Immediately before Prime Minister Harper’s oval office meeting with President Barack Obama on September 16th, 2009, in which Afghanistan was a topic of primary concern, the Government of Canada announced a new program to allow Afghan staff in Kandahar to immigrate to Canada. Effective October 2009, Citizenship and Immigration Canada will implement special measures to [...]

In the wake of the Cannes, Venice and Toronto International Film Festivals, the Season of Film is officially upon us. While some of the most renowned festivals have drawn to a close, several more around the world are scheduled to take place this Fall in Zurich, London, Hamburg, and Sao Paulo (to name a few). [...]

As of September 8, 2009, federal contractors and subcontractors may be required to use the E-Verify system to verify their employees’ eligibility to work in the United States if their contract includes the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) E-Verify clause.  Companies awarded a contract with the E-Verify clause on or after September 8, 2009 must enroll [...]

Many foreign nationals working in Canada utilize the services of the Case Processing Centre in Vegreville, Alberta for processing their work permit extensions.  They submit an application with applicable processing fees, wait for a couple of months, and then are issued a new work permit document.  This document states on the bottom “Not Valid for [...]

USCIS announced on August 28, 2009 that it is still accepting H-1B Visa petitions towards the H-1B cap for FY2010. The updated numbers reflect that USCIS has received 45,100 H-1B cap petitions.  The H-1B visa is for individuals who have an offer of employment in specialty occupation, and who are seeking to enter the United States to [...]

In August of 2009, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced that the Global Entry initiative, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection pilot program, is being added to 13 additional U.S. airports. The pilot program is designed to streamline the screening process at airports for ‘trusted’ travelers utilizing biometric identification. As such, the Global [...]