U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on May 5, 2008 that it is publishing a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to increase the maximum amount of time a Trade-NAFTA (TN) professional worker can remain in the U.S. from the current one year to three years.  

Under the North American Free Trade Agreement, Canadian and Mexican citizens seeking temporary entry to the U.S. as professionals may come into the U.S. as TN non-immigrants.  TN status is available to Canadian and Mexican citizens with a minimum of a bachelor’s degree or appropriate professional credentials.

The proposed new rule will allow TN non-immigrants to extend their stay in the U.S. in increments of up to three years, as long as their intended professional activity continues and they remain otherwise eligible.  The proposed changes will also apply to the dependents of TN non-immigrants, including spouses and unmarried, minor children.

By:      Jungmin Brian Cho

           Thomas M. Cooley Law School

           J.D. Candidate

USCIS posted a new version of Form I-693, Medical Examination of Aliens Seeking Adjustment of Status, to its website. This form is used by USCIS to determine whether an adjustment of status applicant is admissible to the United States on medical grounds.

Previous versions of the form will be accepted until May 1, 2008.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security released an interim final rule which extends the period of Optional Practical Training (OPT) from 12 months to 29 months for qualified F-1 non-immigrant students. It will be available to F-1 students with a degree in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics who are employed by businesses enrolled in the E-Verify program.