H-1B filing date approaches. Employers will be able to submit cap-subject H-1B petitions on April 1, 2010, for the fiscal year (FY) 2011 H-1B program. The numerical limitation, or cap, for FY 2010 was reached in December 2009. Beneficiaries of cap-subject petitions may begin employment as early as October 1, 2010. Employers recruiting abroad or who have hired individuals for F-1 "Optional Practical Training" should prepare to have their petitions... Read More

The Department of Labor's (DOL) Employment and Training Administration and Wage and Hour Division have published a final rule (PDF) effective March 15, 2010, affecting various aspects of the temporary agricultural employment of H-2A workers. In response to the proposed rule, the DOL received comments from a broad range of constituencies for the H-2A program, including individual farmers, farm workers, farm associations, farm worker advocate gro... Read More

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on February 25, 2010, that it has posted a revised Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status (Form I-485) and changed the filing locations. Beginning February 25, 2010, most applicants must submit the I-485 to a USCIS Lockbox facility, depending on the eligibility category under which they are filing, as provided in the form instructions. USCIS Service Centers will f... Read More

Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, introduced legislation on February 24, 2010, to help immigrant entrepreneurs secure visas to the United States. The "StartUp Visa Act of 2010" would allow an immigrant entrepreneur to receive a two-year visa under a new EB-6 category, drawing from existing EB-5 visas, if he or she can show that a qualified U.S. invest... Read More

The Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration (ETA) has announced (PDF, includes a state-by-state table of AEWRs for 2010) the new 2010 Adverse Effect Wage Rates (AEWRs) and the 2010 maximum allowable meal and travel subsistence charges applicable to employers seeking to employ H-2A nonimmigrant workers to perform agricultural labor in the United States on a temporary or seasonal basis. The AEWR serves as the floor for the agri... Read More

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has released the latest updated list of Student and Exchange Visitor Program approved schools. The list is available at http://www.ice.gov/doclib/sevis/pdf/ApprovedSchools.pdf.... Read More

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has provided guidance for processing and adjudicating the Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker (Form I-129) filed on behalf of H-1B specialty occupation and H-2B temporary nonagricultural workers in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) and Guam. The memo notes that H-1B and H-2B workers in the CNMI and Guam are exempt from the numerical limitations, or caps, for these categories. ... Read More

Canada welcomes approximately 250,000 new immigrants each year, which represents the highest per capita immigration in the world. The majority of those who immigrate to Canada apply to do so under Canada's Federal Skilled Worker Class Program or under one of the Provincial Nominee Programs for those chosen/selected by one of Canada's provinces or territories. Canada's Federal Skilled Worker Class Program is a points-based system. Points are awa... Read More

On January 29, 2010, Mexico's National Migration Institute published its Manual of Criteria and Migration Procedures ("Manual de Criterios y Trámites Migratorios del Instituto Nacional de Migración" or "Manual"). The Manual will be enforced as of May 1, 2010, throughout the 32 delegations of the National Migration Institute across the country. The intention of the National Migration Institute is to clarify, streamline, and simplify processing ... Read More

The Australian government has announced it is reforming the permanent skilled migration program to ensure that it is more responsive to the needs of industry and employers and better addresses the nation's future skill needs. The reforms will deliver a demand- rather than supply-driven skilled migration program that meets the needs of the economy in sectors and regions where there are shortages of highly skilled workers, such as healthcare, engin... Read More