

Patrick Thibodeau covers SaaS and enterprise applications, outsourcing, government IT policies, data centers and IT workforce issues for Computerworld. It is possible that may still be challenged and struck down in another suit," she said.

Pelta, an immigration attorney at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, noted that the Supreme Court's decision "leaves a door open to challenge the 'show me your papers' provision as applied in a particular instance. Lopez advises that visa holders at least carry copies of all their pertinent documents.Įleanor Pelta, the president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said temporary visa holders are not required to carry their documents in Arizona, but they "may feel more comfortable carrying paperwork showing their legal status" because of the ruling.
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If an H-1B worker carries a California drivers license and is pulled over on a traffic stop in Arizona, the presumption of legal status with an Arizona driver's license goes away, said Jorge Lopez, co-chair of the Immigration & Global Migration Practice at Littler Mendelson. It's uncertain how this law will play out in the state over the long term. If an H-1B worker hasn't been in the habit of carrying their documents, he or she "better do it now," he said. The practical advice for work visa holders as a result of this decision is to carry documentation, said Marko Maglich, an immigration attorney at White & Case in New York. This is a recommendation that they've been making all along, but with this ruling "it's particularly crucial," he said.įoreign workers should always carry their visa and passport, their I-797 approval form, as well as their I-94 arrival-departure record, said Wildes.

Michael Wildes, managing partner at Wildes & Weinberg in New York, says the immigration law firm firm is advising clients, "especially those in the Arizona corridor of the nation," to carry proper documentation of their legal status. It can take months to replace lost documents, immigration attorneys noted.

It's believed that most H-1B workers do not routinely carry visa paperwork at all times due to fears it could be lost. Nonetheless, H-1B workers could become entangled in this law and suffer delays and even detention while local police, especially those officers and departments unfamiliar with immigration documentation, try to determine a person's status, say attorneys. How complicated this gets may depend on the training of the police officer, his or her knowledge of work visas, and whether an H-1B worker in the state has an Arizona's driver's license.Īn Arizona state driver's license provides the presumption of legal residency. However, a traffic stop, for instance, can be the trigger for an inquiry. The theoretical maximum of 5 documents occurs on day 26 as the following combination: passport + entry permit + identity supplement + work pass + certificate of vaccination.Arizona's police can't simply stop a person and ask for immigration papers simply because of their race, color or national origin. It is only until very late in the game that Vaccination Certificates and the complex Access Permit are required.
