Some updates on H2A and H2B visas. DHS issued a notice on the identification of 39 countries whose nationals are eligible to participate in the H–2A and H–2B programs for the coming year. This notice is effective 1/18/10 and shall be without effect at the end of one year after…
The Department of State has released the new visa bulletin for February 2010 on January 8, 2010. USCIS has reported last month that the EB-1 category was still current for all countries. In the EB-2 category, cutoff dates for mainland Chinese nationals progressed one month from April 1, 2005 to…
The United States Department of Labor (DOL) has announced on January 14, 2010 that a new online prevailing wage system for PERM and H-1B will be launched on January 21, 2010. This is a big change in DOL’s practice regarding the prevailing wage determination system. For the past decade, prevailing…
The tragedy in Haiti continues, all the Aid in the world will not change the devastation. The US Government through some temporary immigration measures is trying to do its share. Secretary Janet Napolitano, in coordination with the U.S. Department of State, today announced a humanitarian parole policy allowing orphaned children…
You might have heard of Twitter, you might even be using it, you might even be an addict (like me). If you have no idea what Twitter is, it’s basically a ‘microblogging’ service which allows you to push out small bite sized updates (no more than 140 characters). It started…
After a tough December with H1B RFE’s and the Cap, on January 8th USCIS issued new requirements for H1B cases. An employer who seeks to sponsor a temporary worker in an H-1B specialty occupation, as of April 2010, will be required to establish, through documentary evidence, a valid employer-employee relationship…
Rescue workers struggled to clear rubble and bodies Wednesday from the streets of Haiti’s “flattened” capital, where a government official said the death toll from Tuesday’s 7.0-magnitude earthquake may exceed 100,000. Thousands of injured people waited for care outside badly damaged hospitals, while an unknown number remained trapped inside collapsed…
Recently the Congressional Reserch Service issued a new report titled: “The Effects on U.S. Farm Workers of an Agricultural Guest Worker Program.” Linda Levine the author writes: Guest worker programs are meant to assure employers (e.g., fruit, vegetable, and horticultural specialty growers) of an adequate supply of labor when and…
There has been a lot of confusion about the impact of the HIV removal on previous waiver denials and other related issues. USCIS released a good set of FAQ to address some concerns. Section 212(a)(1)(A)(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (the Act), bars the admission to the United States…
DOL announced late last year about the changes to the Prevailing Wage Determination procedures, these changes became effective today. So what cases are affected? As described in the Department’s December 4, 2009 Federal Register Notice, the National Prevailing Wage and Help desk Center (NPWHC) will process Prevailing Wage Determination (PWD)…