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Volume 6, Issue 2, February 2010 |  |  |  |
The Business Immigration Monthly is Hammond Law Group’s news eZine, directed at international workers and employers seeking the most up-to-date news on U.S. immigration issues, specifically those that impact workers on H, L, E, and O visas and workers seeking permanent residency. News items will be of particular interest to those in the Healthcare, IT and staffing industries.
Featured Article 
March Visa Bulletin
The Department of State has released the March Visa Bulletin here: http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/bulletin/bulletin_4659.html.
There has been some movement in most of the
categories:
EB3 All Chargeability went from September 22, 2002 to December 15, 2002 EB2 China went from May 22, 2005 to July 8, 2005 EB3 China went from September 22, 2002 to December 15, 2002 EB2 India went from January 22, 2005 to February 1, 2005 EB3 India went from June 22, 2001 to July 1, 2001 EB3 Mexico remained unchanged at July 1, 2002 EB3 Philippines went from September 22, 2002 to December 15, 2002.
FY2011 H-1B Cap Fast Approaching…Act Now!
There are less than 50 days until the H-1B Cap opens for FY2011. Contact your HLG Attorney NOW for new cases. Please remember the LCA (which is part of every filing) now takes up to seven days to be certified. In other words…..PLAN AHEAD! www.hammondlawfirm.com Unused FY2010 H-1B1 Numbers To Be Counted In FY 2011 H-1B Cap In a recent USCIS Stakeholders Meeting, AILA asked for clarification on how unused H-1B1s for Singaporean and Chileans are counted back. Under the Chile/Singapore Free Trade Agreement, 6,800 H-1B cases are reserved per cap for specialty occupation cases from Singapore and Chile. The USCIS responded to AILA by stating that unused H-1B1 numbers from a fiscal year will be reallocated for use in the subsequent fiscal year. Thus far, only 129 of the 6,800 H-1B1 cases under the FY 2010 cap have been used. This means that potentially more than 6600 additional H-1B cap cases will be accepted under the FY 2011 cap, which opens in April 1, 2010. Please note, the USCIS did state that although the regular H-1B cap has been closed, they continue to accept requests for H-1B1 visas or change of status cases. www.uscis.gov
USCIS Issues EAWA Guidance To Employers
The USCIS has issued guidance to employers
regarding the Employ American Workers Act (EAWA) seeking to file
H-1B petitions. EAWA was enacted to ensure that employers receiving
TARP funds were not displacing US workers. Under EAWA, any company
receiving TARP funds is considered an “H-1B dependent employer” and
is thus subject to additional recruitment requirements and
nondisplacement attestations. Under this recent guidance, the
Service clarifies how to answer Question A.1.d. on the H-1B Data
Collection and Filing Fee Exemption Supplement. If the employer has
repaid its TARP funds the answer to Question A.1.d. shall be “No”
and documentation of this repayment shall be supplied to the USCIS
at the time of filing. Further, the USCIS reminds employers that
EAWA applies only to new hires and not to H-1B petitions seeking to
change status if they are with the same employer in a different
status or to extend their H-1B status.
Click Here for USCIS Guidance DOS Proposes Fee Hike
In a recent Federal Register Notice, the
Department of State announced a new fee structure for cases to be
processed at consulates and embassies abroad. Presently, DOS
processes all Immigrant Visas (family based or employment based) at
a fee of $355 per person. The new proposed system will be a 4-tiered
fee structure with a lower fee for family based immigrant visas
($330) and a significantly higher fee for employment based immigrant
visas ($720). Other rates will apply to self-petitioned cases and
humanitarian cases. In family based cases, the Affidavit of Support
review fee is proposed to go from $70 to $88. The Notice does not
include an increase in nonimmigrant visa application fees, which are
currently $131 USD.
To read the Notice in its entirety, please visit:
HLG Speaks at Marskell
Mike Hammond recently spoke in Toronto at a
Healthcare Career Fair hosted by the Marskell Group
http://www.healthcareersinteraction.com/ Over 2,000 job seekers
attended the two day event. Due to recent lay-offs in many Canadian
facilities many Canadian RN's, PT's, and OT's are seeking employment
opportunities in the U.S. With NAFTA providing an easy visa option,
savvy US healthcare staffing companies and hospitals are avoiding
the pain of retrogression and the H-1b visa and focusing instead on
candidates who qualify for the TN visa.
HLG Contributes to Healthcare Publications
Three books have recently been published which
feather articles written by HLG partners.
The Nurse Immigration Book, published
by Immigration Daily, includes an article by Michael Hammond
entitled, “Managing or Achieving Expectations: The Key to Success”.
For details, see http://www.ilw.com/.
The PERM Book, 2008-2009 edition,
published by Immigration Daily, includes an article by Sherry Neal
entitled, “Step-by-Step for Schedule-A Applications”. For details,
see http://www.aila.org.
Immigration Options for Nurses and Allied
Healthcare Workers, published by the American Immigration
Lawyers Associations, includes an article by Sherry Neal entitled,
“Nonimmigrant Employment Options for Nurses and Allied Healthcare
Workers”. For details, see
http://www.aila.org/.
Did You Know? In this new section, each month HLG will be sharing a basic rules and regulations that both employers who hire nonimmigrant workers and employees who are on nonimmigrant visas should know.
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Visit www.HammondLawFirm.com Keep up with the latest Immigration News by signing up for all of Hammond Law Group LLC's free publications: Immigration Alerts, Business Immigration Monthly, Medical Monthly Monitor and the Business Immigration Journal. http://www.hammondlawfirm.com/mailing_list.htm
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