Representative John Shadegg (R-AZ) introduced the "Securing Knowledge, Innovation, and Leadership Act of 2006" (H.R. 5744), also referred to as the SKIL Bill. Representative Shadegg's Bill is the companion Bill to Senator Cornyn's Bill that was introduced on May 2nd, and underscores Congress' willingness to address the problems afflicting the H-1B visa category and other competitiveness issues hampering American businesses. The introduction of this Bill will help to highlight the grave situation many businesses are currently facing.

BALCA rendered its decision in the Board's first scheduled PERM case, Matter of HealthAmerica, BALCA Case No: 2006-PER-1, which involved issues surrounding a PERM application that was denied because of a typographic error in the date of an advertisement. The decision is solidly in favor of the Employer. BALCA held that, "although an agency may impose a rigid regulatory scheme to promote administrative efficiency, under the particular circumstances of this case, the ETA Certifying Officer's ("CO") denial of reconsideration was an abuse of discretion."

SSA issued an update to its Policy Operations Manual System ("POMS") which includes L and E spouses among the categories of "aliens work authorized without specific DHS authorization." In order to process an application for a SSN card for an alien for work purposes, SSA requires evidence of employment authorization in the form of either a Form I-94, Arrival/Departure Record, showing a class of admission that indicates the person can work without specific DHS authorization or an employment authorization document ("EAD") (Form I-766 or I- 688B).

On July 3rd, CIS issued a notice that EADs issued to El Salvadoran TPS beneficiaries and bearing an expiration date of either July 5, 2006 or September 9, 2006 are automatically extended until March 9, 2007. The Notice explains how TPS beneficiaries and their employers may determine which EADs are automatically extended. The designation of TPS for El Salvadorans was set to expire on September 9th, 2006 but was extended for 12 months (until September 9th, 2007) on June 15, 2006. This earlier notice, which set forth procedures re-registering for TPS and applying for EAD extensions, automatically extended until March 9, 2007 the validity of EADs that bear an expiration date of September 9, 2006. However, certain El Salvadoran TPS beneficiaries received EADs with an expiration date of July 5, 2006, and thus were not covered by this earlier automatic extension provision.

The U.S. Department of State ("DOS") issued a final rule that requires all visa issuances to be reviewed by a consular supervisor, while reducing the instances in which visa refusals are automatically reviewed. Currently, visa issuances are only reviewed on a “spot-check” basis. This rule will require all visa issuances to be reviewed “on the day of issuance or as soon as is administratively possible."

On July 10th, the DOJ announced the award of nearly $725,000 in grants to 11 nonprofit groups serving communities throughout the country to conduct public education programs for workers and employers about immigration-related job discrimination. Nachman & Associates is proud to be a member of one of these groups and will commence training programs (with EANJ) related to proper employment verification procedures.

The DOS has registered and notified the winners of the DV-2007 diversity lottery. DOS published the results of the lottery by geographic region in a July 18th, 2006 press release.

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, ("ICE") has released a series of Frequently Asked Questions ("FAQ's") for Foreign Students. The topics of the FAQ's range from data integrity, to Social Security and Taxation issues, and they especially are relevant to employers of nonimmigrant student workers.

On Jiuly 5th the Senate Judiciary Committee held a field hearing in Philadelphia titled "Comprehensive Immigration Reform: Examining the Need for a Guest Worker Program." Among the more noteworthy advocates were Michael Bloomberg, Sylvester Johnson, Louis Barletta, Ronald Bird, Arthur Hershey, Carol Rossi, Dan Eichenlaub, Luis Cortes, Jr., and Eileen Connelly. To read all of the testimony, go to www.aila.com.

Earlier this year, the Wage and Hour Division initiated an investigation based on a complaint received from a worker. Originally, the Wage and Hour Division had found that the Respondent violated the INA when it did not properly pay two nonimmigrant alien workers. On Appeal, the Respondent argued that Wage and Hour Division did not have the authority to investigate the payment of the worker who did not file a complaint. The Respondent’s argument was rejected, finding that Wage and Hour Division has the authority to investigate alleged INA violations even in the absence of a complaint.