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The legislative process behind the new law was characterized by an unusual degree of openness. The bill was first formally introduced in March 2006 when the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (”NPC”) decided to circulate the draft for public comment, a first for a major national law.2 During the one-month comment period, the draftsmen received more than 191,800 separate comments via the Internet, newspapers, periodicals, and letters.3

The comment period proved to be quite useful to the lawmakers, influencing the content of the new law, especially the provisions concerning noncompete clauses, probation periods, the role of trade unions, severance payments, and layoffs.4 The sheer volume of comments did delay the date of adoption of the law, which went to an unusual fourth reading in the NPC. Its adoption in late June 2007 was nevertheless unexpected and may have been influenced by recent public reports of alleged use of slave labor in brick kilns and small coal mines in Shanxi and Henan Provinces. Indeed, the new law specifically addresses such concerns by establishing sanctions for corrupt officials who fail to enforce occupational safety laws.5

The Initial FIE Reaction

Since the bill was first introduced in 2006, foreign investment enterprises (”FIEs”), including many multinational companies, have spent considerable time and effort commenting on the legislation and in some cases openly opposing it. Since the country opened its doors to investors in 1979, the number of FIEs in China has grown to more than 570,000, employing more than 25 million Chinese workers, principally in the major cities along the coast of China. Organizations such as the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai and the U.S.-China Business Council submitted detailed comments on the draft law, many of which ultimately improved the legislation. (more…)

A $40,000 salary doesn’t make a family rich in the United States — and such a family paying a private college tuition bill would feel anything but. In much of the developing world, however, a family with such income might be considered wealthy. A family with live-in servants in the United States would be considered well off – not a candidate for need-based aid for students in college.

In other parts of the world, employing servants is common for plenty who consider themselves modestly middle class.

The desire to consider such realities fairly is prompting a small group of colleges to experiment with a new way of determining aid eligibility for international undergraduates. The “global consensus” approach was used this year to award aid at about 10 colleges, among them Amherst College, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Yale University. The system is based on applying a “global coefficient” to various cutoffs and figures used by colleges in awarding aid. That coefficient — gross domestic product divided by the population, then compared to the figures for the United States — is based on data produced annually by the Central Intelligence Agency to compare the relative wealth of nations.

“Currency conversion alone doesn’t speak to purchasing power,” said Daniel Barkowitz, director of student financial aid at MIT. So colleges need better tools.

In addition to using the coefficient, the effort also aims to ask common questions and to have common procedures for families and colleges to use, especially where cultural or economic differences may come into play. For example, school tuition for school-age siblings may be required in many countries without public school systems comparable to those in the United States. And procedures for dealing with necessary translations may also become more uniform. (The new system was used by colleges in the experiment for students from all countries outside the U.S., including Canada and Mexico.) (more…)

If you are going to the U.S. primarily for tourism, but want to take a short course of study of less than 18 hours per week, you may be able to do so on a visitor visa. You should inquire at the appropriate U.S. Embassy or Consulate. If your course of study is more than 18 hours a week, you will need a student visa.

Please read this information for general information on how to apply for an F1 or M1 student visa. For additional student related information, visit the EducationUSA website created by the Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs to learn about educational opportunities for undergraduate and graduate study, opportunities for scholars, financial aid, testing, admissions, and much more.

In most countries, first time student visa applicants are required to appear for an in-person interview. However, each embassy and consulate sets its own interview policies and procedures regarding student visas. Students should consult Embassy web sites or call for specific application instructions.

Keep in mind that June, July, and August are the busiest months in most consular sections, and interview appointments are the most difficult to get during that period. Students need to plan ahead to avoid having to make repeat visits to the Embassy. To the extent possible, students should bring the documents suggested below, as well as any other documents that might help establish their ties to the local community. (more…)

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A state janitorial contractor that was fired over allegations it employed illegal immigrants sued the state Thursday, accusing Gov. Matt Blunt of racial discrimination and abuse of power.

Blunt called the lawsuit “ludicrous” and defended his decision to cancel the contract of Sam’s Janitorial Services and bar the company from state work.

About 25 company employees were arrested in a March 6 sting at a Jefferson City state office building by federal and state law enforcement officers, according to the lawsuit.

The owner of Sam’s Janitorial, K. Asamoah-Boadu, claims Blunt exceeded his gubernatorial powers when he terminated the contract and disqualified the company from future state work. Asamoah-Boadu wants nine canceled contracts reinstated, the company’s ban from state work reversed and an unspecified amount of money for damages, according to the lawsuit filed in Cole County Circuit Court. (more…)

WASHINGTON | The Senate faces another contentious showdown on immigration today when it considers legislation designed to put thousands of undocumented immigrant students on track to U.S. citizenship.

Although far more limited than a comprehensive immigration bill that collapsed in the Senate in late June, the debate on the new measure will probably resurrect the same warring sides from the earlier immigration battle.

The Senate faces a late-morning vote to take up the measure, with supporters needing at least 60 votes to move forward with debate. The chief sponsor, Sen. Richard Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, said Tuesday that his side had solid assurances of only about 55 votes, but he hoped to secure commitments from wavering senators. (more…)

Q. I won the green card lottery in 1998. My wife and I applied for permanent residence, but the USCIS never approved our case. Do I have a chance to get my residence based on that lottery win or should I just forget it? Though we were never called for an interview, we got the authorization for several years. Eventually the USCIS denied our request to renew our employment authorization. Marcelo Santos, Sunnyside

A. It is extremely unlikely you can revive your old lottery case. When the U.S. Department of State picks a lottery winner for a particular year, the winner must get residence within that year.

