The NCSBN has posted the 2010 NCLEX-RN Detailed Test Plan Candidate version and Item Writer/Item Reviewer/Nu Educator version on its Website The new test plan goes into effect April 1, 2010.

The NCLEX-RN Test Plan is evaluated every 3 years, and changes are made based on empirical data from a practice analysis, expert judgment and feedback from member boards.  The purpose of the Detailed Test Plan is to provide more in depth information about the content areas listed in the basic NCLEX-RN Test Plan.  Both tests include sample items at the end of each category, which are specific to the Client Needs category being reviewed in that section.  Also, the Item Writer/Item Reviewer/Nurse Educator version includes an item writing tutorial with sample case scenarios to provide nurse educators with hands-on experience in writing NCLEX style test questions.

The House of Raeford Farms must pay a $1.5 Million fine and overhaul its hiring practices under an agreement that will allow a subsidiary to avoid prosecution on federal immigration charges.

The deal will also let two indicted managers at the poultry company’s Greenville, SC plant avoid criminal records, provided they enter a probationary program.

The settlement signed by federal prosecutors and company officials just hours before the case was set for trial Tuesday, gives the employer’s subsidiary, Columbia Farms, an opportunity to keep its record clean.  It likely ends a legal clash that could have cost the company millions of dollars in federal poultry contracts. Last year, Columbia Farms was charged with intentionally hiring illegal immigrants.

Under the settlement, Immigration will dismiss charges against the company if it improves its hiring practices over the next 2 years and submits to federal monitoring at its 8 plants in the Carolinas and Louisiana.  For more on this story

As of October 25, 2009, approximately 52,800 H-1B cap-subject petitions and approximately 20,000 petitions qualifying for the advanced degree cap exemption had been filed. Seven months into this fiscal year and there are still H-1B visas available – but not for long!

Any H1-B petitions filed on behalf of a foreign national with an advanced degree will now count toward the general H1-B cap of 65,000. 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.

The H-1B Petition is still a valid option for professionals with degrees in IT, Engineering, those in science and the arts, as well as many healthcare workers including PTs, OTs, Physicians, Pharmacists,  AHPs, and some nurses.

When considering Nurses for H-1B Visas, these are the threshold issues and key questions:

For Nurses:

1. The nurse must hold at least a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing (a BSN), and

2. The position must normally require a Bachelors Degree.

For the Employer:

A. The hospital is offering the nurse a position as a Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS), Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA), Certified Nurse-Midwife (CNM), a Certified Nurse Practitioner (APRN-certified) or positions in Critical care where the nurse holds certification;

B. If the nurse will be working in an Administrative position ordinarily associated with a Bachelors Degree, such as Charge Nurse or Nurse Manager;

C. If the nurse will be working in one of these specialties: peri-operative, school health, occupational health, rehabilitation nursing, emergency room nursing, critical care, operating room, oncology and pediatrics. And the hospital will attest that these roles are only offered to those with Bachelors Degrees. Some magnet hospitals have the BSN as its standards, and these make great destination hospitals for RN H-1Bs.

Contact Immigration Solutions if you are seeking representation to assist you with your H-1B case filings.  We have a professional team ready to handle your casework with reasonable and fair fees.  We specialize in IT, Engineering and Healthcare immigration, amongst other business sectors – both in the US and Canada.

Our November Newsletter and Podcast are now available

Archived podcasts, teleconferences, articles and other news media can be accessed at our website.

Subscribe to our Blog here

Press Release -10/30/2009

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano today opened the new National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center (NCCIC) — a 24-hour, DHS-led coordinated watch and warning center that will improve national efforts to address threats and incidents affecting the nation’s critical information technology and cyber infrastructure.

“Securing America’s cyber infrastructure requires a coordinated and flexible system to detect threats and communicate protective measures to our federal, state, local, and private sector partners and the public,” said Secretary Napolitano. “Consolidating our cyber and communications operations centers within the NCCIC will enhance our ability to effectively mitigate risks and respond to threats.”

The new, state-of-the-art facility reflects the shared priority of President Obama and Secretary Napolitano to bolster information sharing and incident response in order to protect and secure the nation’s cyber networks and infrastructure.

For more on this story

The Department of Labor will be centralizingi prevailing wage processing.  The agency is scheduled to open its prevailing wage center in Washington, DC to begin centralized processing of PERM, H-1B, H-1B1 and E-3 NIV programs as of January 1, 2010.

Prevailing Wage Requests will be submitted to the National Center rather than to the State Workforce Agencies (SWAs).

