kaisersose
07-24 11:09 AM
I think your lawyer maybe right.
The FAQ is saying Labor should be approved by the time you file for 140. Attaching any piece of evidence along with your 140 application that your labor has been approved should suffice.
The FAQ is warning against filing 140 before Labor approval as many newbies may be wondering if they can utilize this 485 window by applying 140/485 based on a pending labor.
The FAQ is saying Labor should be approved by the time you file for 140. Attaching any piece of evidence along with your 140 application that your labor has been approved should suffice.
The FAQ is warning against filing 140 before Labor approval as many newbies may be wondering if they can utilize this 485 window by applying 140/485 based on a pending labor.
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wandmaker
10-23 05:46 PM
From what I know she can still work for 180 days while the 485 is investigated. You can appeal against the denial.
AFAIK, you will start accruing unlawful status once your 485 denied and you do not have a non-immigrant to status to backup. You should stop working. You will regain the status (i.e. pending AOS) only after the MTR is approved.
If you can post the legal references to support your point, it will really help many IVans.
AFAIK, you will start accruing unlawful status once your 485 denied and you do not have a non-immigrant to status to backup. You should stop working. You will regain the status (i.e. pending AOS) only after the MTR is approved.
If you can post the legal references to support your point, it will really help many IVans.
krishmunn
01-26 11:59 AM
two of my posts that contained strong arguments against certain **famous** posters were not published!! They allow posts with name calling and rude language, but not with strong rebuttals against certain schools of thought.
Very true ! I am not sure what the moderators of Murhty forum are up to but yes the forum has been hijacked by a few very rude members. BTW, one of their very famous members have been banned from another very popular Attorney forum for rude (and illogical) posts and now happily continues name calling and rude language in Murthy forum.
Very true ! I am not sure what the moderators of Murhty forum are up to but yes the forum has been hijacked by a few very rude members. BTW, one of their very famous members have been banned from another very popular Attorney forum for rude (and illogical) posts and now happily continues name calling and rude language in Murthy forum.
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zCool
04-02 11:39 AM
Paystub is really required document in tax law.
These are normally state subject and are guided and monitored by state labor law departments.
Employers don't have a choice of deciding their own period of giving you paystubs.
So if you choose to keep working for illegal employment under illegal condition that's your problem but you can always choose to get labor lawyer involved or just send your employer link similar to one below for your state law and ask him gently "I don't doubt your intention but from what I read this is illegal and I don't want to be part of anything illegal so at least for me please send paystubs every pay-period"
http://www.laboremploymentlawblog.com/payroll-strict-compliance-with-californias-pay-stub-law-is-essential.html
If you don't get any response, 2 options:
1. Stop doing direct deposit. Ask him for a check every payperiod. that's always your choice.
2. try to transfer, and when the RFE comes , send the sent email notarized copy and affidavite and bank statements as proof of payment and delay in pay-stubs. Even if your transfer gets denied you will be okay coz you are working currently, if it gets approved, you are home free from the shackles of this slave-master.
Put his name on the boards annonymously..
These are normally state subject and are guided and monitored by state labor law departments.
Employers don't have a choice of deciding their own period of giving you paystubs.
So if you choose to keep working for illegal employment under illegal condition that's your problem but you can always choose to get labor lawyer involved or just send your employer link similar to one below for your state law and ask him gently "I don't doubt your intention but from what I read this is illegal and I don't want to be part of anything illegal so at least for me please send paystubs every pay-period"
http://www.laboremploymentlawblog.com/payroll-strict-compliance-with-californias-pay-stub-law-is-essential.html
If you don't get any response, 2 options:
1. Stop doing direct deposit. Ask him for a check every payperiod. that's always your choice.
2. try to transfer, and when the RFE comes , send the sent email notarized copy and affidavite and bank statements as proof of payment and delay in pay-stubs. Even if your transfer gets denied you will be okay coz you are working currently, if it gets approved, you are home free from the shackles of this slave-master.
