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…
According to the SF Chronicle with unemployment rising, foreign workers are less welcome, say immigration restrictionists, who have vowed to oppose offering legal status to the nation’s estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants. Until a comprehensive bill is introduced in Congress, Obama’s pick to head the Department of Homeland Security, Arizona…
Defense Secretary Robert Gates has authorized the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps to recruit certain legal residents whose critical medical and language skills are “vital to the national interest,” officials said, using for the first time a law passed three years ago. Gates’ action enables the services to…
In November, the U.S. economy shed jobs at the fastest rate in 34 years – and experts say December could be even worse. The number of jobs lost in the current recession, which began in December 2007, surpasses the 1.6 million jobs lost in the 2001 recession. As a result,…
The Name Check that are holding thousands of Citizenship and regular adjustment cases, are of major concern to many of our Blog readers and clients. Clients call me almost every day asking why there is no N400 interview scheduled, why after passing the interview they are still pending for months…
For employers that rely on the H2B Visa to staff workers, 2009 may be the worst year ever. On December 3, 2008, USCIS updated the count of H-2B petitions received and counted towards the H-2B cap on the USCIS website. As of December 1, 2008, 12,371 petitions have been counted…
As the H1B season is coming up, I wanted to cover another category of this visa based on the Free Trade agreements with Singapore and Chile. Although Chilean and Singaporan nationals still have available to them the B and L visa categories, the new H-1B1 category is available to “professionals”…
It seems that in the near future Airline staff will function as semi immigration officers, examining travelers’ visas even before arrival to the US. U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced that 15,000 airline personnel have now been trained through its Carrier Liaison Program, with 5,665 carrier personnel trained in fiscal…
If you were planning to apply for the Green Card Lottery, but have not taken the time to do so, you had better move fast real fast. The DV-2010 lottery application period expires at noon, Eastern Standard Time, December 1st, that is actually today. You can still apply online without…
The recent drug and illegal alien busts show how the new x-ray machine helps screen for contraband coming from Mexico. Customs and Border Protection officials say its the first machine of its kind at the border. The xray machine sits at the entrance to San Ysidro’s secondary inspection. That’s where…