In May, as predicted, the India and China priority dates in the employment based second (EB-2) green card category retrogressed dramatically, from May 1, 2010, to August 15, 2007. The EB-2 category is for people with advanced degrees or who have exceptional ability. The Department of State’s Visa Office has announced that this category is now “Unavailable” for both India and China and will remain so for the remainder of fiscal year 2012.

If an I-485 Application for Adjustment of Status was filed while the person’s priority date was current, it will remain pending until the priority date is current again. Because the I-485 will remain pending, the applicant can continue to apply for interim benefits, such as work authorization and advance parole, while the priority date is unavailable.

The Visa Office includes the following information in the June Visa Bulletin:

Despite the retrogression of the China and India Employment Second preference cut-off date to August 15, 2007, demand for numbers by applicants with priority dates earlier than that date remained excessive. Such demand is primarily based on cases which had originally been filed with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for adjustment of status in the Employment Third preference category, and are now eligible to be upgraded to Employment Second preference status. The potential amount of such “upgrade” demand is not currently being reported, but it was evident that the continued availability of Employment Second preference numbers for countries other than China and India was being jeopardized. Therefore, it was necessary to make the China and India Employment Second preference category “Unavailable” in early April, and it will remain so for the remainder of FY 2012.  

Numbers will once again be available for China and India Employment Second preference cases beginning October 1, 2012 under the FY-2013 annual numerical limitations. Every effort will be made to return the China and India Employment Second preference cut-off date to the May 1, 2010 date which had been reached in April 2012. Readers should be advised that it is impossible to accurately estimate how long that may take, but current indications are that it would definitely not occur before spring 2013.  

USCIS has indicated that it will continue accepting China and India Employment Second preference I-485 filings during May, based on the originally announced May cut-off date.

WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, May 14, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) — Today Canada’s Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, Jason Kenney and U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano announced joint consultations with stakeholders on cross-border business-increasing efforts to facilitate business travel between the United States and Canada.

As outlined in the United States-Canada Beyond the Border Action Plan, announced by President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Stephen Harper in December 2011, the joint consultations will aim to 1) receive comments on the implementation of commitments included in the Action Plan and 2) identify and assess new ways to facilitate cross-border business travel in the short and medium terms.

“This Government’s top priority remains jobs, growth and long-term prosperity,” said the Honourable Vic Toews, Canada’s Minister of Public Safety. “These consultations will help improve cross-border trade and bring greater economic benefits to both Canada and the United States.”

“Billions of dollars worth of goods and hundreds of thousands of people cross our shared border every day. We want to hear directly from businesses on both sides of the border about how cross-border business travel could improve. We especially want to hear fresh ideas,” said Minister Kenney.

“DHS is committed to working with our Canadian partners to facilitate cross-border business, strengthening the economies of both our countries,” said Secretary Napolitano. “Through these joint consultations, we will receive direct feedback from businesses on how we can improve travel and trade at the border.”

Secretary Napolitano today attended the first joint consultation between representatives from several major companies and industry associations in Washington. Minister Kenney will attend the joint consultation in Toronto on May 24. Consultations will be facilitated by the Migration Policy Institute-a non-profit, non-partisan think tank based in Washington, D.C. Stakeholder comments regarding Canadian and U.S. government commitments made in the Action Plan to facilitate the conduct of cross-border business, as well as recommendations for additional improvements, will be accepted online starting today, until June 15, 2012.

A report on the outcomes of this process will be distributed to stakeholders and will be available on the DHS and Citizenship and Immigration Canada Web sites once consultations have been completed.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that as of April 27, U.S. employers have filed for 29,000 H-1B visas subject to the regular cap of 65,000 and 12,300 H-1B visas subject to the U.S. Master’s degree cap of 20,000 for FY2013. USCIS began accepting H-1B petitions on April 1, 2012. Approved petitions would authorize the employment of H-1B workers starting on October 1, 2012, or thereafter.

H-1B visas for this fiscal year are being used at a significantly increased rate from previous years. By comparison, for FY2012, 8,000 regular cap H-1B visas and 5,900 U.S. Master’s degree cap H-1B visas had been allotted by April 27, 2011. This increased rate of usage reflects the gradual improvement of the U.S. economy, as the demand for H-1B visas rises and falls in response to current economic conditions.

