AOTA NEW PRACTITIONER PAGE

The American Association of Occupation Therapy (AOTA) has just launched their new webpage for those who have passed a recent NBCOT exam. The webpage has information on NBCOT certification, job opportunities, state licensing, evidence-based resources and the ability to connect with other students and practitioners.

NBCOT RESULTS

The NBCOT reminds test takers that applicants will not be able to log-in and check their pass/fail status until the results of the exam are posted. The Exam scoring calendar states that scores are posted by the close of business, the day after a posted date. In other words, the results will be posted by 5PM on August 23.

The NBCOT (National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy) exam is the US' nationwide licensing exam for Occupational Therapists.

AAIHR NEWSLETTER

The American Association of International Healthcare Recruiters (AAIHR) has released their first Newsletter. The Newsletter can be downloaded from the AAIHR's Facebook page. A number of interesting articles have been contributed to their inaugural issue.

The AAIHR was formed to represent the interests of US based international helathcare recruitment providers and their employees and recruits. The AAIHR prides itself on setting the benchmark for legal, ethical, and professional recruitment practices.

While you're on Facebook, you can join the Musillo Unkenholt Facebook page too.

SEPTEMBER 2012 VISA BULLETIN

The Department of State has just released the September 2012 Visa Bulletin.

This Visa Bulletin contains no surprises. EB-2 China and India remain Unavailable and will remain Unavailable until the October 2012 Visa Bulletin, which is the first one of US Fiscal Year 2013 and will be published in early/mid September. The conventional wisdom is that the EB-2 China and India dates will leap ahead, although how far ahead remains to be seen.

The EB-3 categories had a larger than usual progression in the September Visa Bulletin. This is due to the Department of State's desire to insure that all EB-3 visas are claimed by the end of the fiscal year on September 30, 2012.

September 2012 Visa Bulletin
	All Other Countries	China	India	Philippines
EB-2	01JAN09	U	U	01JAN09
EB-3	01OCT06	15DEC05	08OCT02	01AUG06

NPTE 2013

The Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy has released its schedule for 2013. The schedule is fixed-date which is different than other healthcare occupations examination process, which allows for rolling testing dates. FSBPT believes that their fixed-date testing system provides the most secure exam for their .

Be sure to register well in advance in order to insure that your seat is reserved.

Test Date	Registration & Payment Deadline	Jurisdiction Approval Deadline	Seats are reserved for PT candidates until:	Scores Reported to Jurisdictions
January 29, 2013	December 22, 2012	December 31, 2012	January 8, 2013	February 5, 2013
April 30, 2013	March 23, 2013	April 1, 2013	April 9, 2013	May 7, 2013
July 24, 2013	June 17, 2013	June 24, 2013	July 3, 2013	July 31, 2013
October 30, 2013	September 23, 2013	September 30, 2013	October 9, 2013	November 6, 2013

POEA WARNS AGAINST VISA INTERVIEW SCAM

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) has issued a warning about a fraudulent visa interview coaching program that charges Php 3,888.00 for “visa interview coaching” and Php 5,000.00 for medical tests. The sender, David R. Purvis, used a hushmail.com free e-mail account to solicit prospective victims. This program is not to be trusted.

“No placement fee. No processing fee. No salary deduction. No show money. No experience required. Free accommodation and food allowance,” the email sender assures the worker. job applicants who have received such recruitment emails should forward them for investigation to: info@poea.gov.ph

The POEA seeks to promote and protect Philippine recruits. It issues a license to those overseas employers who want to recruit Philippine nationals. Its aim is to tease out unscrupulous recruiting activities.

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE: NO ACTION ON HR 3012

The Senate passed several immigration-related bills yesterday before adjourning for their summer recess, although they failed to take up HR3012. HR3012 calls for a leveling of the immigrant visa retrogression among all applicants by eliminating the per-country immigrant visa caps, removing one of the most unfair aspects of employment-based immigration. Unfortunately, the bill does not do this by adding more immigrant visas to the quota. The consequence of the failure to add more visas to the quota is that if HR3012 becomes law, it could delay ROW immigrants' visas for several years. HR 3012 attempts to reduce this delay with its three-year phase-in, but this plan that is far from perfect.

HR 3012 also controversally adds burdens to the H-1B process, such as allowing the DOL to delay and deny Labor Condition Applications for virtually any reason. Some US employers are unhappy with these burdens, which may be the cause of HR 3012's inability to be acted on before the summer recess.

The Senate did pass S. 3245, which has four immigration-related components. S. 3245 extends by three years:

1. The EB-5 Regional Center Investor Program

2. The E-Verify program

3. The Special Immigrant Nonminister Religious Program

4. Conrad State 30 J-1 Visa Program for physicians

S. 3245 still needs to pass the House. If S. 3245 is not passed by the House by October 1, 2012, then these programs will no longer exist. Because these programs are popular, S.3245 is expected to be passed by the House and eventually be enacted into law.

The fate of HR3012 is a more open question. HR3012 needs to pass the Senate and then the House. There is a window of a few weeks in September where this may happen. If HR3012 is not passed in September, there is still a chance that it could pass in the lame-duck legislative period in November/December.