US Immigration News

Last month the Russian State Duma eased visa rules for US Citizens and, similarly, the US did the same for Russian citizens. The State Duma is a part of the Russian Parliament which proposes new laws, conducts hearings to discuss proposed national laws, votes on the federal budget, and administers international treaties.

US President Barack Obama announced last week that the US will begin charging US$465 starting August 15 for temporary work permits for young illegal immigrants. Obama announced the new immigration policy back in June which requires immigrants to have arrived in the US before their 16th birthday, be 30 years old or younger, lived in the US at least five years and be in school, graduated or served in the military.

The University of California, Los Angeles Center for Labor Research and Education has partnered with the National Labor College to offer online courses for college credit to young immigrants, regardless of their immigration status.The project, known as National Dream University, was created in an effort to reach out to illegal immigrant students in the US who are barred from several universities.

South Korea is urging the US to increase the quota of the popular US H-1B visas for its citizens."Riding on the South Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA), the South Korean government will step up efforts to increase the number of H-1B visas for its citizens seeking jobs in the US," said a diplomatic source.

Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) announced the opening of a new NEXUS lane at the Abbotsford-Huntingdon, British Columbia and Sumas, Washington border crossing. The lane is open from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m., seven days a week for entry into Canada. NEXUS members must be a citizen of Canada or the US, or a permanent resident who has lived continuously in one or both of those countries for at least the past three years.

The US Department of Agriculture reported that foreign holdings in US forests and farmland increased by 6.7 percent in the last 10 months of 2010. The department report revealed that investors from Canada and the Netherlands have almost half of all foreign forest and farmland holdings in the US. Canadian holdings were mostly in timber companies.