Immigration Debate

While South Africa is a key destination for many tourists and foreigners, many South Africans who visit foreign countries come back to their home country with the hopes of their current or future foreign spouses (husbands or wives) or foreign life-partners (partners in a permanent relationship) residing with them in their beautiful home country.

What is a South African Spousal Permit

All foreigners require a permit to reside legally in South Africa, whereby a spouse (husband or wife) of a South African would need to apply for a spousal permit. A temporary residence permit can be issued to a foreign spouse who has been married to a South African for less than 5 years, but in turn, permanent residence can only be applied for once the couple have been married for 5 years or more. An excellent tip would be: it is safer to apply for temporary residence first (whether married for more or less than 5 years), as permanent residence takes approximately 18 months (these timescales are not guaranteed), therefore the foreign spouse would be legal to reside in South Africa, whether applying for permanent residence or not.

What is a South African Life-Partner permit?

This permit is practically the same as a spousal permit, but the partner (not spouse) of a South African who has been in a permanent relationship will be required to apply for a life-partner permit. In order to receive this permit, documentation would need to be submitted as proof that the relationship has existed for the said number of months/years. A temporary residence permit can be issued to the foreign life-partner of the South Africa who has been in a relationship for less than 5 years (as with the spousal permit). Permanent Residence can only be applied for once the partners have been in a permanent relationship for 5 years or more. As with the spousal permit, it would be best to apply for temporary residence first, as permanent residence takes approximately 18 months (these timescales are not guaranteed), therefore, allowing the partner to reside with the South African legally while waiting to apply or receive a result from permanent residence.

South Africa has a diverse constitution; therefore, same-sex relationship partners or civil union partners are able to apply for South African spousal or life-partner permits.

Can a Foreigner Work/Operate a Business/Study on a South African Spousal / Life-Partner Permit?

It is a hug advantage and beneficial to obtain a South African spousal or life-partner temporary residence permit, as foreigners who are on these permits are able to work, operate a business or study in South Africa with the correct endorsement. This permit negates the need for work permits and business permits to be applied for and all the vast number of documentation that is required. While these spousal or life-partner permit endorsements require on a few additional documents to enable the foreigner to work/operate a business or study in South Africa.

Tips: If a foreigner will be working, operating a business or studying in South Africa, it is best to know exactly what you want, as these endorsements are specific, therefore, the name of employer/business or educational institution will be mentioned on the permit, not allowing the foreigner work for another company, operating a different business or studying with a different institution, without re-applying (with an entirely new application) for a new specific endorsement on the spousal or life-partner permit.

What is the length of these permits and can these permits be extended?

The length of the temporary residence permit is decided by the Department of Home Affairs, these permits can be issued for a period between 1 - 3 years. Yes, the South African spousal or life-partner temporary residence permits can be extended at the end of their validity, provided that the proof of relationship or marriage certificate is submitted with the extension application.

As South African’s love their country and it is their constitution right to have their spouses or life-partners residing in South Africa, many foreign spouses or life-partners are taking the opportunity to experience the beauty and vast cultures of South Africa with their loved ones.

The H1B visa is a nonimmigrant visa classification used by professional foreign nationals who will be employed temporarily by a U.S. employer in either a specialty occupation or as a fashion model. A foreign national can be in H1B status for a maximum period of six years at a time and the visa is generally granted in two increments of three years.

Current law limits the number of H1Bs to 65,000 foreign nationals each year. The first 20,000 H1B visas are issued to foreign nationals who obtained their Masters Degree here in the U.S. because they are exempt from the 65,000 cap; H1B visas issued to advanced degree foreign nationals beyond the first 20,000 are then counted against the overall 65,000 cap. Some U.S. Senators have proposed increasing the cap, but legislation has not yet been passed by Congress.

H1B visa renewals and H1B visa extensions of stay do not count towards the annual limits. H1B nonimmigrants who work at (but not necessarily for) universities and non-profit research facilities are also excluded from the numerical cap. Transfers of H1B visas among U.S. employers only count against the cap when the foreign national is changing jobs from a U.S. employer that is exempt from the limits (academia or research) to one that is not exempt (for-profit).

