US Immigration News

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has proposed a change to the immigration law which would allow some H-4 visa holders to work. H-4 visas are granted to the spouse of H class work visa holders and to children under 21. The H-4 visa currently allows a spouse to reside in the US but does not allow him/her to work. It allows them to apply for a US driving license and open bank accounts.

A poll of US voters released on Monday 21st January 2013 shows that 53% of those responding would support a change to the law to allow the estimated 11m immigrants currently living in the US to become legal permanent residents and grant them 'a path to citizenship'. 43% of respondents said that the government 'should prioritize deporting undocumented migrants.

A group of US business leaders has announced that it is to create a fund to finance a campaign in favour of immigration reform. Carlos Gutierrez, who was commerce secretary under George W Bush, and Thomas J Donohue, the President of the US Board of Trade announced that they were to set up a 'Super Political Action Committee', known as a Super PAC, which will raise money to fund a campaign aimed at persuading Congressmen and women, particularly members of the House of Representatives, to vote for reform.

Last year, Microsoft reported that it was looking for qualified IT professionals. Last September, it announced that it had 6,000 vacancies that it could not fill, 3,400 of these were IT roles. It began to lobby the US government for a change to the skilled immigration visa rules.

The Mayor of Los Angeles Antonio Villaraigosa has entered the immigration reform debate in the US by issuing a six-point reform plan. Mr Villaraigosa has written an article for the politico.com website in which he laid out the bare bones of his plan.

Mr Villaraigosa is a member of President Obama's Democratic Party. Washington insiders say that the President is determined to press ahead with comprehensive immigration reform but, as yet, no details have emerged of any proposed legislation.

A tech startup company, Blueseed, has raised seed finance to carry out research into the possibility of setting up a floating tech company incubator in international waters off the Pacific Coast of the USA. The company plans that the ship should float twelve miles off San Francisco. This would be close enough to Silicon Valley for it to have contact with the tech community there but far enough out to sea for tech graduates around the world to be able to work there without falling foul of the US immigration authorities.