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USCIS published a Supplemental Guide providing guidance for Federal contractors on the E-Verify rule. The E-Verify language in the regulation took effect on September 8, 2009.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is reminding federal contractors and subcontractors that effective today, they 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. 

Visa bulletin summarizes the availability of immigrant numbers during October.

The Department has published in the Federal Register a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on the Temporary Agricultural Employment of H-2A Aliens in the United States. The Department is accepting comments on the proposed rulemaking until October 5, 2009.

To read the full text of the NPRM and to find out about the submission of comments, please check attachment.

To qualify for one of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Trusted Traveler Programs, all applicants must voluntarily undergo a thorough background check against criminal, law enforcement, customs, immigration, agriculture, and terrorist indices to include biometric fingerprint checks, and a personal interview with a CBP Officer.

As of August 28, 2009, approximately 45,100 H-1B cap-subject petitions and approximately 20,000 petitions qualifying for the advanced degree cap exemption had been filed. USCIS will continue to accept both cap-subject petitions and advanced degree petitions until a sufficient number of H-1B petitions have been received to reach the statutory limits, taking into account the fact that some of these petitions may be denied, revoked, or withdrawn.

USCIS will accept the I-693 medical exam form with the 06/05/08 revision date, in spite of the 08/31/09 expiration date. This will continue till OMB approves the revised form.

An advance copy of technical changes contains a correction to the H-2B labor certification process. To be published in the Federal Register September 3, 2009.
The Final Rule re-engineers the application filing and review process by centralizing processing and by enabling employers to conduct pre-filing recruitment of United States (U.S.) workers.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is reminding federal contractors and subcontractors that effective Sept. 8, 2009, they will be required to use the E-Verify system to verify their employees’ eligibility to work in the United States. In July, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano strengthened employment eligibility verification by announcing the Administration’s support for the regulation that will award federal contracts only to employers who use E-Verify to check employee work authorization.

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) would like to clarify to associations and their members certain regulatory requirements for filing petitions for H-2B classification on behalf of foreign workers. We are issuing this clarification so that the public can be better informed of filing requirements and avoid unnecessary denials of individual petitions that may be otherwise approvable. We have noticed a particular type of filing error in many H-2B petitions filed by certain associations on behalf of their members.