Home > Magazine > Immigration > New Policy Allows ‘Dreamers’ to Stay

 

New Policy Allows ‘Dreamers’ to Stay

By HUMERA SUBHANI Email By HUMERA SUBHANI
July 2012
New Policy Allows ‘Dreamers’ to Stay

Some are calling this Executive Decision “Dream Act—Lite,” as it purports to offer what President Obama calls a “temporary stop gap measure,” which will allow young immigrants relief until the controversial DREAM Act is passed.

On June 15, 2012, the Department of Homeland Security formally announced that it will offer deferred action to “DREAMers.” An eligible individual must:
• be 15-30 years old, and have entered the country before age 16;
• have been present in the U.S. for five years as of June 15, 2012;
• have maintained continuous residence;
• have not been convicted of a felony, a significant misdemeanor or multiple minor misdemeanors;
• be currently in school, graduated or have a GED, or be an honorably discharged veteran.

The deferred action offer will be available to those in proceedings, as well as to those who apply affirmatively. Deferred action is a discretionary determination to defer removal action of an individual as an act of prosecutorial discretion. Deferred action does not confer lawful status upon an individual.

In addition, although an immigrant granted deferred action will not be considered to be accruing unlawful presence in the United States during the period deferred action is in effect, deferred action does not absolve individuals of any previous or subsequent periods of unlawful presence.

Under existing regulations, an individual who has been granted deferred action is eligible to receive employment authorization for the period of deferred action, provided he or she can demonstrate “an economic necessity for employment.” Travel may be authorized under this policy but that issue has not yet been addressed.

Grants of deferred action will be issued in increments of two years. At the expiration of the two-year period, the grant of deferred action can be renewed, pending a review of the individual case.

USCIS will implement this process within 60 days of this announcement and, in the coming weeks, more information  will become available as to the procedure and guidelines. Please stay tuned to Khabar for updates on this very important new policy.

H-1B Quota for Fiscal Year 2013 Reached
The H-1B quota for fiscal year 2013 was reached on June 11. The advanced-degree cap was reached a few days earlier, on June 7. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) made an announcement regarding both cap limits on June 12. The USCIS will reject any H-1B cap cases filed against the FY13 cap that reach the USCIS on or after June 12.

EB2 Cutoff Date for Rest of the World, Mexico and Philippines
The U.S. Department of State has released the July 2012 Visa Bulletin. For the first time in many years, the employment-based, second-preference (EB2) category contains a cutoff date for the rest of the world, Mexico, and the Philippines. This cutoff date is January 1, 2009, and will be effective as of July 1, 2012. The establishment of an EB2 cutoff date for countries other than India and China was predicted in the June 2012 Visa Bulletin.

VISA PREFERENCE NUMBERS FOR NOVEMBER 2011

 

FAMILY

India

Pakistan/Bangladesh

1st

08Jul05

08Jul05

2A

15Feb10

15Feb10

2B

01May04

04May04

3rd

15Apr02

15Apr02

4th

22Jan01

22Jan01

 

 

EMPLOYMENT

India

Pakistan/Bangladesh

1st

Current

Current

2nd

Unavailable

01Jan09

3rd

22Sep02

22Jul06

Other

22Sep02

22Jul06

4th

Current

Current

5th

Current

Current1B



 

Enjoyed reading Khabar magazine? Subscribe to Khabar and get a full digital copy of this Indian-American community magazine.


  • Add to Twitter
  • Add to Facebook
  • Add to Technorati
  • Add to Slashdot
  • Add to Stumbleupon
  • Add to Furl
  • Add to Blinklist
  • Add to Delicious
  • Add to Newsvine
  • Add to Reddit
  • Add to Digg
  • Add to Fark
blog comments powered by Disqus

Back to articles

 

DIGITAL ISSUE 

11_24-Cover-Shabana-Azmi.jpg

 

eKhabar

 Khabar 2x2FINAL.png

Khabar 2x6FINAL.png

c4_gotv_-_khabar___2_x_2_in__480.jpg

harris-_khabar_-_2x2_480.jpg 

NRSPAY_Khabar-Website_2x2_Ad.gif

Krishnan Co WebBanner.jpg

Raj&Patel-CPA-Web-Banner.jpg

Embassy Bank_gif.gif 

MedRates-Banner-11-23.jpg

DineshMehta-CPA-Banner-0813.jpg