The September 2010 Visa Bulletin confirms that as of September 1, 2010, the U.S. Department of State will begin processing spouses of lawful permanent residents (LPRs)/’green card holders’ who have a priority date of January 1, 2010 or earlier.  This is a significant jump in priority dates and will result in many spouses of ‘green card holders’ being immediately eligible for permanent residence after months and years of waiting.  Contact one of our U.S. attorneys if your priority date is current.

H-1B visas are still available.  As of August 27, 2010, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that it has received approximately 34,900 H-1B cap-subject petitions to date and roughly 13,000 advance-degree petitions.

Effective immediately the AINP is currently not accepting applications under the AINP U.S. Visa Holder Category and the AINP Family Stream.

Applications postmarked on or before August 23, 2010 will be accepted for processing and will be processed according to AINP Processing Times and U.S. Visa Holder Category or Family Stream criteria. This change is temporary until further notice.

Alberta will continue to accept immigration applications in the skilled worker, semi-skilled worker in certain occupations, international students, compulsory trades, engineering occupations and self-employed farmers.

Several changes have recently been made to the humanitarian and compassionate (H&C) provisions of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. A person cannot have two H&C applications pending at the same time and H&C decision makers will no longer consider risks that are assessed within Canada’s refugee protection process.  

Risk of persecution based on grounds set out in the Refugee Convention or risk of torture or of cruel and unusual treatment or punishment will not be assessed. H&C decisions will continue to focus on establishment in Canada, best interests of the child, relationships in Canada, hardships that affect the foreign national and the country of origin’s ability to provide medical treatment.

Effective September 1st, 2010, universities will no longer be required to apply for a Labour Market Opinion (LMO) to hire temporary foreign medical residents, clinical fellows or research fellows. However, foreign workers in these occupations will still require a work permit from Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) to work in Canada, including for those positions of less than four months. For more information on work permit applications, please contact the the lawyers at the Bomza Law Group.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) has receipted approximately 29,700 cap-subject H-1B petitions as of August 13, 2010.  The Service has also received approximately 12,300 H-1B petitions for individuals with advanced degrees.