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Immigration Alerts, Medical Monthly Monitor and Business Immigration Quarterly.
http://www.hammondlawfirm.com/mailing_list.htm

JUDY PENDERGAST TO JOIN HAMMOND LAW GROUP
Judy Pendergast, Director of Marketing at CGFNS for the past four years, is joining Hammond Law Group in July. As a former nurse for 20 years and a licensed attorney, Judy will handle healthcare immigration cases. Please join us in welcoming Judy to the HLG team.
http://www.cgfns.org/sections/about/profiles.shtml

EB3 UNAVAILABLE FOR ALL EXCEPT SCHEDULE A OCCUPATIONS
The Department of State has released the July Visa Bulletin which shows "unavailability" for all countries in the third preference category for employment cases. Fortunately, Schedule A occupations (Registered Nurses and Physical Therapists) are exempt due to the recent legislation granting 50,000 visas to Schedule A occupations.
http://www.hammondlawfirm.com/alerts/06.14.2005healthcare_alert.htm

DOS SEGMENTS SCHEDULE A OCCUPATIONS
Soon after the recent legislation that issued an additional 50,000 visas to Schedule A occupations, the Department of State updated the Visa Bulletin to reflect a separate category for Schedule A occupations. The Visa Bulletin shows the category for Schedule A cases as "C" or "Current" which represents no backlog.
http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/bulletin/bulletin_2539.html

H-1B's STILL AVAILABLE
The USCIS has reported that they have not yet reached the H-1b cap for next fiscal year or for the U.S. Master's degree exception for this fiscal year. To date, the USCIS has received approximately 30,000 H-1b's toward next years cap and only approximately 10,000 of the possible 20,000 available for graduates with U.S. Master's degrees or higher.
http://www.hammondlawfirm.com/alerts/06.16.2005_alert.htm

TEXAS BOARD OF NURSING: NO MORE CGFNS CERTIFICATES
Effective April 11th, Rule 217 of the Texas nurse licensing rules was amended to allow three organizations to provide credential evaluation services (CES). The TBON will not accept the CGFNS certificate after August 31, 2005.
http://www.bne.state.tx.us/

Educational Records Evaluation Service, Inc. (ERES) (916)921-0790, edu@eres.com, www.eres.com
International Education Research Foundation, Inc. (IERF) (310)258-9451, info@ierf.org, www.ierf.org
Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) (215)349-8767, info@cgfns.org, www.cgfns.org

CTIHS MEETING A SUCCESS
The Coalition to Improve Healthcare Staffing met in Salt Lake City in June during the annual conference of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. The group, which consists of more than 30 healthcare immigration attorneys across the U.S., led the fight to eliminate retrogression for Registered Nurses and Physical Therapists. At the annual meeting, the group discussed legislative goals for a temporary visa option for nurses. If you are interested in contributing to the effort, please email Chris Musillo at cmusillo@hammondlawfirm.com.
http://www.hammondlawfirm.com/alerts/05.04.2005healthcare_alert.htm

LOBBYING EFFORTS CONTINUE
The Spectrum Group is continuing to meet with the American Hospital Association regarding healthcare immigration legislation. The groups are meeting this month to discuss possible long term lobbying strategies including a temporary visa for registered nurses. If you are interested in participating in the latest advocacy initiative, please contact Chris Musillo [cmusillo@hammondlawfirm.com]. We are actively seeking contributions, in money or in kind, for our latest effort.
http://www.aha.org/aha/index.jsp

NYLJ: NURSES AND PTs "REAL WINNERS" IN REAL-ID ACT
A June 27, 2005 story in the New York Law Journal calls nurses and physical therapists winners under the REAL ID Act. The REAL ID Act increased the Nurses and Physical Therapists visa quota by 50,000.
http://store.law.com/nylj_results.asp?lqry=Yale-Loehr&x=16&y=6

HLG TO EXHIBIT AT NAHCR CONFERENCE
HLG attorneys Harlan Simon and Sherry Neal will be attending the National Association of Healthcare Recruiters Conference in San Francisco from July 6th through July 8th. We welcome you to stop by the Hammond Law Group booth if you are attending the conference.
http://www.nahcr.com/meetings.asp

HLG ATTORNEY AN AILA LEADER
HLG attorney Sherry Neal has been re-appointed to the national healthcare committee of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). She was also elected Chair of the Ohio Chapter of AILA.
http://www.hammondlawfirm.com/bios/sln_bio.htm