US Immigration News

A flood of applications for H-2B temporary worker visas will probably lead to the whole visa allocation of H-2B visas for fiscal year 2005 being used up in the next few months, according to figures released by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS).

Cosmetic changes have been made to US Permanent Resident Cards, also known as "green cards", the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) has announced.

President Bush has signed into law changes affecting the non-immigrant visa categories H-1B and L as announced by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS).

U.S. President George W. Bush told a press conference recently thatthe immigration system is not working and that he would push for atemporary guest worker program during his second term.

TheU.S. mainly has problems with its border to Mexico. There are severalcases every year with people being smuggled into the U.S. in trunks ofcars, sometimes suffocating.

After weeks of fighting, both the House of Representatives and the Senate passed a bill which implements the 9/11 Commission recommendations. President George W. Bush is expected to sign it into law next week.

The bill includes numerous immigration provisions. The number of Border Patrol agents would be increased by at least 2,000 per year for each of the next five years. Also, at least 8,000 beds each year would be added to house immigration detainees and suspected terrorists. In addition, visa application requirements would be tightened.

The US government has announced plans to block a shortcut that has allowed thousands of foreign nurses to get their work permits fast-tracked, a move that could worsen a nationwide shortage in nurses as of next year.

In an announcement Thursday, the State Department said the nurses - predominantly from the Philippines - will not be allowed after Jan. 1 to use the shortcut that has allowed them to begin working in U.S. hospitals as quickly as 60 days. Those applications could now take up to three years or more.