Implications

We recommend that employers contemplating the hire of an H-1B worker file the petition with USCIS as soon as possible. Although it not possible to predict the exact date that either H-1B cap will be reached, at the current rate of usage, H-1B visas in either category will likely be exhausted much earlier than last year, perhaps as early as this summer.

The Siskinds Immigration Group assists employers and individuals with their H1B visa filings.  Contact a member of our group today for assistance with your case.

CTVNews.ca Staff

Read more: http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Canada/20120509/immigration-reforms-kenney-120509/#ixzz1uTQeJaV3

To make Canada’s immigration system more flexible and even more responsive to our labour market needs, Citizenship and Immigration Canada intends to reduce the work experience requirement for eligible temporary foreign workers applying to stay permanently. One major benefit of the change would be to make it easier for skilled tradespersons working in Canada to transition to permanent residence as their work is often project-based and can be seasonal.

Currently, to be eligible to apply, applicants under the temporary foreign worker stream of the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) must have acquired 24 months of full-time work experience within the last 36 months. Under the proposed regulatory changes, the requirement would be reduced to 12 months of experience.

The announcement is the latest in a series Minister Kenney has made about transforming Canada’s economic immigration program into a fast and flexible system focused on jobs, growth, and prosperity.

Launched in 2008, the CEC offers a pathway to permanent residence – and eventually Canadian citizenship – for international students and temporary foreign workers with highly-skilled Canadian work experience. The CEC aims to support the economic success of immigrants by selecting those who are most likely to succeed in Canada’s labour market.

In 2011, a record number of people were admitted to Canada under the CEC. According to preliminary admissions data, 6,022 immigrants were welcomed under the CEC last year, a significant increase in admissions of more than 50 % from 2010. In 2012, 7,000 permanent residents are expected to be admitted through the CEC – more than ever before.

“The CEC is a key part of our plan for the future of immigration in Canada, and so it is gratifying to see the dramatic growth in the program since its inception,” said Minister Kenney.

Further details about the proposed changes to the Canadian Experience Class will be announced later in 2012.

As of April 20, 2012, approximately 25,000 H-1B cap-subject petitions were receipted. Additionally, USCIS has receipted 10,900 H-1B petitions for aliens with advanced degrees.  There are 65,000 standard H1B visas available and 20,000 available for aliens with advanced degrees from a U.S. institution.

The Siskinds Immigration Group processes hundreds of H1B petitions yearly for its corporate and individual clients.  Contact us now if you require assistance with your petition.

In his speech the Minister outlined a series of changes planned for the immigration system to make it faster, more flexible and focused on jobs to promote national economic growth and prosperity that can benefit all regions of Canada.

Proposed changes to the economic immigration system include eliminating the backlog of old Federal Skilled Worker applications, modernizing how selection is done under that program to better reflect the importance of younger immigrants with Canadian work experience and better language skills, creating a new Federal Skilled Trades program, and modifying the Canadian Experience Class to better facilitate the transition to permanent residence by successful skilled temporary workers.

Economic Action Plan 2012 also announced changes to CIC’s Business Immigration Programs, which will target more active investment in Canadian growth companies and more innovative entrepreneurs. Under proposed legislative amendments, CIC intends to introduce new small-scale programs on a temporary basis to try innovative approaches to economic immigration. Improvements to the existing Immigrant Investor Program (IIP) could be rolled out over a longer timeframe, as any changes would require extensive consultations with provinces and territories, particularly the province of Quebec, which operates its own Investor program under provisions in the Canada-Quebec Accord. Furthermore, adjustments to the current IIP would have to go through the regulatory process.

“The changes I’ve announced are to ensure that immigrants who come to Canada can contribute to the economy quickly,” Minister Kenney said. “And the cornerstone of success is being able to speak one of Canada’s official languages. That is why the government is also proposing changes to the citizenship rules so that new citizens have the language abilities they need to succeed.”

Under the proposed change, prospective citizens would be required to provide objective evidence of their language ability with their citizenship applications. Applicants would be able to demonstrate language ability by submitting a variety of evidence, including the results of approved third party tests, evidence of completion of secondary or post-secondary education in English or French, or evidence of achieving the appropriate language level in certain government funded language training programs.

“The proposed change would encourage citizenship applicants to ensure that they can speak English or French when they apply,” Minister Kenney said. “Language is an important component of the successful integration of immigrants and new citizens.”

Adequate knowledge of English or French is a requirement for citizenship in Canada and has been a requirement since the first Citizenship Act of 1947. The Government of Canada provides language training free of charge to permanent residents.

