Immigration Alert: September 2012

In this issue:

- DOS Issues October 2012 Visa Bulletin and Projects Future Demand for Immigrant Visas

- Congress Extends E-Verify as ICE Expands Worksite Enforcement Efforts

- NLRB Alleges Unfair Labor Practice for Unilaterally Implementing E-Verify

- Congress Extends EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, and USCIS Establishes a New Office to Oversee This Program

- Congress Extends Conrad 30 J-1 Waiver Program

- GAO's Welfare Ruling May Impact Immigration Rulemaking

- Second Circuit Strikes Citizenship Requirements for Professional Health Care Licenses

- DACA Beneficiaries Are Not Covered by Affordable Care Act

- New Developments in Immigration-Related Litigation

- Sharp Reduction in New State Immigration Legislation Should Help Employers

- CBP Discontinues Admission Stamps on Form I-20/DS-2019 and Proposes Elimination of I-94 Record

- United States and Russia Negotiate New Visa Agreement

- DOS Issues Instructions for the 2014 Diversity Lottery Program

- An excerpt from "DOS Issues October 2012 Visa Bulletin and Projects Future Demand for Immigrant Visas"

The Department of State ("DOS") has issued its Visa Bulletin for October 2012. This bulletin determines who can apply for U.S. permanent residence and when. The cutoff dates for family-based immigration continue to show backlogs and regressions due to the heavy demand for these visas. On the employment-based side, the October 2012 Visa Bulletin showed that the Second Preference ("EB-2") for China and India changed from "unavailable" to July 15, 2007, and September 1, 2004, respectively. The EB-2 cutoff date for the rest of the world advanced to January 1, 2012. In the October 2012 Visa Bulletin, the cutoff dates for the Employment-Based Third Preference ("EB-3") category are as follows: October 22, 2006, for all chargeability, including Mexico; February 8, 2006, for China; October 15, 2002, for India; and August 1, 2006, for the Philippines...