Crystal ball gazing 04/19/07

Dear HLG,

You have not mentioned the year. Are you talking about 2007 or 2008 or later that ?.

Thanks

Yoj

2007. This summer.

Great updates!

Hi HLG,

Updates are very nice.

But your expectations about schedule “A” workers are not clear.

thanks

Dear HLG

thank you so much for the updates.

What is the atmosphere of immigration legislation in D.C.? Are most senators still thinking no stand alone legislations outside CIR? Is there any negative impact on immigration legislation by the recent VT tragedy? I still hesitate to put all bid on CIR, it is promising but the details of the bill is very unpredictable. I wish a bridge legislation will be considered, maybe it is only possible after CIR failed?

Crystal Clear.

GOOD JOB, HAMMOND LAW GROUP LLC. Keep us posted with More GOOD news.

Let’s be some optimistic at this point and hope to read the news soon on this blog that The Congress has passed these immigration bills….

GOD BLESS AMERICA!

– DRA –

“EXPECTATIONS”!!! Educated guesses, but only expectations in the end. How can they not be clear?? HLG is DOING something in our favor! We can only hope, read, advocate and wait. RN’s are professionals an need to act as such.
60% of passing also means 40% of not, but eventually something will happen, either or… CLEAR?

hi guys,Please see HLG Posting entitled”HLG PHONE CONFERENCE ,April 11th”…there is a key list of senators ,congressmen on that posting that we all need to be reminding that a simple recapture of our visas can address the USA nursing shortage…we all need to do our bit…Mary Kennedy

Ooooohooooo! Good news!
Hooray fior HLG! Keep it up!

Thanks for ur update…Let all of us pray together to hear the good news by August..
All the best HLG..
Rgds

August is quite getting closer now. Let’s just pray and put very positive hopes for the fruit of HLG’s labor for us. Whatever we conceive in mind… it will happen. For those who think so negative, please remember, PATIENCE is a virtue, and it is earned.

HLG, thanks for that “Crystal ball gazing” opportunity. I hope all those things will come tangible soon!
-Nerraw of Phil

“Hi HLG

Can’t understand, can a scheduleA visa be issued if priority date becomes current according to visa bulletin EB-3 category or nurse must definitely wait until schedule A visas become available again? I would appreciate the answer to this.

Thursday, April 19, 2007 6:50:00 PM “

I am not HLG but I can give you the answer because we are in the same situation and the US Embassy has answered me regarding this.
All Sched A cases are now under EB3 category since the 50,000 recaptured visas for Sched A visas last 2005 were used up.The current priority date for EB3 will be Sched A’s basis for visa number availability until another bill be made into law that would reallocate visa numbers exclusively for Sched A.

To: Vinod and Vinay

The answer to your question depends on 2 factors:
1. The number of visa that will be allocated as per the Congress-approved bridge legislation and signed by Bush.
2. Number of Sched A visa applicants with Priority Date(PD) earlier than your PD if you already have a PD.If no PD yet, then there is a third.
3. The number of applicants that will be ahead of you who will get their PD.

Hope I answered your questions.Goodluck to us all.

Thank you and more power to HLG for their work to end the retrogression for Sched A.

Thanks a lot for the updates.

Dear HLG, what do you think the prospects of an immigration bill getting passed for legal aliens this year. Currently we have several bills which are proposed (CIR, SKIL, Hi-Tech Worker bill etc). Could you give us your estimations, similar to the estimation table you had provided last summer.

Immigration Reform Growingly Picks Up Heat

Along with more and more number of bills which are being introduced in the Congress, the constitutents of pro and con in the communities start mobilizing their muscles. Currently, the Senate debate schedule remains the last two weeks of May and these groups started acting up to pave a way for building a lofty wall against or smoothens the road for passage of this legislation. The Catholic community is very charged in support of the bill and actively lobbying both openly and behind the scenes to work with the legislators. People sometimes question why the Catholic community acts as one of the front lobbying forces for the CIR. You guessed it. Hispanics are Catholics and the CIR will tremendously expand the horizen of their constituents and its power base in the national political arena. Twelve or thirteen millions are not a small number. The same question is also raised relating to the AFL-CIO, labor unions. Again, you guessed it. The low-end industries and illegal aliens that will benefit from legalization are charaterized as workforces that belong to the organized unions. This is contrasted to the high-end industries and professional workers that are not by nature tightly organized into the unions. For the reasons, the unions tend to support the CIR, unlike the high-tech worker bills, to take advantage of expanding its membership and power base through the to-be-newly-recruited members of the unions. Aha…… Immigration proponents hope to see that legal immigration supporters and illegal immigration supporters quickly find a bed to share and become bed-partners such that the immigration reform legislation will move along more smoothly avoiding internal feuds and conflicts in the community.

thanks hlg for the effort…GOD BLESS US ALL! MAY the almighty GOD allow the release of visas early this summer..

dj phils rn

STRIVE can stanch flow of illegal immigrants
Flake
Special for

The REPUBLIC
Apr. 1, 2007 12:00 AM

I think it’s safe to say that there is universal agreement that our nation’s immigration system is broken. Unfortunately, it sometimes feels like that is where agreement on the issue ends.

