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Thursday, November 30, 2006
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Issues a Report on U.S. - Canada Safe Third Country Agreement - 11/30/06
On November 16, 2006, DHS issued a report on the first year of implementation of the U.S. - Canada Safe Third Country Agreement. The agreement is a commitment to U.S.- Canada bilateral cooperation on migration and refugee protection issues. The full report is available on the USCIS web site. [ more ]
USCIS Announces Temporary Suspension of Premium Processing for Religious Workers - 11/30/06
On November 28, 2006, USCIS announced a temporary suspension of Premium Processing Service for Religious Workers applying for R-1 nonimmigrant visa classification. The suspension will last six months from the date of the announcement. During this timeframe USCIS will determine whether it is able to process these cases within 15 days of receipt. [ more ]
Changes to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Admissibility Review Office (ARO) for Nonimmigrant Waiver Processing - 11/30/06
The CBP Admissibility Review Office advised AILA that is has a new director and temporary location and provided guidance on I-192 filings for waivers of admissibility. [ more ]
USCIS Releases 144 Q & As for the Pilot Test of a New Naturalization Exam - 11/30/06
On November 30, 2006, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Emilio Gonzalez announced the release of 144 questions and answers for the pilot test of a new naturalization exam. The USCIS news release is accompanied by a fact sheet, a list of the pilot questions, and a list of the current questions. See below. [ more ]
Sunday, November 26, 2006
California Service Center to Stop Faxing Premium Processing Case Approvals - 11/26/06
USCIS issued a statement that, effective December 1, 2006, the California Service Center (CSC) will no longer fax approval notices for premium processing filings. USCIS cites a significant increase in receipts and the time required for faxing notices as the reason for the change in procedure. [ more ]
USCIS Expands Premium Processing Service to EB-1s - 11/26/06
On November 8, 2006, USCIS announced that it will begin accepting premium processing requests for Form I-140 Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker, involving EB-1 Aliens with Extraordinary Ability beginning November 13, 2006. In order to request premium processing, petitioners must submit Form I-140 along with Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service, and a $1000 processing fee. [ more ]
Department of Labor Revising ETA 9035 Logic for Rate of Pay and EIN Verification - 11/26/06
AILA's DOL Liaison reported that DOL will be implementing two changes to the internal review of the ETA 9035 LCA. In one change, the ETA 9035 logic will be comparing the actual wage against the prevailing wage, the federal minimum wage, and the minimum wage in the state of intended employment, should that be higher. The addition of the comparisons to both the federal and state minimum wages is a result of recommendations from the GAO after auditing the LCA system. In the second change, the ETA 9035 logic will look at the entry for the employer's EIN, and if the EIN has an incorrect prefix, you will be blocked by the system from proceeding to the next page. [ more ]
USCIS Notice of Transfer of Form I-129F (K-3 Spouse of U.S. Citizens Only) - 11/26/06
USCIS announced that, since October 23, 2006, the NBC has been transferring Form I-129F, Petition for Alien Fiance(e), (petitions for K-3-spouses of U.S. citizens only), to the CSC and the VSC, depending on the location of the related Form I-130 in preparation for Phase 3 of USCIS's bispecialization initiative. USCIS will continue to forward approved I-129F (K-3) petitions to NVC for consular processing but will retain approved Form I-130 petitions in storage at the NRC for retrieval upon the beneficiary's application for adjustment of status unless the petitioner clearly requests consular processing on the I-130 petition. The announcement explains that, because most K-3 beneficiaries apply for permanent residence by filing the I-485 in the U.S. rather than using their approved Form I-130 to apply for an immigrant visa abroad, USCIS hopes that retaining the approved Form I-130 petition at the NRC will reduce unnecessary transfer of files and eliminate costs and fees associated with immigrant visa processing. [ more ]
Department of State Issues Visa Bulletin for December 2006 - 11/26/06
On November 15, 2006, DOS issued the December 2006 Visa Bulletin. The Schedule A Workers category has reached the program limit of 50,000 and become unavailable for all chargeability areas. AILA reminds members that precertified Schedule A filings not adjudicated prior to exhaustion of these visa numbers are subject to the normal EB2 or EB3 quotas provided they meet the eligibility requirements for these categories. The Bulletin also establishes a cut-off date of September 18, 2006 for the newly created Iraqi and Afghani Translator category in order to hold number use within the annual limit. The total number of aliens who may be provided special immigrant status under this classification may not exceed 50 in any fiscal year. [ more ]
What happens if you you Fails to Post Voluntary Departure Bond after the immigration judge grants you voluntary departure? - 11/26/06
On November 15, 2006, the BIA held that an alien who fails to post the voluntary departure bond required by INA 240B(b)(3) is not subject to the penalties of INA 240B(d)(1) for failure to depart within the specified time period. INA 240B(d)(1) provides that an alien who fails to comply with a voluntary departure order within the required time period shall be subject to a civil penalty of $1000 to $5000 and shall be ineligible for any further relief under sections 240A, 240B, 245, 248 and 249 for ten years. The Board found that posting of the voluntary departure bond is a condition precedent to permission to depart voluntarily at the conclusion of a removal proceeding (Matter of A-M-, 23 I&N Dec. 737, 744 n.8 (BIA 2005)) and concluded that the statute's imposition of the mandatory bond requirement "strongly indicates" that Congress intended both the privileges and penalties related to voluntary departure not apply unless the bond requirement is satisfied. The Board also noted that the regulation implementing the voluntary departure statutory provisions, which states that the order shall vacate automatically upon failure to post the bond within five business days and the alternate order of removal take effect on the following day, provides additional support for this reading of the statute. The BIA granted the Respondent's motion to reopen proceedings for further consideration of his application for cancellation of removal. In re Diaz-Ruacho, 24 I&N Dec. 47 (BIA 2006) I.D. #3546.
[ more ]
Department of Labor Implements Enhancements to On-Line PERM ETA 9035 - 11/26/06
The DOL has enhanced the data entry process for the ETA 9089 to warn of typographical errors or inadvertent omissions that could lead to denial. While the information collection items and data entry workflow of the ETA 9089 have not changed, the upgraded electronic data entry process will display warning messages when one or more validation edits are triggered and provide customers with the opportunity to correct such errors prior to submitting the application for processing. See below for a copy of the press release.
[ more ]
Sunday, November 5, 2006
DOS Issues Notice of Effective Date for Implementation of Five-Year Professor and Researcher Exchange Program - 11/05/06
The DOS issued a notice that, beginning November 4, 2006, current and future professor and researcher Exchange Visitor Program (EVP) participants will be eligible for five years of program participation, as provided for in the final rule adopted May 19, 2005, 70 FR 28815. (71 FR 64330, 11/1/06). The final rule extended the permitted program duration from three to five years and established clear eligibility requirements for repeat participation as a professor or researcher in the EVP, including a two-year bar before an alien can participate again. On October 6, 2006, DHS completed the necessary modifications to the SEVIS required to permit these changes to be reflected in the system. [ more ]
US Immigratrion (USCIS) Launches New Web Site - 11/05/06
On November 1, 2006, USCIS announced the launch of a new web portal, available at the same address, www.uscis.gov. Please note that many of the pages you have bookmarked may have changed. The USCIS fact sheet provides updated links for the following frequently used links: Applications and Petitions, Services and Benefits, Information for Lawful Permanent Residents and Green Cards, e-filing, Booklets and Fact Sheets and InfoPass. New features of the site include: a new search engine and a new method of tracking and electronically notifying users of updates to the portal. [ more ]
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