The processing times from state to state vary widely at the present time and the determinations are not always consistent.  We’re not sure what to expect with the new program.  At the onset there will probably be longer processing  times, though DOL is assuring that this should result in more consistent prevailing wage determinations over time.

It has been reported that some 20,000 more unannounced employer site visits will be taking place over the next few months by FDNS, but this time it will be to employers who have filed H-1B extensions to determine if there is ongoing compliance by the employer.

It’s been asked, do they have the legal right to do this – just show up and demand to speak with a company’s representative or executive officer?  Yes, they do, although it hasn’t been acted upon to the extent we are now observing until your $500 Fraud Detection and Prevention government filing fee created the revenue to employ some 6,500 FDNS agents.  Up until now, USCIS or DOL agents have always been in a position to do onsite employer visits when they thought necessary – but it’s been rarely acted upon.  Presently, you can add ICE and FDNS to this group – because we’re in a hunt ‘em down, enforcement climate – and it’s the employers who are being targeted.

So, how does an employer handle this?  We don’t recommend that you wait to ask this question and to get your documentation organized when the agent comes knocking.  This is serious business now, and they are not just targeting the small to medium-size employer or the employer who has financial issues and can’t respond to requests to prove the ability to pay the offered wage to the employee.

Therefore, it is recommended that you discuss this with your immigration counsel now.  If you don’t have a representative, we are available to walk you through a program that will not only assist you in organizing your Public Access information and files, but we will give you the tools to prepare the company representative that will handle the agent site visit and to prepare them for the questions that will be asked, what documentation should be organized now and beeasily accessible to present to the agent when requested – and overall, how to successfully respond to a government site visit at your place of employment.

The NCSBN has an excellent Resource Manual available for International Nurses and was developed as a user-friendly resource.

The manual focuses on 3 main topics related to foreign nurses:  Education, English Exam and Immigration.  Very intelligently, each chapter has 4 sections:  Definitions, Issues, FAQs and Resources.

It is important to understand that each state is responsible for the licensure of nurses within the state. Variations exist among the states.  It is very important to be working with a knowledgeable certification and licensure specialist or be in direct contact yourself with the State Board.

Immigration Solutions are specialists in health care immigration – for all occupations.  We have placed hundreds of foreign health care personnel with US hospitals and top medical facilities in the USA.  We have worked with some of the most reputable international staffing professionals in the industry; have attended countless recruitment events abroad and in the USA, and interface one-on-one with the health care professional and their families throughout the entire process.  We continue to advise and consult with some of the top recruiters and medical facilities in the USA.

Contact Immigration Solutions for all of your US and Canadian health care immigration matters.  Here is the link to the NCSBN Manual and here is a link to our healthcare brochure.

[IMMIGRANT’S LIST reports]  Last week, Congressman Lamar Smith from Texas, the ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, wrote an Op-Ed in Politico that should make everyone working for immigration reform take notice. Rather than lay out a plan to address the unsustainable immigration system in this country, he uses the words “amnesty,” “illegal-immigrant lobby” and “open-borders crowd” (24 times by our count) to scare readers.

We’ve included the text of the article from Politico.com.  When you read it, do what I did — ask yourself: “Okay, what’s your plan? How do we fix our broken system?”

We concur with immigrant’s List, “Governing means being responsible. But too many elected officials think screaming “AMNESTY” over and over passes for honest debate. They’re loud and they’re going to use every scare tactic in the book to get re-elected. Don’t let them get away with it. With your help, Immigrants’ List will work to elect members of Congress in 2010 who actually want to tackle the problems we face, and who actually want to govern.”

…what do you think?   info@immigrationsolution.net

The subject is definitely alive and well and not going away!

Hoping to jump-start a major legislative drive on immigration reform in the US congress, more than 100 pro-reform House Democrats signed a letter reminding President Obama of his administration’s commitment to overhaul immigration.

The letter was clearly meant to nudge the WH toward engaging an issue it has allowed to languish.  The letter expressed House Dems “commitment to fix our broken immigration system” and cited “strong support for moving forward on fair and humane comprehensive immigration reform this year.”  One of the signees, Rep. Luis Gutierrez, an Illinois Dem, is gearing up to introduce a major immigration reform bill as early as next month.

Immigration advocates and their allies in Congress believe there is a window for immigration reform to pass early next year, before midterm elections complicate the political calculus.

Immigrant advocates know that once health care reform is settled, immigration will compete with other crucial issues including banking regulations and the interrelated climate and energy questions, for political attention.  As always — immigration reform pivots on one sensitive question:  What happens with the nation’s 12 million undocumented immigrants?

For more on this