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Friday, April 14, 2006
DHS Announces Joint Task Force on Document and Benefit Fraud - 04/14/06
On April 5, 2006, DHS announced the creation of "Document and Benefit Fraud Task Forces" located in 10 major U.S. cities. The task forces will be led by ICE with the participation of DOJ, USCIS, DOL Office of Inspector General, SSA Office of Inspector General, DOS Bureau of Diplomatic Security, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, U.S. Secret Service and numerous state and local law enforcement agencies. According to USCIS' press release, the task forces will build on existing partnerships to bring together investigators from these various agencies with expertise in different aspects of document and benefit fraud. They will target not only the criminal organizations behind the fraud schemes, but also individual beneficiaries. Cases with a "sufficient nexus to terrorism" will be referred to the Joint Terrorism Task Forces. [ more ]
USCIS Formally Establishes National Security and Records Verification Directorate - 04/14/06
USCIS recently announced its launching of the new National Security and Records Verification Directorate. This new Directorate combines two divisions formerly overseen by the Domestic Operations Directorate--the Fraud Detection and National Security (FDNS) Division and the Records Division. The new Directorate also adds a third division--the Verification Division. As part of the new Directorate, FDNS will oversee national security cases previously handled in Domestic Operations. In addition, FDNS will handle USCIS law enforcement liaison, intelligence work, and fraud detection. The Records Division will continue to handle storage and retrieval of immigration records, which are mainly paper-based. The newly-created Verification Division encompasses the Basic Pilot and SAVE volunteer employment and status verification programs. [ more ]
NSC Begins Processing Employment-Based I-485s for Which Visas Are Not Currently Available - 04/14/06
NSC recently announced that, in conjunction with its backlog elimination efforts, it will begin to process employment-based I-485 (EB) cases for which visas are not currently available on April 12, 2006. Pursuant to normal review procedures, officers will review these retrogressed EB cases for eligibility and process the cases to the fullest extent possible up to the visa request stage. Where RFEs are issued, applicants must respond in a timely, accurate and complete fashion to continue the processing of the case. Applicants that do not meet eligibility criteria, or do not respond to an RFE may be subject to a denial of their cases. Applicants that meet eligibility criteria will have their cases forwarded to a visa staging area where the cases will be checked monthly for visa availability. The intention of this "preadjudication" initiative is to prepare eligible cases to the greatest extent possible, short of approval, in anticipation of the availability of a visa
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BIA Finds IIRIRA Unlawful Presence Ten-Year Bar Does Not Apply Retroactively - 04/14/06
On April 6, 2006, the BIA issued a decision holding that no period of an alien's presence in the United States prior to April 1, 1997 -- the effective date of IIRIRA -- may be considered "unlawful presence" for purposes of determining whether the alien is inadmissible pursuant to INA Section 212(a)(9)(B)(i)(II). This section provides that an alien who has been unlawfully present in the United States for one year or more, and who seeks admission again within ten years of the date of departure or removal, is inadmissible. [ more ]
USCIS Updates H-1B Cap Figures for Fiscal Year 2007 - 04/14/06
USCIS has updated its website with the figures for H-1B usage for fiscal year 2007 as of April 3, 2006. Since it began accepting applications on April 1, 2006, USCIS has approved 76 H-1B beneficiaries and 9 H-1B Advanced Degree beneficiaries. The respective caps are 58,200 for H-1B visas (with an additional 6,800 set aside for the H-1B1 program until October 1, 2006) and 20,000 for H-1B Advanced Degree visas. USCIS estimates the number of beneficiary applications needed to reach the cap, with an allowance for denials and revocations, at 61,000 for H-1Bs and 21,000 for H-1B Advanced Degrees. [ more ]
Partisan Politics Breaks Down;debate on immigration appears to have ended - 04/14/06
The Senate debate on immigration appears to have ended -- at least for now -- with Senators unable to reach agreement on how to proceed on the compromise agreement authored by Senators Martinez (R-FL) and Hagel (R-NE), which would have made changes to the provisions of the Senate Judiciary Committee's bill that provided a path to citizenship for the undocumented population and a temporary guestworker program for future flows. Those changes apparently had rendered the bill acceptable to certain Republicans who had opposed the initial Committee-passed version. While there seemed to be a consensus on substance, the deal apparently broke down over partisan politics and process
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Tuesday, April 11, 2006
DOS Issues Cable on Revised Requirements for Form I-864 Processing - 04/11/06
The State Department issued a cable recently providing revised requirements for Form I-864 processing. According to the cable, "effective immediately, sponsors filing an I-864 are required to submit only their Federal tax return for their most recent tax year, current as of the date of execution of the I-864. The I-864 will remain valid indefinitely absent other evidence of failure to meet the public charge provisions of the law and should be evaluated based on the poverty guidelines in effect on the date of filing with NVC or with post...Updated tax returns should not be requested absent positive evidence of public charge issues. The sponsor signature on Form I-864 does not need to be notarized since the sponsor is signing under penalty of perjury. Photocopies of Form I-864 that are submitted for derivative applicants do not require an original signature or notarization.
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USCIS Announces TPS Extension for Nicaragua and Honduras - 04/11/06
USCIS has extended TPS for Nicaragua and Honduras for twelve months, until July 5, 2007. Work authorization is extended for 6 months. Re-registration runs April 1 to June 1, 2006 for both countries. Note: the March 31, 2006 Federal Register notice announcing the TPS extension for Nicaragua erroneously listed June 1, 2007 as the deadline for re-registration. [ more ]
USCIS Sources Provide Early, Unofficial Information on FY 2007 H-1B Filing Volume - 04/11/06
Sources at USCIS indicate that the first two days of filings for H-1Bs for fiscal year 2007 are at about the same pace as last year. Last year, the cap was reached on August 10, 2005. USCIS expects to have a count of initial receipts within a week. [ more ]
USCIS Reaches H-2B Cap - 04/11/06
USCIS announced today that it has received sufficient H-2B petitions as of April 4, 2006, to reach the H-2B cap for the second half of fiscal year 2006. As a result, USCIS states that it "is hereby notifying the public that April 4, 2006 is the "final receipt date" for new H-2B worker petitions requesting employment start dates prior to October 1, 2006. The "final receipt date" is the date on which USCIS determines that it has received enough cap-subject petitions to reach the limit of 33,000 H-2B workers for the second half of FY 2006." [ more ]
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