San Francisco Here We Come
Hammond Law Group is pleased to announce a Symposium on International Recruitment of Health Care Workers on Friday, October 24, 2008. The Symposium is free to all clients and friends of the firm.

Interested in attending?  Click the link and join us.
http://www.hammondlawfirm.com/hc_symposium_10_2008.htm 

House and Senate Let Us Down
The Senate and House have failed to pass positive Schedule A legislation.  With Congress ready to head back to their districts for the final push before the November election, there is virtually no chance of any Schedule A visa legislation before the November election.  There are growing rumors that Congress may come back for a “lame duck session” in November. Legislation, such as ours, may be passed at that time. If the lame duck session is not fruitful, it will be 2Q 2009, at the earliest, before any new Schedule A visa legislation will be considered.
http://hammondlawgroup.blogspot.com/2008/09/and-off-again.html 

Menendez Legislation
Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., introduced legislation allowing unused family and worker visas from previous years to be made available for current use, a day after a heated debate over a similar bill in the House Judiciary subcommittee.
http://news.mywebpal.com/partners/680/public/news927911.html

Phil Star: No Increase in Nurses Pay
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III acknowledged before the House appropriations committee that no funds have been allocated to upgrade the salary of government nurses, most of whom have opted to work for better pay in hospitals abroad.
http://www.philstar.com/archives.php?aid=20080922146&type=2

NY Times: Legal Immigration, Anybody?
Every year Congress authorizes a certain number of permanent-resident visas, or green cards, for immigrants to come to work in the United States or to rejoin their families. And every year bureaucratic delays prevent a certain portion of those visas from being claimed.  The result? Every year thousands of potential green cards vanish, like unused cell phone minutes. The huge backlogs in legal immigration, which span years or even decades for applicants from some countries, continue to fester.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/03/opinion/03fri2.html

Int’l Herald Tribune: West Takes Needed Medical Workers
Some specialists say the health crisis in such countries is being exacerbated as Western countries relax stringent immigration regulations to attract doctors and nurses. Doing so helps the West's flagging health systems while saving money on expensive training.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/10/01/asia/medical.php?page=1

MSNBC: Philippines Eyes ‘Election of the Century’
The Philippines has perhaps the strongest historic ties to the U.S. of any country in Asia.  So there is a strong interest in the American election, with two recent events underlining just how dependent the Philippines is on outside forces, particularly from the U.S.
http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/10/01/1464066.aspx

NY Times: Towns Need Doctors, and the Doctors Need Visas
Many of the doctors, residents at New York City hospitals, had come from abroad on visas, including the restrictive J-1 “exchange visa,” which requires them to return home for two years once they finish their studies unless they can get a waiver to work in a medically underserved area.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/01/nyregion/01doctor.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin