Dear Readers:

We hope you all had an enjoyable Thanksgiving. We still don’t have concrete news to report on Comprehensive Immigration Reform, but all indications are that no major immigration legislation will pass in the lame duck session of Congress that begins next week. The only bill which seems likely to pass is the reauthorization of the Conrad 30 J-1 program for doctors and only because that bill has passed the House Judiciary Committee and has no controversial provisions. But even that bill may not make it through this session.

Instead, we’re likely to see a major effort to get immigration legislation through in the next Congress which will be sworn in after the new year. According to this morning’s Boston Globe, President Bush has been privately reaching out to the Democratic leaders in Congress regarding pushing legislation through as soon as possible. According to the Globe, the President is getting a warm response. Senator Kennedy is quoted in the article as saying that Democratic and Republican leaders in the Senate have already been meeting to hammer out a plan to move a new immigration reform bill next year. The target for passage would be mid-2007. The Globe also reports that a meeting will take place this week with a dozen Senators from both parties and will lay out further details of the plan. Congressional staffers also told the Globe reporter that the Senate would likely use the bill passed last summer as a starting out point for a new bill.

*****

In firm news, we are very pleased to formally announce the formation of VisaLaw International. Visalaw International is the first global alliance of immigration lawyers. Siskind Susser Bland, P.C. is the American firm in the network that so far extends to fourteen countries on six continents. You can learn more about VisaLaw International later in this issue as well as by going to www.visalawint.com.

*****

I also have started a new blog for immigration lawyers that focuses on technology and law office management. The blog is intended to be the companion to the tech column I write for Immigration Law Today, the magazine published by the American Immigration Lawyers Association. You can check it out at http://gregstips.blogspot.com.

*****

As always, we remind readers that if they are interested in Siskind Susser handling their immigration matters, you can call our office at 901-682-6455 to set up an appointment. Have a great weekend!

Regards,

Greg Siskind