impossible for most small/medium sized companies. For example, in the DC area, the level 4 wage for a Software Developer is 200K. The level 4 wage for the same occupation was 140K before Oct 8. Thats a huge difference.

[idliman]

I agree that Level 4 wage should be used for Senior Roles. However, the prevailing wages have changed so much with this rule that level 4 wages will be near impossible for most small/medium sized companies. For example, in the DC area, the level 4 wage for a Software Developer is 200K. The level 4 wage for the same occupation was 140K before Oct 8. Thats a huge difference.
I was looking at tweets from gsiskind last week. They were saying that for medical professionals (recently graduated doctors) in rural areas, these new wage levels are impossible. AILA will definitely come up with a pro bono case to stop this. Maybe it will be through rural doctor wages considering the pandemic situation. Surely big money will start flowing in. I wonder what's the new salary for Pizza delivery guys and Fishing guys from some ROW countries. There is no word on that. The H2B visa wages will also be affected. However, this is fall/winter and off season for them. Otherwise this would have caused a havoc among DT supporters (agri folks).

Some consultancy companies apply for H1B renewal only at the last minute. Definitely some people will be impacted. I am sorry for those folks who are in that 1-2 month window.

[Zenzone]

I agree that Level 4 wage should be used for Senior Roles. However, the prevailing wages have changed so much with this rule that level 4 wages will be near impossible for most small/medium sized companies. For example, in the DC area, the level 4 wage for a Software Developer is 200K. The level 4 wage for the same occupation was 140K before Oct 8. Thats a huge difference.

Where are you finding this information. Are the new wages published for all regions by job codes?

[gcpursuit]

Where are you finding this information. Are the new wages published for all regions by job codes?

I checked here : https://www.flcdatacenter.com/oeswizardstart.aspx

It has the data by job code and you can compare with previous revisions.

[cool_dude]

This is ridiculous.My last H1 renewal was done level4 wage and my salary was 21k higher than needed.
Now i am short by 33k. Have to do renewal next year...
FLC data wages went up by 30k for the jobcode since last renewal.

[mesan123]

This is ridiculous.My last H1 renewal was done level4 wage and my salary was 21k higher than needed.
Now i am short by 33k. Have to do renewal next year...
FLC data wages went up by 30k for the jobcode since last renewal.
Yes.. my spouse in sameboat... now for his Level 3 renewal he needs 40K more.. he was in median salary range.. he meets only Level 1 in the new ranges.. the salaries are hiked crazily... luckily mine got renewed in end of July in level4...

This is going to be major problem for many extensions from Dec 7th another uscis rule coming in to effect that education and job should be same.. it is going to get crazy..

https://www.mayerbrown.com/en/perspectives-events/blogs/2020/10/trump-administration-issues-two-new-rules-to-restrict-h1b-visas-and-increase-expenses-for-employers-sponsoring-highlyskilled-workers-for-visas-and-green-cards

[Zenzone]

This is ridiculous.My last H1 renewal was done level4 wage and my salary was 21k higher than needed.
Now i am short by 33k. Have to do renewal next year...
FLC data wages went up by 30k for the jobcode since last renewal.

Why can't you apply in L3 wage now. Even if the rule is in effect when you apply next year (unlikely). What's the problem with that?

[cool_dude]

I thought uscis audits if we do that...we will see what lawyer says when time comes..

[Turbulent_Dragonfly]

Now that ACB is confirmed, unless Dems win and take back the Senate, it's going to be mayhem next 4 years. ACA, Roe/Wade, DoMA, Voting Rights will all be gutted. Only Brown v/ Board of Education may survive.

[qesehmk]

Now that ACB is confirmed, unless Dems win and take back the Senate, it's going to be mayhem next 4 years. ACA, Roe/Wade, DoMA, Voting Rights will all be gutted. Only Brown v/ Board of Education may survive.
Unless Cavanaugh turns liberal this is the beginning of the end of American empire as all these religious zealots are going to start dismantling the free mason protestant ethic of this country. It is an utterly sad day.

[qesehmk]

Here is an interesting news piece that both supports and cuts my argument about Cavanaugh.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/27/politics/kavanaugh-supreme-court-trump-biden/index.html

[Zenzone]

Here is an interesting news piece that both supports and cuts my argument about Cavanaugh.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/27/politics/kavanaugh-supreme-court-trump-biden/index.html

I think as long as they count the postal ballots received until Nov 3rd that's fair enough and the margins are hopefully wide enough that we don't argue on these technicalities come next Wednesday and the permutations that come with it. Fingers crossed!

[Zenzone]

Now that ACB is confirmed, unless Dems win and take back the Senate, it's going to be mayhem next 4 years. ACA, Roe/Wade, DoMA, Voting Rights will all be gutted. Only Brown v/ Board of Education may survive.

What bout SC packing? I wouldn't rule that out yet!

[qesehmk]

I think as long as they count the postal ballots received until Nov 3rd that's fair enough and the margins are hopefully wide enough that we don't argue on these technicalities come next Wednesday and the permutations that come with it. Fingers crossed!

So perhaps this is just a gloomy day for me .. but I think SC is definitely going to stop counting of ballots in PA (just like they did in Florida in 2000).