Put his name on the boards annonymously..
more...
mrane1
07-18 04:23 PM
Wow!! never heard of such a thing!!
indianindian2006
08-28 01:53 PM
One of our IV members posted today that he got an internal mail from Fragomen that visa numbers for EB2 India and China are done as of Aug 21st.
Here is the link.
http://immigrationvoice.org/forum/showpost.php?p=283735&postcount=133
Here is the link.
http://immigrationvoice.org/forum/showpost.php?p=283735&postcount=133
more...

dbevis
January 20th, 2004, 11:07 PM
Interesting. This is my first autofocus camera. Maybe I'm trusting autofocus too much? I'll try again with a smaller aperture and maybe do a manual focus. Maybe it's just a learning curve, but I have this camera with all of this automation and it seems that, more often than not, I'm shooting in manual mode and now considering using manual focus. With my AE-1 and A-1 bodies I rarely used the automated modes. I was hoping the 300D would be better, but it seems that when I use an automated mode I'm not happy with the settings it chooses. Do you folks with the professional cameras use the automated settings very often? How about autofocus?Or do I just need to get better at understanding the automated capabilities and use them properly.
Thanks for the image feedback.
Gary
As good as autofocus is, it is still "dumb" - it has no concept of what you WANT in focus. It just hunts down an area with a sufficient contrast gradient and locks onto it. The focus rectangles are only an approximation of the area evaluated by the AF logic, anyway. In fact, the target area is almost twice the size of the marker in your view finder.
So it's not perfect, not foolproof. I almost always am in Av or Tv mode, occasionally M. I have yet to use the automatic modes with the little pictographs. When I know I need control of depth of field, I set the aperture in Av. When I know I need to freeze the action, I set the shutter speed in Tv. Sometimes, M is called for (like shooting a macro closeup with flash).
The "crop factor" (a D60/10D/DRebel sensor that is 62% of a full-frame 35mm film body) only compounds the problem because the things that are out of focus are 1.6 timse bigger and therefore 1.6 times more noticable.
The guy who coined the phrase, "Practice makes perfect" had to have been a photographer. :)
Don
Thanks for the image feedback.
Gary
As good as autofocus is, it is still "dumb" - it has no concept of what you WANT in focus. It just hunts down an area with a sufficient contrast gradient and locks onto it. The focus rectangles are only an approximation of the area evaluated by the AF logic, anyway. In fact, the target area is almost twice the size of the marker in your view finder.
So it's not perfect, not foolproof. I almost always am in Av or Tv mode, occasionally M. I have yet to use the automatic modes with the little pictographs. When I know I need control of depth of field, I set the aperture in Av. When I know I need to freeze the action, I set the shutter speed in Tv. Sometimes, M is called for (like shooting a macro closeup with flash).
The "crop factor" (a D60/10D/DRebel sensor that is 62% of a full-frame 35mm film body) only compounds the problem because the things that are out of focus are 1.6 timse bigger and therefore 1.6 times more noticable.
The guy who coined the phrase, "Practice makes perfect" had to have been a photographer. :)
Don
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thomachan72
04-21 03:53 PM
Where is accountability of money.
How much have they got till now?
What will they do if they get more ?
Who is managing the money?
Sometimes you will be ridiculed when you care but care anyway.
Sometimes you will be cheated when you try to help but help anyway.
After all ..... it was never between you and them.
Mother Theresa
I comend those who donated.
How much have they got till now?
What will they do if they get more ?
Who is managing the money?
Sometimes you will be ridiculed when you care but care anyway.
Sometimes you will be cheated when you try to help but help anyway.
After all ..... it was never between you and them.
Mother Theresa
I comend those who donated.
more...
cybergold
04-28 03:26 PM
http://www.freewebz.com/cybergold/cybergold2.jpg
There is my Robot, can you change the link Pom?
There is my Robot, can you change the link Pom?
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uslegals
01-29 11:05 AM
Congrats.
After Greencard, you can actually do a lot more to help this community. We are looking for such GC holder people within IV that are interested in political advocacy. If you would like to get active contact IV.
Thanks for all the good wishes.! Pappu - Kindly PM me details about how i can get more involved in IV's mission.