If he doesn’t, he loses his right to residence based on that lottery win. That’s true regardless of whether it is the fault of the applicant or the government. The fiscal year for which you won began on Oct. 1, 1997, and ended Sept. 30, 1998. (more…)

U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings today addressed students, faculty, business leaders and Russian government officials at the Moscow State University of International Relations (MGIMO) for a conference on international partnerships co-hosted by The Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law at The University of Texas at Austin and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP. Secretary Spellings highlighted a newly inaugurated higher education research partnership between MGIMO and the Strauss Center and underscored the need for additional collaboration, innovation and exchange of ideas in today’s globalized world.

Following are Secretary Spellings’ prepared remarks:

Thank you, Jim Langdon, for that introduction. I’d also like to thank Rector Torkunov, as well as the MGIMO faculty and students, for your warm welcome. I’d like to recognize the many distinguished business and university leaders here today, especially from the University of Texas in my hometown of Austin, Texas.

It’s great to be back in Russia. And I’m especially pleased to take part in this Conference, and what I hope will be the first of many fruitful dialogues.

For more than sixty years, MGIMO has served as the premier university for preparing Russia’s leaders and diplomats. And now, one of America’s leading diplomats and former U.S. Ambassador to Russia, Robert Strauss, is working to make the Strauss Center at the University of Texas a similar training ground. (more…)

Students from all over the world come to the USA for further study in this great country. They come here on student visas normally. This student visa does not allow the students to stay here at the USA permanently. They will be forced to leave this country as soon as their study and the training period of one year is completed. However, there is a way to settle down in the USA for the students.

I have tried to briefly explain the legal cycle as to how this can be made possible. The students have normally obtained their student visa for the USA in their home countries. The student visa is generally issued for 3 years for the master’s students and around 5 years for the bachelor’s students.

The students are allowed to stay for one year more after they complete their study. This period is said to be job training. The students are allowed to work in their own fields so as to get on the job training. This helps all the students to learn the practical aspects of their study. If you want to settle down in this country after your study, you must take maximum advantage of this training period. Some of the companies are authorized to apply for H1B visa (Scholar visa) for the students having a specialized knowledge in the subject. Try to select such companies for the job after your study that can sponsor you for your H1B visa if they found you capable and knowledgeable. The total number of such visas is 65000 per year at present but the talks are going on to increase this number to 115,000 per year shortly. The application date for this visa opens in every October for the next calendar year. The fees of around $1200 are charged by the INS to issue this visa. It is rather difficult to get this visa, as the INS authorities will check with your company as to how the applicant is qualified for this special scholar visa category. This visa can be obtained rather easily if you have got master’s degree in the USA as some special quota is kept for the students who have done their master’s here in the USA. (more…)

British and Europeans alike want to come and retire in Florida. We were planning to do just that and came to the states for a vacation. However, it doesn’t matter how much money one has, we were not allowed to stay more than 180 days in a calendar year. We saw an American attorney, in London, close to the American Embassy and he explained the criteria and gave us lots of helpful information. It was $100 fee at the time and money well spent.

We came to the Tampa area and checked out businesses. We looked at pet stores, bookshops, bars, restaurants, gyms, and the list went on. The only trouble was most were selling because they were not making a profit. We had to find a business that would support us and create jobs for Americans.

We found one restaurant that we loved and got turned down. Then we found Susie’s restaurant, my name, and knew we just had to purchase it. We made an offer and collected all the reverent information for the American Embassy. We sent it to our attorney in England and were turned down. It was not making enough profit we were informed. We decided to take on the adjoining unit and increase the seating capacity from 64 seats to 90. The restaurant had 9 members of staff and we reckoned we would need another 4 making a total of 13.

We were turned down again. The restaurant was open for breakfast and lunch so we did another business plan incorporating a dinner menu for the evenings. We finally got a 2-year business visa. We did everything the Embassy asked of us. (more…)

America’s two other winners of Nobel prizes show how important it is that the U.S.get immigration policy right. Al Gore’s Nobel Peace Prize is getting almost all the attention, but America’s two other new Nobel laureates also have interesting stories. Geneticists Mario Capecchi and Oliver Smithies won the Nobel Prize in medicine for their work in gene targeting. And while their honor highlights the quality of American research, it also shows how our scientific community is enriched by highly skilled immigrants.

Capecchi, who endured a heart-wrenching early childhood in wartime Italy, immigrated with his mother to the United States after World War II, who survived the Dachau concentration camp. Today, he leads research teams at the University of Utah. Smithies, a native of Britain, came to the United States in the 1950s to work at the University of Wisconsin and has spent the last 19 years at the University of North Carolina. Both are now U.S. citizens.

Foreign-born researchers are common in the U.S. academic and scientific communities. In fact, more than a third of American Nobel laureates in the sciences over the last 15 years were born outside the U.S. These scientists are conducting research with extraordinary promise for improving lives, as well as great potential to produce commercialized therapies and technologies that drive U.S. innovation and economic growth. (more…)

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