ANNOUNCING HAMMOND LAW GROUP+TORONTO

Better Exchange through Partnership
Hammond Law Group, LLC has opened a branch office downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada.  The new office was opened in conjunction with an expanded service offering through Hammond Law Group+Toronto which is focused on partnering with healthcare recruiters, facilities and staffing companies, and healthcare professionals.
View Announcement: http://www.hammondlawfirm.com/e_announcement_toronto.htm

Download Adobe PDF Brochure: http://www.hammondlawfirm.com/toronto_summary.pdf

Request a tour: http://www.hammondlawfirm.com/toronto_tour.htm

 

HLG TO PRESENT AT MARSKELL'S HEALTH CAREERS INTERACTION 2006

Members of HLG's Healthcare Team will be featured speakers and attending Health Careers Interaction 2006, Toronto, Canada. The event runs from February 16-18, 2006. http://www.hammondlawfirm.com/toronto_events.htm

 

FREE EDUCATIONAL SEMINAR FOR CANADIAN HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS WHO WANT TO WORK IN THE U.S.

Thursday, February 16th @ 7:00PM EST in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Mike Hammond, Judy Pendergast, and Cindy Unkenholt of HLG will be presenting a free seminar in the new HLG Toronto office.  Topics will include VisaScreen and state licensure issues, how an immigration attorney can help, and various immigration options such as TN visas, green cards, and the H-1(b).

RSVP to Michael Shawn McCabe at msm@hammondlawfirm.com or phone +1 (513) 381-2011 Ext. 248

See the updated HLG Event Calendar at: http://www.hammondlawfirm.com

REPORT: USCIS TO ALLOW STAFFING COMPANIES TO POST AT HQ
A change in policy issued by USCIS via an AILA Q&A appears to clear the way for staffing companies to revert to prior practice and post Notices of the Filing of Applications for Permanent Residency at staffing companies' headquarters.
http://www.hammondlawfirm.com/alerts/01.03.2006_alert.htm

DOS ADVISES ON RETROGRESSION OF IV NUMBERS
The Department of State (DOS) recently gazed into its crystal ball and made some predictions about retrogression. These predictions are helpful, but also give the reader a sense of the lack of precision inherent in such an unwieldy system. The overwhelming conclusion that can be drawn from their gazing is that demand for immigrant visa numbers has decreased in recent months.
http://www.hammondlawfirm.com/alerts/1.27.2006_alert.htm

H-1B MASTERS QUOTA REACHED
USCIS has announced that it has filled the quota for H-1B professionals seeking an exemption under the U.S. Masters Degree exception. There are 20,000 visa approvals allowed under this exemption. Only "cap-subject" cases are affected by this quota.
http://www.hammondlawfirm.com/alerts/1.18.2006_alert.htm

CGFNS TO REQUIRE PHOTOS
Effective January 1, 2006. CGFNS is requiring the VisaScreen applicant's photo to be placed on the Certificate. Prior to this time, CGFNS has encouraged photos of the applicants but issued the Certificate if they were unavailable. Applicants who have not already done so, need to send in three pass-port size photos to CGFNS. They should be sure to include their name and CGFNS ID number.
http://www.cgfns.org/sections/prog/visa.shtml

NCSBN RECOMMENDS UPDATED ENGLISH-PASSING SCORES
The NCSBN is recommending that the Federal and State government agencies with authority over nurse licensing and visas update their current English-passing scores to reflect modern examination trends. The changes are not significant. The main question will be if USCIS and DHS are willing to revisit the standards.  A secondary issue is whether individual state boards of nursing will adapt these new scores as a requirement for licensure.
http://www.ncsbn.org/pdfs/positionlangTemplate.pdf

PHILA BIZ JOURNAL: LOOKING LOCALLY TO CURE THE NURSE SHORTAGE

Statewide, Pennsylvania health-care providers continue to struggle with a nursing vacancy rate hovering around 9 percent. Federal health officials have projected the rate could climb to 30 percent in Pennsylvania by 2020, which would translate into more than 40,000 nurse vacancies at hospitals. How can Philadelphia areas cope? http://www.bizjournals.com/industries/health_care/hospitals/2006/01/09/philadelphia_story2.html?page=1

HLG's SHERRY NEAL TO SPEAK AT ILW.COM PHONE SEMINAR

HLG's Sherry Neal has once again been selected to speak at an ILW.com phone seminar on Healthcare Immigration. Other featured speakers included Donna Richardson of CGFNS.

http://www.ilw.com/seminars/january2006.shtm

 

PROCESSING TIMES CHART  

 

PRIORITY DATES  

	All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed	CHINA	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIPPINES
Employment-Based
1st	C	01JAN03	01FEB04	C	C
2nd	C	01APR02	01AUG01	C	C
3rd	22APR01	22APR01	01JAN00	15MAR01	22APR01
Schedule A Workers	C	C	C	C	C
Other Workers	01OCT01	01OCT01	01OCT01	01OCT01	01OCT01