Recent Immigration News

See below for recent immigration news. Hopefully, Congress will work together soon to accomplish immigration reform……

• On December 3, 2008, USCIS updated the count of H-2B petitions received and counted towards the H-2B cap on the USCIS website. As of December 1, 2008, 12,371 petitions have been counted towards the 33,000 cap for the second half of FY 2009.
  
• CBP recently announced that 15,000 airline personnel have been trained through its Carrier Liaison program to identify improperly documented passengers destined for the U.S.
  
• On November 24, 2008, USCIS updated the count of H-2B petitions received and counted towards the H-2B cap on the USCIS website. As of November 21, 2008, 10,265 petitions have been counted towards the 33,000 cap for the second half of FY 2009.
  
• On November 17, 2008, the Department of State announced the launch of a website devoted exclusively to intercountry adoption, with information such as who is eligible to adopt, from which countries Americans adopt children, what protections the Hague Adoption Convention provides families, and more. You can find the web site at http://adoption.state.gov/.
  
• Also on November 17, 2008, a DHS final rule added the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, the Republic of Korea, and the Slovak Republic to the list of Visa Waiver Program countries.
  
  • In addition, the DHS has reminded ESTA applicants that any passport issued by a Visa Waiver Program (VWP) country after October 26, 2008, must be an e-Passport in order for VWP travelers to be eligible to enter the U.S. without a visa. For more information about ESTA, go to: http://cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/id_visa/esta/.
    
• On November 13, 2008, the Department of Defense released an advance copy of a final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to require certain contractors and subcontractors to use the E-Verify system to verify employee work authorization.