Secondly ballots also have very high rejection rate and so any edge biden has nationally may evaporate in battleground states when that reject rate is taken into account.

So to me this race is still 50-50.

[Zenzone]

So perhaps this is just a gloomy day for me .. but I think SC is definitely going to stop counting of ballots in PA (just like they did in Florida in 2000).

Secondly ballots also have very high rejection rate and so any edge biden has nationally may evaporate in battleground states when that reject rate is taken into account.

So to me this race is still 50-50.

Stop counting? Many states can't start counting postal ballots until after the election is over. Are you talking about a multiple re-count scenario like how it happened with Bush Vs. Gore?

[Zenzone]

Actual Language - For important reasons, most States, including Wisconsin, require absentee ballots to be received by election day, not just mailed by election day. Those States want to avoid the chaos and suspicions of impropriety that can ensue if thousands of absentee ballots flow in after election day and potentially flip the results of an election. And those States also want to be able to definitively announce the results of the election on election night, or as soon as possible thereafter. Moreover, particularly in a Presidential election, counting all the votes quickly can help the State promptly resolve any disputes, address any need for recounts, and begin the process of canvassing and certifying the election results in an expeditious manner. See 3 U. S. C. §5. The States are aware of the risks described by Professor Pildes: “[L]ate-arriving ballots open up one of the greatest risks of what might, in our era of hyperpolarized political parties and existential politics, destabilize the election result. If the apparent winner the morning after the election ends up losing due to late-arriving ballots, charges of a rigged election could explode.” Pildes, How to Accommodate a Massive Surge in Absentee Voting, U. Chi. L. Rev. Online (June 26, 2020) (online source archived at www.supremecourt.gov). The “longer after Election Day any significant changes in vote totals take place, the greater the risk that the losing side will cry that the election has been stolen.”

[qesehmk]

Stop counting? Many states can't start counting postal ballots until after the election is over. Are you talking about a multiple re-count scenario like how it happened with Bush Vs. Gore?
Florida like yes and even beyond because Cavanaugh on one had is defending State's role under Article II of constitution but on the other hand is saying States can't change rules too much for federal elections which to me sounds like he will strike down any votes counting for votes cast based on any extended rules by the state.

[Zenzone]

Florida like yes and even beyond because Cavanaugh on one had is defending State's role under Article II of constitution but on the other hand is saying States can't change rules too much for federal elections which to me sounds like he will strike down any votes counting for votes cast based on any extended rules by the state.

Possibe. But to me this election likely will be decided based on the votes received by close of polls on the election day. If it gets to a razor thin margin on swing states, we are on for a spectacle but that's unlikely it will go down to the wire unless polls have a higher margin of error than in 2016.

[GCMirage]

Agree it’s a 50-50 tie in battleground states. Unless it’s a blow victory which I really doubt it is going to be this will end up in courts and the R’s have massive advantage(s) in that scenario.

[qesehmk]

this election likely will be decided based on the votes received by close of polls on the election day.
That's the republican argument and hope to disenfranchise democratic vote which is overwhelming going to be by mail.

[Zenzone]

That's the republican argument and hope to disenfranchise democratic vote which is overwhelming going to be by mail.

Yes. But the votes received (including mail-in ballots) by the close of the election day have to be counted and yesterday's SC's Wisconsin verdict affirms it. So I'm not sure how this disenfranchises the Dem base from voting unless a vast majority of these mail-in voters were planning to post-mark their ballots only on the election day or a couple of days before for the most part. Somehow I feel that its an unfounded anxiety given the strong mail-in voting numbers thus far showing people are voting in historic volumes. On the contrary, if there are thousands of ballots delivered late (especially in swing states) that muddles the water greatly though and you can't deny that risk altogether. If there is a blue wave as predicted then all these minor affairs become moot. My two cents!

[AceMan]

Congrats Q on becoming the citizen. It has been an hectic month filing, adding documentation, filling 944, deciphering what to put and what not and finally got the package mailed out today.

The hope would be to getting greened within a year or 2 and vote for the elections in 2028.

[Zenzone]

Congrats Q on becoming the citizen. It has been an hectic month filing, adding documentation, filling 944, deciphering what to put and what not and finally got the package mailed out today.

The hope would be to getting greened within a year or 2 and vote for the elections in 2028.

Congrats to you Aceman on filing and surviving this documentation and attorney chasing blitz! Join the club. Mine was filed last week too.

Congrats again to Q for the citizenship!

[AceMan]

Thanks Zen, now we will be in the Nether land called EAD/AP for a while.

So now we have been let inside the compound, hope we will be soon let inside the inner club within a year or so.

[qesehmk]

Congrats to you Aceman on filing and surviving this documentation and attorney chasing blitz! Join the club. Mine was filed last week too.

Congrats again to Q for the citizenship!


Congrats Q on becoming the citizen. It has been an hectic month filing, adding documentation, filling 944, deciphering what to put and what not and finally got the package mailed out today.

The hope would be to getting greened within a year or 2 and vote for the elections in 2028.

Congrats both. It is great to not have to renew H1 and hopefully get greened soon.

