DEMAND FOR NURSES RISING IN US

Nursing demand in the US has been negligible in the last few years. Fewer nurses have been retiring and facilities’ nursing needs have been stagnate. As a result facilities’ demand for nurses has been flat since the start of the recession. A recent survey says that it appears that this dormant period for nursing needs is over.

As demand for nurses rises, medical practices are paying more to hire them, UBM Medical’s Physician’s Practice 2012 Staff Salary Survey suggests.

Nurses and nurse managers saw average salary increases of 4 percent and 12 percent. Registered nurses posted a 6.6 percent vacancy rate in 2011, up from 4 percent in 2010. Hospitals had 950 RN job openings at the end of 2011 in one market, Cincinnati. Trends are likely similar across the US.

Foreign-trained nurses traditionally filled these needs but the twin-killing engine of retrogression and the recession has decimated the ranks of foreign-trained nurses.

Will the rebounding economy lead to a sensible immigration policy for soon-to-be badly needed nurses? That remains to be seen.

H-1B CAP COUNT: 32,500

The USCIS has just updated the H-1B Cap Count. The latest H-1B usage numbers are listed in the chart below. MU Law is also listing its estimated dates when the H-1B cap will be reached for each category. We will regularly update the projection.

H-1B Cap Count
Cap Type	Available	Received	Updated	MU Projection
Regular	65,000	32,500	5/4/2012	6/1/2012
US Masters	20,000	13,700	5/4/2012	5/20/2012

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Many healthcare professions ordinarily qualify for H-1B status, includingPhysical Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Speech Language Therapists, and some Registered Nursing positions.

International workers who are working in the U.S. on an H-1B visa with another cap-subject employer are not subject to H-1B cap. These cases are commonly referred to as “H-1B transfer” cases and may be filed at any time throughout the year.

Employees that need a "cap-subject" H-1B include:

* International students working on an EAD card under an OPT or CPT program after having attended a U.S. school

* International employees working on a TN may need an H-1B filed for them in order for them to pursue a permanent residency (green card) case

* Prospective international employees in another visa status e.g. H-4, L-2, J-1, F-1

* H-1B workers with a cap exempt organization

* Prospective international employees currently living abroad

DS-160 TIPS

A nonimmigrant visa (or temporary visa) is any visa that is not an immigrant visa (green card). Typical nonimmigrant visas include the H-1B, B-1/B-2, L-1, and F-1. If you click on the links, you will find details of each of these visa types.

For foreign nationals who are overseas, the process calls for a filing by the immigration attorney here in the US with the USCIS. Once approved, the USCIS issues an I-797, Notice of Action (Approval Notice). The chosen Consulate or Embassy is then notified of the approval and the Beneficiary makes an application with the Consulate or Embassy.

The applicant must complete a DS-160 Online Nonimmigrant Visa Application. The DS-160 is a confusing Application for some. The US Embassy in Kingston, Jamaica has produced a very helpful Slide Show to assist applicants. MU Law invites our clients and friends to review this before completing the DS-160.

H-1B CAP COUNT: 29,200

The USCIS has just updated the H-1B Cap Count. The latest H-1B usage numbers are listed in the chart below. MU Law is also listing its estimated dates when the H-1B cap will be reached for each category. We will regularly update the projection.

H-1B Cap Count
Cap Type	Available	Received	Updated	MU Projection
Regular	65,000	29,500	4/27/2012	6/1/2012
US Masters	20,000	12,300	4/27/2012	5/20/2012

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Many healthcare professions ordinarily qualify for H-1B status, includingPhysical Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Speech Language Therapists, and some Registered Nursing positions.

International workers who are working in the U.S. on an H-1B visa with another cap-subject employer are not subject to H-1B cap. These cases are commonly referred to as “H-1B transfer” cases and may be filed at any time throughout the year.

