The National Conference of State Legislatures has issued its latest report summarizing new legislation related to immigrants and refugees introduced by the states this year.

As of March 31, 2008 at least 1,106 bills have been considered in 44 states, some aimed at integrating immigrants, others aimed at deterring illegal immigration, according to the report.

The level of activity this year is comparable to this same time last year when 1169 bills and resolutions had been introduced as of April 13, 2007.

The top three areas registering the most activity are, as in recent years, law enforcement, employment, and identification documents.

The study identifies the following 10 areas attracting immigrant-related legislation this year: education, employment, health, human trafficking, id/driver’s licenses/other licenses, law enforcement, legal services, miscellaneous, omnibus/multi-issue, public benefits, voting resolutions.

The report is available here: http://www.ncsl.org/print/immig/immigreportapril2008.pdf

The Immigrant Investor (EB-5) Pilot Program is designed to encourage foreign investment by providing a vehicle for investment in the form of an economic unit called a “Regional Center.” The Regional Centers are private or public entities that have received government approval to participate in the program. They enable the amassing and pooling of capital for targeted investment in designated regions in the United States.

For the Investor, these Regional Centers are attractive because they allow for a less restrictive job creation requirement. Instead of having to prove direct job creation, the investor may show indirect job creation through such methods as economic and statistic forecasting tools.

Please note that this pilot program expires in November 2008 unless reinstated

In November 2007, USCIS released to AILA the following list of “active” regional centers as of October 2007. In May 2008 it announced the approval of two new centers in California, which we have included below.

Regional Centers that may have been approved, but were not designated as “active” by USCIS are not included in this list.

As the status of these Regional Centers as participants in the Pilot Program can change, before investing any money, verify the center is still approved and active in the Pilot Program.

For more information on the EB-5 Immigrant Investor visa see our other article EB - 5 Permanent Residency through Investment.

In alphabetical order by state, the Regional Centers deemed “active” include:

ALABAMA

Alabama Center for Foreign Investment Regional Center

Address: RSA Union, 100 North Union Street, Suite 682, Montgomery, AL 36104

Phone/Fax: (334) 954-3111/(334) 954-3112

Website: http://www.eb5alabama.com

Geographic Area: State of Alabama.

Focus of Export/Economic Growth Activity: Heavy and light manufacturing; agriculture; high technology; construction; hospitality, resort and service industries (hotels, restaurants, resorts, golf courses, entertainment, and the like); schools, health care facilities, and infrastructure; and cruise line support services.

Point of Contact: Ronald Drinkard, Executive Director; Boyd Campbell, General Counsel

CALIFORNIA

California Consortium for Agricultural Export

Address: 333 Grand Avenue, 25^th Floor, Los Angeles, CA.

Phone/Fax: (213) 892-6367/(213) 892-2267

Website: http://www.ccax.com/

Geographic Area: Nine Counties in Central California known as the San Joaquin Valley.

Focus of Export/Economic Growth Activity: An agricultural investment program purchasing and converting fallow or row crop lands into permanent commercially viable fruit and/or nut trees and grape vines for the domestic and export markets, wineries, and elevator platform machinery manufacturing.

Point of Contact: Susan Spencer, President; Kelly Spencer, Director of Marketing & Investor Relations

CMB Export LLC

Address: Corona Professional Center, 400 S. Ramona Avenue, Suite 212AA, Corona, CA 91719

Phone/fax: 800-238-8022

Website: http://www.cmbeb5visa.com/

Geographic Area: The development area is related to former military bases located in the counties of Sacramento, San Bernardino and Riverside, CA.

Focus of Export/Economic Growth Activity: Export activity related to development of military bases; air cargo, sea port development as export centers.

