Irish Pastoral Centre in the news

The Irish Pastoral Centre and specifically the IPC’s Prisoner Visitation Program were in the news in Ireland recently when the Irish Independent featured a story on a young man who was detained here in Massachusetts. The feature ran in the Independent on March 16th, and may still be viewed on line at their website or check on the link below.

 

USCIS has issued a notice that they expect the Oct. 1, 3013 batch of H1B visas will be gone by the end of this week. Employers are allowed to file for these visas six months ahead of the Oct. 1 date of release of the visas.

The following statement was released by the USCIS:

 

 

“Based on feedback from a number of stakeholders, USCIS anticipates that it may receive more petitions than the H-1B cap between April 1, 2013 and April 5, 2013. USCIS will monitor the number of petitions received and notify the public of the date on which the numerical limit of the H-1B cap has been met. This date is known as the final receipt date. If USCIS receives more petitions than it can accept, USCIS will use a lottery system to randomly select the number of petitions required to reach the numerical limit. USCIS will reject petitions that are subject to the cap and are not selected, as well as petitions received after it has the necessary number of petitions needed to meet the cap. The lottery for the H-1B cap was last used in April 2008.”

 

The H-1B visa is a temporary employment visa issued for an initial period of one to three years (with the option to renew it for a total of six years). It is a popular way for US employers to hire qualified foreign workers in certain specialty occupations. After 6 years of H-1B status, there is a one-year foreign residency requirement after which you may reapply to enter the US on H-1B or other status. Because of the current shortage of skilled workers in certain areas, this visa has become extremely popular with American employers.

 

For those not successful with the H1B visa filing dates, the J1 might be an option. These particular types of visas are issued to allow you to enter the US for a period up 18 months to work for a US employer and gain experience in your field of work. More information on the J visas may be seen at www.aipt.org or www.usit.ie

 

The E visa is becoming a popular visa among those seeking to enter and work in the US. An applicant for an E-1 visa must be coming to the US to carry on trade principally (more than 51% of the company’s total volume of trade) between the US and the foreign country of which you are a national.

 

One of the requirements to be met before applying for the E-1 is that your country has an established treaty of friendship, commerce and navigation with the US. Foreign nationals may check with a US Consulate/Embassy in their home countries to see if such a treaty exists between their country and the US. Spouse and children of treaty traders also may apply for and obtain E-1 visas. The company itself may be organized in the US, but the majority (more that 50%) ownership of the company must be by nationals of the treaty country. Permanent residents of the US may only be minority owners, even though they may still hold citizenship in the treaty country.

 

The E-1 visa is also available to managerial or executive employees with skills essential to the operation of the company.

 

Any readers with any questions on these and other categories can either email us or attend our next legal clinic.

 

The next IPC legal clinic will be on Tuesday April 2nd at the Banshee, 934 Dorchester Ave., Dorchester. The attorneys who advise on cases each month, Chris Lavery and Dan Harrington, donate their time at our legal clinic. Questions on visas, green cards, citizenship and other legal matters are answered one to one on a confidential basis.