HEALTHCARE IMMIGRATION LEADERSHIP ROUNDTABLE | JUNE 20, 2003
Hammond Law Group, LLC will host a Healthcare Immigration Leadership Roundtable in New Orleans on Friday June 20, 2003. This invitation-only event will provide a unique forum for well-known immigration attorneys who have demonstrated considerable accomplishment within the specialty niche of healthcare immigration to meet and discuss issues facing the foreign nurse recruiting industry.
http://www.hammondlawfirm.com/alerts/press_release6.10.03.htm

CGFNS REQUIREMENTS (STATE LISTING)
CGFNS routinely publishes a list of each state's CGFNS requirements. This exclusive list contains the requirements for initial licenses and endorsements and was recently added to the Hammond Law Group, LLC Immigration Services Portal.
http://www.hammondlawfirm.com/medmonitor/cgfns_state_requirements.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF STATE TO INTERVIEW MOST NIVs
All consulates have been instructed to significantly scale back the practice of waiving interviews for many nonimmigrant visa applicants. In turn, we expect that interview scheduling queues will lengthen. Nonimmigrant visa classes compelled to attend personal interviews include many of the most popular visa classes such as H-1B, L-1, O-1, B-1, and F-1.
http://www.hammondlawfirm.com/alerts/05.27.03alert.htm

IELTS TO RESUME CHINESE TESTING
International English Language Testing System recently announced that it will resume testing in China beginning June 21, 2003.
www.ielts.org

FEATURED ARTICLE
Mike Hammond, the Principal & Founder of Hammond Law Group, recently published an article which highlights challenges and strategies for obtaining an H-1 visa for a professional nurse. This article has been featured in Matthew Bender’s Labor Law Bulletin.
http://www.hammondlawfirm.com/publications/obtaining_h1_nurses_article.htm

NEW RULE CONCERNING PHYSICIAN SHORTAGE
The Department of Health and Human Services published a new rule permitting applications for a waiver of the two-year home residence requirement (§212(e)) for physicians in shortage areas.
http://www.ilw.com/lawyers/colum_article/articles/2003,0613-siskind.shtm

SARS ALERT: CGFNS CLOSES TORONTO EXAM CENTER FOR JULY
Due to the SARS epidemic, CGFNS recently announced that they will close their Toronto center for the July exam. All applicants will be granted their second exam center choice or switched to the November exam. It is expected that the center will reopen soon.
www.cgfns.org

CGFNS OPENS NEW CENTER: MONTERREY, DELHI
Beginning with the November exam, CGFNS will accept applicants at its new center in Monterrey, Mexico and Delhi, India. The deadline for reregistering for the November exam is August 13, 2003.
www.cgfns.org

BCIS MOVING FORWARD ON ELECTRONIC FILINGS
Earlier this month, the BCIS began accepting forms I-90 and I-765 electronically. They also announced that Form I-140 would be among the additional ten forms designated for electronic filing to be implemented over the next three years.
www.bcis.gov

HAMMOND LAW GROUP, LLC TO ATTEND AILA ANNUAL MEETING | JUNE 18-22, 2003
Hammond Law Group is pleased to announce that it will be sending all of our Healthcare Group attorneys to the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) annual meeting in New Orleans. Shortly afterwards we will publish a comprehensive review of the conference. In the past the federal government has used the annual conference as the platform to announce major regulatory changes and amendments.
http://www.aila.org