As per me - citizenship is just a formality. I have always felt very much at home in US and after GC I stopped worrying much about my status. But yeah now I am not an outlier in my own house!!

[monsieur]

Yes. But the votes received (including mail-in ballots) by the close of the election day have to be counted and yesterday's SC's Wisconsin verdict affirms it. So I'm not sure how this disenfranchises the Dem base from voting unless a vast majority of these mail-in voters were planning to post-mark their ballots only on the election day or a couple of days before for the most part. Somehow I feel that its an unfounded anxiety given the strong mail-in voting numbers thus far showing people are voting in historic volumes. On the contrary, if there are thousands of ballots delivered late (especially in swing states) that muddles the water greatly though and you can't deny that risk altogether. If there is a blue wave as predicted then all these minor affairs become moot. My two cents!


Both you and Q are correct but wording is bit off.

Your argument is correct in terms of mail received. -- By many state law any vote received by County board end of Election day (Nov 3rd this year) needs to be counted; some state do allow votes which are post mark by election day just like taxes.

Q statement with high rejection rate is correct too - Party who controls election board trys to put thumb on scale which benefits their party. Naked ballot method i.e ballot should be mailed 2 envelope method, Sign mismatch, Withness sign missing and many more excuses which makes ballot invalid.

Lets say 2% votes get rejected, so for 100K votes, 2K votes are rejected which is not a big deal where 10M are in-person vote. But in this election where 65M+ and counting already voted with expectation of 100M votes by mail + in-person voting there is a good chance to 2M votes will be rejected which is really big deal and can change election outcome. (2016 election was decided by Total 77K in 3 states MI, WI and PA)

MI was won by Trump by 10,704 votes which has 16 electoral votes.
https://www.cnn.com/election/2016/results/states/michigan

So if election are close and SCOTUS intervenes than chances are candidate who is ahead at the time (Reps planning to vote on E-Day vs Dems who are preferring mail-in ballots) will be declared as winner without counting all mail-in ballots.

[Turbulent_Dragonfly]

What bout SC packing? I wouldn't rule that out yet!

I am a flaming liberal by any measure, but I hate that AOC and the 'Squad' are starting to trumpet the 'Expand the Court' chants. All that will do is rile up more support for Trump. They need to lay low for another week.

It's a travesty that SC judges also have to be so obviously political and have their own agendas. And I sincerely mean that on both sides. RBG too is at fault for latching on to her seat when she could have relinquished that any time in the 8 yrs that Obama was President. Everyone is power and legacy hungry on either side. So I don't think expanding the court is going to do anything, there will be major demonstrations from the right. As usual even if Biden wins and the Senate is flipped, as has been usual in my time here at least, they will come in with a pandemic out of control, a wrecked economy and millions out of work and the deficit soaring. The Republicans will blame everything neatly on the Admin and then take back control of the House at least in 2022 and then another two years of grid lock.

[Zenzone]

Both you and Q are correct but wording is bit off.

Your argument is correct in terms of mail received. -- By many state law any vote received by County board end of Election day (Nov 3rd this year) needs to be counted; some state do allow votes which are post mark by election day just like taxes.

Q statement with high rejection rate is correct too - Party who controls election board trys to put thumb on scale which benefits their party. Naked ballot method i.e ballot should be mailed 2 envelope method, Sign mismatch, Withness sign missing and many more excuses which makes ballot invalid.

Lets say 2% votes get rejected, so for 100K votes, 2K votes are rejected which is not a big deal where 10M are in-person vote. But in this election where 65M+ and counting already voted with expectation of 100M votes by mail + in-person voting there is a good chance to 2M votes will be rejected which is really big deal and can change election outcome. (2016 election was decided by Total 77K in 3 states MI, WI and PA)

MI was won by Trump by 10,704 votes which has 16 electoral votes.
https://www.cnn.com/election/2016/results/states/michigan

Couldn't agree more. And that's where the margins kick-in. If the popular vote difference is going to be higher than 8%, its game over for GOP. If not, all the above mentioned become more and more important as the margin gets closer and closer. Also, its important to remember that at that point its a fractured/split mandate anyways. Therefore, its expected to be contested aggressively by legal channels by both sides.

[Zenzone]

Congrats both. It is great to not have to renew H1 and hopefully get greened soon.

As per me - citizenship is just a formality. I have always felt very much at home in US and after GC I stopped worrying much about my status. But yeah now I am not an outlier in my own house!!

Thanks Q! Fingers crossed.

[monsieur]

I am a flaming liberal by any measure, but I hate that AOC and the 'Squad' are starting to trumpet the 'Expand the Court' chants. All that will do is rile up more support for Trump. They need to lay low for another week.

It's a travesty that SC judges also have to be so obviously political and have their own agendas. And I sincerely mean that on both sides. RBG too is at fault for latching on to her seat when she could have relinquished that any time in the 8 yrs that Obama was President. Everyone is power and legacy hungry on either side. So I don't think expanding the court is going to do anything, there will be major demonstrations from the right. As usual even if Biden wins and the Senate is flipped, as has been usual in my time here at least, they will come in with a pandemic out of control, a wrecked economy and millions out of work and the deficit soaring. The Republicans will blame everything neatly on the Admin and then take back control of the House at least in 2022 and then another two years of grid lock.

