Dear Readers:

Just as we were going to press, we learned that the USCIS announced a partial extension of the implementation date for the VisaScreen regulation as they pertain to non-immigrant visa holders.  The extension only covers people working in the US and licensed as of September 23, 2003 and only TN visa applicants. We’ll report more on this in our issue next week.

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We have been reporting for several years on the coming implementation of the PERM efiling system for labor certifications. That new system is supposed to bring nearly instantaneous processing of labor certification cases. A proposed regulation was issued some time back and we have been expecting the final rules and implementation of the program in the late summer or early fall. As we report this week, the DOL has published its anticipated regulatory agenda for the second half of the year and that list includes a regulation to launch PERM as well as a regulation to consolidate the backlog of labor certification cases at a single DOL regional office. The DOL PERM proposed regulation was very controversial and it is not yet known what changes we will see.

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After 9/11, I remember the stories in the news reporting how the US was planning on winning the public relations battle in the war on terror.  So I’m left baffled trying to figure out how the Department of Homeland Security’s recent crackdown on visas and the entry journalists helps. Journalists have been denied visas at higher rates, they’ve been recently cutoff from visa revalidation (something that people on I visas heavily use), they have been detained upon entry and summarily shipped back home, and otherwise given anything but the red carpet. These are the people that tell the rest of the world what is happening in America and what Americans are like. Surely there is a way we can do the basic security screening and at the same time make these people feel welcome? The damage we do by not treating journalists with basic respect is far worse than any security benefit we gain. We report on some of these problems this week as well.

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Finally, as always, we remind readers that we're lawyers who make our living representing immigration clients and employers seeking to comply with immigration laws. 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