This issue of Siskind's Immigration Bulletin marks a milestone and a new beginning for publishing at the immigration law firm of Siskind, Susser, Haas & Devine. Next month will mark the beginning of our fifth year publishing this online newsletter. Those of you who have visited the newsletter archives on our web site at http://www.visalaw.com/bulletin.html can see every one of those issues.

While we did not appreciate it at the time, Siskind's Immigration Bulletin and our firm's web site made history when they debuted in mid-1994. The law firm web site was the very first immigration law web site (at least that we have been able to document) and the very first one on the planet for a solo lawyer (though we now have many attorneys and operate in three countries). By the end of 1994, there were still fewer than 10 law firms in America on the web. Now there are probably between 7,000 and 10,000. This newsletter was also the very first law firm newsletter distributed by e-mail. The birth of this law firm and this newsletter also mark the start of the virtual law firm - a firm that uses the Internet not only as the source of most of its new business, but also that uses the Internet in every aspect of its practice to better serve its clientele across the world.

We are most proud, however, of being able to use the Internet to help revolutionize how information on the law and the government is distributed to the public. We have received hundreds of kind letters from readers over the last several years noting that the easy access to free, reliable and easy to understand immigration information has been a life saver. Before the Internet, most people were stuck relying on the INS or US consulates (if they could get through or wait on line for hours) just to get information that is frequently incorrect. They might have been able to reach an immigration lawyer, but for people outside the US or people in areas without immigration lawyers, this task was tough. And a better informed public is making life easier for enlightened immigration lawyers. The better people understand just how complex the immigration process is, the more likely they are to seek the services of an immigration lawyer. And clients that better understand the immigration process are more likely to help us devise a better case strategy, are more likely to follow our advice, are more likely to get better results and are more likely to be satisfied with the services received.

Our early issues included just a few articles each and covered only legal and procedural issues in immigration. Over time, the newsletter has expanded both in size and the scope of coverage. We now must send out this newsletter in multiple parts because in order to accommodate the 40+ articles we now publish every month. We also cover all of immigration news, not just the legal aspects. Early on, we focused mainly on student and employment immigration issues. We now cover the broad range of immigration topics - from deportations to asylum to investor visas to National Interest Waivers.

Having all of our past issues within easy reach of our readers can also help one develop some perspective on the course of immigration law over the past few years. INS processing times have slowed and slowed and slowed. Immigration enforcement has gotten much tougher. Immigration and Nationality Act Section 245i (which allowed people to pay penalty fees in order to be able to process their green cards in the US) came and went (and may be coming back). And of course, the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Control Act of 1996, the 1996 Welfare Law, and the 1996 Anti-Terrorism Act dramatically changed the way every immigration lawyer practices.

Over time, the readership for this publication has grown dramatically. We now have more than 17,000 e-mail subscribers with more than 750 new ones signing on each month. Most of our original readers were university students and faculty members as well as people working in the technology sector. It is no coincidence that those people were much more likely to have Internet access in 1994 than the rest of the populace. And as Internet access has grown, so has the diversity of our audience. We reach readers in more than 106 countries who seem to have every possible type of immigration issue. And our readers are no longer just immigrants. We are read by hundreds of immigration lawyers, immigration professionals, reporters covering the immigration beat, human resource professionals, and, yes, quite a few employees of the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the State Department. Our readers are often our best source of tips on immigration stories and as our rising circulation means better coverage.

Finally, I would like to thank the numerous readers over the last few years who have been kind enough to pass on tips and suggestions. Many of our stories are the direct result of information being provided to us by our readers. And your feedback has led to the incorporation of a number of features both in the newsletter and on our web site.

This month also marks the debut of our new newsletter, Siskind's Immigration Professional. Just like Siskind's Immigration Bulletin, this niche newsletter will be free and distributed only on the Internet. The newsletter provides notices of job openings, reporters seeking story leads, conference announcements, book and software reviews and other announcements that will be of interest to immigration lawyers, paralegals, foreign student advisors and anyone else who handles immigration matters for a living. If you wish to be added to our email distribution list, just email us at immigration.professional@visalaw.com. be sure to tell us a little bit about what kind of work you do and where you work.

Very soon, visitors to our web site will see an important change. We will now be accepting financial support from advertisers. The site receives more than 8 million hits each year and the revenue from advertising will allow us to hire additional staff to provide even more information to our readers. We have ambitious site expansion plans and accepting advertising revenue will help us to achieve those goals. We have been testing the new site and been "tweaking" it to ensure that a) it loads as quickly the existing site and b) that the ads do not "clutter" the site and interfere with the visitor's experience. If you are interested in purchasing ad space, please contact us at advertising@visalaw.com and we will send you information..

We are pleased to announce the expansion of our attorney staff in our Memphis office. We welcome new associate Brenda Boudreaux, a University of Memphis Law School graduate. In addition to practicing immigration law, Brenda is a news reporter for the Black Entertainment Television network.

This month's issue contains on a broad range of issues including major news on National Interest Waiver petitions, a summary of a new scathing report of human rights abuses by the INS and an update on the health care worker regulations. And we also include all of our regular features including Border News, Consular Focus, Government Processing Times and Immigration and the Internet.

As always, we remind readers that this publication is put out by Siskind, Susser, Haas & Devine, an immigration law firm, and we are available for telephone consultations to answer immigration questions and discuss our representing individuals and employers in immigration matters. If interested, please go to http://www.visalaw.com/intake.html.