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The Many Faces of Stern Elkind Curray & Alterman LLP

Since 1985,Stern Elkind Curray & Alterman has limited its practice to immigration law, with a special emphasis on matters relating to the employment of foreign professionals. Mr. Stern and Ms. Elkind founded the firm with the goal of providing the very best immigration advice and representation to our clients. As the firm has grown, we have continued our commitment to maintaining a high level of expertise combined with an understanding that our clients are individuals whose lives are deeply affected by the work we do. Over the years, we have developed expertise and wide-ranging experience in all facets of immigration law.

We continue to be deeply affected by our clients, some of whom are introduced within this web site.

Senate Judiciary Committee Passes Proposal to Provide H-1B Visa and Employment-Based Immigration Relief

October 21, 2005

On October 20, as part of the budget reconciliation process, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed a proposal to provide temporary relief from the H-1B visa blackout and the employment-based immigrant visa backlogs, in exchange for increased fees on some petitions. The proposal ultimately passed out of Committee by a strong 14-2 vote. The final package would:

Impose a new $500 fee on immigrant visa (I-140) petitions for the EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3 categories.
Recapture unused employment-based visas from prior years for immediate allocation of up to 90,000/year. (Estimates indicate there are only 90,000-100,000 unused numbers to be tapped.)
Exempt spouses and minor children from counting against the annual cap on employment-based immigrant visas. (Estimates are that this would lead to an annual increase of 80,000-90,000 employment-based immigrant visas.)
Allow individuals to apply for adjustment of status before an immigrant visa is deemed currently available.
Recapture approximately 300,000 unused H-1B numbers dating back to FY 1991, effectively raising the cap from 65,000 to 95,000 for at least 10 years.
Impose a new fee on the recaptured H-1B visas so that the fees on the original 65,000 H-1B allotment remain unchanged but the additional 30,000 available annually carry an additional $500 fee.
Impose a new $750 fee on L-1 visas.

This proposal still must be reconciled in conference with the House's alternative budget reconciliation bill, which imposes a $1,500 fee increase on L visas. If these provisions survive that process, they will be added to the final budget reconciliation bill that will need to be passed by Congress before it will become law. Stay tuned for further updates on this positive development.

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