Immigration Issues Supplemental Final Rule for No-Match Letters

Immigration issued a Supplemental Final Rule that provides additional background and analysis for the department's No-Match Rule. The regulation which was originally proposed in June 2006 and issued in August 2007 as a Final Rule, clarifies what steps responsible employers can take to resolve discrepancies identified in "no match" letters issued by the Social Security Administration. It also provides guidance to help businesses comply with legal requirements intended to reduce the illegal employment of unauthorized workers. Implementation of the No Match rule has been stayed following the issuance of a preliminary injunction by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California last year. This Supplemental Final Rule is an attempt to meet the concerns raised by the Court. The DHS will return to Court to request that the injunction be lifted so that implementation of the new rule can proceed.

Visa Waiver Program is Expanded to 7 New Countries

The Visa Waiver program has been expanded to include 7 new countries including: the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, and South Korea. Nationals of these countries will not be required to obtain a visa to enter the US for stays of up to 90 days.

Immigration Extends Period of Stay for TN Professional Workers

Immigration has increased the maximum period of time a Trade- NAFTA (TN) professional worker from Canada or Mexico may remain in the United States before seeking readmission or obtaining an extension of stay. This final rule changes the initial period of admission for TN workers from 1 year to 3 years.

President Signs the Conrad 30 extension bill

President Bush signed into law a bill extending the Conrad 30 program for 5 years. The Conrad 30 program waives the two year foreign residency requirement for physicians who received J-1 visas, who work in underserved areas where there is a health professional shortage.

President Signs Military Personnel Citizinship Processing Act

President Bush signed into law the Military Personnel Citizenship Processing Act. The law requires that Immigration process and issue a citizenship decision within 6 months of receiving an application from a current or former member of the armed forces, or their surviving dependents. If a decision is not made within that time frame, Immigration is required to explain the delay and provide a new decision target date.

331 Arrested by ICE agents in South Carolina

Immigration agents executed a federal criminal search warrant on October 8th at the Columbia Farms poultry processing plant. They arrested 331 illegal aliens. These arrests follows the criminal cases filed earlier this year against nine plant supervisory employees.

Congress Votes to Extend the Religious Worker Program

Congress voted to extend the religious worker program, whereby religious workers (non-ministers) will be able to obtain green cards.

Immigration to require new test for all natzuralizations applications filed on or after October 1st

As of today, October 1, 2008, all applicants who file their applications for Naturalization will be required to take a new test which is more analytical. The prior test required rote memorization, whereas the new one requires analysis of U.S. History and Government.

Congress Votes to Extend the Investor Regional Center Pilot Program

Congress voted today to extend the EB-5 Investor Regional Center Pilot Program. This program allows investors to obtain green cards by investing $500,000 into an approved regional center. There is no requirement that they personally have to employ 10 workers, only that their investment lead to the employment of 10 workers.