Immigration News  |
| Changes in immigration that impact your life. |
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| DOL Certifies More Than 5,500 Workers in 16 states as Eligible to Apply for Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) |
| November 5, 2009 |
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| The U.S. Department of Labor on November 5, 2009, announced that approximately 5,500 workers from companies in 16 states — Alabama, California, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, New York, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin — are eligible to apply for Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA). Workers covered by these latest TAA certifications will be contacted by their respective states with instructions on how to apply for individual benefits and services. |
| USCIS Reaches the Advanced Degree Quota for FY2010 H-1B |
| November 3, 2009 |
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| The latest FY2010 H-1B cap statistics from USCIS indicates the rise in the demand of the H-1B visa in October. USCIS has recently stated that it has successfully received 20,000 H-1B petitions for U.S. advanced degrees holders and the advanced degree quota has now been exhausted, however USCIS will continue to accept regular H-1B petitions for FY2010 employment. As of October 30, 2009, USCIS has received approximately 53,800 H-1B cap-subject petitions. |
| USCIS Establishes Transitional Worker Visa for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) |
| October 27, 2009 |
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| USCIS on October 27, 2009, published an interim final rule in the Federal Register that creates a Transitional Worker visa classification in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). The Transitional Worker Visa category is a new nonimmigrant visa classification under INA using the admission code CW-1 for the principal transitional worker and CW-2 for dependents. The transition period begins on November 28, 2009 and ends on December 31, 2014 and the CW classification is valid only for the duration of the transition period. |
| USCIS Revises Form I-601, Application for Waiver |
| October 21, 2009 |
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| USCIS has revised Form I-601, Application for Waiver of Grounds of Inadmissibility to make it easier for applicants to complete the application for waiver. USCIS will continue to accept the previous version of the form, dated 10/30/08 Y, through November 20, 2009. Beginning November 21, 2009 USCIS will only accept the revised Form I-601, dated 04/06/09 N, and will reject all requests using previous editions of the form. |
| Entries Up for DV-2011 Program |
| October 15, 2009 |
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| The Department of State (DOS) issued a consular affairs update stating that in first week of the DV-2011 Program, it has received over 900,000 entries, submitted by people around the world, which marks 63 percent increase over the same period last year. DOS expects to receive more than 13,000,000 entries for the DV-2011 Program. |
| DOS Releases Visa Bulletin for November 2009 |
| October 12, 2009 |
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| The Department of State has released the Visa Bulletin for November 2009 containing immigrant visa projections for the coming month. The priority dates for employment-based permanent residence categories have enhanced slightly in November. |
| DOS Published Final Rule on Amended Requirements for Religious Workers |
| October 7, 2009 |
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| The Department of State (DOS) on October 6, 2009 published a final rule for religious workers, which established the requirement that consular officers should ensure that R-1 visa applicants have obtained an approved USCIS Form I-129 petition from DHS before issuance of a visa. The R-1 final rule is effective from October 6, 2009. |
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