Enactment of meaningful immigration-reform legislation will require support from both Republicans and Democrats. While that may be an explanation for why Congress has yet to send a bill to the president, it ought not to be an excuse.

I recently introduced a comprehensive immigration-reform bill with Democratic Congressman Luis Gutierrez of Illinois. Our bill, the STRIVE Act, has four major components that any serious immigration proposal must have: border security, interior enforcement, a mechanism for foreign workers to enter the country legally, and no amnesty for illegal immigrants The first and longest section of the bill improves border security. Not all immigrants enter the country with good intentions. We have to be able to prevent terrorists, drug smugglers, and others who mean us harm from entering the country. To that end, the bill increases border personnel, accelerates technology at the border, requires biometric enhancements to identification documents, and includes many other measures designed to end the lawlessness at the border.

The bill strengthens interior enforcement by increasing the penalties and expanding the crimes associated with illegal immigration. In addition to stopping illegal immigrants at the border, law enforcement officials need the resources to pursue those who overstay their visas. The bill also creates a verification system that allows employers to check a new hire’s legal status and stiffens penalties on employers that usurp the law. With the creation of a legal framework for foreign workers and the tools to check the status of employees, employers will have no excuse to flout immigration laws.

Aside from giving illegal aliens a shortcut to a green card, a major failure of the 1986 immigration-reform bill was its lack of a mechanism for new workers to enter the country legally, which made the bill outdated on the day it was signed into law. Repeating this mistake would put us back in the same position we’re currently facing in a decade or two from now.

Under our bill, the program for new workers will respond to our economy’s need for additional workers. We require sufficient steps to ensure that foreign workers are filling only jobs that cannot be filled by domestic workers.

Workers who demonstrate job qualifications, pass a background check, pay a fee and satisfy other measures are eligible for a three-year visa, which could be renewed once. Implementation of the new temporary-worker program would be conditioned on progress toward securing the border.

Finally, immigrants currently in the country illegally must not be given amnesty. Under our bill, those here illegally would be forced to pay fines, undergo background checks, meet English and civics requirements, pay back taxes and, most importantly, go to the back of the line (not be given a shortcut to a green card like in 1986) if they wish to adjust their status.

The bill includes a “touchback” provision that would require these illegal immigrants to leave the country and re-enter legally, registering with the US-VISIT program as they do.

Some may believe that these punishments are too harsh and that illegal immigrants will ignore them. However, once a legal framework is in place for immigrants and border security and interior enforcement have been enhanced, it will be very difficult for illegal immigrants to live outside the law. Put simply, it is prohibitively expensive to live anywhere in the United States if you don’t have a job, and registering with the program is the only way to obtain the documents necessary to work.

While every area of the country is dealing with the negative consequences of illegal immigration, the costs borne by Arizona’s citizens are particularly acute.

We simply can’t afford to continue the status quo. For those concerned about amnesty, I’ve got news: We’re living it right now. Any proposal that is not comprehensive in nature will simply ensure that this amnesty – this lack of consequences for illegal activity – will continue long into the future.

The status quo is something, I think we can all agree, that we’ve had enough of.

Jeff Flake, a Republican, represents Arizona’s 6th Congressional District, which includes parts of Mesa and Chandler and all of Gilbert, Queen Creek, and Apache Junction.

Hi everyone,

Maybe we, all the nurses in America of foreign status, should get together and sign a petition letter and send it to the White House or something. How many foreign nurses are there approximately? Maybe we should also form some sort of club or association for foreign nurses dealing with the same issues to enhance our strenght and knowledge.

RN

I have a friend who has been petitioned since july 2006 yet she hasn’t received any correspondence up to now! Doesn’t know what’s her priority date and case number.. but the USCIS encash her cheque the same month- july! don’t know what’s going on.. what’s your best advice? is it to withdraw her petition and then refile again.. or just wait till she receives a copy of her petition.. or maybe retain her present petition and then pay for premium processing? worrying about her petition and retrogression is way too much.. need your advice! thanks!

Australia is open to foreign nurses…offers good pay and good lifestyle…I just need to get away and see if the grass is truly greener on the other side:) Mary Kennedy….

I highly appreciate your enormous efforts to have this issue resolved. I already on my packet 3. When retrogression is lifted, what’s my chance of getting interviewed? Right after it is lifted? Thanks…

My case is still in the USCIS (I-140)with a status showing that “case processing has resumed” but do not feel very happy about it since it is there for many months now with no progress further than that. Also my DS 230 is not done yet. Since I feel that I am not in a priority date category may be it will take more time for me to go to the US, since I hear that cases are pending since 2002 and my petition was filed only in May 2006. Can anyone tell me when I can likely get the visa? I do want to keep up with my staffing company and go to US though.

I wanted to know if I can go to Australia and take a PR there and keep working and then get back to US when the retrogression is lifted and when the visa is made available for me? Is it a good move? Can anyone help me out on this please?

Please publish this as I need some guidance.

RN

Hi HLG,
Its a good news, but we all prefer to get passed the Bridge bill, because it is much easier than CIR and also so many nurses are completed even Cousilate interview and withheld by the lack of visa no. In this situation bridge bill help a lot.

Thanks