Point of Contact: Patrick F. Hogan, President, CMB Export LLC., 4507 49th Avenue, Moline, Illinois 61265 ; Attorney, Lincoln Stone (Stone and Grzegorek, LLP)

New Los Angeles Film Regional Center

Address: CanAm Enterprises, LLC, c/o Thomas Rosenfield, 32 Court Street, Suite 1501, Brooklyn, NY 11201

Geographic Area: All projects will be located within the set of contiguous census tracts in Los Angeles County designated as a targeted employment area (TEA) by the California Employment Development Department (EDD) acting as the designated state agency by the Governor of the State of California

Focus of Export/Economic Growth Activity:  Investments in the motion picture and television industry in Los Angeles County, California.

Point of Contact: Thomas Rosenfield

New Southeast Los Angeles Regional Center (SELARC)

Address: SELARC Development, LLC, c/o Lincoln Stone, Stone & Grezegorek, LLP, 800 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 900, Loss Angeles, CA 90017

Geographic Area: City of Vernon

Focus of Economic Growth Activity: Food products, apparel manufacturing, transportation and warehousing, household furniture and furnishings.

Point of Contact: David B. Brearley, Esq.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, (WASHINGTON, DC)

Capital Area Regional Center

Address: 888 16^th Street, NW, Suite 800, Washington, DC 20006

Phone/Fax: (202) 349-9848; (202) 355-1399

Geographic Area: Legal boundaries of the District of Columbia (Washington, DC) and the contiguous adjacent areas of Montgomery and Prince Georges Counties in Maryland, Arlington and Fairfax counties in Virginia, and the city of Alexandria, VA.

Focus of Economic Growth Activity: Mixed hotel, retail, office and residential space; a soccer stadium; conference center space, and industrial space.

Point of Contact: Michael R. Sears; John Tung

Website: www.eb5dc.com

HAWAII

Hawaii, Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism

[Note: USCIS reports that this previously designated regional center is now under suspension based on a USCIS- issued "Intent to Terminate," with an open period of time in which to respond with evidence, data and documentation necessary for reinstatement to avoid a final Action to Terminate]

Address: DBEDT, No. 1 Capitol District Bldg, 5^th Floor, Diamond Head Wing, 250 South Hotel Street, Honolulu, HI 96813

Phone/Fax: 808-586-2355, ext. 3033 / 808-586-2377

Website: http://www.hawaii.gov/dbedt

Geographic Area: Within the State of Hawaii

Focus of Export/Economic Growth Activity: Tourism (Hawaii’s major export); industries identified as export-related.

Point of Contact: Christopher Baron, email: cbaron@dbedt.hawaii.gov

IOWA

Iowa Department of Economic Development (IDED)

Address: 200 East Grand Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa 50309

Phone/Fax: (515)242-4700/(515)242-4809

Website: http://www.iowalifechanging.com/

Geographic Area: 77 Rural and Small Urban Counties in Iowa.

Focus of Economic Growth Activity: Dairy farming

Point of Contact: Mr. Michael T. Blouin, Director, IDED

KANSAS

Kansas Biofuel Regional Center, LLC

Address: Kansas Biofuel Regional Center, LLC, 915 Wilshire Boulevard, #2050, Los Angeles, CA 90017

Phone/Fax: (213) 380-2828/(213) 380-0570

Geographic Area: Twenty-one (21) counties located in the southwest region of the State of Kansas.

Focus of Economic Growth Activity: Building and operation of fuel grade ethanol production facilities within the geographic bounds of the regional center.

Point of Contact: Justin M. Lee and Thomas E. Kent, Esqs.

