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H-1B
Filing for FY 2007 Begins April 1, 2006
April
1, 2006 is the first day that an employer may file H-1B
petitions subject to the FY 2007 cap, with an H-1B employment
start date of October 1, 2006.
In
FY 2006, the congressionally mandated cap for H-1B petitions
was reached on August 10, 2005, so it is important for
employers to submit their H-1B petitions as early as
possible after the filing window opens on April 1, 2006. USCIS reports that filings this year
are on target for the same
usage.
The
H-1B visa program is utilized by U.S. businesses to
employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require
theoretical or technical expertise in a specialized field,
such as scientists, engineers, computer
programmers, pharmacists, allied health professionals, and
physicians.
Please
contact our office at 603/ 228-1277 for more information about
H-1B visas, or to speak with one of our attorneys.
FPGEC Policy
Revision
April
6 ,
2006
NABP’s Executive
Committee has approved revisions to Foreign Pharmacy Graduate
Examination Committee’s (FPGEC) policy for evaluating and
considering PFGEC Program applicants who did not obtain
pharmacists licensure nor registration in the country or
jurisdiction in which their pharmacy degree was earned. The changes in the
policy will continue to protect the public health and welfare
as well as the integrity of the FPGEC Program.
The modified
policy outlines that if licensure and/or registration is
required to practice pharmacy in the country or jurisdiction
where the applicant earned a pharmacy degree, but at the time
of graduation the applicant could not obtain licensure r
registration in that country because he or she was not a
citizen, the applicant must submit proof of licensure in
whatever country it was obtained. This modified policy
was implemented to offer an alternative for those applicants
who meet all of the following criteria:
1. The applicant
can provide an official statement from the
licensing/registration agency in the country or jurisdiction
in which the pharmacy degree was earned confirming eligibility
to practice pharmacy in that country or jurisdiction but
because of non-citizenship neither licensure nor registration
were obtained;
2. The applicant
can provide official proof of pharmacist licensure and/or
registration in a country or jurisdiction different than that
in which the pharmacy degree was earned.
Applicants who
did not obtain licensure in the country or jurisdiction in
which the pharmacy degree was earned for any other reason
remain ineligible for FPGEC
Certification.
NABP
Partners with ECE for FPGEC Educational Credential
Evaluations
The
National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) has
announced that it has formed a partnership with the
Educational Credential Evaluators, Inc (ECE) to evaluate the
educational credentials of applicants to the Foreign Pharmacy
Graduate Examination Committee (FPGEC) Certification Program.
Beginning April 14, 2006,
FPGEC applicants are
required to submit their supporting educational credential
documents to ECE.
The
improved processing time that the new method is designed to
achieve has resulted in an additional $85 fee for ECE to
evaluate an applicant’s educational
credentials.
For
more information, registration forms and further details of
program requirements please see our Online Resources
below.
CGFNS Announces Policy
Changes
Effective May 1,
2006, applicants applying for the CGFNS Certification Program,
Credentials Evaluation Service and VisaScreen will be given 12
months to meet the requirements of each program. Orders for these three
services that have not resulted in the rostering of an
applicant to take the Qualifying Exam for the Certification
Program, that have not resulted in the issuing of a
Credentials Evaluation Service report, or that have not
resulted in the issuing of a VisaScreen Certificate within 12
months of the application date will be
closed.
Once an order is
closed, an applicant can re-apply and pay a second year
re-application fee.
Re-application orders will remain open for 12 months
starting from the date the re-application order is
placed. A
re-application order cannot be placed until the previous order
has been closed.
In addition,
CGFNS now requires payment in full within 60 days of
application date.
Applications received without a payment will be deleted
if full payment is not received within 60 days of application
date. The
applicant will have to fill out a new application and submit
the appropriate full price to place a new
order.
Finally, CGFNS
has instituted a “no refund” policy for its Certification
Program, Credentials Evaluation Service and VisaScreen. Individual
consideration will be given on a case-by-case basis if a
refund is necessary due to a CGFNS error. |
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France –
New
Hampshire Business
Affairs
Attorney John R.
Wilson, Commercial Consul to France for the State of New
Hampshire, has
organized an event at
the Bedford Village Inn & Restaurant where François Gauthier,
Consul General of France will provide information about
France and New
Hampshire business affairs. French companies doing
business in New Hampshire
and/or exporting to France will
attend.
You may contact
Attorney Wilson at
603/228-1277, if you or your company is currently doing
business or interested in doing business in France and you would like to attend the
presentation.
Frequently
Asked Question
Why do you need
Advance Parole in order to
travel?
The Advance Parole document is issued by the Department
of Homeland Security to allow adjustment of status applicants
to return to the US after travel
abroad without abandoning their adjustment applications. The reason you need
this is because when you file for adjustment of status, you
are neither an "immigrant" nor a "nonimmigrant". You have
immigrant intent, but you do not yet have a permanent resident
card. Thus, you would be inadmissible without the advance
parole. When you
return to the US with your
advance parole document, you become a parolee. You are allowed
to remain in the US until a decision
is made on your adjustment of status application. Applications for
advance parole can take up to 90 days to obtain and must be
filed and received before you depart the US. If you plan to travel in
the near future, please contact us to assist you with this
process. |
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If
you have any comments on our newsletter, any topics you would
like to see reviewed or if you have news, events or other
items of interest that you would like to share - please
forward your comments and suggestions to abouley@goffwilson.com.
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