The first day of filing for H-1B visas for FY 2010 was April 1, 2009. If the foreign national was already in the U.S., they must stay in lawful nonimmigrant status until October 1, 2009 when the H1B visa becomes effective. Although a review of past years (FY2004-FY2009) shows a rapid depletion of the H1B quota every year, FY2008 and FY2009 (i.e., last two fiscal years) have seen the entire 65,000 H1B visa quota met on the very first day of filing. The annual cap for FY 2008 was exceeded on the first day of filing. A random lottery was held, consisting of cases filed on the first two days, as required by regulation. The separate H1B visa exemption quota of 20,000 for U.S. advanced-degree holders lasted only about one month after they first became available for FY2008.

In response to that situation, the procedures changed for the H-1B petitions submitted in 2008 for FY 2009, as the government decided that there would be a lottery of the cases filed on the first five days of filing, if the cap was reached during any of those five days. The cap was again met on the first day. FY 2009 also saw the entire 20,000 U.S. advanced-degree H1B quota exemptions exhausted in one day. The government announced that they received about 163,000 H1B visa applications last year, and approximately 31,200 of those were for the Masters Degree category.

Advanced degree holders have a better chance of being selected in the H1B lottery than individuals who are seeking a regular H1B visa because the government first holds the lottery for the 20,000 advanced degree visas; applications that are not drawn as part of that selection process are then added to the pool of applications for the 65,000 regular H1B visas, giving the first-time losers a second shot at getting an H1B visa.

USCIS announced that as of May 22, 2009, approximately 45,700 H-1B cap-subject petitions and approximately 20,000 petitions qualifying for the advanced degree cap exemption had been filed. The USCIS will continue to accept both cap-subject petitions and advanced degree petitions until a sufficient number of H-1B petitions have been received to reach the statutory limits, taking into account the fact that some of these petitions may be denied, revoked, or withdrawn.

Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) recently introduced legislation to Congress regarding the H-1B visa and L-1 visa programs. This bill at it’s core is anti the H-1B visa program, anti-immigration and since the US is founded upon and crown to prosperity via aggressive Immigration throughout its history, I guess Anti American as well.

While the main bullet points used to sell the legislation seem harmless and on the face of it make sense the devil is both in the details and the alarming language used throughout the bill.

• Require all employers who want to hire an H-1B guest-worker to first make a good-faith attempt to recruit a qualified American worker. Employers would be prohibited from using H-1B visa holders to displace qualified American workers.
• Prohibit the blatantly discriminatory practice of “H-1B only” ads and prohibit employers from hiring additional H-1B and L-1 guest-workers if more than 50% of their employees are H-1B and L-1 visa holders.
• Permit DOL to initiate investigations without a complaint and without the Labor Secretary’s personal authorization;
• Authorize DOL to review H-1B applications for fraud;
• Allow DOL to conduct random audits of any company that uses the H-1B program;
• Require DOL to conduct annual audits of companies who employ large numbers of H-1B workers.

The bill also states that;

“Some claim that the H-1B program helps to create American jobs, but it is currently being used by some companies to outsource American jobs to foreign countries.”

“Employers can legally discriminate against qualified Americans by firing them without cause and recruiting only H-1B guest-workers to replace them.”

Now let’s take these two points and actually look at some facts for the two Senators who seem to have little grasp of reality.

Over the past decade over half of the Silicon Valley Startups were by Immigrants. Iconic brands like Google, Yahoo and eBay have founded by immigrants and both directly and directly being responsible for hundreds of thousands of jobs in the United States. This intern becomes massive tax revenue for the US Government which goes on to benefit the entire US economy an it citizens with spending on education, health and infrastructure.

Durbin and Grassley only enjoy all their massive Government perks of high salary, benefits like private cars and travel and not to mention a lucrative health insurance policy because of these tax revenues.