After Greencard, you can actually do a lot more to help this community. We are looking for such GC holder people within IV that are interested in political advocacy. If you would like to get active contact IV.
Thanks for all the good wishes.! Pappu - Kindly PM me details about how i can get more involved in IV's mission.
more...
eb3_nepa
02-08 04:09 PM
Guys complaining that the Indian Govt will not help us is nothing but a cry-baby thing. Ofcourse we get last preference! The Government in India will Obviously help the Indians in India first. I mean the country gave us our education and we turned our backs to it "so to speak". When the country was in trouble we escaped it, now that it is doing well, we expect it to solve our problems and crib that it is doing nothing for us? Let's not forget, we can STILL go back and lead great lives there, but we CHOOSE to be here.
I am all for exploring different avenues to solve this crisis. But at the same time i request all the members on here to please refrain from India/Indian Government bashing. It is very easy to keep asking what the Indian government has done for its ppl. If you go to India today, u will see a Sea of change from as late as 2000. The economy is doing great and ppl are happier than ever. Maybe the Govt had a hand in it maybe it didnt, but pls do not publicly ridicule ur own country and its Government on public boards like this. I am sorry if i am stirring a controversy here, but that is not my aim.
I am all for exploring different avenues to solve this crisis. But at the same time i request all the members on here to please refrain from India/Indian Government bashing. It is very easy to keep asking what the Indian government has done for its ppl. If you go to India today, u will see a Sea of change from as late as 2000. The economy is doing great and ppl are happier than ever. Maybe the Govt had a hand in it maybe it didnt, but pls do not publicly ridicule ur own country and its Government on public boards like this. I am sorry if i am stirring a controversy here, but that is not my aim.
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mariner5555
01-08 01:55 PM
well but one day or the other you have to change it. it is easy to change on SSN ..is it easy to change on EAD and 485 ?
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ivar
02-12 02:00 PM
To Whom It May Concern:
My H1B expires in July 2010 so I would have to start the PERM process now. In this current economic downturn it seems that it will be extremely difficult to get PERM certified. I also have a Permanent Residence to Canada. My current US employer would be willing to let me go to Canada for 1 year (and work for him remotely) so my H1B clock resets and then reapply for a fresh 6 years of H1B after I came back.
What would be your advice: go to Canada and wait 1 year and then come back on H1B and apply for GC once things get better or risk it now and start PERM in this time? Please note that I live in New York City so it is even harder to get PERM as there are so many people here. I would like to apply in EB2 category.
Please advise.
Thank you so much for your time!
H1b visa gets over on the first day when it opens. So there is no assurance that after resetting your clock by staying outside you will be able to enter again on H1b. You would be luck if your next H1b application gets selected in the lottery.
Thanks,
R.
My H1B expires in July 2010 so I would have to start the PERM process now. In this current economic downturn it seems that it will be extremely difficult to get PERM certified. I also have a Permanent Residence to Canada. My current US employer would be willing to let me go to Canada for 1 year (and work for him remotely) so my H1B clock resets and then reapply for a fresh 6 years of H1B after I came back.
What would be your advice: go to Canada and wait 1 year and then come back on H1B and apply for GC once things get better or risk it now and start PERM in this time? Please note that I live in New York City so it is even harder to get PERM as there are so many people here. I would like to apply in EB2 category.
Please advise.
Thank you so much for your time!
H1b visa gets over on the first day when it opens. So there is no assurance that after resetting your clock by staying outside you will be able to enter again on H1b. You would be luck if your next H1b application gets selected in the lottery.
Thanks,
R.
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absaarkhan
06-12 05:54 PM
What is "Letter of Acquirement’
Can you please tell me what is "Letter of Acquirement’'
My company is Acquired too, the New Employer just gave me a Letter Copy
explaining the Merger, NO Official docs were shared with me.
From whom did u get this letter.
No need of new H1 if company 'B's' HR has agreed to continue with 'A''s employees.
