http://www.expertclick.com/NewsReleaseW ... l&ID=10680

Senate Votes Down Amendment That Would Have Crippled Nation's Global Economic Competitiveness

New York, NY 10165 November 3 2005



The U.S. Senate Thursday preserved America's competitiveness by voting down an amendment proposed Sen. Robert J. Byrd that would remove an increase in the allotment of employment-based and H-1B visas from the Deficit Reduction Omnibus Bill Reconciliation Act of 2005.

By a vote of 85-14, the full Senate overturned an amendment that would have levied a $1,500 per visa stealth tax on American companies applying for intra-company transferee visas, known as L-1 visas. These are used by U.S. and multinational companies to bring executives, employees and managers with specialized knowledge to work in the United States on a short-term basis. For many technology companies, these visas are essential to their ongoing operation.

In defeating the Byrd amendment, the full Senate approved a provision in the budget bill, which had already cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee, would “recapture� employment-based immigrant visas that were legally available but unused in previous years because of government processing backlogs, adding some 90,000 visas overall. Also, only employment-based immigrants, and not their spouses and children, would be included in the employment-based visa category. Lastly, it would also make an additional 30,000 H-1B visas available each year by maximizing numbers currently allowed under existing statutes.

These provisions now will be included for consideration by Senate and House conferees. The House version of the Deficit Reduction would still impose the $1,500 per visa stealth tax and would not recapture unused H-1B or immigrant visas.

Angelo A. Paparelli, managing partner of Paparelli & Partners, an immigration law firm with offices in New York City and Irvine, Calif., believes the Senate acted responsibly by overturning the Byrd proposal.

“The Byrd Amendment would have hurt our country's global competitiveness. It was bad for business and for the nation's economy,� he said. “The Senators who voted against the amendment are to be commended for keeping our country’s best interests ‘top of mind.’ With the Byrd Amendment behind us, I now hope lawmakers will move forward in authorizing the recapture of unused employment-based visas to give U.S. businesses the professional workers they need so they can do their part to expand the nation's economy.�

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Paparelli & Partners LLP, www.entertheusa.com, is a law firm dedicated to the practice of all areas of U.S. immigration law. With offices in Irvine, California, and New York City, the firm represents Fortune 500 businesses, privately-held and emerging-growth companies in a wide array of industries, entrepreneurs, investors, researchers, artists, athletes, universities and national law firms. The firm has gained special expertise in legislative advocacy, due diligence and immigration compliance in mergers, acquisitions and corporate restructuring, immigration PR messaging, Sarbanes-Oxley style audits of immigration-related business practices for publicly-traded and private companies, representation in immigration-related enforcement actions against employers, management guidance in formulating immigration-related corporate policies and collaboration with international tax attorneys, employment lawyers and criminal-defense counsel in sophisticated “white-collar� immigration matters.

Cyrus Afzali (cyrus@astoriacomm.com)
Astoria Communications
10 Colonial Ave.
Sloatsburg, NY 10974
Phone : 646-286-8114
Fax : 646-219-5993

Paparelli & Partners, LLP
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Gee lawyers .... Visit their home page www.entertheusa.com notice how they have a link to

http://www.nationofimmigrators.com/