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The Department of State administers the Congressionally-mandated Diversity Immigrant Visa Program annually.  Section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) provides for a class of immigrants known as “diversity immigrants,” from countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States.  For fiscal year 2018, 50,000 diversity visas (DVs) will be available.  There is no cost to register for the DV Program.   

 Please check attached document to see the Diversity Visa Lottery Instructions for the Year 2018.

• On Aug. 25, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approved a revised Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification. USCIS must publish a revised form by Nov. 22, 2016. Employers may continue using the current version of Form I-9 with a revision date of 03/08/2013 N until Jan. 21, 2017. After Jan. 21, 2017, all previous versions of Form I-9 will be invalid.

USCIS urges prospective H-2B employers seeking to hire potential “returning workers” with employment start dates in fiscal year (FY) 2017 to continue to identify these workers and provide the H-2B Returning Worker Certification.

ETA is announcing a process change related to the submission of applications for temporary labor certification under the H-2B visa program intended to reduce burdens on employers and streamline the adjudication of temporary need.

 In response to statutory requirements, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will allow up to 12,998 nonimmigrants in fiscal year (FY) 2017 for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI)-Only Transitional Worker (CW-1) program.

Nearly $10 Million in Funding to Support Citizenship Preparation Programs in 21 States

WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today awarded nearly $10 million in grants under two funding opportunities to 46 organizations that will help permanent residents prepare and apply for U.S. citizenship. Located in 21 states, these organizations will receive federal funding to support citizenship preparation services for permanent residents through September 2018. 

The link https://www.uscis.gov/forms-updates lists updates to forms as USCIS publishes them, along with a brief explanation of the nature of the update. For forms updates older than 5 years, see USCIS Archive.

Immigrants all over the country are being targeted in scams. Don’t be one of the victims! Scammers may call or email you, pretending to be a government official. They will say that there is a problem with an application or additional information is required to continue the immigration process. They will then ask for personal and sensitive details, and demand payment to fix any problems.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is proposing a new rule, which would allow certain international entrepreneurs to be considered for parole (temporary permission to be in the United States) so that they may start or scale their businesses here in the United States.

UNCLASSIFIED 16 STATE 93130 AUG 19, 2016 SUBJECT:   New Gonorrhea Testing Requirements for Visa Applicants    1. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has updated its Technical Instructions for Gonorrhea for Panel Physicians:    http://www.cdc.gov/immigrantrefugeehealth/exams/ti/panel/technical- instructions/panel-physicians/gonorrhea.html.