LOUISIANA

Mayor’s Office of Economic Development (New Orleans)

Address: 1515 Poydras Street, Suite 1150, New Orleans, LA 70112

Phone/Fax: 504-658-0919

Website: http://www.nobleoutreach.com/

Geographic Area: Orleans Parish and the City of New Orleans

Focus of Export/Economic Growth Activity: Leasehold Improvements to Fixed Asset Commercial Buildings Sector; Mobile Medical Services Facilities Sector; Commercial Lodging, Hotels, and Hospitality Sector; Mixed-use Real Estate Construction-Reconstruction Sector; Mixed-use Residential Lease and Rental Properties Sector; Arts and Sciences Industry Sector; Harbor Facilities Sector; Gaming and Casinos Sector; and Marine Sector (Commercial Fishing, Processing, Packing, and Shipping Facilities)

Points of Contact: Chase Story, International Liaison, 504-658-0919; Bart Hungerford & Timothy Milbrath, NobleOutreach (301) 948-0326

NEVADA

Unibex Global Corporation

[Note: USCIS report that this is regional center is currently pending re-affirmation as of October 19, 2007]

Address: 1201 Eleanor Avenue, Las Vegas, NV 89106

Phone/Fax: (702) 646-7068/(702) 646-7561

Geographic Area: Within UBC’s master-planned business center in North Las Vegas, Nevada.

Focus of Economic Growth Activity: International trade, distribution, tourism and export trade, including Southwest Indian art

Point of Contact: Otis R. Harris, Chairman and CEO, UGC; Karen Sit Dorfman (702) 388-6649

PENNSYLVANIA

Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation

Address: 2600 Centre Square West, 1500 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102-2126

Phone/Fax: (215)496-8020; (215)977-9618

Website: http://www.pidc-pa.org/; http://www.canamenterprises.com/

Geographic Area: Philadelphia County, PA

Focus of Economic Growth Activity: Tourism convention and visitor services through the hotel, restaurant and hospitality industry; commercial office space renovation and leasing; merchandise import and export sales; investment in high-tech start up companies as well as information and bio-tech enterprises; and trucking and warehousing and transportation enterprises.

Point of Contact: Peter Longstreth, President; Thomas Rosenfeld, Attorney

Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development Regional Center

Address: Department of Community and Economic Development, Harrisburg, PA 17120

Phone/Fax: 718-624-7850

Website: http://www.newpa.com/

Geographic Area: The contiguous geographic area encompassing the following 23 counties of western Pennsylvania: Erie, Crawford, Mercer, Venango, Lawrence, Butler, Clarion Beaver, Armstrong, Allegheny, Indiana, Westmoreland, Washington, Greene, Fayette, Somerset, Cambria, Blair, Bedford, Warren, Forest, Jefferson and Clearfield. Also, within the above defined contiguous geographic area, the delineated Targeted Employment Areas (TEAs) within the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area (SMSA); delineated TEAs within the city of Pittsburgh; and delineated TEAs within the Erie and Johnstown, Pennsylvania SMSAs.

Focus of Export/Economic Growth Activity: Concentrating on financing projects and developing commercial enterprises in the following eight target industries: Tourism and hospitality; technology; transportation; manufacturing and trade; health services; agriculture and food production; higher education; and leasehold improvements to commercial office & mixed-use spaces.

Points of Contact: Dennis Yablonsky, Secretary or James Rowley, Deputy Secretary Dept. of Community & Economic Development; Thomas Rosenfeld, Esq., President and Chief Executive Officer, CanAm Enterprises, LLC.

SOUTH DAKOTA

South Dakota International Business Institute Dairy Economic Development Region (SDIBI–DEDR)

Address: 711 East Wells Avenue, Pierre, South Dakota 57501-3369

Phone/Fax: (605)773-5032; (605)773-3256

Website: http://www.sd-exports.org/eb-5

Geographic Area: The 44 rural counties in eastern South Dakota.

Focus of Export/Economic Growth Activity: Projects to date have included agricultural-related development, in particular establishing dairy farms and a beef processing plant.