Some US politicians and media try to blame the tiny minority (65,000 H-1B visas annually) of foreign workers for all the US economic problems and divert blame from themselves. All the banks and insurance companies were not only headed up by Americans but had US people all across their boards. Then of course all the US media companies who were complicit in all of this happening are all owned by US citizens. Finally of course, all politicians in the US who must share a lot of the blame are also US citizens

So the easy scape goat for all of this becomes the foreigners when in reality they have so little to do with the failures of the economy and much more to do with the success (as mentioned above) and ability of the US economy to recover. Of course these foreigners can’t vote so Durbin and Grassley can enjoy their benefits of their hard labor while exploiting them and taking away their rights at the same time without fear of recrimination.

Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) recently introduced legislation to Congress regarding the H-1B visa and L-1 visa programs. This bill at it’s core is anti the H-1B visa program, anti-immigration and since the US is founded upon and crown to prosperity via aggressive Immigration throughout its history, I guess Anti American as well.

While the main bullet points used to sell the legislation seem harmless and on the face of it make sense the devil is both in the details and the alarming language used throughout the bill.

• Require all employers who want to hire an H-1B guest-worker to first make a good-faith attempt to recruit a qualified American worker. Employers would be prohibited from using H-1B visa holders to displace qualified American workers.
• Prohibit the blatantly discriminatory practice of “H-1B only” ads and prohibit employers from hiring additional H-1B and L-1 guest-workers if more than 50% of their employees are H-1B and L-1 visa holders.
• Permit DOL to initiate investigations without a complaint and without the Labor Secretary’s personal authorization;
• Authorize DOL to review H-1B applications for fraud;
• Allow DOL to conduct random audits of any company that uses the H-1B program;
• Require DOL to conduct annual audits of companies who employ large numbers of H-1B workers.

The bill also states that;

“Some claim that the H-1B program helps to create American jobs, but it is currently being used by some companies to outsource American jobs to foreign countries.”

“Employers can legally discriminate against qualified Americans by firing them without cause and recruiting only H-1B guest-workers to replace them.”

Now let’s take these two points and actually look at some facts for the two Senators who seem to have little grasp of reality.

Over the past decade over half of the Silicon Valley Startups were by Immigrants. Iconic brands like Google, Yahoo and eBay have founded by immigrants and both directly and directly being responsible for hundreds of thousands of jobs in the United States. This intern becomes massive tax revenue for the US Government which goes on to benefit the entire US economy an it citizens with spending on education, health and infrastructure.

Durbin and Grassley only enjoy all their massive Government perks of high salary, benefits like private cars and travel and not to mention a lucrative health insurance policy because of these tax revenues.

Some US politicians and media try to blame the tiny minority (65,000 H-1B visas annually) of foreign workers for all the US economic problems and divert blame from themselves. All the banks and insurance companies were not only headed up by Americans but had US people all across their boards. Then of course all the US media companies who were complicit in all of this happening are all owned by US citizens. Finally of course, all politicians in the US who must share a lot of the blame are also US citizens

So the easy scape goat for all of this becomes the foreigners when in reality they have so little to do with the failures of the economy and much more to do with the success (as mentioned above) and ability of the US economy to recover. Of course these foreigners can’t vote so Durbin and Grassley can enjoy their benefits of their hard labor while exploiting them and taking away their rights at the same time without fear of recrimination.

You have a few options to consider when you are deciding on what Visa to get for your move to Mexico. The three most popular types of Mexican Visas are the FMT, FM2, and the FM3.

The FMT Visa is what you get anytime you enter Mexico from the US. It is easy to get, and the paperwork will be handed to you on the plane as you are flying into Mexico or as you’re crossing the border. This is the easiest Visa to acquire but also comes with restrictions. First of all you are usually only allowed to stay in the country for 180 days. If you are given less than 180 days on your FMT you can get an extension at an immigration office. The FMT is a tourist Visa but many people simply make “border runs” every 180 days to get a new FMT, while living full time in Mexico. If you are planning to live in Mexico for the long term, you will most likely want to consider getting an FM2 or FM3. You are also not able to move your belongings into Mexico with an FMT.

