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NEWS FROM THE NORTH: Canadian Immigration News.
Government of Canada
announces consultations on immigration
priorities.
The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration,
today released details of consultations on
Canada's immigration priorities, following
the passage of changes to Canada's
immigration legislation under Budget Bill C-50.
The new immigration law gives the Minister
the authority to issue instructions on which
categories of applications are prioritized,
returned with a refund or held for future
consideration.
The new law is intended to stop the growth
of the backlog of applicants so that,
ultimately, people who want to come to Canada
receive a decision within 6 to 12 months
instead of the 6 years it can take now. The
new law also more closely aligns Canada's
immigration system with labour shortages so
that immigrants who come to Canada will have
more opportunities to find employment in
their chosen fields.
The consultations will focus on
identifying critical occupational shortages,
the role of immigration in responding to
them, and any barriers to foreign credential
accreditation.
They will help develop instructions to
immigration officers on which applications
are identified for priority processing,
particularly in the federal skilled worker
category.
"The changes to Canada's immigration law
allow us to bring to Canada more quickly
those immigrants with the skills that match
Canada's labour market needs," said Minister
Finley. "We are now consulting to make sure
we accurately define those needs. This will
help our economy and help newcomers better
support their families."
For More Information, Click Here . . .
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Dear Readers:
Our goal has been and continues to be to
report important and burgeoning news in the
business immigration arena. Sometimes this
information is ground-breaking and sometimes
this information is earth-shattering. This
month we share a bit of the insane.
Recently, the U.S. Department of Homeland
Security, Immigration and Custom Enforcement
("ICE") implemented a "Voluntary Removal
Program". What is this program all about?
Didn't this program always exist? How is the
GAO going to report on the success of such a
program? Is the existence of such a program
sending us a message of what is going to be
happening in the not too distant future?
For more information about ICE's Voluntay
Removal Program, click
here to read the article in the Chicago
Tribune.
There are now about ninety days before the
Presidential Election. We continue to try to
get a clear read on the positions of the
presidential hopefuls. What we do know is
that immigration reforms of any significant
type will take a backseat to more pressing
issues (like the state of the U.S. economy).
Pro- and anti-immigration lobbyists are
gearing-up for what promises to be a
difficult exchange before voters are off to
the polls. Stay tuned for more election
related immigration updates as we near November.
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| BEFORE YOU PACK YOUR BAGS: Important Updates To Travel Requirements. |
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TSA Announces Changes to ID Requirements
at Airports.
On June 23, 2008 TSA announced that as of
two days prior, on June 21, 2008, passengers
that willfully refuse to provide
identification at a security checkpoint will
be denied access to the secure area of airports.
To Read More, Click Here . . .
CIS Q & As on Biometric Changes for
Re-entry Permits and Refugee Travel
Documents.
On July 9th, 2008 CIS released Q & As on the
revised instructions to Form I-131,
Application for Travel Document. The changes
require applicants for re-entry permits and
refugee travel documents to provide
biometrics at a CIS Application Support
Center.
To Read More, Click
Here . . .
Sneak Preview of ESTA Web Tool.
The Electronic System for Travel
Authorization is a new, fully automated,
electronic system for screening passengers
before they begin travel to the United States
under the Visa Waiver Program. ESTA will ask
applicants to provide basic biographical and
VWP eligibility information to Customs and
Border Protection. The ESTA Web site will go
live and begin accepting applications on
August 1. The travel authorization will
become mandatory for VWP travelers on January
12h, 2009. After this date VWP travelers will
not be allowed to board a flight or cruise to
the United States without an ESTA.
To see the PowerPoint presentation that
CBP has prepared on this topic, Click
Here . . .
DHS Notice: Registered Traveler
Interoperability Pilot Program.
TSA is announcing the completion of the
RTIP and termination of the TSA RTIP fees.
TSA will continue to work with private sector
partners as they continue to develop the
Registered Traveler business as a private
sector enterprise.
To read more information about the
program, Click
Here . . .
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| ICE UPDATES: Arrests And Raids Across The U.S. |
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ICE Arrests Two "Alleged" Supervisors at
Agriprocessors in Postville, Iowa.