Forget SCOTUS packing; Dems can fix it by accepting commission recommendation of expanding courts. This is the article which was written by conservative back in 2013 when Dems controlled all 3. But yeah moment Dems accept this reco, Reps will start crying foul

https://www.nationalreview.com/2017/11/federal-court-expansion-republicans-courts/

[Turbulent_Dragonfly]

Couldn't agree more. And that's where the margins kick-in. If the popular vote difference is going to be higher than 8%, its game over for GOP. If not, all the above mentioned become more and more important as the margin gets closer and closer. Also, its important to remember that at that point its a fractured/split mandate anyways. Therefore, its expected to be contested aggressively by legal channels by both sides.

I will see it when I believe it after the swearing in ceremony is over on Jan 20. If nothing else, Trump is a fighter, he will fight dirty till every legal measure is exploited. He has already set it up nicely with the SC appointments. The Democrats are really powerless and the only thing they can bank on is that the overwhelming turnout favors them in a landslide. Anything short of it and it will be fought over for weeks as more and more people die due to Covid.

[Zenzone]

I am a flaming liberal by any measure, but I hate that AOC and the 'Squad' are starting to trumpet the 'Expand the Court' chants. All that will do is rile up more support for Trump. They need to lay low for another week.

It's a travesty that SC judges also have to be so obviously political and have their own agendas. And I sincerely mean that on both sides. RBG too is at fault for latching on to her seat when she could have relinquished that any time in the 8 yrs that Obama was President. Everyone is power and legacy hungry on either side. So I don't think expanding the court is going to do anything, there will be major demonstrations from the right. As usual even if Biden wins and the Senate is flipped, as has been usual in my time here at least, they will come in with a pandemic out of control, a wrecked economy and millions out of work and the deficit soaring. The Republicans will blame everything neatly on the Admin and then take back control of the House at least in 2022 and then another two years of grid lock.

While my rational brain says I have to disagree with you using data, my instincts stop me and make me agree with you :) Liberals have to prove that they have the nerve to pull these things off which I haven't seen them display since the time I have been observing them either. But playing the contrarian for a minute here, Court packing might become a reality if (when) certain high visibility cases, for e.g., Roe Vs. Wade go against liberals. It will be impossible for a trifecta Dem administration to simply watch SC over-rule Roe V. Wade and not do anything. I feel in someway the greedy right wing could kill this goose laying golden eggs too soon and force the next admin. to act on his issue by trying to over-leverage their expanded SC majority.

[monsieur]

I will see it when I believe it after the swearing in ceremony is over on Jan 20. If nothing else, Trump is a fighter, he will fight dirty till every legal measure is exploited. He has already set it up nicely with the SC appointments. The Democrats are really powerless and the only thing they can bank on is that the overwhelming turnout favors them in a landslide. Anything short of it and it will be fought over for weeks as more and more people die due to Covid.

New senate will swear in Most probably on Jan 3rd; if Dems flip senate then Trump will be impeached and carried out by Marshall for Biden to take oath on Jan 20th.

Senate and Prez swearing in dates are fixed by law and can't be changed.

[Zenzone]

I will see it when I believe it after the swearing in ceremony is over on Jan 20. If nothing else, Trump is a fighter, he will fight dirty till every legal measure is exploited. He has already set it up nicely with the SC appointments. The Democrats are really powerless and the only thing they can bank on is that the overwhelming turnout favors them in a landslide. Anything short of it and it will be fought over for weeks as more and more people die due to Covid.

I disagree with you. You among many others are still in the 2016 nightmarish precedent that makes us all believe somehow DT will pull a trick from his bag while the fact is how can he do that if he loses a couple of sunbelt states (for example - Arizona). Odds get heavily against him if that happens and I haven't even talked about the Rust Belt yet. Let me put it this way - Odds of a Biden landslide is higher than a Trump victory and this is a data centric assertion, not just someone's opinion.

[Turbulent_Dragonfly]

I disagree with you. You among many others are still in the 2016 nightmarish precedent that makes us all believe somehow DT will pull a trick from his bag while the fact is how can he do that if he loses a couple of sunbelt states (for example - Arizona). Odds get heavily against him if that happens and I haven't even talked about the Rust Belt yet. Let me put it this way - Odds of a Biden landslide is higher than a Trump victory and this is a data centric assertion, not just someone's opinion.

I am not arguing against the data. In a free and fair democracy, it would be a no brainer. But Trump has packed so many courts in one term that any narrow margins will lend itself to exploitation in courts. That's why I am qualifying by saying that only a landslide will help and if there is a 2000 like scenario, it will help him.

[Zenzone]

I am not arguing against the data. In a free and fair democracy, it would be a no brainer. But Trump has packed so many courts in one term that any narrow margins will lend itself to exploitation in courts. That's why I am qualifying by saying that only a landslide will help and if there is a 2000 like scenario, it will help him.

Agreed. Narrow election will be heavily contested.

