Today's Wall Street Journal has a recap of recent high-level meetings and plans regarding an immigration reform, a topic which President Obama said he will tackle during his first year in office. Washington has been busy for the past few months with health care, wars and the economic crisis. Not surprisingly, immigration reform has not [...]
We wrote last week about the “grim” predictions by Charles Oppenheim (who is with the Department of State) about the future of the visa numbers for green card employment-based preference categories. We have received many comments and reactions from readers and clients and we share many of the concerns raised following Mr. Oppenheim’s comments. We read [...]
We have been hearing an increased amount of chatter about comprehensive immigration reform in Washington. Today the Wall Street Journal published an article saying that Rahm Emanuel, President Obama’s Chief of Staff, is increasing talk about comprehensive immigration reform and is pushing it to the agenda from possibly the second Obama term to some time [...]
The final version of the stimulus bill, The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (H.R. 1, S. 1), was passed by the Congress late on Friday. The final version of ARRA included Senator Sanders’ amendment and the final version which is expected to be signed into law by President Obama on Tuesday, February 17th, will restrict [...]
Today, Tuesday, February 10, the U.S. Senate is expected to vote and approve a version of the Stimulus Bill which President Obama has been pushing very hard over the past weeks. The version of the Stimulus Bill contains a provision which would automatically and for a period of two years make all employers who are [...]
About the EB-5 Visa and Regional Centers Under section 203(b)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 8 U.S.C. § 1153(b)(5), 10,000 immigrant visas per year are available to qualified individuals seeking permanent resident status on the basis of their engagement in a new commercial enterprise (generally of at least $1 million). Of the 10,000 investor [...]
We at the Capitol Immigration Law Group have been following closely the Democratic and the Republican National Conventions, respectively last week and this week, and we were surprised to see that there was virtually zero attention paid to immigration in the speeches and debates on and off the convention floor. The Republican party was more likely [...]
Many of our clients and readers have asked us what kind of relief or changes they can expect once the new president takes office in January of 2009. Although it is difficult to predict the exact type of policies they will implement once they take office, the Wall Street Journal created a helpful chart comparing Obama and McCain on immigration. Please read the full article for details on Obama and McCain's immigration policies and for analysis on how it may impact the immigrant community.
In the height of the political season, we have been asked numerous times by foreign citizens, "Can I contribute money to a political candidate's campaign?" The short answer, is 'Yes, you can, but only if you are a legal permanent resident (green card holder).' This comes from the Federal Election Campaign Act and the definition of "foreign person" which excludes green card holders. See this article for more details and on what election-related activities by foreign citizens are permitted.