U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Your Complete Guide


~ Updates and Errata ~


February 2000


This month: New Poverty Guidelines and Proposed H-1B legislation

Year 2000 Poverty Guidelines
Here are the poverty guidelines for the year 2000. Recall that in all family immigration cases, the petitioner must prove that he or she can support the immigrant visa applicant at 125% of the federal poverty guidelines. See U.S. Immigration and Citizenship - Your Complete Guide, page 65 for guidance on how to comply with this requirement.

2000 Poverty Guidelines for the 48 Contiguous States and the District ofColumbia------------------------------------------------------------------------PovertySize of family unit guideline------------------------------------------------------------------------1.............. $ 8,3502........................................................... 11,2503........................................................... 14,1504........................................................... 17,0505........................................................... 19,9506........................................................... 22,8507........................................................... 25,7508........................................................... 28,650------------------------------------------------------------------------For family units with more than 8 members, add $2,900 for each additional member. (The same increment applies to smaller family sizes also, as can be seen in the figures above.)2000 Poverty Guidelines for Alaska------------------------------------------------------------------------PovertySize of family unit guideline------------------------------------------------------------------------1 $10,4302........................................................... 14,0603........................................................... 17,6904........................................................... 21,3205........................................................... 24,9506........................................................... 28,5807........................................................... 32,2108........................................................... 35,840------------------------------------------------------------------------For family units with more than 8 members, add $3,630 for each additional member. (The same increment applies to smaller family sizes also, as can be seen in the figures above.)2000 Poverty Guidelines for Hawaii------------------------------------------------------------------------PovertySize of family unit guideline-------------------------------------------------------------------1 $ 9,5902..................................................... 12,9303..................................................... 16,2704..................................................... 19,6105..................................................... 22,9506..................................................... 26,2907..................................................... 29,6308..................................................... 32,970------------------------------------------------------------------------For family units with more than 8 members, add $3,340 for each

H-1B Legislation
Lamar Smith has introduced legislation increasing the number of H-1B visas. Here's his press release.

Technology Worker Temporary Relief Act
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 1, 2000
Statement of Congressman Lamar SmithChairman of the House Immigration Subcommittee on introduction of the Technology Worker Temporary Relief Act March 1, 2000

The high-tech industry accounts for almost a third of the productivity growth in today''s economy. When Congress can help sustain a good economy, it should act. But Congress should respond to demonstrated needs, not overreact and risk doing more harm than good.
This legislation, which will be introduced today, represents a joint effort that is a reasonable and measured response to the concerns of the high-tech industry.

Tom Campbell, Representative from Silicon Valley, Chris Cannon, a high-tech entrepreneur himself, Bob Goodlatte, Chairman of the House Republican High Technology Working Group, and I as Chairman of the Immigration Subcommittee, have worked together to draft a bill that can become law. It offers a solution to meet the actual needs of the information technology industry for foreign workers. The Technology Worker Temporary Relief Act increases the cap for H-1B visas in 2000 by 45,000. This figure is a projection based on the number of visa applications filed last year. The bill allows for 160,000 alien workers in 2000 and 107,500 in 2001 for stays of up to six years.

The year 2000 increase in these visas is necessary to address the 1999 "bubble" in foreign worker visa applications. The increased quota for this year will be large enough to absorb those aliens who had been approved for H-1B status late in 1999 after that year''s cap was reached-the "bubble"-plus the number of aliens mistakenly granted visas by the USCIS above the 1999 cap. The number of visas available in 2000 and 2001 will be sufficient to meet demand, since even at last year''s peak, the USCIS only approved about 9,000 H-1B visas per month, or 108,000 on an annual basis.

The legislation provides employers with "fast track" authority that will expedite H-1B applications for legitimate users.

The bill reduces the fraud that robs the H-1B program of visas that would otherwise be available for legitimate employers. Verifying aliens'' foreign degrees and the qualifications of petitioning businesses will free up more visas for those companies that contribute to America''s economic growth. Our bill seeks to solve an immediate problem. It will meet the anticipated needs of the high-tech industry without overreaching and threatening an increase in the number of foreign workers to the point of putting at risk the wages or jobs of American workers and students.

American information technology workers are concerned about their future job prospects. Too often, industry considers them expendable by the age of 30, and too expensive to retrain when cheaper foreign workers on H-1B visas are readily available. Sometimes they have seen their colleagues laid off and replaced by these foreign workers. The unemployment rate for computer programmers over 50 years old is 17 percent.

