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The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued an interim final rule on April 8, 2008, extending Optional Practical Training (OPT) for F-1 students with science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM) degrees by an additional 17 months; from 12 months to 29 months. F-1 students with STEM degrees are able to obtain this OPT extension without having H1B petitions filed on their behalf. The memorandum also gives clarification on the “cap-gap” for students who have pending H-1B applications. Here are the key changes:

* OPT extension for STEM students

* H-1B cap-gap extension of D/S and work authorization until October 1

In his first State of the Union address, President Obama urged Congress to work together to confront the nation’s problems. He touched on many domestic issues, but Immigration was not covered much this evening.

He said:

” And we should continue the work of fixing our broken immigration system, to secure our borders, and enforce our laws, and ensure that everyone who plays by the rules can contribute to our economy and enrich our nations. In the end, it’s our ideals, our values that built America, values that allowed us to forge a nation made up of immigrants from every corner of the globe, values that drive our citizens still.”

Let’s hope the President is committed to fix the Broken system, sooner than later.

You might have heard of Twitter, you might even be using it, you might even be an addict (like me).

If you have no idea what Twitter is, it’s basically a ‘microblogging’ service which allows you to push out small bite sized updates (no more than 140 characters). It started out as an SMS based service, but has really moved onto the data platform now with mobile clients improving and data plans becoming more affordable.

Now ICE the USCIS enforcement arm is joining the fun. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is using Twitter and YouTube to engage and educate the public about the agency’s enforcement efforts and its mission to keep the homeland safe.With Twitter (www.twitter.com/wwwICEgov (http://www.ice.gov/exec/leaving.asp? url=http://www.twitter.com/wwwICEgov) ) the public is able to follow breaking news from ICE and access useful information from the agency. ICE’s YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/wwwICEgov (http://www.ice.gov/exec/leaving.asp?url=https://www.youtube.com/wwwICEgov) ) offers viewers a glimpse into ICE with videos highlighting the agency’s national security role, special capabilities, enforcementoperations, public awareness campaigns and ceremonies.

On December 25, 2009, an individual on board NW Airlines Flight 253 set off a device and was subdued by passengers and crew. As a result of this incident, TSA has worked with airline and law enforcement authorities, as well as federal, state, local, and international partners to put additional security measures in place to ensure aviation security.

Read more from the TSA…

The government must continually balance the need for security with the realization that the United States remains a favored destination for immigrants from around the world.

We would like to wish all our readers and clients Happy Holidays, spend precious time with family and friends. It has been a great year for us and we thank all our readers for the support during this year.

May this New Year bring newly found prosperity, love, happiness and delight in your life.

This bright New Year is given to us to live each day with zest, to daily grow and try to be our highest and our best! May the dawning of this New Year, fill everyone’s heart with new hopes, open up new horizons and bring promises of brighter tomorrows. As the new year blossoms, may the journey of life be fragrant with new opportunities, days be bright with new hopes and heart be happy with love! Happy New Year! 2010!

Computer World just released a comprehensive list of the employers who received approval from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for new H-1B visas in federal fiscal year 2009. Indian outsourcing companies still dominate the list. If you compare to last years numbers, we can see a sharp decline in sponsoring workers.

Click here for the complete list

Update from our local AILA office. This morning Christopher D. Matson was sworn as the new port director for the San Ysidro and Otay Mesa Ports of Entry. Mr. Matson most recently served for the past two years as the Port Director at Miami International Airport Mr. Matson succeeds Interim Port Director David Murphy, who filled the position for the past six weeks while a replacement was found for former Port Director Oscar Preciado.

Mr. Preciado recently assumed the position of liaison to the U.S. Government Services Administration during the port’s upcoming $577 million reconstruction project.ÿ For additional information, please see CBP’s press release: Here

Immigration law is important and that is all that we cover most of the time. But our readers, may be facing other legal challenges from time to time. For Example E2 Visa Entrepreneurs must know something about Trademarks in order to best protect their news business. So we rely on our lawyer friends from across the country, to provide guest articles and reports. This week we are proud to feature Attorney Robert Cogan Intellectual Property Law expert.

“Can I trademark this?” is a common question. The answer is generally, “Yes,” but not for the reasons you may think. In the United States, you must create a trademark yourself. A patent does not exist before it is granted by the government. This is not true for trademarks. Rather like an automobile, you must have a trademark before you can register it. To have a trademark, you must create it.

A trademark is a designation that distinguishes the source of goods or services, usually a brand name or a model name. A trademark is uniquely associated with one source. For example, FRISBEE brand flying discs come only from one company. Most people may not know that this company is Wham-O, Inc. of Emeryville, California. However, they do know that FRISBEE brand comes only from one company. The trademark gives products or services immediate recognition of the reputation and quality associated with the source of products or services.

Lou Dobbs said on Thursday he is considering career options including possible runs for the White House or U.S. Senate. Dobbs has drawn fire from Latino leaders and civil rights groups for frequent on-air remarks about U.S. border control and immigration that critics saw as demonizing illegal immigrants. I personally feel that even considering him for public office will be an insult to the American Public. Let’s hope that his plans will remain a far away fiction.

Read the Reuters article here….

Here is a recent update from our local AILA office. All USCIS Application Support Centers (ASC’s) now operate Monday – Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. For our district that includes the Chula Vista, San Marcos, and Imperial ASCs.

Previously, the ACS’s accommodated special situations like requests for earlier biometric capture or accommodating people who missed their appointments on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Now, the best time to walk-in because of these kind of issues is Monday through Friday between 2:30 and 3 p.m. This includes Wednesday, as Wednesday is no longer a light schedule day.