[Turbulent_Dragonfly]

This is one example of the shenanigans that the Republicans are pulling:

@Dan_F_Jacobson
My daily reminder -- almost every state in the country allows mail ballots to be processed well before election day except PA, WI, MI, where the GOP legislatures refuse to allow it. That's why we won't know results on election night.

[Turbulent_Dragonfly]

Goes to prove how big of a dumas Kavanaugh is:

https://lawandcrime.com/awkward/justice-kavanaugh-caught-cherry-picking-line-from-a-law-review-article-that-contradicted-his-conclusion/

[Kesid23]

This is ridiculous.My last H1 renewal was done level4 wage and my salary was 21k higher than needed.
Now i am short by 33k. Have to do renewal next year...
FLC data wages went up by 30k for the job code since last renewal.

I have to file for H1B extension.

My last H1B extension one was filed with an LCA for level 4 wages.

My attorney filed the LCA last week for my H1B extension and it had to be filed under L2 wage level, because of the new prevailing wage level rules!!

Will that create problems with the H1B extension?

[qesehmk]

Guys - one request here. please post things in relevant threads only.

Please remember this forum is FREE and is maintained by volunteers. It only hurts you and the entire community if you post in irrelevant posts.

p.s. - Srimurthy recently volunteered to moderate. If others are interested please let me know. Our only requirement is that you have made at least 100 posts that are well received by community (i.e. respectful valuable etc).

[sudiva]

Interesting read on what to expect in the near future from processing capacity point of view. Need to fast forward to paragraph which starts with "USCIS spent much of this spring and summer threatening to furlough"

https://twitter.com/gsiskind/status/1321834592958107649

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/10/29/trump-immigration-daca-family-separation/?arc404=true

[Kesid23]

https://twitter.com/gsiskind/status/1323307715490422788?s=20

Tweet from Greg Siskind
BREAKING - Victory on a new public charge lawsuit. The court just ruled for the plaintiffs in Cook County, IL, et. al. v. Wolf, et. al. The public charge rule was set aside nationally as of today.

[horizon1012]

https://www.murthy.com/2020/11/02/newsflash-federal-judge-blocks-enforcement-of-public-charge-rule/

Looks like I-944 will not be required.

[inspired_p]

https://www.murthy.com/2020/11/02/newsflash-federal-judge-blocks-enforcement-of-public-charge-rule/

Looks like I-944 will not be required.

Good News ! I would assume very small nuisance removed for EB applicants, but this is huge for FB applicants I am sure.

[idliman]

This election is going to have a huge impact on the immigration policies. We can expect draconian rules on H1B eligibility if there are 4 more years of DT. We might have huge spillover from FB again. However, it remains to be seen if they will issue the GCs or waste them using some excuse. If JB wins, at least things will go back to where they were 4 years back. I am not sold on his promise of CIR in the first 90 days or so. For people who already filed for AOS and had crossed the 180 days AC21 eligibility, the results may not be that important.

How many of you are planning to turn off the TV and watch the morning news on Wednesday?

[Turbulent_Dragonfly]

This election is going to have a huge impact on the immigration policies. We can expect draconian rules on H1B eligibility if there are 4 more years of DT. We might have huge spillover from FB again. However, it remains to be seen if they will issue the GCs or waste them using some excuse. If JB wins, at least things will go back to where they were 4 years back. I am not sold on his promise of CIR in the first 90 days or so. For people who already filed for AOS and had crossed the 180 days AC21 eligibility, the results may not be that important.

How many of you are planning to turn off the TV and watch the morning news on Wednesday?

I have definitely tuned out the news and other sources like Reddit which turns into a political cesspool around election time. Planning to check back in later tonight. Not considering anything regarding morals, I am going to put a positive spin on the results. If idiot comes back, we will probably see some more restrictions from people outside coming in and more spillover but with the risk of visa wastage with Miller grinning ear to ear. If Biden comes through, maybe there will be hope that with a Senate and House majority, something may get done in the first two years before they lose the majority in the mid-terms again.

Massive turnout usually favors the Democrats, so if I have to hazard a guess, it will be Biden along with a Senate win. I think the fears of Trump creating chaos with the courts and other bull is not totally unfounded but may end up being a non-factor because of the overwhelming turnout.

[qesehmk]

If Trump wins then I am almost certain H1B will be completely reformed or even cancelled within four years. The good news is there huge turnout indicating a biden win.

[19YRSNOGC]

If Trump wins then I am almost certain H1B will be completely reformed or even cancelled within four years. The good news is there huge turnout indicating a biden win.
Almost there with Biden

[idliman]

Almost there with Biden
Wow. Fox news has JB at 238 (12:15PM EST). If he wins WI(10) + MI(16) + NV (6), he wins with 270. PA & NC will likely go to DT.

NV: All in-person votes have been counted. Remaining mail ballots tend to be democratic.
WI: JB leading with 20,697; Almost all votes have been counted.
MI: JB leading by 0.6%. Most outstanding votes are from heavily Democratic Wayne County (Detroit).

It looks like we have a winner in a photo finish.

[qesehmk]

Wow. Fox news has JB at 238 (12:15PM EST). If he wins WI(10) + MI(16) + NV (6), he wins with 270. PA & NC will likely go to DT.

