Dear Readers:

A major final regulation was released Friday for foreign health care workers seeking to work in the US. The rule implements legislation passed seven years ago as part of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996. That rule made health care workers inadmissible unless they are in possession of a valid credentialing document issued by an organization approved by the US government. That law has only been applied in immigrant visa applications. But it will begin to apply to non-immigrant visa applicants when the law takes final effect. The regulation is fairly comprehensive and will take a while for many to digest. However, we have provided a detailed summary in this week's issue that we hope readers find useful.

We also include an article on a topic about which most immigration lawyers and most of the public knows very little. This week in our ABCs of Immigration feature we discuss Western Hemisphere Priority Dates. This is a potential back channel for many people to get green cards much more quickly than through the better known means. We hope you find it useful.

We also include all of our regular weekly features this week and cover the rest of the news.

Finally, as always, we remind readers that we're lawyers who make our living representing immigration clients. We would love to discuss becoming your law firm. Just go to http://www.visalaw.com/intake.html to request an appointment or call us at 800-748-3819 or 901-682-6455.

Regards,

Greg Siskind