Talk about U.S. Immigration

The Economic Stimulus Bill

The U.S. Senate adopted the “Sanders Bill” by a voice vote after the Bill was amended. The Bill allows a financial institution to benefit from the government offered stimulus and as a condition, makes it harder for the institution to hire foreign nationals on H-1 visa or even receive extension of such visa for those in the employ. The present time limit for the restriction is two years.

It is hard to believe a proposal that tantamounts to “protection” of employment in favor of the U.S. nationals is being adopted in the U.S., country that has been a protagonist of international free trade and commerce and has been a live example of the advantages of open economy with least government interference. Is it a sign of a change in U.S. ideology or merely an effort to politicise the immigration issue once again? Reminds me of the lessons I learnt in my economics class on why protection does more bad than good.

Generally, the reason for America’s role as a world leader in the economy was due to its passion for talent and the freedom it gives the talent to grow along side the employer hiring such talent. The opportunities created themselves within the country and then abroad creating multinational companies. The reason being, international trade and commerce leads to national economic growth and promotes competition that brings efficiency.

It is a common fear, that any protectionistic umbrella generally takes away the incentive to compete and so such a measure for the financial institutions to start with and percolating to other industries in U.S., would shun the human talent from around the world that the nation had welcome, enjoyed and exploited for the benefit of itself and for everyone else. Similar protectionist steps adopted by other countries would be detrimental to international trade and commerce. Recession, being a global phenomenon, an effort to combat it should properly consider its international aspect.

J-1 Visa and Two Year Residence Requirement

J-1 visa to U.S. is for training and educational purpose. Although, more foreign medical graduates use this visa to enter U.S. to complete a residency or fellowship program in a specialty field, exchange visitors in other areas of study also seek this visa.

Often the j-1 visa holder is subject to a two yr. home residency requirements which means the visa holder after accomplishing the purpose of j-1 visa (J-1 program/course) is required to return to his country of last permanent residence for two years before seeking L or H work visa or lawful permanent resident status.

Whether a J-1 visa holder is subject to the two yr. home residence requirement depends upon three things: If the foreign exchange visitor (1) received government funds to complete the program, whether from U.S. or the foreign country; (2) is coming to complete a program in a field of study that is listed by the U.S. government as in short supply in the exchange visitor’s country aka skills list; or (3) the exchange visitor is a foreign medical graduate coming to U.S. to complete graduate medical education or training.

Those who are subject to the home residence requirement may seek a waiver of this condition from the government of the foreign country. Often grant of the waiver take some time as a lot of government procedural steps are to be completed and often means long waiting period. Grounds on which a waiver may be sought are: (1) the U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse or child would suffer exceptional hardship, (2) the exchange visitor would be subject to persecution because of his race, religion or political opinion upon return, (3) if the foreign country of the exchange visitor’s nationality of last residence gives a no objection to such waiver, (4) the exchange visitor’s admission is in public interest and that his services are required by an interested state or federal government agency.

The physician receives waiver conditioned upon that he or she would serve as such for three years in a designated geographical area that meets the criteria for Medically Underserved Population (MUP) or Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSA) and can change to H-1B status and permanent residence.

The three year period may be shortened in certain extreme cases if the employment is taken up at another health facility for the balance of the three year period. Also, the criteria and the process to designate MUPs and HPSAs has been recently revised that should provide a more realistic data.

Dependents: Dependents of the exchange visitors entering U.S. as such are also subject to the home residence requirements. There are interesting issues involving in which country should the foreign national reside for two years if he is a national of one country but permanently resides in another; whether residence in each country for part of the requisite period could be combined; or when an accompanying or following to join dependent is also subject to the home residency requirement – what effect if the dependent is a national or permanent resident of a country different from that of the exchange visitor; or if the dependent spouse divorces the exchange visitor after entering U.S. as his/her dependent. Not all the instances are explained but rules do not provide any leniency to accommodate these variations.