NV: All in-person votes have been counted. Remaining mail ballots tend to be democratic.
WI: JB leading with 20,697; Almost all votes have been counted.
MI: JB leading by 0.6%. Most outstanding votes are from heavily Democratic Wayne County (Detroit).

It looks like we have a winner in a photo finish.

Totally agree. This is photofinish! DJT is going to be as nasty as he could be. But looks like Biden is going to have this in the bag.

[goracer]

Looks like the i-944 is made mandate again.

https://www.murthy.com/2020/11/04/newsflash-appellate-court-again-allows-enforcement-of-public-charge-rule/

[rabp77]

Looks like the i-944 is made mandate again.

https://www.murthy.com/2020/11/04/newsflash-appellate-court-again-allows-enforcement-of-public-charge-rule/


dont think thats surprising. Governments have previously also ensured certain visa applications do not have to rely on public benefits. So this rule should stand. Also this should only help employment based immigration in EB-I queues in the years ahead (Eb2-I and Eb3-i).

[qesehmk]

dont think thats surprising. Governments have previously also ensure certain visa applications do not have to rely on public benefits. So this rule should stand. Also this should only help employment based immigration in EB-I queues in the years ahead.
Trump admin not only brought public charge rule, but they expanded the definition of public charge to include Medicaid. For 99% EB folks this may not impact negatively, but for 1% indians that ever have to use medicaid or other public assistance, this could mean end of their American dream. The 485 adjudicating officer will have discretion IMHO. But it creates uncertainty for those unfortunate souls.

[idliman]

How the Biden Administration Will Navigate High Skilled Immigration Policy

Key Takeaways:

- President-elect Joe Biden has a long list (https://joebiden.com/immigration/) of immigration agenda items, focused in large part on reversing the 400 restrictive actions that President Trump put in place over the past four years.
- Biden will immediately send legislation to Congress, but a Republican Senate and a closely divided House will make it difficult to advance his agenda through the legislative branch.
- Business immigration issues will take a back seat to asylum reform, restoration of the U.S. refugee program, and an overhaul of the U.S. immigration enforcement system.
- COVID-19 consular disruptions and delays, and budget concerns in the immigration agencies, will continue into 2021. Even if Biden lifts the physical presence based travel bans and/or the work visa ban, companies should expect delays and backlogs both at the consulates and at DHS.
- Litigation that began under the Trump administration will continue into Biden’s presidency. Anti-immigration groups will also bring new lawsuits challenging Biden’s actions.
- In its remaining months, the Trump administration will continue to push forward on its H-1B overhaul and may seek to eliminate H-4 work authorization and restrict OPT and L-1 visas.

Who will fill leadership roles in a Biden administration?
Personnel is policy. The Biden transition team (https://federalnewsnetwork.com/management/2020/11/meet-the-agency-transition-teams-for-president-elect-biden/) draws heavily from political appointees who served under President Obama. The Biden administration will need to fill over 4,000 positions, including hundreds of Senate-confirmed roles. Those individuals will dictate the Biden administration’s priorities and its approach to business immigration.

Biden Administration: What are the incoming administration’s top priorities?
The Trump administration has made more than 400 immigration policy changes (https://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/us-immigration-system-changes-trump-presidency), many of which affect humanitarian programs and violate the country’s obligations under international law. The Biden administration’s top priorities will be to reverse as many of these actions as possible administratively. Biden has promised to take the following actions in the first 100 days of his presidency:
- Reinstate Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) protections
- End the Muslim travel ban
- Reverse Trump asylum border polices and address family separations
- Rescind the public charge regulation
- Restore pre-Trump immigration enforcement guidelines

What actions will the Biden administration take on business immigration?

Foreign Students
The Trump administration has made every effort to restrict the entry of foreign students to the U.S. Biden will seek to reverse or modify those policies, including the regulation that would limit the duration of status of foreign students. One area where we expect continued focus will be the entry of Chinese students where there are concerns with intellectual property theft.

High-Skilled Workers
The Biden administration will need to navigate three regulations aimed at restricting use of the H-1B visa category, all of which are or will be subject to litigation. Several changes sought by President Trump, such as an increase in H-1B wage levels, restrictions on third-party placement of H-1B workers, and prioritization of H-1B visas based on wage levels, may find some support within a Biden administration. There will be less hostility towards foreign workers already in the system, but companies should expect an ongoing focus on U.S. worker protections and scrutiny of any work visa scenario that could result in the displacement of U.S. workers.

Travel Bans
Biden has promised to reverse the ban on travel from Muslim-majority countries on Day 1 and has suggested that he would also lift the work visa ban. The administration will face pressure to rescind all of the Trump bans that have kept families apart and are not based on public health concerns. Whether the administration would lift the COVID-19 physical presence bans, which have no expiration date and are in effect until the President terminates them, will likely depend on conditions in those countries.

Lame Duck: What will the Trump administration do between now and inauguration in January?
We expect the administration to make every effort to ensure that the Department of Labor wage rule and Department of Homeland Security H-1B eligibility and lottery rules are in place by March 2021 for cap season. The administration may also attempt to move forward on rescinding H-4 work authorization eligibility, imposing restrictions on F-1 Optional Practical Training, and narrowing eligibility for L-1 visas.