The FM2 Visa is for becoming a citizen of Mexico. It will generally take 5 years to become a citizen you are given your FM2, and you can not apply for a FM2 in the US, you have to go to an immigration office in Mexico. The FM2 allows for permanent residency but generally people moving or retiring to Mexico will want to get an FM3, which is cheaper to get and maintain.

An FM3 Visa allows you to stay in Mexico without making border runs every 180 days, it also makes it easier to set up utilities for your house, open a bank account, and move all your belongings from the US to your new home. Getting an FM3 is much more complicated compared to getting an FMT, and will require going to your local (or not so local) Mexican Consulate in person to fill out a lot of paperwork. Each consulate may have different rules so it’s hard to say exactly what will be required of you. In general they want to see proof of income of $1,000 to $2,000 per month, or more if you have any dependents. Some Consulates also may only give an FM3 to people over the age of 55, while others don’t have an age limit. Everyone’s experience is usually different when trying to get an FM3.

If you are moving to Mexico you need to consider what Visa is right for you. If you don’t have to move your belongings down to Mexico and aren’t planning on staying for the rest of your life, you may be able to get by with the standard FMT. However, if you want to move your household items to Mexico you will need an FM3, which also comes with the added benefit of not having to go to the border every 180 days.

The immigration process is very difficult especially to a country like the United States. There is a specific set of rules which have to be followed. There are various processes which have to be followed correctly. A little variation or wrongly followed rule or process can degrade your chances of migrating to the United States.

In the US, the general immigration laws are determined by the federal government. The states create their own patterns of the immigration policies and these are done according to the federal laws. You have to follow the same rules and processes in the United States whether you are in California or South Carolina. Proper advice of an immigration lawyer is very helpful as he can guide you through the whole process.

How can an Immigration Attorney Help You?

When you hire a good immigration attorney, you can make sure that you get the best legal advice from a person who knows everything and can help you follow everything according to the rules when you apply for citizenship in the US. Even if you commit a violation, the attorneys can help you out in some way as they have the means and the right knowledge needed to defend you.

Even if the immigration lawyers guides you on everything you need to successfully migrate, you should still have the knowledge about the various rules and regulations so you are not fully dependent upon the lawyers. You should know what should do and what you shouldn’t. The immigration rules of the United States are very strict and hiring a good lawyer can go a long way in getting your application approved for citizenship or immigrant status.

The dream of starting fresh in a new country can sometimes be hampered by economy and racial separation. The effect of such issues have a double negative effect as it also affects the expectations an person gets from society as well as how they perceive themselves as a citizen of their new country.

Hopeful immigrants may thus find themselves stuck somewhere between fulfilling their dreams and “living up to” the role they feel society has assigned them.

The problem outlined above does not automatically mean that very successful immigration by any means would be impossible. When it comes to making the process as elegant as possible, a good attorney may play a big part.

The Immigration Attorney Free Consultation

Indeed, immigrants today are facing many challenges. This is why an immigration attorney free consultation is now admitted to those who are in need of great assistance to be able to acclimatize to a new country that they want to live in. It is certain that these proceedings shall give the hopeful immigrants an opportunity to have an overview of the arrangements of the society that they want to reside in.

Trough the said immigration attorney free consultation service, an immigrant too would have a better chance of having the essential meet with an immigration and naturalization attorney. This stage is needed in order to becoming a legally owned resident. It is also a very important step in truly becoming a part of the new society.

In many western countries there is already a kind of “we and them” kind of thinking in place often, rightly or not, based on the level of education and income. Probably, the situation is governed by the fact that the human society today is so diverse that people have already applied the differences that they have from each other as a basis of the status that each person is expected to belong to.

It goes without saying that the challenges of immigrating are hard, but with the help of immigration attorney free consultation services, a person or group of people wanting to transfer nationality and residence would get the absolutely chance to be successful in the said process of social adjustment.