US Immigration News

US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin accepting fiscal year 2013 H-1B visa applications on Monday 2 April 2012 for employment with a start date of 1 October 2012 or later. Current immigration law allows for a total of 85,000 new H-1B visas to be made available each government fiscal year. This number includes 65,000 new H-1B visas issued for overseas workers in professional or specialty occupation positions, and an additional 20,000 visas available for those with an advanced degree from a US academic institution.

US manufacturers are experiencing a shortage of skilled American factory workers and, in turn, have been going abroad to find workers to immigrate to the US.Following a recent increase in factory business, there has been a growing demand for machinists, tool and die makers, computer-controlled machine programmers and operators."These jobs are the backbone of manufacturing," said Gardner Carrick, senior director with the Manufacturing Institute. "These are good quality middle-class jobs that Americans should be training for."

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is finalizing its plan for a biometric data system to track when immigrants leave the US and immigrants who have overstayed their visas.Immigration officials have wanted to set up an exit system to track immigrants leaving the country even before the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

US Representative Bill Pascrell, Jr. is hoping that easier US visit visa regulations will lead to closer US-Poland relations. The congressman is hoping that there will be a policy change to allow Polish nationals to be added to the US Immigration's Visa Waiver Program.The bill, entitled the Enhanced Security and Reform Act is also backed by Representative Mike Quigley, along with five other co-sponsors of the bill.

The US passed new legislation that would add Israel to the list of countries eligible for E-2 temporary foreign investor visas. The legislation was approved by the US House of Representatives Judiciary Committee this week.Representative Howard Berman introduced the legislation last month which was supported by several other Representatives who are part of the Foreign Affairs Committee as well as Rep. Zoe Lofgren, the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee's immigration policy subcommittee.

The US Embassy in Lisbon, Portugal announced from 1 March 2012, they are no longer processing immigrant or diversity visa applications. All US visa applications from Portuguese nationals will need to be submitted to The US Embassy in Paris, France.