Immigration Alert: USCIS Announces Significant Administrative Reforms Aimed to Promote Competitiveness, Startups, and Stimulate Job Creation

Check out this announcement from USCIS, originally posted on the Wolfsdorf Immigration Law Group’s blog.

Immigration Alert: USCIS Announces Significant Administrative Reforms Aimed to Promote Competitiveness, Startups, and Stimulate Job Creation

Following President Obama’s most recent State of the Union address, on January 31, 2012 USCIS released a Fact Sheet summarizing the President’s current actions and future goals with respect to attracting and retaining highly-skilled immigrants.
President Obama’s Goals:

Increase U.S. competitiveness by attracting new talent, businesses, investment, and creating the most skilled workforce in the world.  Some of the possible initiatives introduced include:

• Creating a “Startup Visa” for entrepreneurs
• Strengthening the H-1B program
• Automatic green card eligibility for foreign born graduates of US institutions in STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics) fields

Administrative Reforms Announced:

DHS announced a series of Administrative reforms, which will be completed in the future, intended to stimulate US Job creation and attract highly skilled foreign students and workers:

• Expand eligibility for 17-month extension of optional practical training (OPT) for F-1 international students to include students with a prior degree in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), and expansion of eligible STEM degree programs
• Allow for additional part-time academic study for spouses of F-1 students (currently only part-time vocational or recreational classes permitted)
• Expand the number of Designated School Officials (DSOs) at schools certified by DHS to enroll international students.
• Provide work authorization for spouses of H-1B holders who have filed an adjustment of status application.
• Allow outstanding professors and researchers to present a broader scope of evidence of academic achievement, i.e. “comparable evidence” beyond the specifically articulated regulatory list.
• Permit E-3 visa holders from Australia and H-1B1 visa holders from Singapore and Chile to continue working with their current employer for up to 240 days while their petitions for extension of status are pending.
• On February 22, 2012, USCIS will launch Entrepreneurs in Residence initiative, bringing together high-level representatives from the entrepreneurial community, academia, and federal government agencies to discuss how to maximize current immigration laws’ potential to attract foreign entrepreneurial talent.

via Immigration Alert: USCIS Announces Significant Administrative Reforms Aimed to Promote Competitiveness, Startups, and Stimulate Job Creation.