USCIS Announces Temporary Suspension of Premium Processing Service

USCIS Announces Temporary Suspension of Premium Processing Service for

Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker

BAD NEWS: Immigration Bill Crumbles; Stand Alone Bills For Nurses May be the Alternative

The Immigration Reform Bill which we have closely monitored these past months is dead.  The pro-immigration bill advocates failed to muster the required votes of 60 to push the immigration bill to a final vote at the US Senate.  (See related articles:  U.S. Senate kills Bush immigration reform bill; Lawmakers pursue remnants of failed bill) .

Immigration Bill Back in the Senate for Consideration

WASHINGTON (CNN) — The Senate should wrap up work on a sweeping overhaul of U.S. immigration laws before July 4, but its odds of passage remain uncertain, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Sunday.

DOLE: 11,000 nursing examinees in 2006 to undergo retake on June 11

As expected, around 11,000 nurses from the June 2006 Philippine board exam re-took nurse licensure examination last June 11, 2007.  In its press release, DOLE reports -

Close to 11,000 nursing graduates affected by the controversial June 2006 nursing board examinations will undergo a retake of the nursing licensure examinations scheduled on Monday, June 11, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) today said.

Top Ten Places in the USA for Minority Nurses to Live and Work

MinorityNurse reports on the Top Ten Places for Minority Nurses to Live and Work and summarized at Filipino Nursing Herald as follows –

Filipino RN’s Top Number of NCLEX Takers; Passing Rate 46.7%

NCSBN posted the statistics on the NCLEX Quarterly Examination Statistics showing that Filipino RN’s have the most number of NCLEX takers (5,076) as of March 2007 -

2007 First-Time Internationally Educated Candidates:
Top Five Countries (with respect to volume)1
Volume	Jan. – March	April – June	July – Sept.	Oct. – Dec.	2007 Total
1st	Philippines 5,076	Available in July 2007	Available in Oct. 2007	Available in Jan. 2008	Philippines 5,076
2nd	India 1,384				India 1,384
3rd	South Korea 600				South Korea 600
4th	Canada 201				Canada 201
	Cuba				Cuba
5th	168				168
1In this table, the count of first-time internationally educated candidates includes both RNs and PNs.

It will be recalled that, last February 2007, NCSBN announced that the NCLEX will be offered in the Philippines.

No Need for CGFNS in Michigan

The State of Michigan has recently passed a law doing away with the requirement of CGFNS for foreign-educated nurses.  Michiganvotes reports as follows:

Introduced by Rep. Hoon-Yung Hopgood on February 7, 2007, to eliminate the current requirement that foreign-educated nurses be certified by the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) before taking a standardized national examination that is already used by the state nursing board

Slideshow and Full Coverage on the Immigration Bill Debate

For those wanting to know more about the immigration reform issue, check out -

- Full immigraiton coverage from Yahoo! News

- Slideshow on the Immigration Bill Debate

- Immigration Debate at a Glance from CNN

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Mobile: 0917-6246637
E-mail addresses:
homer@alinsuglaw.com or
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Website: www.alinsuglaw.com

Immigration Bill Stalled; Senators Agree to Revive Immigration Bill

The move to get permanent relief on the issue of retrogression recently was put on halt as a result of a Senate vote which failed to get the necessary number to votes to advance in the 100-member US Senate.  In a Reuters report, Senate Leaders Revive Immigration Bill after being stalled as follows -

The bill, which ties tough border security and enforcement of workplace rules to a temporary worker program and a plan to legalize most of the 12 million illegal immigrants, was shelved last week after failing to win the 60 votes it needed to advance in the 100-member Senate.

Retrogression is over! At least until for a couple of months.

All I-140 petitions are now current based on the July 2007 US Visa Bulletin.  This is superb news for all Filipino nurses with pending petitions and are waiting for their interviews.

The pertinent portion of the July 2007 US Visa Bulletin is reproduced below:

	All Charge-ability Areas Except Those Listed	CHINA- mainland born	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIP-PINES
Employ-ment -Based
1st	C	C	C	C	C
2nd	C	C	C	C	C
3rd	C	C	C	C	C
Other Workers	U	U	U	U	U
4th	C	C	C	C	C
Certain Religious Workers	C	C	C	C	C
Iraqi & Afghani Translators	C	C	C	C	C
5th	C	C	C	C	C
Targeted Employ-ment Areas/ Regional Centers	C	C	C	C	C

USCIS set to increase fees by July 2007

USCIS announced the increases in filing fees in PDF format.  With increase in fees, USCIS expects to reduce processing time by 20% by the end of the fiscal year of 2009.   Likewise, USCIS projects a reduction of processing time for I-140 (Employment-Based Immigrant Visa) by the end of fiscal year 2008.  In its press release dated May 29, 2007 USCIS explained -

USCIS expects that the revenue from the new fee structure will lead to a 20 percent reduction in average application processing times by the end of fiscal year 2009, and

Spurs are back to the NBA Finals

Spurs are in the NBA finals and that’s music to my ears.  I’ve been a Spurs fan ever since they drafted Tim Duncan.  Spurs beat the tough but young and inexperienced Utah Jazz 4-1 in their best-of-seven western  conference finals.  Now, TD and his sidekicks Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili as well the rest of the “old-legs” get to have a week to rest while waiting for Cavs-Pistons (3-2) battle it out.

USCIS Advises Public Regarding Immigration Fraud and Proposed Immigration Reform Legislation

In line with my constant reminder to readers, the bill(s) on immigration reform are still under deliberation with the US Congress.  This means there is still NO NEW LAW on immigration.  To reinforce this, readers are urged to note the recent post by the USCIS -

USCIS would like to inform the public that, although the U.S. Senate is debating and considering immigration legislation (S. 1348), that bill has not become law. If immigration reform legislation does become law, USCIS will advise the public on how to proceed. Read more…