Employees that need a "cap-subject" H-1B include:

* International students working on an EAD card under an OPT or CPT program after having attended a U.S. school

* International employees working on a TN may need an H-1B filed for them in order for them to pursue a permanent residency (green card) case

* Prospective international employees in another visa status e.g. H-4, L-2, J-1, F-1

* H-1B workers with a cap exempt organization

* Prospective international employees currently living abroad

H-1B CAP COUNT: 25,000

The USCIS has just updated the H-1B Cap Count. The latest H-1B usage numbers are listed in the chart below. MU Law is also listing its estimated dates when the H-1B cap will be reached for each category. We will regularly update the projection.

H-1B Cap Count
Cap Type	Available	Received	Updated	MU Projection
Regular	65,000	25,000	4/20/2012	6/1/2012
US Masters	20,000	10,900	4/20/2012	5/20/2012

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DOJ SETTLES WITH HEALTHCARE STAFFING COMPANY FOR $100,000

The Department of Justice reached a settlement with Onward Healthcare resolving allegations of discrimination by Onward. The DOJ said that Onward posted discriminatory job advertisements on its home page and third party websites that limited its jobs to U.S. citizens. The Immigration and Nationality Act generally prohibits employers from discriminating on the basis of citizenship status unless required by law, regulation or government contract.

The settlement calls for Onward to pay $100,000 in civil penalties and to change internal policies to comply with federal law. The DOJ will also monitor Onward’s behavior for the next three years.

INDIA CHALLENGING US ON H-1Bs

American employers are not the only ones frustrated with the US government's application of the H-1B program. The Government of India is launching a formal complaint with the World Trade Organisation over the US' "highly discriminatory" practice of denying H-1B visas and charging excessive processing fees. Rahul Khullar, India's trade secretary says that the Indian government repeatedly has tried to get a mutually amicable resolution to the twin issues.

In the last two years American companies have seen the highest denial rates of H-1B and L-1 visa petitions, despite the fact that there has not been any legislative change by Congress or change to the USCIS' regulations.

These denial rates come on the heels of a 2010 fee hike that doubled processing fees for companies who file large numbers of H-1B or L-1 visas. The processing fees are paid regardless of whether the visas are approved or issued.

H-1B visas are used by healthcare employers to hire healthcare workers in shortage occupations such as Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Medicine, Speech Language Pathology, and some nursing specialties.

DOS CLARIFIES FEE REDUCTIONS

Earlier this month, the DOS announced a reduction in the fee bill price for immigrant visa applications. Some nonimmigrant visa fee charges increased. Their initial reports indicated that new fees would go into effect on June 27, 2012.

The DOS has now announced that the new reduced visa fee bill price is in effect starting today, April 13, 2012. The DOS will not refund any fees paid at the old, higher rate. Nonimmigrants who have already paid their lower rate have until July 12, 2012 to have their interview. Any nonimmigrants who have their interview after July 12, 2012 will be invoiced for the difference between the two rates.

MAY 2012 VISA BULLETIN

The Department of State has just released the May 2012 Visa Bulletin.

As expected, this Visa Bulletin retrogressed the India and China the EB-2 categories, after several months of big progressions. The EB-3 categories had their usual modest gains of a few weeks in all categories.

The Visa Bulletin confirmed that although the Indian and China EB-2 dates were retrogressed to August 15, 2007, it is expected that these dates will progress to the prior May 2010 date with the October 2012 Visa Bulletin. The October 2012 Visa Bulletin is the first visa bulletin of the 2013 fiscal year.

The full explanation from the May 2012 Visa Bulletin:

Due to the rapid forward movement of the cut-off date, demand for China and India Employment Second preference numbers has increased dramatically during recent months, and at a much faster rate than had been expected. Therefore, it has been necessary to retrogress that cut-off date to August 15, 2007 in an attempt to hold number use within the annual limit while maintaining availability for those countries that have not yet reached their per-country limit. Notices were included in the November, January, and February Visa Bulletins alerting readers to the possibility of such a retrogression. While corrective action has become necessary earlier than was anticipated based on the information available at the time cut-off dates were determined, it is hoped that readers are not caught off guard by this retrogression.

Should additional information regarding potential demand become available, it may be necessary to take additional corrective action at any time.

