HR 5924 Passes Subcommittee
HR 5924 was reported favorably out of the Immigration Subcommittee. The vote was 7-2. This is a welcome development and keeps a candle of hope that HR 5924 can still be passed this year. The full Judiciary Subcommittee must now mark up the bill. The earliest that this can happen is after the August recess.
http://hammondlawgroup.blogspot.com/2008/08/out-of-subcommittee.html

Senate DOD Bill May be Last Chance
The Senate must-pass a Department of Defense authorization bill in September.  This may be the last significant legislation passed this year. There are rumblings in Washington that this bill may become a “Christmas tree”, a big piece of legislation adorned with smaller special interest legislation. If so, this could be the only chance for Senate action this year.
http://hammondlawgroup.blogspot.com/2008/07/last-chance-before-election.html  

Compete America Sign-On Letter
Compete America, which includes some of America’s largest and most prestigious companies and organizations and many HLG clients, drafted and sent a sign-on letter encouraging Congressman to pass three critical pieces of Business Immigration legislation.
http://hammondlawgroup.blogspot.com/2008/07/compete-america-letter.html  

PNA: Demand for Philippine Nurses is Down
The Philippine Nursing Association (PNA) said recently that the demand for nurses in the United States and in the United Kingdom is declining. The PNA blamed "visa retrogression" in the two countries for the decline. "In the US, the quota for visas has been filled up, resulting in delayed processing of visas with current efforts focused on 2006 accepted applicants," Dr. Leah Samaco-Paquiz, PNA President, said.
http://www.mb.com.ph/issues/2008/07/09/MTNN20080709129342.html

Manila Times: Nursing Careers are Rewarding
Nursing will remain a good and rewarding career. Students taking up nursing should not be deterred by the reported slowdown in nurses’ deployment abroad. Foreign nurses will always be in demand in the US and other rich countries. The employment of highly qualified Filipino nurses for good pay is guaranteed by the interplay of market forces: The demand for foreign nurses being far greater than the supply.
http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/july/11/yehey/opinion/20080711opi1.html

Immigrant Nurse Program Expands Into East Bay
A program to train immigrant nurses so they can work as health professionals in California hospitals has expanded into the East Bay. The Immigrant Nurse Re-Entry Program, which helps foreign nurses navigate the U.S. system to obtain English, cultural, and clinical skills, has been operating in San Francisco for 15 years as a partnership between Jewish Vocational Service and City College San Francisco.
http://www.bizjournals.com/eastbay/stories/2008/07/28/story10.html?b=1217217600%5E1674705

Out of Order, Out of Time:  The State of the Nation’s Health Workforce
A recent report undertaken by the Association of Academic Health Centers (AAHC) to focus attention on the critical need for a new, collaborative, coordinated, national health workforce planning initiative finds that the U.S. may be out of time to address health workforce shortages. It urges immediate collaborative initiatives.
http://www.aahcdc.org/policy/workforce.php

Canada's Facts and Figures 2007
The Canadian government recently published a comprehensive 2007 facts and figures report detailing the immigration admissions of their Permanent Residents and Temporary Foreign Workers and Students.
http://cic.gc.ca/english/resources/statistics/facts2007/index.asp
 

PROCESSING DATES

SERVICE CENTER	PROCESSING DATES
California Service Center ( CSC )	Not Processing
AZ, CA, GU, HI, NV
Nebraska Service Center ( NSC )	February 15, 2007
AK, CO, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, ND, OH, OR, SD, UT, WA, WI, WY
Texas Service Center ( TSC )	July 23, 2007
AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NM, NC, OK, SC, TN, TX
Vermont Service Center (VSC)	April 1, 2006
CT, DE, DC, ME, MD, MA, NH, NJ, NY, PA, PR, RI, VT, VA, VI, WV

VISA BULLETIN
 

	All Charge-ability Areas Except Those Listed	CHINA- mainland born	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIP-PINES
Employment -Based
1st	C	C	C	C	C
2nd	C	01JUN06	01JUN06	C	C
3rd	U	U	U	U	U
Other Workers	U	U	U	U	U
4th	C	C	C	C	C
Certain Religious Workers	C	C	C	C	C
5th	C	C	C	C	C

Hammond Law Group, LLC Event Calendar

August 21, 2008 Do You Take Visa? Hiring Foreign National Employees Sherry Neal will explain today's employment visa options, outline staffing options for businesses that missed the H-1B quota, and much more during this special session presented by The Circuit. Cincinnati, OH Learn More   September, 2008 Inside the Minds: Working with Government Agencies in Immigration Law Sherry Neal has contributed a chapter to Aspatore Books' latest Inside the Minds series. Copies should be available for sale in the next few weeks. Aspatore Books September 8-10, 2008 Healthcare Staffing Summit Staffing Industry Analysts Chris Musillo will be a panelist at this event, which is one of the premier Healthcare Staffing seminars in the USA. San Francisco, CA Learn More   September 26, 2008 Business Conference Sponsored by The Filipino Chamber of Commerce of the Pacific Northwest Cindy Unkenholt will be a panelist at this event, and will be discussing the immigration aspects of the projected long term shortages in various healthcare occupations as well as an update regarding immigration reform efforts. Seattle, WA   October 19-20, 2008 Health Careers International Mike Hammond will be a featured speaker and presenter at Canada's leading healthcare job fair. Toronto, Ontario Register Now