1. Get a EVL letter from company 'B'. (This is assuming name of 'A' will change to 'B' or new name.
2. You need to get a "Letter of Acquirement" from HR of new company (I am assuming that the name of the company is changing as well). If name does not change then you should be fine. If you have to travel out of US, you need to carry latest copy of EVL(of new company) and "Letter of Acquirement" along with you. (I went thru these few years back, PwCC bought over by IBM, immediately after the takeover I travelled out of US and came back without any problems(on H1)) this was quite a while back though, you may want to check with your company attorney though.
Note:
"Letter of Acquirement’ would state that your 'A' company was bought over by 'B' company on Date and name has now changed to 'B'.
Good luck.
GCCovet
Can you please tell me what is "Letter of Acquirement’'
My company is Acquired too, the New Employer just gave me a Letter Copy
explaining the Merger, NO Official docs were shared with me.
From whom did u get this letter.
No need of new H1 if company 'B's' HR has agreed to continue with 'A''s employees.
1. Get a EVL letter from company 'B'. (This is assuming name of 'A' will change to 'B' or new name.
2. You need to get a "Letter of Acquirement" from HR of new company (I am assuming that the name of the company is changing as well). If name does not change then you should be fine. If you have to travel out of US, you need to carry latest copy of EVL(of new company) and "Letter of Acquirement" along with you. (I went thru these few years back, PwCC bought over by IBM, immediately after the takeover I travelled out of US and came back without any problems(on H1)) this was quite a while back though, you may want to check with your company attorney though.
Note:
"Letter of Acquirement’ would state that your 'A' company was bought over by 'B' company on Date and name has now changed to 'B'.
Good luck.
GCCovet
more...
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Bytes4Lunch
04-09 03:16 PM
My H1B visa stamping application finally got approved after 2 months at the Mumbai consulate. But I travelled back on the AP a month back as my employer started getting impatient.
I have received an email from them asking to submit the passport for stamping as the administrative processing on the application is completed.
I am planning to write back to them that I no longer need a visa stamp for travel as I travelled back on the AP. Would this be a bad idea ?
Has anyone withdrawn their H1B visa stamping application before ?
Appreciate any information on this.
I have received an email from them asking to submit the passport for stamping as the administrative processing on the application is completed.
I am planning to write back to them that I no longer need a visa stamp for travel as I travelled back on the AP. Would this be a bad idea ?
Has anyone withdrawn their H1B visa stamping application before ?
Appreciate any information on this.
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mansi
08-10 09:51 PM
Dude,
Just don't even spend your time on this or any message board. Come to US ASAP and file before 17th August. You can add your wife later.
Hello everybody,
I just got my Labor done few days back. I am in India now, but looks like I have to file I140/485 before Aug 17th. For this, MUST I fly back immediately, or can I file from India (by couriering the required documents).
How will this work for my wife (who is on H4 now)?
If I only travel back to US, can I file for my wife too. Or I file it for myself, and file for my wife after Aug17th when she is back.
Or MUST my wife also be present in US to file the I140/485?
Pls advice.
thanks,
-Prasad
Just don't even spend your time on this or any message board. Come to US ASAP and file before 17th August. You can add your wife later.
Hello everybody,
I just got my Labor done few days back. I am in India now, but looks like I have to file I140/485 before Aug 17th. For this, MUST I fly back immediately, or can I file from India (by couriering the required documents).
How will this work for my wife (who is on H4 now)?
If I only travel back to US, can I file for my wife too. Or I file it for myself, and file for my wife after Aug17th when she is back.
Or MUST my wife also be present in US to file the I140/485?
Pls advice.
thanks,
-Prasad
more...
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ksircar
01-26 09:05 AM
Thanks ksircar;
Want to explore on Caribbean options too. However a question is how can we file for Advance Parole as it requires the applicant to be in US at the time of application, otherwise AOS gets invalid. And if at all we choose her to be here for AP application, it would hinder the education.
Thanks
Venu
AP remains valid for one year and you need to apply for AP in such a way so that for AP renewal your daughter will be in US during vacation etc. In the worst case, she has to fly from Caribbean to Miami (or any nearest US port) just to apply for AP and go back. These are the hassels you need to overcome if you want to send your daughter to MED school without a GC. I did the same with my daughter. You can PM me if you want to discuss in detail.
