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Please find attached Details of USCIS National Stakeholder Meeting which was held on July 27, 2009.

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) proposed rule on the removal of HIV infection from its list of communicable diseases of public health significance - As of now with respect to the above proposed rule the Chicago Field Office has not received any guidance from HQ. Hence the office will not hold such applications in suspension until further notice.

 
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Application Support Center (ASC) stand-alone sites will move to a Monday through Friday schedule beginning Nov. 2, 2009.  Stand-alone ASCs are those which are not co-located with other federal offices and which previously operated Tuesday through Saturday.  All ASCs, both stand-alone and co-located sites, will continue to be open from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm.

The DOL released a memo to regional administrators and district directors regarding travel and visa expenses of H-2B workers under FLSA minimum wage laws. In January 2009, the Department ofHomeland Security delegated to Wage and Hour enforcement authority to ensure that H-2B workers are employed in compliance with the H-2B labor certification requirements. Wage and Hour issued regulations implementing this authority, 29 C.F.R. Part 655, which became effective on January 18,2009. Those regulations are applicable to applications for certifications filed on or after that date.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that the Office of Management and Budget has extended its approval of Form I-9 (Employment Eligibility Verification) to Aug. 31, 2012.  Consequently, USCIS has amended the form to reflect a new revision date of Aug. 7, 2009. 

Employers may use the Form I-9 with the revision date of either Aug. 7, 2009 or Feb. 2, 2009.  The revision dates are located on the bottom right-hand portion of the form.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano announced new directives to enhance and clarify oversight for searches of computers and other electronic media at U.S. ports of entry—a critical step designed to bolster the Department’s efforts to combat transnational crime and terrorism while protecting privacy and civil liberties.

[Federal Register: August 28, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 166)]
[Notices]
[Page 44376-44377]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr28au09-66]

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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

Agency Information Collection Activities: Form I-600/I-600A, Revision of a Currently Approved Information Collection; Comment Request

[Federal Register: August 28, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 166)]
[Notices]
[Page 44375-44376]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr28au09-65]

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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

Agency Information Collection Activities: Form I-485 and Supplements A and E, Revision of a Currently Approved Information Collection; Comment Request

Here is a document USDOL (Wage and Hour Division) is using to send to employees.  This outlines the factors USDOL is most interested in when investigating an employer.

As stated by "Indian Express" :

A proposal that will hit Indian IT companies the most, US software giant Microsoft Corporation has suggested a whopping fee of USD 10,000 (over Rs 5 lakh) for a new category of H-1B visas and USD 15,000 (more than Rs 7.5 lakh) for permanent residency or Green card.

This could raise a huge USD5 billion over a decade, it said.

Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano has extended Haiti’s Temporary Protected Status (TPS). Next week, the Department of Homeland Security will publish a notice in the Federal Register announcing this decision.

The Federal Register notice will provide additional guidance on:

The Department, in anticipation of the enactment of H.J.Res 117, which prohibits the Department from expending funds to implement the 2011 H-2B Wage Rule for the duration of that Continuing Resolution, will publish in the Federal Register a Final Rule extending the effective date of the 2011 Wage Rule to March 27, 2013.The Final Rule is posted on the Federal Register's web site September 28, 2012 and it is accessible here.

The Office of Foreign Labor Certification has posted updated program factsheets containing the FY 2012 selected statistics for the:

Please check the attachment. 

• What is the background of the Accreditation of English Language Training Programs Act and when was it passed?

• *USCIS wants to notify customers and stakeholders that some work that USCIS performs at the four USCIS service centers (Vermont, Nebraska, Texas and California) will be transferred to a Field Office or the National Benefits Center (NBC) in order to balance the overall workload with processing capacity. The chart below summarizes these changes.

WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) launched a Spanish-language version of I-9 Central, an online resource center designed to provide information and assistance related to the most frequently accessed form on USCIS.gov: Form I-9, Employee Eligibility Verification.

• Canadian TN Nonimmigrants

  On Oct. 1, 2012, USCIS will begin accepting the Form I-129, Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker, filed on behalf of Canadian citizens who are outside the United States and seeking classification as a TN nonimmigrant.

  With respect to the TN classification, USCIS currently only accepts Form I-129 in connection with a request to extend a TN nonimmigrant’s stay or to change a nonimmigrant’s status to TN.