Fw: Warning Regarding Fraudulent or Imposter Web Sites

Warning Regarding Fraudulent or Imposter Web Sites

 

The Office of International Services has been contacted by some members of the JHMI community who have received unsolicited offers for permanent residency through the "DV-2005-2006 VISA LOTTERY GREENCARD". The e-mail in questions, appears to originate in the U.K. and demands payment of "clearance/acceptance fees" be paid through Western Union within 5 days of receipt of the e-mail. This is NOT a legitimate offer, nor is it any way associated with the Department of State. Please follow the link below for detailed information from the Department of State regarding such fraudulent/imposter sites.

 

http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/types

 

You can continue to remain well-informed about workshops and training sessions offered by our office, recent developments in U.S. immigration law, and much more by regularly visiting this web site. In addition, if you would like to receive notification via electronic mail when changes are made to this site and/or when other announcements are made regarding the activities, policies, and/or procedures of our office, you can subscribe to our e-mail list serve by sending a message to the following address: listproc@lists.jhmi.edu. In the body of the message type the following: sub intl-services Fname Lname (example: sub intl-services Jack Johnson).

 

Jennifer L. Kerilla
Associate Director
The Office of International Services
The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions
1620 McElderry Street
1st Floor Reed Hall, East Wing
Baltimore, MD 21205
Phone: 410.955.3371 / Fax: 410.955.0871
E-Mail: jkerilla@jhmi.edu
Internet: http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/intlsvcs/

 

M - TH 8:30 - 5:00

Fw: **CHANGES IN H-1B1 PROCESSING AND FEES AS OF MARCH 8, 2005**

**CHANGES IN H-1B1 PROCESSING AND FEES AS OF MARCH 8, 2005**

 

On December 8, 2004, President Bush signed into law the H-1B1 Visa Reform Act. This act implements several changes to the H-1B1 visa category. Most notably, the new law brings higher fees to employers wishing to hire employees under the H-1B1 program.

 

As of March 8, 2005, there will be an additional $500 anti-fraud fee charged for all H-1B1 petitions. This is a fee that must be paid by the employer, not the applicant. In addition, the regular filing fee of $185 must also be paid by the hiring employer as stated in 20 CFR Sec. 655.731(c)(9)(iii)(C).

 

Therefore, as of March 8, 2005, any department wishing to hire an international under the H-1B1 classification must pay $685 made payable to Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS). This $685 fee is in addition to the $1000 premium processing fee used to expedite an H-1B1 petition once it reaches CIS .

 

Please note that there are several other changes in the law but not all of these changes impact higher education. However, the fee increase is universal with no exceptions. Please keep this change in mind as March approaches. The OIS will be updating the H-1B1 packet accordingly to take this change in account.

 

NOTE: This information has already been distributed to many of our administrative and departmental contacts via e-mail. Please feel free to forward this information to faculty and all staff who sponsor H1B1 fellows, faculty and employees. This is NOT an institutional policy, it is now a federal directive that the EMPLOYER, NOT THE BENEFICIARY pay the processing fee for H1B1 sponsorship.

 

Thank you.

 

You can continue to remain well informed about workshops and training sessions offered by our office; recent changes in U.S. immigration law affecting international students, faculty, and staff at the JHMI; changes in our office policies and/or procedures; and much more by regularly visiting our Internet site. You will be notified of any changes to the site via this e-mail listserv. Please encourage other internationals who are in the U.S. as non-immigrants to subscribe to this e-mail listserv. Also, please encourage JHMI faculty and staff members who deal with internationals to subscribe to this list as well.

To subscribe, an individual simply needs to send an e-mail to listproc@lists.jhmi.edu. In the body of the message type the following: sub intl-services Fname Lname (example: sub intl-services Jennifer Kerilla) Important Note: Do no send message with signature attached OR with rich text fonts enabled.