Good luck.
Want to explore on Caribbean options too. However a question is how can we file for Advance Parole as it requires the applicant to be in US at the time of application, otherwise AOS gets invalid. And if at all we choose her to be here for AP application, it would hinder the education.
Thanks
Venu
AP remains valid for one year and you need to apply for AP in such a way so that for AP renewal your daughter will be in US during vacation etc. In the worst case, she has to fly from Caribbean to Miami (or any nearest US port) just to apply for AP and go back. These are the hassels you need to overcome if you want to send your daughter to MED school without a GC. I did the same with my daughter. You can PM me if you want to discuss in detail.
Good luck.
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raysaikat
06-14 12:05 AM
I am working in Company A and currently on OPT. My 2008 H1visa has been approved. It will be effective on Oct.1st. Now I got a much better job offer from company B, and need to join the new company in July. How can I transfer my H1 visa? Thanks a lot in advance. By the way, I can work on OPT for any employer before Oct 1st.
Just ask the new company to apply for a new H1B and give them the approval notice of the current one which will show that you have been counted towards the quota.
Just ask the new company to apply for a new H1B and give them the approval notice of the current one which will show that you have been counted towards the quota.
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uma001
11-05 02:02 PM
Hey found this archive of visa bulletins, if you go through one by one, then that should answer your question.
http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/bulletin/bulletin_1770.html
(From April 2002 to Nov 2008)
And then for still older ones,
(1995 to 2001)
http://dosfan.lib.uic.edu/ERC/visa_bulletin/
Are you trying to look for a pattern to find out when it will be current again ?
Yes, Trying to figure out the pattern,. Thanks for the archives
http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/bulletin/bulletin_1770.html
(From April 2002 to Nov 2008)
And then for still older ones,
(1995 to 2001)
http://dosfan.lib.uic.edu/ERC/visa_bulletin/
Are you trying to look for a pattern to find out when it will be current again ?
Yes, Trying to figure out the pattern,. Thanks for the archives
imm_pro
05-15 11:15 PM
This is awsome..also on the newsdesk..:):):):):)
Feinstein, Lofgren use Iraq spending bill to push for guest-worker program
05-15) 19:18 PDT Washington - -- Two of California's most immigrant-dependent industries - agriculture and Silicon Valley - are pushing narrow measures through Congress in an effort to employ foreign workers at opposite ends of the labor market, people who pick vegetables and the postgraduate engineers and scientists of Silicon Valley.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein attached a farm guest-worker program to the giant Iraq spending bill today in a last-ditch effort to remedy a shortage of workers in California's produce fields as the federal government continues to crack down on illegal immigration and the political climate proves hostile to more sweeping measures.
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose, teaming with Republicans, is pushing several bills to give permanent residence to top engineering talent.
"It's an emergency," Feinstein said of the farm worker situation. "If you can't get people to prune, to plant, to pick, to pack, you can't run a farm."
Her addition to the Iraq spending bill would give temporary legal status to 1.3 million farm workers over the next five years, but it would provide no path to citizenship or permanent residency. It passed the Senate Appropriations Committee 17 to 12 today.
Workers applying for the program would have to prove they had worked on U.S. farms for at least 150 days or 863 hours, or had earned at least $17,000, during the last four years. They would have to remain working in agriculture for the next five years, when the program would expire.
The move marks an end for now to efforts to give farm workers a path to citizenship after a sweeping immigration bill crashed in the Senate last June. Feinstein has been trying all year to attach a bill called AgJobs but has met nothing but dead-ends.
Western Growers, representing California farmers, and the United Farm Workers of American union joined in backing the bill. Western Growers President Tom Nassif said large growers are accelerating efforts to move their farming operations to Mexico. The 15 growers out of several hundred who responded to a survey and were willing to talk about their plans moved 84,000 acres worth of crop production to Mexico this year, twice as many acres as last year, Nassif said.