The Trump administration will likely keep in place the COVID-19 physical presence bans and extend the work-visa and immigrant-visa travel bans that are set to expire Dec. 31, so that they remain effective when Biden takes office.

Legislative Landscape: Will Congress enact immigration reform in 2021?
As a candidate, Joe Biden promised to pursue immigration reform legislation and has said he will send legislation to Congress in the first week. Biden’s legislative platform includes increasing employment-based green card numbers and eliminating per-country caps. However, the plan also says, “An immigration system that crowds out high-skilled workers in favor of only entry level wages and skills threatens American innovation and competitiveness.” While he supports expanding temporary work visas, Biden also favors a “wage-based allocation process.” His plan suggests that he would only support raising the number of work visas or eliminating per-country caps after establishing the wage-based allocation process.

Biden will likely begin his presidency with a divided government, with Democrats controlling the U.S. House of Representatives and Republicans holding the Senate. If Democrats control the Senate after the Georgia runoff elections, it will be by a narrow margin. Should Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) chair the Senate Judiciary Committee, the administration will face extensive oversight and opposition to its immigration agenda. This means companies should prepare for the majority of policy changes to continue to come from the executive branch (i.e. the President and federal government agencies).

1764

Source: BAL Government Strategies

[Zenzone]

How the Biden Administration Will Navigate High Skilled Immigration Policy

Key Takeaways:

- President-elect Joe Biden has a long list (https://joebiden.com/immigration/) of immigration agenda items, focused in large part on reversing the 400 restrictive actions that President Trump put in place over the past four years.
- Biden will immediately send legislation to Congress, but a Republican Senate and a closely divided House will make it difficult to advance his agenda through the legislative branch.
- Business immigration issues will take a back seat to asylum reform, restoration of the U.S. refugee program, and an overhaul of the U.S. immigration enforcement system.
- COVID-19 consular disruptions and delays, and budget concerns in the immigration agencies, will continue into 2021. Even if Biden lifts the physical presence based travel bans and/or the work visa ban, companies should expect delays and backlogs both at the consulates and at DHS.
- Litigation that began under the Trump administration will continue into Biden’s presidency. Anti-immigration groups will also bring new lawsuits challenging Biden’s actions.
- In its remaining months, the Trump administration will continue to push forward on its H-1B overhaul and may seek to eliminate H-4 work authorization and restrict OPT and L-1 visas.

Who will fill leadership roles in a Biden administration?
Personnel is policy. The Biden transition team (https://federalnewsnetwork.com/management/2020/11/meet-the-agency-transition-teams-for-president-elect-biden/) draws heavily from political appointees who served under President Obama. The Biden administration will need to fill over 4,000 positions, including hundreds of Senate-confirmed roles. Those individuals will dictate the Biden administration’s priorities and its approach to business immigration.

Biden Administration: What are the incoming administration’s top priorities?
The Trump administration has made more than 400 immigration policy changes (https://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/us-immigration-system-changes-trump-presidency), many of which affect humanitarian programs and violate the country’s obligations under international law. The Biden administration’s top priorities will be to reverse as many of these actions as possible administratively. Biden has promised to take the following actions in the first 100 days of his presidency:
- Reinstate Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) protections
- End the Muslim travel ban
- Reverse Trump asylum border polices and address family separations
- Rescind the public charge regulation
- Restore pre-Trump immigration enforcement guidelines

What actions will the Biden administration take on business immigration?

Foreign Students
The Trump administration has made every effort to restrict the entry of foreign students to the U.S. Biden will seek to reverse or modify those policies, including the regulation that would limit the duration of status of foreign students. One area where we expect continued focus will be the entry of Chinese students where there are concerns with intellectual property theft.

High-Skilled Workers
The Biden administration will need to navigate three regulations aimed at restricting use of the H-1B visa category, all of which are or will be subject to litigation. Several changes sought by President Trump, such as an increase in H-1B wage levels, restrictions on third-party placement of H-1B workers, and prioritization of H-1B visas based on wage levels, may find some support within a Biden administration. There will be less hostility towards foreign workers already in the system, but companies should expect an ongoing focus on U.S. worker protections and scrutiny of any work visa scenario that could result in the displacement of U.S. workers.

Travel Bans
Biden has promised to reverse the ban on travel from Muslim-majority countries on Day 1 and has suggested that he would also lift the work visa ban. The administration will face pressure to rescind all of the Trump bans that have kept families apart and are not based on public health concerns. Whether the administration would lift the COVID-19 physical presence bans, which have no expiration date and are in effect until the President terminates them, will likely depend on conditions in those countries.

Lame Duck: What will the Trump administration do between now and inauguration in January?
We expect the administration to make every effort to ensure that the Department of Labor wage rule and Department of Homeland Security H-1B eligibility and lottery rules are in place by March 2021 for cap season. The administration may also attempt to move forward on rescinding H-4 work authorization eligibility, imposing restrictions on F-1 Optional Practical Training, and narrowing eligibility for L-1 visas.

The Trump administration will likely keep in place the COVID-19 physical presence bans and extend the work-visa and immigrant-visa travel bans that are set to expire Dec. 31, so that they remain effective when Biden takes office.

