Invitation from the Bay Area Economic Forum and the Bay Area Science and Innovation Consortium (BASIC)

Featured Speaker:  Robert Divine, Deputy Director, US Citizenship and Immigration Services Department of Homeland Security

Please join Reed Smith for a discussion of current US immigration policies and procedures, progress that has been made in reform, and what still needs to be done if the United States is to continue as the world’s leading magnet for global talent.

Our first session on the Quest for Global Talent on September 28, 2005. Tony Edson, Director, Bureau of Consular Affairs, U.S. Department of State (DOS) provided us with a timely update on changes and reforms in the visa process affecting scientists, scholars and technology experts. Eliot Norman, Partner, Business Immigration Group, Reed Smith, moderated. Visa Retrogression, PERM (electronic labor certification), Technology Alert Lists and the new role of Homeland Security in running immigration were all major topics. Our panel included leaders from universities, high-technology companies and government, in both California and Washington, DC.

In September, we felt that a follow-up session from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) would be a welcome addition to our perspective. USCIS, like DOS, has announced a number of initiatives for the processing of business and researcher petitions for temporary and permanent visas.

The current debate on Capitol Hill on immigration reform includes a number of measures addressing the backlogs and quotas for H-1Bs and Green Cards for foreign nationals holding advanced degrees in mathematics, engineering, technology and science. By May 2nd, these reform efforts may or may not become law. Independent of Congressional legislation, USCIS is already going ahead with a number of initiatives to speed the processing of cases, including electronic filing. This is important given the key role of USCIS in deciding cases for university researchers, professors, scholars as well as business visas.

Thus, we are fortunate that Robert Divine, Deputy Director of USCIS, will provide us with an overview of USCIS procedures and reforms and answer our questions. President George Bush appointed him in July 2004 as Chief Counsel to the USCIS. He served as Acting Director of the USCIS from July 2005 to January 2006, until the Senate confirmed Emilio Gonzalez as Director. In the private sector he headed the immigration team at the national law firm of Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz. Joining Mr. Divine will be Ankur (Andy) P. Dalal, Associate Counsel, USCIS. Mr. Dalal concentrates on matters dealing with employment-based immigration and compliance. He joined the DHS/USCIS after private practice in Baltimore. Eliot Norman and Sean Randolph of the Bay Area Economic Forum will moderate and introduce the key issues. Given the press of policy matters in Washington, D.C., including the current immigration reform bills, Mr. Divine and Mr. Dalal will join by videoconference.

We will meet in the offices of Reed Smith LLP, Two Embarcadero Center, Suite 2000, in San Francisco, from 8:30 am to 10:30 am. Please RSVP to the Bay Area Economic Forum at 415-981-7117, or sean@bayeconfor.org. We look forward to seeing you on May 2.