Immigration Debate

If like me, you actually can’t bear living apart from your family, and they also wouldn’t mind living in the same hemisphere as you - you do have the option of bringing them into New Zealand as residents just because they are your family.

For many migrants to New Zealand, it is not possible for our parents to emigrate to New Zealand via the Skilled Migrant route, either because they are too old (anything over 55 counts) or because they don’t have the kind of skills you need to be a skilled migrant.

For this - there is the Family Sponsorship: Parent Category.

So - what do you need to know?

1. Most important, is that you have to pass the “Centre of Gravity” test.

This is all about how many brothers and sisters you have, and where they live in relation to your parents. If you have just one brother or sister, there is no problem, and the “Centre of Gravity” is split equally between New Zealand and your parent’s home country.

There can be a problem if you have 2 or more siblings however. Say you have two brothers.

For the centre of gravity to be deemed New Zealand, half or more of the siblings have to be living in a different country to the parents. So if you live in New Zealand, your parents live in the UK, but your two brothers also live in the UK, you are not eligible to sponsor your parents.

If however one of those brothers moved to the US, then the Centre of Gravity is no longer the UK, and you can sponsor your parents quite happily.

Be aware that half brothers and sisters count when Immigration New Zealand determines the centre of gravity.

2. You have to have been a resident of New Zealand for 3 years.

This means from the date you have your residency permit (not just your Visa). If you first came to New Zealand on a Visitors visa, and then transferred to a residency permit - the 3 years starts from the day you got the permit, not from the day you entered the country.

3. You have to have lived in New Zealand for at least 184 days for each of the 3 years before you make the sponsorship application.

4. You need a household income of at least $29,897.92

This cannot come from benefits (2009 figures)

5. You need to be physically living in New Zealand at the time you put the application in.

6. You will be required to sign a declaration on the sponsorship form

This basically says you will provide for your parents if necessary, and repay any benefits that they may receive from the New Zealand government for the first 2 years.

What documents do you need to send in as the Sponsor?

1. Certified copies of either your residence permit, or if you are a citizen, a certified copy of your Passport or letter from the Department of Internal affairs granting you citizenship.
   
    
2. Certified copies of documents proving your income: IRD Summary of Earnings, wage slips, job contract or bank statements.
3. The sponsor fills in Sponsorship Form 1024 which can be downloaded from http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migrant/general/formsandfees

So what do your parents need to do?

Your parents also need to fill out the standard Residency Application: Form 1000, which you can download from the same webpage.

They simply need to satisfy:

• Good Health Requirements
• Good Character Requirements.
• They do not need to prove income (you have already done that) nor do they need to have a job in order to apply.

They will need to provide:

• Police Certificates less than 6 months old
• Medical Certificates less than 3 months old
• Application fee (£435 if applying in the UK, $660 USD if applying if the US, $700 if applying in New Zealand)

The H1B visa filing day of April 1, 2009, for the H1B visa fiscal year 2010 (October 1, 2009, start date) is quickly approaching and many people are attempting to predict how quickly the cap will be filled up.  The obvious issue at play in making this year more difficult to predict than in prior years, is the economic situation in the United States. 

The economic situation in the United States has caused a significant downturn in employment, which in turn impacts the available options for foreign nationals who are seeking to secure an H1B visa with a willing and able petitioning employer.  In addition, the financial services’ companies have been hit hard not just from a financial standpoint, but also from a hiring standpoint as it relates to their ability to hire H1B candidates.  As a result of the stimulus bill, financial institutions who have received bailout funds have been subject to hiring limitations in connection with H1B workers.  More specifically , the bill subjects the financial institutions who are the recipients of bailout funds to the rules of being a dependent H1B employer, which means that before hiring a foreign H1B worker they must determine that a U.S. worker is not available for the job.  This has essentially barred financial institutions from hiring H1B workers.  In fact, the recent changes made it necessary for Bank of America to rescind job offers made to prospective H1B workers.  Other financial services companies may also have to follow suit.

Taking the above into consideration, many immigration practitioners are seeing a sharp decline in the interest in the H1B visa this year by potential employers and workers.  Some are saying that the downturn in H1B applications this year could be as much as 50%-80%, while others see only a 30% decline.  As a result of this decline, there are predictions that the quota will not be reached within the first few days of April this year.  Rather, many suspect that the bachelor’s quota won’t be reached until the middle of April and that the master’s quota won’t be reached until late April.

From an immigration practitioner’s point of view this is obviously disappointing, as it translates to less work.  From a foreign worker’s perspective who has an H1B position lined up, this presents somewhat of an opportunity that hopefully his or her odds of obtaining the H1B visa will be better this year compared to last year.  From a foreign worker’s perspective who doesn’t yet have a position lined up, you may have a bit more time to find a job than in prior years.  However, this extra time is not a sure thing and may only amount to a week or two.

In conclusion, the H1B visa filing program this year will most likely play out a bit differently than it has in years past.  It will impact all of us involved and will no doubt be interesting to watch as it unfolds in April. 

