US & Canada Immigration Blog

Visa Bulletin Movement for Spouses of Lawful Permanent Residents (‘Green Card Holders’)

Marwah Serag — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 15:46:23 +0000

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.

34,900 H-1B Cap-Subject Petitions Receipted

Marwah Serag — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 15:36:20 +0000

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.

AINP Not Accepting Applications Under The U.S. Visa Holder Class and Family Stream

Donna Habsha — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 22:35:38 +0000

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.

Important Changes to Humanitarian and Compassionate Applications

Donna Habsha — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 22:30:46 +0000

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.

Foreign Medical Residents — Now LMO Exempt.

Jennifer Nees — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 14:43:34 +0000

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.

H-1Bs Still Available

Marwah Serag — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 16:15:17 +0000

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.

Police Certificates for Federal Skilled Worker Applicants

Donna Habsha — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 22:00:34 +0000

Citizenship and Immigration Canada has confirmed today that as police certificates are related to admissibility, rather than eligibility, at this time applicants will not be required to provide them when they submit their application to the Centralized Intake Office (CIO). Police certificates will be requested at a later point in the process. All other supporting documents need only be submitted once to the CIO all of which will be transferred to the appropriate visa post overseas.

September 2010 Visa Bulletin Released

Marwah Serag — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 14:53:46 +0000

The U.S. Department of State has released the September 2010 Visa Bulletin, which summarizes the availability of immigrant visa numbers during the month of September. The Employment-Based Third Preference Category (EB-3) dates have retrogressed by a few months for certain countries and several of the Family-Based Preference Categories have moved forward to January 2010.

H-1B Visas Still Available – 28,500 Receipted

Marwah Serag — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 14:51:47 +0000

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) have receipted approximately 28,500 cap-subject H-1B petitions as of August 6, 2010. USCIS is still accepting cap-subject H-1B petitions. In addition, the Service has receipted approximately 11,900 advanced-degree H-1B petitions to date.

ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorization) Fee

Marwah Serag — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 14:23:39 +0000

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced a new fee of $14 for a new or renewed ESTA. All Visa Waiver travelers to the U.S. must register with ESTA and pay the new fee. The new fee will go into effect September 8, 2010.