Point of Contact: Mr. Joop Bollen

TEXAS/OKLAHOMA

Southwest Biofuels Regional Center, LLC (SWBRC)

Address: 925 Wilshire Blvd, Suite #2050, Los Angeles, CA 90017

Phone/Fax: (213) 380-2898/(213) 380-0570

Geographic Area: The contiguous geographic area encompasses the 40 counties located in the northwest region of Texas, to include Dallam, Sherman, Hansford, Lipscomb, Ociltree, Hartley, Moore, Hutchinson, Roberts, Hemphill, Oldham, Potter, Carson, Gray, Wheeler, Deaf Smith, Randall, Armstrong, Donley, Collingsworth, Parmer, Castro, Swisher, Briscoe, Hall, Childress, Hardeman, Bailey, Lamb, Hale, Floyd, Motley, Cottle, Foard, Cochran,  Hockley, Lubbock, Crosby, Dickens, and King counties, and 9 counties located in the western region of the State of Oklahoma, to include Cimarron, Texas, Beaver, Ellis, Roger Mills, Beckham, Greer, Harmon, and Jackson.

Focus of Export/Economic Growth Activity: The development and operation of fuel grade ethanol production facilities.

Point of Contact: Justin M. Lee, President and CEO

Global Century Development Group I, LP (Global Century)

Address: 11205 Bellaire Blvd. Suite B-33, 77072-2545, Houston, TX

Geographic Area: The contiguous geographic area of Houston’s Chinatown encompassing the Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone #15 (TIRZ), a 60-block area bounded by Preston Street on the North, Dowling Street on the East, St. Joseph parkway on the South, and Chartres Street on the West.

Focus of Export/Economic Growth Activity: Concentrating on financing and developing commercial and mixed-use real estate in the following five target industries: hotel and hospitality; retail; mixed use residential; commercial office; restaurant & entertainment.

Points of Contact: Mr. Dan Nip, President, Global Century Development Group-I, LP; H. Richard Sindelar III, Esq., Tindall & Foster, P.C.

VERMONT

Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development

Address: National Life Bldg., Drawer 20, Montpelier, VT 05620

Phone: (802) 828-5202

Website: http://www.dca.state.vt.us/indexnew.html

Geographic Area: State of Vermont

Focus of Export/Economic Growth Activity: Export-related companies; tourism, hospitality and commercial resorts development.

Point of Contact: John Kessler, General Counsel

WASHINGTON

The Gateway Freedom Fund/AKA: Golden Rainbow Freedom Fund

Address: 18034 13th Street, Seattle, WA 98177

Phone/fax: 206-624-5622

Geographic Area: 1) As Golden Rainbow Freedom Fund, air cargo and manufacturing facility in Jackson County, Oregon; 2) As Gateway: City of Seattle Neighborhood Reinvestment Area in Seattle, Washington

Focus of Export/Economic Growth Activity: Air and ocean cargo facilities; and manufacturing; warehouses.

Point of Contact: Henry Liebmann, Attorney

Whatcom Opportunities Regional Center, Inc. (WORC, Inc.)

Address: P.O. Box 2803, Bellingham, WA 98227;

1305 11th Street, Suite 301, Bellingham, WA 98225

Phone: 360-201-3933

Website: http://www.worc.biz/

Geographic Area: The legal boundaries which constitute Whatcom County, Washington.

Focus of Economic Growth Activity: Capital investments and job creation in assisted living facilities for the elderly within Whatcom County.

Point of Contact: Rob Pochert, CEcD, EDFP, Executive Director; K. David Andersson, Attorney

Aero-Space Port International Group [ASPI Group]

[Note: USCIS report that this is regional center is currently pending re-affirmation as of October 19, 2007]Address: 512 Strander Boulevard, Tukwila, WA 98188;Phone/fax: 206-241-8000; 243-3000Website: http://www.aspigroup.com/

Geographic Area: Within ASPI Group, located at Grant County International Airport in Moses Lake

Focus of Export/Economic Growth Activity: High tech, agricultural and other export products to Europe and Pacific Rim countries through international air cargo facilities.

