USCIS announces proposal to increase periods of stay for TN Professionals
May 6, 2008
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that it is publishing a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to increase the maximum amount of time a Trade-NAFTA (TN) professional worker from Canada or Mexico can remain in the United States before seeking readmission or obtaining an extension of stay. The proposal will extend the maximum period of admission for TN workers from one year to three years, the same term that USCIS currently may grant to H-1B specialty occupation workers. The proposed rule will further allow eligible TN non-immigrants to be granted an extension of stay in increments of up to three years, as opposed to the current maximum of one year. TN non-immigrants are not subject to a maximum period of stay and thus may seek multiple readmissions or extensions, provided their intended professional activity continues and they remain otherwise eligible. Current regulations require that TN workers seek readmission or apply for an extension of stay each year.
Three Bills Introduced into the House of Representatives
May 2, 2008
Three bills were introduced into the House of Representatives this week related to immigrant visas. On 4/23/08, a bill was introduced by Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) that would recapture employment-based immigrant visas lost to bureaucratic delays and to prevent losses of family- and employment- based immigrant visas in the future (H.R. 5882). On 4/29/08, another bill was introduced by Representative Lofgren (D-CA) that would eliminate the per country level for employment-based immigrants and to end the spill-over of unused immigrant visa numbers between employment-based and family-sponsored categories (H.R. 5921). On 4/29/2008, a final bill was introduced by Representative Robert Wexler (D-FL) that would provide relief for the shortage of nurses in the United States (H.R. 5924).
Possible Recapture of 218,000 unused EB Greencards
April 28, 2008
Bill H.R. 5882 was introduced late last week with goals of recapturing employment-based (EB) immigrant visas. Congress had authorized the green cards in the past, but many were unused before the end of past fiscal years due to lengthy government processing delays. Experts have estimated that unused visa number from approximately 1992-2007 would equal close to 218,000 unused EB green cards could be brought back into supply for all employment-based workers. The proposed bill, H.R. 5882, has received support from both sides of the fence. With the 2 giants, Lofgren and Sensebrenner, leading the charge, in addition to Senator Davis backing the bill, it has tremendous potential for success. Due to the circumstances regarding past immigration proposals, this bill has a great opportunity for passing. The legislation targeting the Schedule A occupations - PTs and RNs - should be introduced next week as well. Read the bill here.
Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) Processing Time Report
April 23, 2008
The Administrative Appeals Office issued an updated Processing Time Report reflecting most processing times for cases as being “current”. Unfortunately, if you have filed an appeal for an Employment Based Petition most processing times are averaging between 10 and 13 months. We have posted this report on our website under the Recent Immigration News section in PDF format.
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