Ordinary expats in Thailand wishing to extend their stay in the kingdom may find it difficult fitting themselves in the various Thai visas offered by the Thai government.  However, those who are married to Thai locals have got little to worry about.

Marriage Visa in Thailand

Immigration privileges are among the countless benefits of being married to a Thai.

A foreign spouse of a Thai national is entitled to apply for a Thai marriage visa aka Non Immigrant Category O visa. This particular Thai visa can be applied for immediately after marriage, subsequently allowing the foreign spouse a renewable yearly stay in Thailand. Fortunately, the process for the Thai Marriage Visa application is rather straightforward and the requirements are quite minimal.

The most important requirements when applying for a marriage visa to Thailand are; you are married to a Thai national and you or your Thai spouse is financially capable of supporting your stay in Thailand. To prove your on-going marital relationship with your Thai spouse, you have to show the original of your marriage certificate and have your Thai spouse accompany you when submitting the visa application as the visa officer will be interviewing her about your marriage. This is especially required when doing the visa application inside Thailand. On a positive note, medical certificate and police record are no more required when Thai Marriage Visa application is done in Thailand.

Financial Requirements

As far as the financial requirements for marriage visa in Thailand are concerned, there are two ways to meet them. One is to open a bank account, deposit 400,000 Baht into it and then wait for at least two months prior to making the Thai marriage visa application. The 2nd option is to show a proof of 40,000 Baht monthly /pension income. To do this, you need to obtain a pension/ employment letter stating your job or source of your pension and monthly income. This you bring to your embassy in Thailand for verification. Your embassy in turn will provide you an affidavit of income which you use for the visa application. In addition to this document, you may be required of your income tax and latest bank statements by the Visa officer. In case you don’t qualify for the income requirement but your Thai spouse is, she can just as well handle the financial requirements. She just needs to present employment letter and income tax if she’s employed and business registration certificate, balance sheet and business tax if she’s self-employed.

Application Process

The actual application procedure is simple. An applicant who has 21 days left in his/her current visa can apply a 90 day visa initially then have this visa converted into One year Marriage visa before it expires. Those who have non immigrant Thai visa can proceed to visa conversion directly as soon as their visa is due to its expiration. You and your Thai spouse can go to the nearest Thai immigration with your documents to proceed with the visa application.  Those who are not qualified to do the Marriage visa application in Thailand because of their invalid current visas can go to bordering countries to secure new entry visas and then apply marriage visa in Thailand as appropriate.

Summary

Obtaining the Thai marriage visa can be accomplished by following the guidelines outlined above.  If you have yet to marry your Thai fiancee you should research the laws and procedures for Marriage Registration in Thailand for your respective nationality.

The mainstream media and members of congress give many false reasons why the H-1B Visa and US Immigration System is not helping. The truth is hardly any of those reasons are true and it is really the Immigration System that is unfair.

In actuality it is the humble US worker who gets screwed as well as the US Economy as a whole!

This list is not in order as they are all as bad as each other.

1. Visa Petition Costs - If a company chose to apply for the right and was serious about hiring a foreigner they would have to pay about $2,000 in application costs ($1,000 without premium processing) that is not refundable for the application as these days there are always more applications than annual visas available. Then a further $1,000 in extra fees if the petition is accepted. If you want the USCIS to process your H-1B visa application “faster” and for your lawyer to have phone access to the immigration officer assessing your application you can pay this extra $1,000 fee. Of course who gets all this money….the Government!!

2. Immigration Attorneys - The only people who always benefit from this process s the Immigration attorney. For them it doesn’t matter whether a foreigner gets a visa or doesn’t. So you wonder why their lobby is so strong in Washington and helps keep the system complex!!

3. Annual Quota for H-1B - As we mentioned there is an arbitray quota of 65,000 H-1B visas each year with an extra 20,000 H-1B visa for foreigners who may have US Masters Degrees. Given that Bill Gates, who created one of the world’s biggest brand in Microsoft thinks this figure should be more around 500,000 for the US economy, you can see why this really doesn’t help the US economy. Last year they received 130,000 applications on the first day alone on April 1 so in recent years a random lottery decides the result.

4. Difficulty for Green Card - An immigrant who comes to the US legally and works hard, pays taxes, etc. it is not the easiest path to Permanent Residency. It is again up to the employer to pay for the application costs. As the USCIS is completely inefficient and underfunded deliberately, it can take many years for this to even come through. Many foreigners have to stay in the same role passing up promotions and salary increases for 7 years just till this process completes.

5. Employer Change - To change employers, an H-1B applicant’s new company virtually all the same application costs that we said can be around $3,000 not including attorney fees. The full approval process can take many months. From the date an H-1B leaves their current company they have only 10 days to get initial approval from Department of Labor. What happens if you were laid off suddenly and you had 10 days to not only find interview but also secure an offer and then submit the approval documents or you would be punished.

6. Work Start Date - So the applications open on April 1 each year and a few lucky people they get their visas. This DOES NOT mean they can start working as that date is October 1 so the US Economy as a whole is put on hold not to mention the employer’s business for this date to occur.