The Wall Street Journal recently too a look at an interesting U.S. immigration case that begs the question of what constitute work (or at least employment).

Monk Phra Bunphithak Jomthong entered the U.S. four years ago on a religious visa and has since devoted himself to serving a burgeoning Buddhist community in Southern California. Barefoot and clad in a saffron robe, Mr. Jomthong recently gave what amounts to the most accurate job description he has: "to share Buddhist practices and to promote peace and harmony among people."

In short, his religious visa lapsed briefly, but he kept "sharing" anyway. Now the INS wants to deport him for 'working" without a visa. But his lawyers say he took a vow of poverty and receives no salary for what he does.

It will be interesting to see how the story develops...

BusinessWeek had a fascinating examination early this month of what may be the biggest problem faced by the H-1B visa: Indian outsourcing.

A bill currently before Congress, the Durbin-Grassley visa reform bill, would probably bring an end to the Indian outsourcing model by requiring that U.S. company have no more than half of their employees be H-1B visa holders.

The H-1B is a temporary work visa used to allow companies to bring in foreign workers with "rare" talent on a temporary basis. Companies like Google and Microsoft use the visa as a stepping stone town permanent residency and citizenship for those workers.

The Indian outsourcing model takes a different approach.

Outsourcing firms typically post visa workers in the U.S. on a short-term basis, in many cases about 18 months. The workers then return to India, where they continue to work for the outsourcer on behalf of U.S. clients.

The outsourcing firms' business model, developed over the past decade, has worked well for them and their American clients. When they win contracts to manage the technology, accounting, or other operations for U.S. corporations, the Indian firms typically handle the work with about 20% to 30% of the employees in the U.S. and 70% to 80% offshore. The mix allows the companies to benefit from the lower wage rates offshore, while doing the most critical work, such as testing software applications, on-site.

Proponents of the Durbin-Grassley bill see the Indian outsourcing model as displacing a US worker when the visa holder arrives, and then allowing him or her to continue displacing a U.S. work after the visa holder returns to India. Opponents of the bill see the model as good for both U.S. and India business, and they fear a trade war will erupt if the Durbin-Grassley bill is signed into law.


© Center for American Progress Action Fund

The Obama Administration made it clear this week that overhauling the immigration system in the U.S. is a priority for his administration.

Obama told the Esperanza National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast and Conference that U.S. borders must be strengthened to thwart illegal immigration. But he also supports giving the millions of people now in the U.S. illegally the chance to become citizens.

In many ways, now is a good time to acomplish something on the immigration issue precisely because it is not much of an issue, politically, at the moment. With healthcare, swine flu, Iran, and so many other things taking up the media spotlight, immigration reform might actually get some legislative work done on it without the myopia that comes from being the center of public attention.

© Kevin Coles


The Daily Kos is reporting on three polls that look at support for comprehensive immigration reform in the U.S. It's a political hot potato that's been tossed around before.

In the midst of a nasty recession, you'd think immigration issues would get less support. But the polls (Pew, Washington Post, Beneson Strategy Group) show an amazing amount of support from comprehensive reform - reform that includes the possibility amnesty for undocumented aliens already in the country and increased enforcement and stronger penalties for companies hiring undocumented aliens.

And (surprisingly) the strongest supporters of comprehensive immigration reform are suddenly Republicans.

If you're an EU citizen, you will soon be able to travel for short stays without a visa to some new destination, accordig to a recent news report.

The European Union (EU) signed short-stay visa waiver agreements on Thursday with Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Mauritius, Saint Kitts and Nevis and the Seychelles.

The agreements are reciprocal, so citizens of the Bahamas, Barbados, etc., can also visit the EU without a visa. The only stipulation is that the travelers cannot be paid for work while in the country.


© nedrichards

You've probably never heard of the genius visa. Les than 10,000 people a year are allowed into the U.S. on it. People who are at the absolute top tier of their field in the arts, athletics, sciences, education, or business. Its formal name is the O-1 visa, and BusinessWeek took a look at it this month.

The program, for what are officially called O-1 visas, began in 1990 as lawmakers sought to separate these applicants from the pool of those seeking H-1B visas, the visa program for skilled immigrants used by many technology companies. While H-1B applicants must hold at least a bachelor's degree and possess some specialized skill, O-1 visas are allotted to a more elite crowd: those who can prove to U.S. immigration officials that they are the very top in their fields. Peter F. Asaad, an immigration attorney and adjunct professor of law at American University, calls the recipients "Nobel prize quality or equivalent."

Some current O-1 visa holders include Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki, Canadian author Jennifer Gould Keil, and Israeli concert pianist Inon Barnatan.

If you're completely unfamiliar with the visa, the BusinessWeek piece is interesting.

I haven't heard much about the immigration debate in the US this year. But BusinessWeek just published an article that start with this:

The Obama Administration plans to intensify efforts begun under the Bush Administration to crack down on companies that knowingly hire illegal immigrants, according to Janet Napolitano, the new head of the of Homeland Security Dept.

Napolitano is quoted in the article as pointing out (correctly) that illegal immigration is a labor force issue. Undocumented workers come to the US because companies are hiring them once they get here.

Of course, the issue is not quite that simple. And it's not like Jose Garcia and his family ever decide to move north because a Red Roof Inn or a Big Lots contacted them at their home in Guadalajara and offered them $4.25 and hour if they'd come. But they know how well Uncle Antonio and Aunt Dora are doing in Laredo...

It will be interesting to see if this is the start of a broader policy move.

Foreigners who want a business visa to China in the next few months are evidently having a harder and harder time getting them. The China Law Blog has compared the situation to the politically inspired difficulty people had getting visas during the run up to the Beijing Olympics.


© schuey

The CLB has had two pieces recently on the situation (here and here). The situation is aggravated by the practice many foreign investors in China have of trying to skirt the law and form informal partnerships under the table. That leaves them with no real standing when they apply for a visa.

Dan at the CLB sums up the situation this way:

Bottom Line. There are three very important things that should be taken away from all this. One, if you need certainty in terms of being able to get into China, you cannot rely on either an F visa (business) or an L visa (tourist) for that. Two, if you need certainty in terms of being able to get into China, the solution is usually to legitimately set up your own company so you can get a Z visa (employee). Three, and probably most important, is that the Chinese government will nearly always place politics and stability over economics.

Human rights groups are expressing concern over new immigration policies in Italy that seem designed to target Europe's Roma and Sinti Gypsy populations.

Europe's top human rights watchdog on Thursday expressed "deep concern" over the conservative Italian government's hardline immigration policies, including plans to make illegal immigration a crime and a controversial census of Sinti and Roma Gypsies in Italy.

Italy is home to around 160,000 Roma Gypsies. About half of them were born in Italy and have Italian citizenship. But many come from Romania or parts of the former Yugoslavia. In the last year the Italian government has demolished a nnumber of Gypsy camps and the Gypsy census seems designed promote discriminatory policies and "xenophobia" in the country, according to human rights groups.


© Zingaro. I am a gipsy too.

Americans with relatives in Cuba will now be able to travel more freely to visit those relative without violating U.S. law, the Obama Administration announced today. Several news sources (Associated Press, NY Times, H Post) are covering the development.

The Associated Press sums up the changes:

President Barack Obama is allowing Americans to make unlimited trips and money transfers to family in Cuba and easing other restrictions Monday to usher in a new era of openness toward the island nation ruled by communists for 50 years.

The questions now: How long until the average tourists gets to see what Havana's night life is like now...?


© neiljs