Healthcare Blog

On July 9, 2009, the Senate unanimously passed an amendment which extended the Conrad-30 program for an additional 3-year period.

http://www.senate.gov/galleries/pdcl/index.htm

Under the “Conrad 30″ program, each state health department may submit a request directly to the Department of State (DOS) to initiate the waiver process for a J-1 medical doctor. This request enables J-1 doctors to obtain a waiver of the two-year foreign residence requirement, if DOS submits a favorable recommendation to USCIS and will generally be granted as long as there are no underlying concerns. Once the waiver is granted, J-1 doctors must practice medicine for at least three years in a medically underserved shortage area or areas. The Department of Health and Human Services designates the medical shortage areas.
The Conrad 30 (originally Conrad 20) program was originally established in 1994 to address the shortage of qualified doctors in medically underserved areas, and has been extended several times since then. In 2004, Congress amended the program to exempt J-1 doctors who received a Conrad 30 waiver from the annual H-1B numerical limitation (otherwise known as the “H-1B cap”), as these doctors must complete their required three-year period of service as H-1B nonimmigrants.

For more information about J-1 waivers, please contact the Hammond Law Group.

H-1B Visas are still available!

Today, the USCIS released on its website an H-1B visa cap count update. With regards to H-1b visas, the report states the following:

As of July 10, 2009, approximately 44,900 H-1B cap-subject petitions and approximately 20,000 petitions qualifying for the advanced degree cap exemption had been filed. USCIS will continue to accept both cap-subject petitions and advanced degree petitions until a sufficient number of H-1B petitions have been received to reach the statutory limits, taking into account the fact that some of these petitions may be denied, revoked, or withdrawn.

For more information, please contact the Hammond Law Group, or visit http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=138b6138f898d010VgnVCM10000048f3d6a1RCRD&vgnextchannel=91919c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD

If not, it’s time for an internal audit or an external audit performed by the Hammond Law Group! Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) announced yesterday that the office will send audit letters to 652 businesses throughout the U.S. to determine whether they are complying with employment verification laws and regulations.

As stated on the ICE News Release, “Employers are required to complete and retain a Form I-9 for each individual they hire for employment in the United States. This form requires employers to review and record the individual’s identity document(s) and determine whether the
document(s) reasonably appear to be genuine and related to the individual. The 652 businesses being presented with a [Notice of Intent] today for a Form I-9 audit have been selected for inspection as a result of leads and information obtained through other investigative means. Due to the ongoing, law enforcement sensitive nature of these audits, the names and locations of the businesses will not be released at this time.” (http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0907/090701washington.htm)

For more information on the I-9 Audits, please visit the ICE website at www.ice.gov or contact the Hammond Law Group.