Point of Contact: Andy Chen, Executive Vice President & CFO; Kim Foster, Corporate Counsel

WISCONSIN

Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce (MMAC)

Address: 756 N. Milwaukee Street, Milwaukee, WI 53202

Phone/fax: 414-287-4100

Website: http://www.mmac.org/

Geographic Area: The seven (7) counties of southeastern Wisconsin: Kenosha, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Walworth, Washington, and Waukesha (including Targeted Employment Areas within the cities of Racine and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Focus of Export/Economic Growth Activity: Business and professional services; financial activities and business process services; health services and medical technology; manufacturing; printing and printing support; wholesale trade and distribution; and hospitality and entertainment.

Point of Contact: Timothy R. Sheehy, President; Peter Beitzel, Vice President Metropolitan Milwaukee Assoc. of Commerce

USCIS has remedied the ironic situation in which the H-1B applicants most in need of cap-gap relief were being excluded due to a requirement of the new regulation that the petition be marked for “change of status.”

To rectify the problem, USCIS is allowing the petitioners to request a change of status to make these employees eligible for the cap gap relief under the new regulation.

The request for change of status must be made within 30 days after receiving a receipt notice. Petitioners should not apply until a receipt notice is received.

USCIS explains the process as follows:

To request a change of status in lieu of consular notification, petitioners (or authorized representatives) should send an e-mail with the request to the USCIS service center where their petition is pending within 30 days of the issuance of the receipt notice.

 The requests should include the receipt number and both the petitioner’s and beneficiary’s name, date of birth, I-94 (Arrival/Departure Record) number, and Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) number.

 Special email addresses for each service center have been established specifically for this purpose. These addresses are listed below and are posted on USCIS’ website.

 E-mail addresses for requesting change of status are:

Vermont Service Center

-  Premium Processing cases: Vscppcapgap@dhs.gov

-  Non-Premium cases: Vscnonppcapgap@dhs.gov

 California Service Center

- Premium Processing cases: ppcapgap@dhs.gov

- Non-Premium cases: nonppcapgap@dhs.gov

If an F-1 student, who is the beneficiary of a selected 2009 H-1B petition, has a pending request to change to a status other than H-1B but now wants to file under the process outlined above, he or she should withdraw the previously filed change in accordance with established procedures.

For more information, please see the USCIS announcement.

USCIS has announced it held the H-1B lottery for both regular and advanced-degree exemption petitions Monday, April 14, 2008.

Those H-1B petitions selected in the lottery for fiscal year (FY) 2009 now will continue to full adjudication. If approved these H-1B petitions will be eligible to receive an H-1B visa number, according to the USCIS press release.

Petitioners selected for full adjudication should receive a receipt notice dated no later than June 2, 2008, according to USCIS.

USCIS will return unselected petitions with the fee(s) to petitioners or their authorized representatives.

The total adjudication process is expected to take approximately eight to 10 weeks.

For cases selected through the lottery and initially filed for premium processing, the 15-day premium processing period began April 14, the day of the random selection process.

USCIS has “wait-listed” some H-1B petitions, meaning they may possibly replace petitions chosen to receive an FY-2009 cap number, but that subsequently are denied, withdrawn, or otherwise found ineligible.  USCIS will retain these petitions until a decision is made whether they will replace a previously selected petition.  USCIS will send a letter to the wait list petitioners to inform them of their status

USCIS said it expects that for each of these wait-listed petitions, it will either issue a receipt notice or return the petition with fees within six to eight weeks. 

U.S. citizens, nationals, and permanent residents will soon be eligible for a pilot program enabling expedited clearance of pre-approved, low-risk air travelers into the United States, according to a new rule published in the Federal Register.

The International Registered Traveler (IRT) pilot project, a.k.a. Global Entry, is scheduled to start June 10, 2008 at  John F. Kennedy International Airport, Jamaica, New York (JFK); the George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Houston, Texas (IAH); and the Washington Dulles International Airport, Sterling, Virginia (IAD), and may expand to other locations as announced.

CBP is working with other countries, exploring expansion of the program to include other categories of travelers as well.

