Correction to California Condor Story

Date: Friday, February 11, 2005 8:23 PM

JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER

by Rob Sanchez
February 11, 2005 No. 1195

I made a mistake in the previous newsletter - the bill that Rep. Tom
Lantos sent to the House attempts to scavenge for EB-3 visas, not
H-1Bs. EB-3 visas are for permanent employment based green cards.

EB-3 visas are limited to 40,000 a year, so the 130,000+ visas that
Lantos wants to apply to 2005 would be a dramatic escalation in the
numbers. These visas are arguably worse than H-1Bs because they allow
the aliens to permanently work in the U.S. and attain naturalized
citizenship. Some advocates of green cards argue that they are better
than H-1B because green card holders aren't indentured, but that's
little solace for American workers who are displaced from their jobs.

Green card visas glut the American labor market, and American citizens
have very little protection against being displaced. The quote below
was referring to green cards:

When employers feel the need to legalize aliens, it may be
due to a shortage of suitable U.S. workers, but even in a
depressed economy, Employers who favor aliens have an arsenal
of legal means to reject all U.S. workers who apply.

Immigration Lawyer
Joel Stewart, Esq.

I experienced how the labor certification process works for green cards
first hand. See this document to understand just how much of a farce
this process is, and how easily companies can discriminate based on
national origin:

http://www.zazona.com/shameh1b/Library/Archives/AZDES.htm

Go to the following web page for an H-1B vs. Green Card debate:

http://www.zazona.com/shameh1b/H1BvsGreenCard.htm

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

http://www.visalaw.com/00oct1/12oct100.html

THE ABC'S OF IMMIGRATION - THE THIRD EMPLOYMENT BASED PREFERENCE
Each year 140,000 employment-based immigrant visas are available. Ten
thousand of these are available to immigrant investors, the EB-5 visa
category. Ten thousand are available to "special immigrants," such as
religious workers, certain employees of the US government abroad, and
widows and widowers of US citizens, the EB-4 visa category. The
remaining 120,000 visas are divided between the first three
preferences. Forty thousand visas are available in the first
preference, EB-1, which covers international managers and executives,
outstanding professors and researchers, and people of extraordinary
ability. Forty thousand visas, plus any that are not used in the EB-1
category, are available in the second preference, EB-2, which is
available to aliens of exceptional ability and advanced degree
professionals. Forty thousand visas, plus any that remain from the
other two categories are available to the third category, EB-3, which
is available to people with a bachelor's degree, skilled workers, and
unskilled workers. The EB-3 category is the focus of this article.

There are several requirements common to each of the first three
employment based preference categories.
" The alien must be offered a full-time, permanent position in the US
(note: there are some exceptions to this requirement in the first two
preference categories).
" The Department of Labor must certify that there are no available US
workers (note: there are some exceptions to this requirement in the
first two preference categories).
" The alien must meet the minimum requirements for the position offered
and the employer must be able to pay the salary offered.

All petitions filed in the EB-3 category require a job offer and a

labor certification (the labor certification process is discussed in
depth in a different article). Despite this common element, there are
important differences between the three subgroups. Regardless of the
total number of visas available in the EB-3 category, only 10,000 visas
are available each year for unskilled workers. The result of this is a
backlog in the "other workers" category. In February 2000, the visa
cut-off date in this category is March 1, 1994.

Professionals who hold a Bachelor's Degree

This category is available only to those who hold a US bachelor's
degree or its foreign equivalent. Unlike the H-1B nonimmigrant
category, one is not able to make up for a lack of education through
experience. A profession is a field entry into which requires at a
minimum a bachelor's degree. While these two requirements seem to
equal the same thing, there is no requirement that the bachelor's
degree be in the field of offered employment.

Skilled Workers

For a person to qualify as a skilled worker, the position offered must
require at least two years training and experience. The alien must
possess the requisite background, but simply because the alien has two
years of training and experience does not make it a skilled position if
it does not otherwise require two years of training and experience.

Under INS regulations, whether a position involves skilled labor is
determined by reference to the Department of Labor approved labor
certification. Because of the backlog in the other worker category, it
is vitally important that the employer demonstrate to the INS that the
position does require at least two years training and experience. The
primary issues that occur here result from conflict between the
employer's belief that the position does require two years and
Department of Labor guidelines on specific vocational preparation that
show the position requires less. Therefore this issue will be resolved
before the application is submitted to the INS.

Other Workers

This category covers "unskilled labor," defined by the Department of
Labor as work that takes less than two years training or experience to
perform. Because there is an annual limit of 10,000 visas in this
subcategory, regardless of how many are available in the entire EB-3
category, there are extreme backlogs in visa numbers for this category.

Currently this backlog is about six years.

Applying for the EB-3 Visa

After the Department of Labor has approved the labor certification, or
in cases in which the Department does not need to approve a labor
certification, an application for an immigrant worker may be filed.
The form used for this petition is the I-140 Immigrant Petition for an
Alien Worker. It is submitted to the appropriate regional INS Service
Center along with the approved labor certification and a letter from
the employer.

Other items that must be included with the petition are documents
showing that the employer has the financial resources to pay the
offered wage, which must be shown to be at least the prevailing wage.
There must also be documentation that proves the position is within the
preference category sought. In the EB-3 category this evidence would
depend on which subclassification is sought. Such documentation can
come from Department of Labor resources, or from industry standards.
Finally, evidence must be submitted that the alien meets the job
requirements, such as a copy of a bachelor's degree or evidence of work
experience.

If the INS approves the petition, the applicant can now pursue
permanent residency by either adjustment of status in the US or by
consular processing at a US Consulate in their native country. Both of
these options are discussed in other articles.

www.ZaZona.com
Support this Newsletter and ZaZona.com by donating:
www.zazona.com/Donations.htm

To Subscribe, Unsubscribe or to view the Archive go to:
http://www.zazona.com/shameh1b/JobDestructionNews.htm

Back to archives