Every effort will be made to return the China and India Employment Second preference cut-off date to the previously announced April date of May 1, 2010. This will be done as quickly as possible under the FY-2013 annual limits, which take effect October 1, 2012. It will not be possible to speculate on the cut-off date which may apply at that time until late summer.

May 2012 Visa Bulletin
	All Other Countries	China	India	Mexico
EB-2	Current	15AUG07	15AUG07	Current
EB-3	01MAY06	01APR05	08SEP02	01MAY06

17,000 H-1Bs through April 4

The USCIS has just informed AILA that 22,323 cap-subject H-1B petitions have been received as of April 4, 2012. Approximately 25% of these cases are for U.S. advanced degrees. Based on this announcement, approximately 17,000 of the 65,000 “regular” H-1B cap-subject petitions have been filed and 5,500 “Masters” H-1B cap-subject petitions.

Last year, the USCIS reported that 17,400 “regular” H-1B cap-subject numbers had been used through June 29, 2011. It took about 4 and one-half months for the remaining 47,600 “regular” H-1B slots to be filled. If this year’s pace were to equal last year’s pace, that would mean that the H-1B numbers would be exhausted by mid-August.

However this year’s demand seems certain to be greater than that. Last year 15,000 “regular” H-1B cap-subject H-1Bs were filed in the final month (November 2011). If the November 2011 demand is a reasonable metric for usage projection, this year’s H-1B cap would be reached approximately June 1, 2012.

VISA FEE BILL PRICE DROPPING TO $405

Immigrant visa fees always seem to be on the rise and so it is welcome news to hear that the Business Immigrant Visa Fee Bill price will be dropping from $720 to $405, a decrease of 44 percent. The Fee Bill normally is paid during the National Visa Center stage of Consular Processing for overseas foreign-nationals seeking an immigrant visa. Many healthcare workers process their green card cases at Consulates because of the unavailability of H-1B visas for certain occupations.

This drop is Fee Bill price is great news for all EB-2 and EB-3 visa applicants and their family members. The new lower Fee Bill price is not immediate operative. It is expected to go into effect June 27, 2012 unless the Department of State receives negative comments. The Fee Bill decrease is one-part of an overall suite of price changes at Consulates and Embassies. Most of the other changes are slight increases in the price charged for other visa services.

H-1B CAP OPENS APRIL 2

The Fiscal Year 2013 (FY2013) H-1B cap season will begin on Monday April 2, 2012. For the last several years the H-1B cap season has averaged nine months before all 65,000 H-1B regular cap slots were used. Because of improvements in the US economy, MU Law expects that the 65,000 H-1B regular cap slots will be used by Summer 2012, perhaps as soon as May 2012.

MU lawyers have informally polled our clients and other AILA attorneys in an attempt to gauge the duration of this year’s H-1B season. Based on these conversations, MU Law's best estimate is that the H-1B visa quota will be exhausted in June/July of 2012, although some prognosticators think it could be reached in May 2012. We will make regular updates to our client base as the USCIS releases information about cap usage.

Additionally, MU Law expects that the 20,000 H-1B US Masters Cap will be used quicker than the H-1B regular cap. This is not a great concern because any US Masters Graduates who do not obtain a slot in the H-1B US Masters cap can apply for an H-1B regular cap slot.

Any cap-subject H-1B petition that is filed after April 1 allows the Beneficiary to begin working in H-1B status on October 1, 2012. Students who hold F-1 OPT student status can remain with valid work authorization through October 1, 2012, provided that their H-1B Petition is field and accepted by USCIS.

Because of the uncertainty in these estimates, MU Law urges all clients immediately to initiate H-1B cap-subject petitions. H-1B cap-subject petitions include:

· New overseas H-1B hires

· Beneficiaries on another nonimmigrant status, such as H-4, L-1, or F-1.

· H-1B workers who hold H-1B cap-exempt status by virtue of the filing of the H-1B with a University or research facility.

