Newsletter

January 2009

Dear Infoserve Students:

Happy New Year. I hope everyone had an enjoyable and restful vacation from school. As we start the new year, we should all remember to be thankful for all the good things that happened to us in 2008, and look forward to even greater things in 2009. 2008 was a great year for ITI. Our programs have grown and the number of students studying here has increased. In addition, we have added new courses that are available with flexible scheduling. We are expecting even bigger and better things for the new year to come. This year of the OX (in the Chinese Zodiac) promises to be exciting.

Please note that we will be opening the following courses in January.

Sincerely

Sean Noriega, Director

New Courses

1. CCNA

Start Date: January 24, 2009

Length: 10 weeks

Time: Saturdays, 10:00 am – 3:00 pm

Instructor: Dr. Haseebo

2. Web and Graphic Design Advanced

Start Date: January 24, 2009

Length: 18 weeks

Time: Saturdays 3:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Instructor: Juwen An

3. Web and Graphic Design Advanced

Start Date: January 25, 2009

Length: 18 weeks

Time: Sundays 10:00 am to 3:00 pm

Instructor: Juwen An

4. Web and Graphic Design Basic

Start Date: January 25, 2009

Length: 18 weeks

Time: Sundays 10:00 am – 3:00 pm

Instructor: Cecily McKeown

5 Medical Billing

Start Date: January 25, 2009

Length: 12 weeks

Time: Sundays 10:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Instructor: Ferdous Bari

5. POS

Start Date: February 28, 2009

Length:: 8 weeks

Time: Saturdays 10:00 am – 3:00 pm

Instructor: Steve Hsiang

6. ESL

Start Date: January 21, 2009

Length: 16 weeks

Time: Monday – Thursday 9:00 am – 1:00 pm

1:30 pm – 5:30 pm

6:00 pm– 10:00 pm

Saturdays – Sundays 10:00 am – 2:00 pm

2:30 pm – 6:30 pm

In addition, please note the following holidays which will be observed at ITI during the months of January and February.

January 1, 2009 – New Years Day

January 19, 2009 – Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

January 20, 2009 – Inauguration Day

January 26, Chinese New Year

February 16, 2009 – Presidents Day

NEW CLASSES FOR ESL STUDENTS:

As many of you have heard, Infoserve Technologies Institute is now offering ADVANCED ESL. The advanced classes will be offered starting in January, 2009. Please see Fina in the office if you are interested. Please remember that ESL students must purchase their textbook prior to the start of class. You may purchase books in the Main office. Please be sure that you have a book when you enter class on the first day.

STUDENTS INTERESTED IN TOEFL:

A number of students have expressed an interest in taking TOEFL classes. If enough students are interested, ITI is willing to open up TOEFL preparation classes. If you are interested in taking a class in TOEFL preparation, please see Sean Noriega, Director in the office next to classroom 206. Stay posted for a possible class opening.

News for International Students

100,000 Employers Use E-Verify Program

January 8, 2008 - WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that more than 100,000 employers have signed up to participate in E-Verify, a free, easy to use online system that equips participating employers with the tools to quickly and effectively verify the employment eligibility of newly-hired employees.

The Bratton Corp., a construction products supplier from Kansas City, Mo., employing about 200 people in Kansas City and Pasadena, Calif., is the 100,000th employer to participate in E-Verify. 

“We congratulate The Bratton Corporation for joining the thousands of employers who participate in E-Verify, and whose numbers are growing by a thousand each week,” said USCIS Acting Deputy Director Mike Aytes.  “They all have taken a significant step toward maintaining the integrity of the American workforce.” 

Employers have run more than two million queries through the system since October 2008, and employers have been able to automatically verify more than 18 million workers’ eligibility since 1997. USCIS has launched major enhancements since E-Verify’s inception to improve the accuracy of the system’s automatic confirmation processes, including verifying naturalized citizens directly with USCIS records.

Currently, approximately 96.1 percent of qualified employees are cleared automatically by E-Verify, and  99.6 percent of all work-authorized employees are verified without receiving a tentative nonconfirmation or having to take any type of corrective action.

USCIS plans to make additional enhancements in 2009 to E-Verify and the employment authorization process, including amending the list of acceptable identity documents workers may present to employers to verify employment eligibility and adding passport data and photos to the system to reduce identity theft.  Beginning this month, the federal government will require that certain federal contracts contain a clause requiring the contractor and certain subcontractors to use E-Verify.