A July 3rd, 2008, ICE news release announced
the arrest of two "alleged" supervisors at
Agriprocessors, Inc. in Postville, Iowa, on
various criminal immigration and fraudulent
identity charges. ICE requests the public's
assistance in apprehending a third defendant.
To Read More from the Washington Post, Click
Here . . .
ICE Arrests 18 at Colorado Cement Plant.
On July 16th, 2008 ICE administratively
charged
18 foreign nationals at a concrete plant in
Loveland, Colorado. ICE reports that the Air
Branch of CBP provided "air support" for the
raid.
To Read More, Click
Here . . .
Executives of McDonald's Franchisee Plead
Guilty to Immigration Offenses.
On July 16th, 2008 ICE announced that a
former and current top executive for a McDonald's
franchisee in Nevada, plead guilty to federal
felony immigration offenses for encouraging
undocumented foreign nationals to reside in
the United States.
For More Information, Click
Here . . .
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| TWO YEARS IN THE MAKING: CIS Extends The Validity Period of EAD For Refugees. |
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In an effort to provide better customer
service to refugees, U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services (CIS) recently
announced that it would extend the validity
of initial work authorization documents for
refugees to two years after arrival in the
United States.
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For more information, Click here . . . |
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| State Legislation Related To Immigration. |
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Missouri Governor Signs Tough Immigration
Bill.
Governor Blunt signed some of the strongest
legislation in the country to fight illegal
immigration. The legislation prohibits the
creation of sanctuary cities in the state;
requires verification of legal employment
status of every public employee; allows for
cancellation of state contracts for
contractors if they hire illegal immigrants;
requires public agencies to verify the legal
status of applicants before providing welfare
benefits; criminalizes the transportation of
illegal immigrants for exploitive purposes;
and enacts provisions to punish bad acting
employers who hire illegal immigrants.
For More Information, Click
Here . . .
Arizona Blocks REAL ID Act.
Gov. Janet Napolitano signed House Bill
2677, through which Arizona joins 13 other
states in their formal refusal to implement
the federal government's REAL ID Act of 2005.
To Learn More, Click
Here . . .
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| DOS to terminate J-1 Flight Training Programs. |
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Pursuant to this regulatory authority, the
Department hereby determines that all flight
training programs no longer further the
public diplomacy mission of the Department,
and accordingly, effective June 1st, 2010, the
Department will terminate the Exchange
Visitor Program sponsor designations of all
eight sponsors of flight training programs.
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Click Here for More Information . . . |
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| ALLEGATIONS OF PERM FRAUD: DOL Announces Debarment Of Immigration Software Company. |
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DOL announced the debarment of an immigration
software company, having determined that the
company willfully provided false or
inaccurate information when applying for
permanent labor certifications, and engaged
in a pattern or practice of failing to comply
with the terms of the application, ETA Form
9089.
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Click Here to Read more . . . |
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| NEW ON THE NATURALIZATION FRONT: Neufeld Memorandum On Changes To The Naturalization Interview Process. |
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An April 25th, 2008 Memorandum from Donald
Neufeld, Acting Associate Director, Domestic
Operations, to CIS field offices on changes
to the
naturalization interview process.
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Click Here for More Information . . . |
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| FOIA CHECK: CIS Launches FOIA Request Status Check. |
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
(CIS) launched the online FOIA Request
Status Check service, which provides a quick
and secure way to check the status of Freedom
of Information Act (FOIA) requests. An
immediate response may be obtained online by
entering the assigned control number into the
FOIA Request Status Check.
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Click Here for More Information . . . |
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| H-2B COUNT: H-2B Cap Count Reached for FY 2009. |
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
(CIS) announced July 30, 2008 that it has
received a sufficient number of petitions to
reach the congressionally mandated H-2B cap
for the first half of Fiscal Year 2009
(FY2009). CIS is hereby notifying the
public that July 29, 2008 is the "final
receipt date" for new H-2B worker petitions
requesting employment start dates prior to
April 1, 2009. The "final receipt date" is
the date on which CIS determines that it
has received enough cap-subject petitions to
reach the limit of 33,000 H-2B workers for
the first half of FY2009.
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For More Information, Click Here . . . |
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