"Once the acreage moves to Mexico, it's there permanently," Nassif said. "Much of the remaining open space in California is agricultural land. If it's not farmed, we'd be growing condos or cementing it over with office buildings."
The tightening of the border has made it increasingly difficult, dangerous and expensive for laborers to return to the United States if they leave, disrupting the traditional circular flow of farm workers from Mexico to California's fields in the Salinas and Central valleys. Most farm workers arrive illegally, and farmers complain that an existing guest worker program called H2A is cumbersome and ineffective. Feinstein's bill would streamline that program's rules.
Growers are apprehensive about a new administration effort, temporarily stopped by a federal court, that would require employers to match workers with a valid Social Security number or be heavily fined. The Department of Homeland Security is refining the rule to get past court objections.
United Farmworkers President Arturo Rodriguez said farming is facing "a very real emergency" and applauded the bill as a "critical but temporary fix to a much larger problem."
Feinstein acknowledged that the chances of getting the bill all the way through Congress, even attached to war spending, is "uphill all the way."
On the other side of the Capitol, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose, is teaming with conservative Republicans to try to push similar discreetly targeted measures for Silicon Valley. She has dropped efforts for now to expand the controversial H-1B program for temporary high-skilled workers, which again this year ran out of its 85,000 visas on the first day they were released. Lofgren said the program needs changes, given its wide use by Indian offshoring companies.
Instead, Lofgren has introduced a passel of five small-bore immigration bills, among them one that would allow masters' and doctoral graduates from U.S. universities to apply immediately for permanent residence, skipping the H-1B program altogether.
"Most people would agree if you get your Ph.D in engineering from an American university, you've got something to offer this country," Lofgren said. "Right now, we have no ability to keep those people here ... we send them home to compete against Americans. It would make more sense to keep them here to help us compete."
Lofgren has even teamed up on one bill, to "recapture" unused permanent resident slots, with Rep. James Sensenbrenner, the Wisconsin Republican famous as the author of immigration crackdown legislation, never enacted, that was so harsh it led to the nation's first large-scale Latino protests in 2006.
"What's happened is that with the shortage of very high-level people, multinational companies are sending their project teams offshore," Lofgren said. "Not only the top hot-shot leading the team, but all the support jobs that go with that hot shot. Among the people I've met is a guy who spent four years at Harvard, seven at Stanford's engineering school, then did practical training and has been here six years on an H1B, and he's in limbo. He's an extremely talented person and has no idea what his future is going to be. He's being recruited in Australia and Europe, and he's ready to bail out. What he needs is not more temporary time."
Members of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group of business executives spent Thursday lobbying Congress on high-skilled immigration and tax breaks for solar energy and research and development.
"This is no time to say to high-skilled workers in a global economy that we don't want you," said Barry Cinnamon, chief executive of Akeena Solar in Los Gatos. "We're happy to have that argument with anyone."
E-mail Carolyn Lochhead at clochhead@sfchronicle.com
Feinstein, Lofgren use Iraq spending bill to push for guest-worker program
05-15) 19:18 PDT Washington - -- Two of California's most immigrant-dependent industries - agriculture and Silicon Valley - are pushing narrow measures through Congress in an effort to employ foreign workers at opposite ends of the labor market, people who pick vegetables and the postgraduate engineers and scientists of Silicon Valley.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein attached a farm guest-worker program to the giant Iraq spending bill today in a last-ditch effort to remedy a shortage of workers in California's produce fields as the federal government continues to crack down on illegal immigration and the political climate proves hostile to more sweeping measures.
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose, teaming with Republicans, is pushing several bills to give permanent residence to top engineering talent.
"It's an emergency," Feinstein said of the farm worker situation. "If you can't get people to prune, to plant, to pick, to pack, you can't run a farm."
Her addition to the Iraq spending bill would give temporary legal status to 1.3 million farm workers over the next five years, but it would provide no path to citizenship or permanent residency. It passed the Senate Appropriations Committee 17 to 12 today.