While participation in E-Verify is voluntary, 15 states now require certain employers to participate and comply in some manner with a federal work authorization verification program. 

E-Verify evolved from the Basic Pilot/Employment Eligibility Verification Program and was offered on a voluntary basis in 1997 to employers in California, Florida, Illinois, New York and Texas, the five states with the largest immigrant populations. E-Verify was offered to all employers as a free web-based program in 2004.  USCIS administers the program in partnership with the Social Security Administration.

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THREE CONVICTED IN IMMIGRATION MARRIAGE FRAUD CASE

St. Paul, MN - Three Chinese citizens were recently convicted of a marriage fraud scheme, designed to help Chinese nationals obtain United States Green Cards and citizenship through marriage. The three men were convicted of aiding and abetting marriage fraud and conspiracy to commit marriage fraud by a federal jury in St. Paul, Minnesota. Mingwen Yang, Guangping Lin, and Yanxia Tang were found guilty of setting up a sham marriage scheme, in which U.S. citizens would be paid up to $25,000 for marrying Chinese citizens so that the Chinese nationals could attain United States immigration benefits. All three convicted face up to 10 years in prison. The fraudulent marriage scheme is believed to have operated from 2002 to 2007. There are a total of 40 other defendants involved, 21 of whom have already plead guilty to conspiracy charges. U.S. Attorney Frank Magill commented: "The goal of this conspiracy was for individuals to profit by assisting Chinese nationals in illegally obtaining visas and other immigration benefits. These convictions and plea agreements prove that the lies and deceit used by some to violate our nation's immigration laws won't be tolerated, and that we will maintain the integrity of our nation's borders by prosecuting these types of crimes."

SOURCE http://www.usimmigrationsupport.org/newsletter/2009/jan_02.html

THE “OBAMA EFFECT” ON VISA ISSUANCE

New York, NY - Several U.S. companies fear that a changing political climate in the country will limit H1-B and L-1 visas, in turn negatively affecting some businesses. Companies with a high reliance on foreign workers and companies with a high percentage of employees holding H1-B visas have alerted investors that a changing political administration could adversely affect profits. While many businesses are unsure about how a new administration will affect the issuance of visas, outsourcing companies remain specifically wary of legislation that would impose restrictions on foreign workers in the United States. Due to President Obama’s promises to cease tax breaks to companies that “ship jobs overseas” and proposed plans to help keep jobs in the United States, companies that heavily rely on outsourced labor are concerned about increased restrictions on H1-B and other work related visas. However, President Obama has nominated cabinet members who have openly verbalized the economic importance of increasing the H1-B visa cap. The current annual cap on H1-B visas is 85,000.

SOURCE: http://www.usimmigrationsupport.org/newsletter/2009/jan_02.html

Obama needs to reform US export and visa controls: report

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Once he becomes president of the United States, Barack Obama should reform US export and visa controls for foreign students and scientists to benefit the economy and national security, a report recommended Thursday.

Many of the current controls were "developed during the Cold War era to prevent the transfer of technological and scientific advances to our enemies," said the report by the National Research Council, which called for updating the restrictions.

"In the modern globalized world of science and technology, restrictions on the flow of information, technology, and scientists can negatively impact both US competitiveness and security," said Stanford University President John Hennessy, co-chair of the committee that wrote the report.

Export controls slow military equipment maintenance and can discourage foreign defense contractors from purchasing US equipment, said the report by the congressionally-chartered council.

The restrictions also "hamper international trade that could provide valuable information on the technical capabilities of foreign militaries," said the council, the principal agency of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering.

The United States "needs to change to a philosophy that everything is open and restricted only when it is demonstrated that it needs to be," said committee co-chair Brent Scowcroft, a former national security adviser under US presidents Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush.

To reform visa controls and grant US businesses access to the most talented scientists, the report recommends streamlining and including "skills-based preferential processing" in the visa application process to facilitate entry into the country for foreign researchers and students.

Foreign student visas should also be extended so that recent graduates can properly search for work with US-based employers, the report recommended.

SOURCE http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gEghXBDIzIYpNu4WUDtmQCk6BpWQ