Citizenship and US Immigration: Week Four
Citizenship and U.S. Immigration: Week Four
Lecture Four: Immigration Through Employment
Highly-Skilled Immigrants: • Bill Gates: Immigration reform is needed to allow 'high talent' people to stay and work in the country after they get a U.S. education. • President Obama: "Real reform means fixing the legal immigration system to cut waiting periods, reduce bureaucracy and attract the highly-skilled entrepreneurs and engineers that will help create jobs and grow our economy."
Employment-Based (EB) Immigrant Preference Categories: • 1st-- Extraordinary Ability*; or Multinational Company Executive/Manager; or Experienced (3 years exp. minimum) Professor/Researcher with Renown • 2nd--M.D. (or PhD or Masters) w/ Labor Certification; Exceptional Ability with Labor Certification or National Interest Waiver; or Professional with National Interest Waiver of Labor Certification • 3rd-- Professionals (Bachelor Degree Level) ; or Skilled or Unskilled Workers w/Labor Certification • 4th-- Religious Professional, Occupation or Vocation • 5th--Investor creating 10 full-time jobs & $.5 to $1+ Million investment. • * Extraordinary Ability in Arts, Sciences, Business, Education or Athletics.
Labor Certification: • Employer files application with the Dept. of Labor. • This is a process to evaluate the impact on the U.S. labor market of employment offers to noncitizens. • The Dept. of Labor determines whether the employment of a particular non-citizen will produce an adverse impact on the wages and working conditions of U.S. workers. • Requires advertisement of job opening and good faith recruitment.
Avoid labor certification: • First preference category (EB1): priority workers (persons of extraordinary ability; outstanding professors and researchers; multinational executives and managers) • Second preference (EB2): • National interest waiver: substantial and national impact of prospective work. (Can self petition; difficult to obtain) • Schedule A: (1) shortage occupations or (2) person of exceptional ability in the sciences or arts. Offer of employment still required.
Nonimmigrant Employment Visas • Lesser Skilled Workers: H-2 Visas • Reserved for workers who enter the U.S. seasonally or for temporary work to fill a demonstrated temporary labor need. • H-2A visas are reserved for agricultural workers. • Wages must be the same as U.S. workers. • Requires labor certification. • Workers must be provided with housing, return transportation, and worker’s compensation insurance. • Currently about 30,000 persons participate in this program.
Temporary Employment-Based Visas Issued 1994-2011 Source: Congressional Research Service
Employer Sanctions • Employers must verify U.S. citizenship or authorization to work. • Employer penalties. • Expansion to smaller employers of EVerify system and state-law verification requirements.
Employers Enrolled in E-Verify and Number of Cases Submitted Source: Congressional Research Service
Immigration Reform: • Expand the number of employment visas • Expand E-Verify to all employers • Expand guest-worker program for agricultural workers; special path to legal status • Award green cards to foreign graduates with U.S. advanced degrees in science and engineering • Require employers to pay foreign workers more than U.S. employees. • Other means to protect jobs for U.S. citizens and prevent exploitation of foreign workers.
Lecture Four: Immigration Through Employment
Highly-Skilled Immigrants: • Bill Gates: Immigration reform is needed to allow 'high talent' people to stay and work in the country after they get a U.S. education. • President Obama: "Real reform means fixing the legal immigration system to cut waiting periods, reduce bureaucracy and attract the highly-skilled entrepreneurs and engineers that will help create jobs and grow our economy."
Employment-Based (EB) Immigrant Preference Categories: • 1st-- Extraordinary Ability*; or Multinational Company Executive/Manager; or Experienced (3 years exp. minimum) Professor/Researcher with Renown • 2nd--M.D. (or PhD or Masters) w/ Labor Certification; Exceptional Ability with Labor Certification or National Interest Waiver; or Professional with National Interest Waiver of Labor Certification • 3rd-- Professionals (Bachelor Degree Level) ; or Skilled or Unskilled Workers w/Labor Certification • 4th-- Religious Professional, Occupation or Vocation • 5th--Investor creating 10 full-time jobs & $.5 to $1+ Million investment. • * Extraordinary Ability in Arts, Sciences, Business, Education or Athletics.
Labor Certification: • Employer files application with the Dept. of Labor. • This is a process to evaluate the impact on the U.S. labor market of employment offers to noncitizens. • The Dept. of Labor determines whether the employment of a particular non-citizen will produce an adverse impact on the wages and working conditions of U.S. workers. • Requires advertisement of job opening and good faith recruitment.
Avoid labor certification: • First preference category (EB1): priority workers (persons of extraordinary ability; outstanding professors and researchers; multinational executives and managers) • Second preference (EB2): • National interest waiver: substantial and national impact of prospective work. (Can self petition; difficult to obtain) • Schedule A: (1) shortage occupations or (2) person of exceptional ability in the sciences or arts. Offer of employment still required.
Nonimmigrant Employment Visas • Lesser Skilled Workers: H-2 Visas • Reserved for workers who enter the U.S. seasonally or for temporary work to fill a demonstrated temporary labor need. • H-2A visas are reserved for agricultural workers. • Wages must be the same as U.S. workers. • Requires labor certification. • Workers must be provided with housing, return transportation, and worker’s compensation insurance. • Currently about 30,000 persons participate in this program.
Temporary Employment-Based Visas Issued 1994-2011 Source: Congressional Research Service
Employer Sanctions • Employers must verify U.S. citizenship or authorization to work. • Employer penalties. • Expansion to smaller employers of EVerify system and state-law verification requirements.
Employers Enrolled in E-Verify and Number of Cases Submitted Source: Congressional Research Service
Immigration Reform: • Expand the number of employment visas • Expand E-Verify to all employers • Expand guest-worker program for agricultural workers; special path to legal status • Award green cards to foreign graduates with U.S. advanced degrees in science and engineering • Require employers to pay foreign workers more than U.S. employees. • Other means to protect jobs for U.S. citizens and prevent exploitation of foreign workers.
