Possible Improvements by INS
Posted Oct 27, 1999

In a liaison meeting with INS, representatives of AILA proposed a variety of service and policy improvements to make the immigration process more logical and convenient for applicants. Some of the proposals are unlikely to be implemented, because of INS opposition or legal hurdles, while others received a supportive response.

Among the initiatives that may have a chance of becoming reality, are the following. Please note that none of these have been announced as effective and final, but these issues received a favorable response from the INS :

a) Issuing employment cards for a longer validity period than one year.

b) In order to avoid the problem of aging out of dependents (i.e. children reaching age 21 and becoming ineligible to become permanent residents with the rest of their immediate family), when the parent adjusts status, requiring only that the child be eligible at the time the adjustment application is filed. Right now, the child must be eligible (under 21) at the time the application is approved. Given the lengthy processing times by the INS of I-485s, this standard causes severe hardship for families.

c) Updating the list of occupations for TN professionals under the North American Free Trade Agreement. The list is outdated, especially with regard to information technology occupations.

d) Establishing clear and reasonable rules for equivalence to Masters degree for purpose of classifying employment-based green card cases as EB2 or EB3 for the purposes of the I-140 (immigrant visa petition).

Our lobbying efforts have often resulted in logical and practical benefits to U.S. companies and their employees or families attempting to unify under U.S. immigration laws. The Law Office of Sheela Murthy, P.C. is proud of the accomplishments so far, but we realize we still have a long way to go.