Workers applying for the program would have to prove they had worked on U.S. farms for at least 150 days or 863 hours, or had earned at least $17,000, during the last four years. They would have to remain working in agriculture for the next five years, when the program would expire.
The move marks an end for now to efforts to give farm workers a path to citizenship after a sweeping immigration bill crashed in the Senate last June. Feinstein has been trying all year to attach a bill called AgJobs but has met nothing but dead-ends.
Western Growers, representing California farmers, and the United Farm Workers of American union joined in backing the bill. Western Growers President Tom Nassif said large growers are accelerating efforts to move their farming operations to Mexico. The 15 growers out of several hundred who responded to a survey and were willing to talk about their plans moved 84,000 acres worth of crop production to Mexico this year, twice as many acres as last year, Nassif said.
"Once the acreage moves to Mexico, it's there permanently," Nassif said. "Much of the remaining open space in California is agricultural land. If it's not farmed, we'd be growing condos or cementing it over with office buildings."
The tightening of the border has made it increasingly difficult, dangerous and expensive for laborers to return to the United States if they leave, disrupting the traditional circular flow of farm workers from Mexico to California's fields in the Salinas and Central valleys. Most farm workers arrive illegally, and farmers complain that an existing guest worker program called H2A is cumbersome and ineffective. Feinstein's bill would streamline that program's rules.
Growers are apprehensive about a new administration effort, temporarily stopped by a federal court, that would require employers to match workers with a valid Social Security number or be heavily fined. The Department of Homeland Security is refining the rule to get past court objections.
United Farmworkers President Arturo Rodriguez said farming is facing "a very real emergency" and applauded the bill as a "critical but temporary fix to a much larger problem."
Feinstein acknowledged that the chances of getting the bill all the way through Congress, even attached to war spending, is "uphill all the way."
On the other side of the Capitol, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose, is teaming with conservative Republicans to try to push similar discreetly targeted measures for Silicon Valley. She has dropped efforts for now to expand the controversial H-1B program for temporary high-skilled workers, which again this year ran out of its 85,000 visas on the first day they were released. Lofgren said the program needs changes, given its wide use by Indian offshoring companies.
Instead, Lofgren has introduced a passel of five small-bore immigration bills, among them one that would allow masters' and doctoral graduates from U.S. universities to apply immediately for permanent residence, skipping the H-1B program altogether.
"Most people would agree if you get your Ph.D in engineering from an American university, you've got something to offer this country," Lofgren said. "Right now, we have no ability to keep those people here ... we send them home to compete against Americans. It would make more sense to keep them here to help us compete."
Lofgren has even teamed up on one bill, to "recapture" unused permanent resident slots, with Rep. James Sensenbrenner, the Wisconsin Republican famous as the author of immigration crackdown legislation, never enacted, that was so harsh it led to the nation's first large-scale Latino protests in 2006.
"What's happened is that with the shortage of very high-level people, multinational companies are sending their project teams offshore," Lofgren said. "Not only the top hot-shot leading the team, but all the support jobs that go with that hot shot. Among the people I've met is a guy who spent four years at Harvard, seven at Stanford's engineering school, then did practical training and has been here six years on an H1B, and he's in limbo. He's an extremely talented person and has no idea what his future is going to be. He's being recruited in Australia and Europe, and he's ready to bail out. What he needs is not more temporary time."
Members of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group of business executives spent Thursday lobbying Congress on high-skilled immigration and tax breaks for solar energy and research and development.
"This is no time to say to high-skilled workers in a global economy that we don't want you," said Barry Cinnamon, chief executive of Akeena Solar in Los Gatos. "We're happy to have that argument with anyone."
E-mail Carolyn Lochhead at clochhead@sfchronicle.com
BEC_fog
04-09 12:18 PM
I don't think that with the EAD renewal receipt you can continue working. Right now, the EAD is valid for 1 year from the day the process and print your card and you cannot specify the employment dates(or they are ignored anyway). It works differently than an H-1B extension where you can specify the dates and even when they process you application say in April and you asked for it to start in march, the approval notice will have the starting period in March. For EAD, if they processed it in April, the starting date is in April.