Applications to participate in the pilot program should be submitted May 12, 2008, but will be accepted throughout the duration of the pilot program. The pilot program is expected to continue for at least six months. The time frame of the pilot program will vary, depending on the progress of CBP’s evaluation of the program.

The program enables participates to by-pass regular passport control primary inspection lines, using instead automated kiosks to verify identity via fingerprint biometrics technology, explains the Rule.

The procedure will also involve responding to several customs declaration questions by use of a touch-screen.

Upon verification, the traveler will receive a receipt, which, along with his passport and/or permanent resident card, he then gives to the CBP Officer at the exit control area for examination.

The application for the IRT pilot is available on-line through the Global On-Line Enrollment System (GOES).

There is a $100 non-refundable application fee.

CBP has posted a FAQ on its site.

The H-1B lottery for FY 2009 is expected to start next week, USCIS announced.

Using a computer-generated random selection process, USCIS will start with the 20,000 petitions under the advanced degree exemption. Those petitions not selected under the advanced degree exemption will join the lottery for the regular 65,000 cap.

USCIS received almost 163,000 H-1B petitions during the filing period ending on April 7, 2008. More than 31,200 of those were for the advanced degree exemption, according to USCIS.

These numbers are up from last year’s preliminary figures, when USCIS reported receiving 133,000 filings, overall within the first two days of the April 1, the opening day of the filing season for the upcoming fiscal year.

In addition, unlike this year, the advanced degree cap was not immediately reached last year, with 12,989 being filed in connection with the opening-day rush.

Today’s post concludes a series co-authored by attorneys Gini Nelson and Vonda K. Vandaveer on the use of online dispute resolution to solve problems associated with traditional ADR. [Earlier posts: Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four.]

 This post addresses the question:

 Are There Special Considerations In Selecting An ODR Leader For Business Disputes?

Selecting the appropriate person to conduct your ODR is a critical element to success. ADR and ODR specialists are not interchangeable. ODR differs from ADR because the ODR dynamics and the technologies that must be managed are different than face-to-face dispute resolution processes.

Read the rest of this article, part 5 of a 5-part series, on Gini Nelson’s Engaging Conflicts blog.

Today’s post continues a series co-authored by attorneys Gini Nelson and Vonda K. Vandaveer on the use of online dispute resolution to solve problems associated with traditional ADR. [Earlier posts: Part One, Part Two, and Part Three.]

 This post addresses the question:

 My Contract Does Not Address ODR. Can I Take Advantage of It?

As with traditional ADR, ODR does not need to be specifically required in the contract. The only requirement is that both parties consent to ODR. In fact, even if you are the defendant in a case or feel as if the other party has all the power, you should still consider proposing ODR because the corporate culture of the opposing party might be to promote the use of ADR to resolve disputes.

Read the rest of this article, part 4 of a 5-part series, on Gini Nelson’s Engaging Conflicts blog.

The new H-1B cap gap bridge is revealing a crack that may cause it to collapse.

The new regulation requires H-1B applications be marked “change of status” to benefit from the automatic Optional Practical Training (OPT) cap gap extension.

This requirement poses a critical problem for cap gap sufferers because they would not have been eligible to change status. Instead, those whose status would have expired before the Oct. 1 employment start date would have had to leave the country to obtain their visa, thus they would have not checked the “change of status” box.

In other words, the regulation has made itself inapplicable to the very group it is intended to protect.

AILA has called this irony to the attention of USCIS and is awaiting guidance.

We will post any update as soon as it is announced.

USCIS announced the H-1B regular and advanced degree exemption caps for FY 2009 have been met, meaning applications will be drawn in a lottery for processing.

USCIS will use a computer-generated random selection process for all cap-subject petitions received, beginning with the 20,000 advanced degree exemption petitions first.

Once that category is hit, the excess advanced degree petitions will be added to the regular H-1B petitions for random selection for processing.

If your petition is not selected in the lottery for processing before the 65,000 visa limit is reached, USCIS will reject it and return the filing fee.

More information is available on the USCIS website.