MAY VISA BULLETIN WILL RETROGRESS FOR SOME EB-2

The Department of State’s point man on the Visa Bulletin has confirmed for AILA that India and China EB-2 will retrogress to August 15, 2007, a dramatic retrogression from the recent progression of China and India EB-2 number. Charlie Oppenheim, Chief, DOS Immigrant Visa Control & Reporting, says that demand for the EB-2 numbers is high due to the progression of EB-2 dates from November 2011 – April 2012.

USCIS has informed Mr. Oppenheim that they will continue to “preadjudicate” adjustment applications received through April. The “preadjudicated” cases will be held by the State Department in the “pending” demand file. That way, the cases will be ready in October, or earlier, if the current number use pattern changes, and they are needed at the end of this fiscal year to assure utilization of the full employment-based permanent resident visa allocation.

The Department of State historically has progressed dates to stimulate demand in the visa numbers. That practice came under some criticism during the Summer 2007 “VisaGate” incident when the DOS progressed to ‘current’ all categories in response to the USCIS’ inability to approve any I-485, Applications for Adjustment of Status. This flooded the USCIS with 300,000 Applications in the Summer 2007, forcing USCIS to begin approving I-485 Applications. Since VisaGate the progression of visa number has been measured, until this accelerated EB-2 progression began in November 2011.

TB AWARENESS CAMPAIGN BY US EMBASSY - MANILA

The US Embassy in Manila has begun an awareness campaign about Tuberculosis (TB). About fifteen percent of all visa applications are denied or delayed as a result of high TB numbers. TB is the number one medical reason for the denial or delay of a visa application. All immigrant applicants must prove that they have been immunized against the major communicable diseases.

According to the Embassy, the Philippines has the ninth-highest TB rate in the world. TB is the sixth leading cause of death. About one hundred Filipinos die of the disease every day. If you are living in Manila and plan on immigrating to the US, please be sure to have your immunization records up-to-date. Indeed, even if you do not plan on coming to the US, it is a good idea to protect yourself.

The Embassy has posted a video on its Facebook page by Project Blue Balloons, which highlights this tragic disease.

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EB-2 EXPECTED TO RETROGRESS

For the last several months, the EB-2 immigrant (green card) visa numbers have progressed in a dramatic way. Indian and Chinese nationals with priority dates of 01MAY2010 or earlier are eligible to file their I-485 Applications. The November 2011 Visa Bulletin's EB-2 dates for India and China were 01NOV2007. This progression of priority dates has allowed many Indian and Chinese natives to file their I-485, Applications for Adjustment of Status.

This steady movement of priority dates is expected to end on either May 1, 2012 or June 1, 2012. At the AILA Midwest Regional Conference in Chicago, Charlie Oppenheim, Chief, Visa Control and Reporting at DOS, informed AILA Members that he will likely retrogress India and China-mainland born Employment-Based Second Preference priority dates to around August 2007, effective with either the May or June 2012 Visa Bulletin. This reflects the fact that many I-485 Applications have been filed since November 2011, taking advantage of these favorable priority dates.

All EB-2 Chinese and Indian natives with priority dates of 01MAY2010 of earlier are encouraged to file their I-485 Applications for Adjustment of Status before the inevitable retrogression in May or June.

APRIL 2012 VISA BULLETIN

The Department of State has just released the April 2012 Visa Bulletin.

This Visa Bulletin did not show any progress in the EB-2 categories, after several months of big progressions. The EB-3 categories had their usual modest gains of a few weeks in all categories.

April 2012 Visa Bulletin
	All Other Countries	China	India	Mexico
EB-2	Current	01MAY10	01MAY10	Current
EB-3	08APR06	01MAR05	01SEP02	08APR06

PREPARING FOR AND PROJECTING THE H-1B CAP

The Fiscal Year 2013 (FY2013) H-1B cap season will begin on April 1, 2012. Last year (FY2012), the H-1B cap moved very slowly -- only 8,000 H-1Bs were received in April 2011. The slow pace continued through the spring and summer. As the US economy improved, the H-1B pace quickened. The H-1B cap was reached in November 2011.

