It was announced on Monday that USCIS has received approximately 44,000 H-1B petitions counting toward the Congressionally-mandated 65,000  cap.  The agency will continue to accept petitions subject to the general cap. There is still time to apply for an H-1B visa for the 2010 fiscal year (start date October 1, 2009).  Contact one of our [...]

Starting March 31, 2009 Lebanese nationals may apply to immigrate to Canada directly through their home visa post in Beirut (Lebanon). Until that time, the Beirut visa office processed only temporary residence applications (ie: visitor visas, work permits and study permits). Commencing on March 31st, Lebanese citizens and other permanent residents of Lebanon have been [...]

A new amendment, Bill C-37, to the Citizenship Act became effective April 17, 2009.  The new law restores Canadian citizenship to certain individuals who lost their citizenship and includes others who will be granted Canadian citizenship for the first time.  The new law also restricts who can acquire Canadian citizenship by descent.  Additionally, Bill C-37 [...]

As of April 15, 2009, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has yet to announce that the H-1B cap of 65,000 visas has been satisfied for the 2010 fiscal year.  USCIS did provide an update on April 9, 2009, stating that they had only received approximately 42,000 petitions towards the 65,000 cap, and roughly 20,000 [...]

Alberta’s Occupations Under Pressure (OUP) list will be changing on April 15, 2009. The OUP list contains a large number of occupations that it deems essential to that Province’s economic success. Professionals and trades persons on the OUP list can apply for work visas and permanent residence if they are on the list and meet [...]

On April 1, 2009, changes were made by the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) to extend provincial health coverage to qualifying foreign workers who are residing in Canada on an open work permit. This will potentially extend coverage to those individuals who reside in Canada on a three year post-graduate work permit, among others. In [...]