American college students also are concerned. We''re seeing more U.S. students enroll in computer science classes to prepare for the widely advertised job opportunities in information technology. But they may face the prospect of graduating and entering the job market just as the market is flooded with foreign workers under the H-1B program.

The Department of Labor estimates that over the next few years there will be 138,000 job openings a year in information technology occupations. At the same time, 162,000 students will graduate each year with associate, bachelor, and graduate degrees in computer science, engineering, and mathematics.

The bill helps American workers in other ways. It makes the additional visas available only after the Administration enforces the provisions Congress approved in 1998 to stop the abuses of "job shops" and "sweat shops" that took advantage of foreign high-tech workers. And the visas will only be available to employers who increase their hires of American workers and boost their pay.

In addition, the bill will raise the fee paid by employers for access to the H-1B program from $500 to $1,000 per alien and direct the revenue raised to American college students in the form of scholarships for study in high-tech fields. So the bill will help solve America''s future high tech needs.

Our bill, balanced to help both American industry and American workers, can earn the support of the American people and be signed into law. We are mindful that in a 1998 Harris poll 82 percent opposed the admission of 190,000 foreign high-tech workers. Enactment of the Technology Worker Temporary Relief Act will ensure that the bright promise of the digital age is fulfilled for both American industry and American workers.

Last year''s visa applications are the only real measure we have for high-tech worker demand. There is no credible or objective study documenting the high-tech labor shortage. The study that Congress commissioned by the National Science Foundation is unlikely to be completed before Congress adjourns this year.

Finally, we are forced to rely on the H-1B program because America''s immigration system works at cross-purposes with the needs of our economy. We admit almost a million legal immigrants a year. Yet they can''t meet our need for skilled workers because 35 percent of those of working age do not have a high school education (compared to 9 percent of native-born workers).

The mismatch will only get worse since 90 percent of all future jobs will require post-high school education. The real losers of this system-as shown by five recent studies by well-respected institutions-are those Americans and recent immigrants who must compete with millions of newcomers for a fixed number of low-skilled jobs. We must recognize that the needs of the high-tech industry are only a small part of the overall needs of the American workplace.

The Technology Worker Temporary Relief Act of 2000
Representatives Lamar Smith, Tom Campbell, Chris Cannon, and Bob Goodlatte
CONTACT: Allen Kay202-225-4236 (O)301-990-3749 (H)

Committee on the Judiciary, Chairman, Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims * Chairman, Committee on Standards of Official Conduct * Committee on Science

Major Provisions:

Increase of 45,000 for FY2000 only. 107,500 for FY2001, back to 65,000 in FY2002 (same as current law).

The State Department, and not the USCIS, will keep records of the issuance of H-1B visas.

The 45,000 additional visas for fy 2000 are available only after the effective date of final regulations carrying out the provisions of the American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act of 1998. (The DOL regulations.)

To have access to the 45,000 additional visas, employers must demonstrate that over the previous year they increased the number of full time equivalent American workers employed by that employer, increased the total wages paid to American workers, and increased the average wages paid to American workers.

H-1B aliens must work full time.

H-1B aliens must have attained bachelor's degrees (or higher) in the specific specialties in which they will be employed.

If an alien claims to possess a foreign degree, the State Department shall determine the equivalence of that degree to a U.S. degree and shall verify the authenticity of the degree.

An employer (other than a university, nonprofit, or governmental entity) petitioning for an H-1B visa must maintain a place of business in the United States that is licensed in accordance with any applicable State or local business licensing requirements and is used exclusively for business purposes.

An employer (unless a governmental entity) petitioning for an H-1B visa must have gross assets of not less than $5,000,000.

An employer petitioning for an H-1B visa must pay a fee of $100 (per petition) to be used by the USCIS and the State Department to combat fraud in the H-1B program.

"Fast Track" Expedited Processing. Certain employers petitioning for H-1B visas are eligible for expedited processing, under which the USCIS will handle such visa petitions at a special office and must automatically approve those petitions that it has not approved or disapproved within 30 days of submission. A qualifying employer shall pay a $250 fee (per petition). To qualify for expedited processing, an employer must:

The H-1B fee shall be increased from $500 to $1,000 (per petition).

The fee revenues that now go to the Department of Labor for operation of the Job Training Partnership Act shall instead go toward scholarships.

Scholarships shall be awarded by the National Science Foundation on the basis of merit directly to students who will be graduate students or undergraduate students in their junior or senior years pursuing bachelor's or graduate degrees with majors in computer science, computer programming, information sciences, systems analysis, computer engineering, electrical engineering, electronics engineering, or electronic commerce.


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