On a histocial basis, FY2012 moved very slowly. In FY 2011, which began April 1, 2010, the USCIS had receipted about 20,000 H-1Bs through May 1, 2010. In FY 2009, there were about 40,000 H-1Bs receipted in by USCIS through May 1, 2009. For the prior three fiscal years (FY 2006-08), the H-1B cap was reached on the very first day of filing.

It is unknown what the FY2013 H-1B demand will be. In speaking with some clients, MU expects the H-1B cap to move quicker than last year. However, MU expects that the H-1B cap will remain open until at least mid-summer.

If you are considering filing an H-1B cap-subject petition, MU urges you to begin that process now.

Many healthcare professions ordinarily qualify for H-1B status, including Physical Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Speech Language Therapists, and some Registered Nursing positions.

International workers who are working in the U.S. on an H-1B visa with another cap-subject employer are not subject to H-1B cap. These cases are commonly referred to as “H-1B transfer” cases and may be filed at any time throughout the year.

Employees that need a "cap-subject" H-1B include:

* International students working on an EAD card under an OPT or CPT program after having attended a U.S. school

* International employees working on a TN may need an H-1B filed for them in order for them to pursue a permanent residency (green card) case

* Prospective international employees in another visa status e.g. H-4, L-2, J-1, F-1

* H-1B workers with a cap exempt organization

* Prospective international employees currently living abroad

RETROGRESSION AND THE US NURSE IMMIGRATION PROCESS

MU receives many emails about the nurse immigration process and retrogression. We have prepared this article explaining these issues.

Part One

Registered Nurses must clear many hurdles before they are eligible for a US immigrant visa (Green card). The nurse must get into a good university and work hard to take and pass their exams. They must then have their education evaluated against the American standard.

Once that happens the nurse must pass the US licensing exam: the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX). This is the same examination taken by thousands of US nurses every year. Foreign-trained nurses must also take and pass an English fluency examination. All of these items must be evaluated by an independent organization, the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS).

Lastly, the nurse must find a US employer who is willing to extend an offer of employment where the wage is not less than the average of similarly employed nurses. Once the offer is extended and the nurse accepts the offer, she is fully eligible to have a US EB-3 green card filed on her behalf.

The lawyer works with the nurse, the employer, and the recruiter to properly file a green card petition. This establishes the nurse’s “priority date.” The green card petition is reviewed by a qualified USCIS officer who may ask for further evidence in the event that there are additional data needed to approve the petition. Finally, the EB-3 green card petition approved!

And then the nurse waits. And waits. And waits. Presently the US Consulates and Embassies are allowed to issue an EB-3 green card to a nurse whose green card petition was filed with a priority date from early 2006 – essentially a six year wait.

NPTE HANDBOOK

The FSBPT, which produces the US Physical Therapy Exam, has just produced an NPTE Candidate Handbook, along with a revamped Fixed Testing webpage.

The Candidate Handbook outlines the FSBPT's position on testing security and the protection of the integrity of the exam. It includes a section on recalling and sharing questions from prior exams.

The NPTE is the property of the FSBPT and is protected by contract, trade secret, and federal copyright laws. It is a violation of those laws, and thus illegal, to share any information whatsoever about any NPTE question. In particular, sharing information about a NPTE question recalled from memory or asking someone who has taken the NPTE to share such information is illegal.

The Candidate Handbook includes a helpful Frequently Asked Questions section, a Test Content Outline, and Sample Questions.

The revamped webpage streamlines the important information about the exam, including testing dates and helpful hints.

MU LAW NEW OFFICE

Musillo Unkenholt is pleased to announce that we will be moving our office. Effective Monday February 27, 2012 our new address will be:

Musillo Unkenholt, LLC

205 West Fourth Street, Suite 1200

Cincinnati, OH 45202

We are moving into the historic Cincinnati Textile Building. As a result of the move we will be clsoing our office at 2PM ET on Friday and we also expect to be closed on Monday.

Our phone number, fax number, and email addresses will remain the same. If you are in the Cincinnati area, please let us know; we would love to show off our new larger modern office!