U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has issued a new edition of Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification. The new form will take effect on February 2, 2009 and should not be used before that date. Until February 2, employers should continue to use the June 5, 2007 edition of the…
As we anticipated, on January 8, 2009, USCIS updated its H-2B visa count page to announce that the cap has been reached for FY 2009. Thousands of employers in need of seasonal workers will once again need to search for alternatives. The word “Cap” used in this posting refers to…
According to the Dairy Herd Migrant or foreign labor is a must for the dairy industry and other parts of agriculture, and a reduction in the workforce could cost consumers considerably. Labor and immigration are tied together, and it includes both legal and illegal immigration, says David Anderson, AgriLife Extension…
Due to the economic downturn, I get many emails from current H1B visa holders that are interested in starting their own companies. They are either worried about loosing the current H1B job or are in the process of being laid off. It can be really difficult for start up and…
I am in the process of reviewing the proposed changes to the H2B Visa program. Upon initial review, there are good and bad news. Here is a brief summary of the Changes, stay tuned more to come. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it has submitted to the…
We have been reporting about the changes to the H2A Visa program in the past few weeks. One of the issues discussed is limiting the participation in the program to certain countries only. Under the final rule, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will only approve petitions for H-2A nonimmigrant…
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Citizenship and Immigration Services (“CIS”) announced that it has submitted to the Federal Register an Interim Final Rule that will streamline the Employment Eligibility Verification (Form I-9) process. The Interim Final Rule narrows the list of acceptable identity documents and further specifies that expired…
We previously reported about the much needed changes to the H2A Visa Program announced last week. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced several reforms in the H-2A visa system, which allows farmers to hire foreigners for field work that Americans are unwilling to do. Click here to download the Press…
The nursing shortage in the United States is becoming increasingly problematic and may adversely affect the health care industry. According to a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) 2007 study, the United States will require 1.2 million new Registered Nurses (RNs) by 2014 to meet the nursing demand:…
A December 11, 2008 USCIS Update announces that the agency has finalized changes to H-2A regulations. This final rule will facilitate the H-2A process for employers by removing certain limitations. U.S. employers may file an H-2A petition with USCIS if they have a shortage of available U.S. workers to fill…