Congress Extends Four Immigration Programs for Three Years

On October 28, 2009, President Obama signed into law the fiscal year 2010 appropriations bill for the Department of Homeland Security.

The law (Pub. L. No. 111-83) extends four immigration programs: (1) the non-minister religious worker program (section 568 of the law), the “Conrad 30” program for certain foreign doctors (section 568), the EB-5 immigrant investor pilot program (section 548), and the E-Verify program for electronic verification of workers’ eligibility (section 547). All four programs are extended for three years, until September 30, 2012.

The new law also includes statutory authority for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to complete processing of permanent residence applications for surviving spouses and other relatives of immigration sponsors who die during the adjudication process (section 568).