President Obama Extends Four Immigration Related Programs Through 2012

October 29, 2009 by Kate Kalmykov

Today, President Barack Obama signed into law the 2010 fiscal year Department of Homeland Security Spending Bill.  The law extends four immigration related programs including the:

1. The EB-5 Regional Center Program, which allows immigrant investors seeking a greencard to invest $500,000 in a USCIS approved regional center;
   
   
2. E-Verify the internet-based Employment Eligibility Verification System run by USCIS that allows employers to electronically verify the employment eligibility of certain employees;
   
   
3. The Conrad 30 J-1 program which allows state health agencies to annually hire up to 30 foreign physicians to practice in rural and inner-city communities that often have difficulty recruiting physicians.  The sponsored physicians are released from their two year home residency requirement if they work for a minimum of three years with the medically underserved population; and
   
   
4. The EB-4 Religious Worker Program which provides up to 5,000 permanent immigrants visas for religious workers which include ministers, professionals working in a religious vocation, and other workers in religious vocations. 

The law also includes statutory authority for USCIS to complete processing of permanent residence applications for surviving spouses and other relatives of immigration sponsors who die during the adjudication process.