http://lawandborder.com a Beijing blog about U.S. visas and immigration law Fri, 13 Aug 2010 04:41:13 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Effective August 1, the government of Dalian in Liaoning Province has instituted a policy that a local enterprise must have a minimum 3 million RMB in registered capital to sponsor a foreigner for  a work permit. Foreigners who already have work permits at companies with less than 3 million RMB will be ... http://lawandborder.com/?p=795 On July 9, the Department of State increased the validity of H visas (H-1B and H-2 temporary workers, H-3 trainees, and H-4 dependents) for citizens of China. These visas are now valid for multiple entries over 12 months. That's an improvement---it was 2 entries over 3 months. So Chinese can save ... http://lawandborder.com/?p=787 Xinhua press agency reports that under new rules officials must report the whereabouts of their spouses and children who have moved abroad. This is part of an anti-corruption regulation that also requires officials to report changes in their marital status, personal incomes, housing, and their family' s investments. According to Xinhua, the ... http://lawandborder.com/?p=781 I previously reported on fee increases by the U.S. Department of State (DOS) for nonimmigrant visas effective June 4, 2010. Now, DOS has also issued an interim final rule increasing fees for immigrant visas and certain American Citizen Services, effective July 13.  DOS justifies the changes by citing an independent cost ... http://lawandborder.com/?p=777 A lawsuit has been filed in the U.S. District Court in Portland challenging processing of K-1 (fiancee) visas by U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the Department of State (DOS). The complaint in Tran v. Napolitano attacks the handling of cases returned by DOS to USCIS for revocation on the ... http://lawandborder.com/?p=771 Reporter Gady Epstein has a story about illegal immigration to China in the July 19 issue of Forbes. In short, he reports that the tightening labor supply and rising wages in at least certain sectors and places in China is attracting "tens of thousands of illegal aliens" from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Burma. According ... http://lawandborder.com/?p=766 I've recently written about the long delays for nonimmigrant visa appointments in China. The U.S. Consular Mission has taken steps to address those delays. One such step is to allow for consular shopping. According to the Embassy website: Residents of China may apply for a non-immigrant visa at any U.S. Consular ... http://lawandborder.com/?p=755 Father's Day is approaching in America. A chance to celebrate dad's ability to answer any question thus: "I'll tell you why. Because I said so. That's why." The U.S. Consulates in China are equally cagey. Most persons denied nonimmigrant visas are given a form letter saying that the visa was denied ... http://lawandborder.com/?p=743 The U.S. Consulates in China are all experiencing delays in scheduling visa appointments. So, if you need an appointment, be sure to apply as early as possible. In particular, Beijing wait times have grown to about 100 days. That means that you can forget about making a trip to the U.S. ... http://lawandborder.com/?p=736 Is an immigration lawyer a mere paper pusher? Just a technocrat who relishes in the minutiae of the Immigration and Nationality Act? No. I assert--with a grandiose gesture of my arm proper for such an assertion--that an immigration lawyer is a prime mover of human evolution itself! An essay by Matt Ridley ... http://lawandborder.com/?p=725