When Immigration Matters

Today I asked my colleague and friend International Tax Attorney Richard Rubin to explain in an article the new FATCA tax reporting rules that goes into effect on June 30, 2015.  FATCA impact US citizens, Green Card holders and other US tax resident individuals who have accounts with non-US banks or financial institutions.

As we anxiously await the April 2013 visa bulletin, I thought it would be interesting to repost AILA predictions regarding visa availability.  Take particular note of possible further visa retrogression for EB2 from India.  Cite as “AILA InfoNet Doc. No. 12012349 (posted Feb. 22, 2013)” 

The bulletin summarizes the availability of immigrant numbers in March. The employment-based second preference cut-off date for China has advanced to February 15, 2008 and the cut-off date for India remains at September 1, 2004.

Analysis of February 2013 Visa Bulletin

The February 2013 Visa Bulletin does not provide predictions for cutoff date movement later in the year.  Let’s hope that the highly anticipated Immigration Reform which President Obama says must happen this year---will bring current the wait times for visas in both the employment and family based categories.   

Immigration attorney Karen-Lee Pollak explains how to bring an employee to work in the United States with an EB-1 visa.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services sent this bulletin at 11/02/2012 10:20 AM EDT

On Thursday, August 30, 2012, Roberta Freedman, AILA Students & Scholars Committee member, and Mike Nowlan, Chair of the AILA Business Committee, discussed the Visa Bulletin, visa demand in the employment preference categories, and predictions for FY2012 and FY2013 with Charlie Oppenheim of the Department of State’s Visa Office. These are only discussions of what could happen and are not assurances or guarantees by the Visa Office, as changes in visa usage result in changes in the Visa Bulletin.

USCIS has partnered with business experts to improve the way it approaches the employment-based and high-skilled visa categories used by immigrant entrepreneurs. USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas kicked-off this innovative program, called the Entrepreneurs in Residence (EIR) initiative in February. The EIR initiative consists of a tactical team comprised of outside experts working alongside USCIS employees. For 90 days this collaborative team, comprised of both USCIS employees and entrepreneurs from the private sector, will identify opportunities where USCIS can streamline pathways for foreign entrepreneurs.  We welcome this significant effort to streamline visas for employment-based and high-skilled visa categories.   You can read more on this initiative at http://blog.uscis.gov/