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OPENERS
Dear Readers:  
I'm often asked by clients if hiring my law firm can help them speed up their cases. To be honest, lawyers really can only speed up processing in most cases simply by preparing the case properly and choosing the correct and best strategy. But we generally cannot make the government work faster. What has changed in the recent past is moves by the INS, the Department of Labor and the State Department to introduce technology and special premium fee programs that can make cases move much faster, and we have now been able to find faster routes to processing for our clients. Examples of innovation that have helped immigrants include:  
* The INS premium processing program for non-immigrant visas that allows for 15 day turnaround times in most cases in exchange for a 00 additional fee  
* Electronic filing of ETA-9035s in H-1B cases that now allow the Department of Labor to approve those forms instantly  
* The State Department's NVARS system for booking consular appointments in Canada and Mexico online  
Two big programs we've been waiting on that promise to speed processing in employment-based green card cases are making news this week – some good and some bad. The good news is that Monday we're expecting the release of regulations implementing the Department of Labor's PERM program. This will allow for labor certification cases to be filed electronically and form most of the cases to be approved instantly rather than waiting months or years for an adjudication. Cases which meet certain profiles will be flagged for normal processing as well as a certain number of cases randomly selected. While the basic requirements for getting a labor certification will remain the same - mainly showing that there are no available US workers in a field, paying the prevailing wage, etc. - the long processing times that have made this process so unattractive will now be much more of a thing of the past.  
Unfortunately, the INS, already under attack from all sides for its perceived shortfalls in the area of customer service, are not going to do much to change that image with the announcement this week that the long awaited extension of the premium processing program to I-140s has been shelved indefinitely. The INS had been very open about its plans to implement the program this month. At least normal I-140 times have started to improve, so the situation is not as dire as it was just a few months ago. But the premium processing program is one that has been very popular with the public and has raised millions and millions of dollars for the INS.   
We've gotten an advance copy of the PERM regulations just as we are wrapping up this week's newsletter. They are over 170 pages, so, rather than delay publishing today, we will post a special issue of the newsletter early next week after we've reviewed the document.  
We also have all of our regular features this week - the ABCs of Immigration Law, Legislative Update, News from the Courts, Ask Visalaw.com and more.  
We appreciate hearing from hundreds of you every week who have questions or are interested in hiring our law firm to handle your immigration work. We want to remind you of the various ways you can communicate with us:   
 - telephone or in person consultation (go to http://www.visalaw.com/intake.html or call 800-748-3819 or 901-737-3194 and ask for my assistant for scheduling)  
 - online individual chats (go to http://www.visalaw.com/chatlive.htm)   
 - weekly group chats at Monster.com  
 - email at gsiskind@visalaw.com  
Many people also do not realize that our law firm is typically capable of handling immigration matters anywhere in North America so please don't assume that just because we don't have an office in your home town we can't handle your work.
Hope you have a great weekend,

Greg Siskind