Halifax, April 19, 2012 — Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney spoke to the Halifax Chamber of Commerce today and outlined how a transformed immigration system would benefit Nova Scotians and all Canadians.

In his speech, the Minister outlined a series of changes to the immigration system that are expected to make it faster, more flexible and more focused on jobs, growth and prosperity.

“Canada is looking for workers who can fill our labour market needs now,” Minister Kenney said. “My vision for the immigration system is one that can get immigrants here with a job offer in hand, within months of applying to come to Canada.”

Proposed changes to the economic immigration system include:

• eliminating the backlog of old Federal Skilled Worker applications;
• modernizing how workers are selected under that program to better reflect the importance of younger immigrants with Canadian work experience and better language skills;
• updating federal business immigration programming related to investors and entrepreneurs;
• creating a new Federal Skilled Trades program;
• modifying the Canadian Experience Class to better facilitate skilled temporary workers’ successful transition to permanent residence;
• developing a “start-up” visa that would link immigrant entrepreneurs with investors;
• strengthening the assessment of education credentials of applicants to the Federal Skilled Workers Program;
• exploring, with provinces, territories and employers, approaches to developing a pool of skilled workers who are ready to begin employment in Canada; and
• setting minimum language requirements and shifting to a solely economic focus within the Provincial Nominee Program.

“These reforms would help Nova Scotians in tangible ways,” said Minister Kenney. “Together, they will make our immigration system faster and more flexible. This will help Nova Scotia and all regions of the country ensure that they are getting the people they need where and when they are needed.”

In his speech to the Chamber of Commerce today, Minister Kenney announced the results of a pilot program that tested the impact of vouchers on uptake of language services funded by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC).

Under the 2009 pilot, close to 2,000 newcomers in Ontario, Alberta and Nova Scotia were randomly sent vouchers, inviting them to take advantage of free language training at a local service provider in their community. This group was compared with over 24,000 newcomers with similar profiles who did not receive vouchers. The use of the vouchers saw an increased uptake of these services by almost 25 percent.

“We also discovered something else – that among all the newcomers monitored by CIC, over 98 percent of clients accessing their first language service did so in their province of destination during their first year of permanent residence,” said Minister Kenney. “This is important, as it supports our current approach to providing settlement funding based on where immigrants land in Canada.”

The pilot findings will be incorporated into CIC’s ongoing work to review its settlement programming and ensure that it continues to respond efficiently to both the needs of newcomers and the expectations of Canadians.

“Our Government’s top priority remains jobs, growth and long-term prosperity. Canada cannot afford to lose out in the competition for foreign entrepreneurs among immigrant-receiving countries,” said Minister Jason Kenney. “We need to proactively target a new type of immigrant entrepreneur who has the potential to build innovative companies that can compete on a global scale and create jobs for Canadians.”

Economic Action Plan 2012 highlighted Canada’s commitment to supporting entrepreneurs, innovators and world class research. It also announced the Government’s intention to build a fast and flexible economic immigration system whose primary focus is on meeting the new and emerging needs of the Canadian economy. This will include changes to Business Immigration Programs, which will target more active investment in Canadian growth companies and more innovative entrepreneurs.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) intends to consult with industry associations in the development of a “start-up” visa program for innovative entrepreneurs in the coming months. Linking immigrant entrepreneurs with private sector organizations that have experience and expertise working with start-ups will be important as newcomers often require outside assistance in successfully navigating the Canadian business environment.

This “start-up” visa initiative is an example of the type of small-scale programs that would allow CIC to try innovative approaches to economic immigration. Under the proposed changes, the Government could create new, short-term programs under the Economic Immigration Class. These programs would be limited to no more than 2,750 applications per year and would end after five years. If a program proves successful during the five-year trial period and the Department wishes to maintain it, CIC would be required to formally introduce the new economic class in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations.

“Our Government is committed to strengthening the immigration system to make it truly proactive, targeted, fast and efficient in a way that will sustain Canada’s economic growth and deliver prosperity for the future,” said Minister Kenney

USCIS announced that it continues to accept H-1B nonimmigrant petitions subject to the FY2013 cap. As of April 9, 2012, USCIS has received nearly 17,400 H-1B cap-subject petitions. Additionally, USCIS has receipted 8,200 H-1B petitions for aliens with advanced degrees