DHS Extends Eligibility for Employment Authorization to Certain H-4 Dependent Spouses

US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) Director León Rodríguez announced today that as part of President Obama's executive actions back in November 2014, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is extending employment eligibility to H-4 visa holders of H-1B spouses who are seeking employment-based permanent resident status. Applications will start being accepted on May 26, 2015.

This action is "one of several initiatives underway to modernize, improve and clarify visa programs to grow the U.S. economy and create jobs." Director Rodríguez said that granting employment to these spouses will not only provide "more economic stability and better quality of life" to the families but also that it will help "U.S. businesses keep their highly skilled workers by increasing the chances these workers will choose to stay in this country during the transition from temporary workers to permanent residents."

To qualify, individuals must be H-4 dependent spouses of H-1B nonimmigrants who: 

  • Are the principal beneficiaries of an approved Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker; or 
  • Have been granted H-1B status under sections 106(a) and (b) of the American Competitiveness in the Twenty-first Century Act of 2000 as amended by the 21st Century Department of Justice Appropriations Authorization Act. The Act permits H-1B nonimmigrants seeking lawful permanent residence to work and remain in the United States beyond the six-year limit on their H-1B status.

Eligible applicants must submit a Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization along with supporting evidence and the required $380 fee to USCIS, beginning on May 26, 2015. H-4 applicants can begin work in the US upon approval of the application and receipt of the work card. 

As many as 179,600 individuals this year could be eligible for employment authorization under this new eligibility rule, USCIS estimates, and DHS expects that "this change will reduce the economic burdens and personal stresses H-1B nonimmigrants and their families may experience during the transition from nonimmigrant to lawful permanent resident status, and facilitate their integration into American society."

This announcement comes amid court challenges to President Obama's expansion of DACA as well as the possible impending shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (the mother agency of USCIS).

Ten Iconic American Roles. Nine Foreign Actors.

America is the land of diversity (well, to some degree) as well as opportunity (go American dream), and immigrants come to the US to work in many different industries and professions, which is something we know because, well, this is an immigration law firm. The American film and television industry is no exception to hiring and employing foreign workers. Beginning with Charlie Chaplin (British) and Cary Grant (also British), Hollywood continues to employ many foreign actors in "American" roles. I still remember when I first heard Detective Jimmy McNulty (played by the British Dominic West) speak with his posh British accent. (For comparison, here's a scene from The Wire).

We're not, of course, the first to notice the foreign invasion of talent. NPR discussed this and also the equally serious and important media journal TV Guide. And while the AV Club doesn't like it, we actually do. It's good to have diversity. It's good sometimes to have an "outsider" perspective on things. And since the Oscars are this weekend and we are in a cinematic state of mind, we thought we'd take some time to admire the talent of these foreign actors (as Amy Poehler did during the recent Golden Globes) tackling that damn American accent and playing particularly famous or iconic American roles.

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USCIS Will Not Begin Accepting Applications for Expanded DACA Today

US District Judge Andrew Hanen in Texas ruled late Monday night to temporarily block President Barack Obama's executive action on the expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program as well as the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) program. Consequently contrary to their original plans US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) will not be accepting applications today for the expanded DACA program, and going forward until further notice for expanded DACA and DAPA. The judge ruled that Obama's executive action failed to comply with the Administrative Procedure Act, which "calls for the White House to afford a longer notification and comment period before taking action." The Department of Justice is planning to appeal this decision, and US Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh C. Johnson issued a statement:

I strongly disagree with Judge Hanen’s decision to temporarily enjoin implementation of Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) and expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). The Department of Justice will appeal that temporary injunction; in the meantime, we recognize we must comply with it...The Department of Justice, legal scholars, immigration experts and even other courts have said that our actions are well within our legal authority. Our actions will also benefit the economy and promote law enforcement. We fully expect to ultimately prevail in the courts, and we will be prepared to implement DAPA and expanded DACA once we do.

Secretary Johnson goes on to note that the court ruling does not affect the existing DACA program and that individuals may continue to apply for the initial or renewal DACA under the original guidelines established in 2012. We will continue to provide updates as we receive them.

New York Fashion Week F/W 2015

Despite the frigid conditions and harsh arctic winds sending wind chills to twenty below, fashion week goes on. It's a good thing turtlenecks are back (and cross body stoles)! What else is trending at fashion week this season? Hat hair, stompy boots, and—at least at fashion label Opening Ceremony—throwback fashion references to the 1990s. Their collection featured unseen Spike Jonze photographs from that time period as well as "slouch trousers, skater belts, excellent layering and a Kodak-moment colour palette."  

Meanwhile, Tommy Hilfiger constructed a football field for his catwalk and put leather football jersey dresses on his models, which was sure to please New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who was in the audience. Diane von Furstenberg (her company is across the street from us so we feel a special connection) titled her collection "Seduction" and had "elements that ranged from the boardroom to the bedroom in a veritable blizzard of offerings." Designer Thom Browne staged a funeral show featuring a white-clad corpse laid out on a gurney and models in all black. Iconic fashion house Oscar de la Renta, which is dealing with the loss of their founder last year, have their first show under successor and new Creative Director Peter Copping.

In the creative world of fashion, diversity and new talent is always a good thing, which is why The New York Times was right to discuss fashion's racial disparity. And also good to see Asian-born talent on the catwalk as well as Navajo designer Jolonzo Guy Goldtooth. In another win for diversity, Italian label FTL MODA enlisted a group of disabled models including those in wheelchairs as well as amputees for their catwalk, following Jamie Brewer's historic walk during the Carrie Hammer "Role Models Not Runway Models" show as the first woman with Down syndrome to walk at New York Fashion Week. And then there was Yeezus.

Beating Heart

Heartbeat in Times Square.

Heartbeat in Times Square.

Just in time for Valentine's Day, Brooklyn-based art company Stereotank unveiled this sculpture titled Heartbeat (everyone goes, awwww) at Father Duffy Square. This nine-by-six foot interactive installation (on display until March 8) features lighting effects and six instruments including a xylophone and a South American drum called a tumbadora, all of which visitors can use. Sara Valente, who created the sculpture with her husband Marcelo Ertorteguy, said: "'It’s like a melting pot of heartbeat sounds, just like New York City.'"

Is a Sock Drug Paraphernalia (And How Is that Relevant to Immigration)?

In 2010, Moones Mellouli, a Tunisian national and US lawful permanent resident with two master's degrees from the University of Missouri-Columbia and jobs as an actuary and as a math instructor at the university, was arrested for driving under the influence and having four Adderall pills in his sock. After he plead guilty to a misdemeanor for possession of drug paraphernalia—i.e., the sock in which he had the four pills—he got a suspended sentence plus a year's probation. Then he was ordered removed (i.e. deported).

Mr. Mellouli appealed and last month the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the case, which is essentially about "whether a minor drug offense must render a lawful permanent resident deportable from his home and family in the United States." This is not the first time the Supreme Court has considered such a question.

From NPR: "Federal law allows the government to deport a non-citizen convicted in state court for a crime 'relating to' any drug controlled under the federal criminal code. But state laws often make many more drugs illegal, and Kansas law treats any container used to store a drug as 'drug paraphernalia.'" The SCOTUS blog noted that during the oral arguments the Justices "probed in detail the meaning of the language and how it applied to the case at hand." In the end, "a majority of the Court seemed to side with...Mellouli’s interpretation" and Mellouli "had the better of the statutory argument."

Justice Samuel Alito made an interesting point, which also might suggest which way the Court is leaning: "'It's really hard to believe that the Kansas statute actually regards as drug paraphernalia any thing that is used at any time to contain a controlled substance.'"