Legislative Landscape: Will Congress enact immigration reform in 2021?
As a candidate, Joe Biden promised to pursue immigration reform legislation and has said he will send legislation to Congress in the first week. Biden’s legislative platform includes increasing employment-based green card numbers and eliminating per-country caps. However, the plan also says, “An immigration system that crowds out high-skilled workers in favor of only entry level wages and skills threatens American innovation and competitiveness.” While he supports expanding temporary work visas, Biden also favors a “wage-based allocation process.” His plan suggests that he would only support raising the number of work visas or eliminating per-country caps after establishing the wage-based allocation process.

Biden will likely begin his presidency with a divided government, with Democrats controlling the U.S. House of Representatives and Republicans holding the Senate. If Democrats control the Senate after the Georgia runoff elections, it will be by a narrow margin. Should Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) chair the Senate Judiciary Committee, the administration will face extensive oversight and opposition to its immigration agenda. This means companies should prepare for the majority of policy changes to continue to come from the executive branch (i.e. the President and federal government agencies).

1764

Source: BAL Government Strategies

Good Summary! I hope the Biden Administration removes the mandatory interview requirement for EB GCs. Hopefully, that would help move the line a bit faster.

[qesehmk]

Guys I am telling you this is the best environment for removing country caps. EB-India should really make a strong push for it under Biden's first year. Indians did help Biden more than they did Trump this time around. Beside he already is committed to removing country caps.

As long as EB-I doesn't get sucked into American politics and strictly talks business, it is high time country caps go away in 2021.

[qesehmk]

Here is a little perspective and window into American psyche. Indians are not the only ones that were discriminated against or are being discriminated against.

EVERY single ethnic group that arrived in the US has been discriminated against. That includes whitest of white people too. Until JFK became president the Irish were quite a marginalized group in America. Since then America has had at least 3 more presidents with Irish roots.

You will be surprised to see how sympathetic American people are to your cause when YOU are ready to fight for yourself. I hope EB-I folks seize the moment in 2021.

[Turbulent_Dragonfly]

My pessimistic/realistic view is everything depends on the two Georgia Senate runoffs now. Historical records will be broken on both sides on the amount of money that is going to be dumped into Georgia over the next couple of months. I think the chances of Democrats winning are low but not negligible. If Grassley becomes Chairman of Sen Judiciary Committee, it's officially game over for any reform. The House will block anything he proposes which will definitely be restrictionist, and we will just remain stuck in the mud. So these promises of sending an immigration bill to Congress on Day 1 or first week is just bluster. They will try that for a few months and then fall back on Executive Actions and Rule Making.

[qesehmk]

If you look at the big picture - when was the last time a president mentioned country caps? NEVER. Right? Now that's a big deal.

It only helps that Mike Lee belongs to GOP and while may not be able to rope in his party ... can certainly rope in at least a few. So I actually think there is an excellent chance for this to pass IF biden administration picks this up.

[vsivarama]

S386 did have bipartisan support last year till it was torpedoed by Rick Scott at behest of stephen miller. Maybe we can overcome the odds this time by having 60 senators in support of the bill instead of going for unanimous consent.

[Turbulent_Dragonfly]

If you look at the big picture - when was the last time a president mentioned country caps? NEVER. Right? Now that's a big deal.

It only helps that Mike Lee belongs to GOP and while may not be able to rope in his party ... can certainly rope in at least a few. So I actually think there is an excellent chance for this to pass IF biden administration picks this up.

Biden has made it clear that DACA and Asylum are his priorities as far as Immigration policy is concerned. H1B restrictions may also be on the horizon even with a Biden admin because if you read their comments a lot of it sounds like MAGA talk - bringing mfg/union jobs back, Buy American etc. I am hopeful that they won't hurt us punitively as Trump did but don't think they are going to go out of the way to make lives easier since anything connected to easing backlogs has to go through legislation.

[qesehmk]

Biden has made it clear that DACA and Asylum are his priorities as far as Immigration policy is concerned. H1B restrictions may also be on the horizon even with a Biden admin because if you read their comments a lot of it sounds like MAGA talk - bringing mfg/union jobs back, Buy American etc. I am hopeful that they won't hurt us punitively as Trump did but don't think they are going to go out of the way to make lives easier since anything connected to easing backlogs has to go through legislation.
He has made his position crystal clear. I do not read it as priority. He is saying he will support it. But EB-I needs to push for it. That's how things work. Squeaky wheels get the grease.

[Turbulent_Dragonfly]

In case you already did not know from the yelling and screaming on trackitt and twitter, there were no immigration provisions included in the spending bill.

https://twitter.com/gsiskind/status/1341121360081334278

@gsiskind
The omnibus language is out and there is nothing on country caps or healthcare immigration.

[rabp77]

In case you already did not know from the yelling and screaming on trackitt and twitter, there were no immigration provisions included in the spending bill.

https://twitter.com/gsiskind/status/1341121360081334278

@gsiskind
The omnibus language is out and there is nothing on country caps or healthcare immigration.
Little bit disappointing. However on the brighter side, spillover is intact, right?