uscis

Many immigrant visa applicants often find themselves unsure of what will come next at the end of their immigration process. The Department of State has taken time to clarify the procedures following the Adjustment of Status. Once a case has been finalized, the Officer will submit a request for visa authorization to the Visa Office using the IVAMSWEB automated system.

With this program the system is able to verify,  that the applicant’s priority date is within the applicable cut-off date for that month. When this request  has been made three outcomes can occur: 1) it is Authorized,2) it is identified as a “Duplicate” request, meaning that the A-number was previously authorized, or 3) it is beyond the established cut-off date and is placed in the “Pending Demand” file.

In an attempt to implement IT systems, and eliminate paper-based application/petition filing, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and USCIS has struck a deal with IBM hoping to speed up services over the next five years. The Contract, worth $14.5 million, seeks to upgrade USCIS’ outdated procedures to a more centralized, electronic system, however additional options over the next five years could total up to $491.1 million.

President Bush announced the addition of 7 new countries into the visa waiver program which includes the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, and South Korea. In about a month citizens of these nations will be able to travel to the U.S. without a visa. In addition to these approvals, President Bush extended his offer to a number of America’s other close friends are including Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Malta, Poland, and Romania stating he looks forward to the day when these countries join the Visa Waiver Program.

On 09/28/08, the House passed the Military Personnel Citizenship Processing Act (S. 2840) by a 416-0 vote. The measure, introduced by Sen. Schumer (D-NY), would require that USCIS process and issue a citizenship decision within six months of receiving an application from a current or former member of the armed forces, or their surviving dependents. If a decision is not made within that time frame, USCIS would be required to explain the delay and provide a new decision target date. The bill would also establish an FBI liaison office inside USCIS and processing deadlines for other naturalization applications. The Senate passed the measure by voice vote on 09/24/08, and it now heads to the president for final approval.

We have learned through our AILA liaison that the USCIS has provided information regarding pending H1B petitions. USCIS historically accepts more petitions than it has numbers to account for denials, withdrawals, etc. Under the regular cap, USCIS accepted 71,000 petitions and under the master’s cap, USCIS accepted 22,000 petitions.

To date, 59,100 petitions under the regular cap have been approved and 9500 remain pending. 19,500 petitions under the master’s cap have been approved and 2100 remain pending. This accounts for 92% of the regular cap allotment being reached already and 97% of the master’s cap.

95% of the regular cap petitions have been touched and 94% of the master’s cap petitions have been touched. That leaves 3500 petitions untouched for the regular cap and 1400 untouched for the master’s cap. USCIS expects to get to all of them shortly, but it may not be by October 1.

Unfortunately this means that about 3,600 petitions may have passed through the first stage of getting receipted, but actually obtaining an approval may be impossible. Please contact our office if you require assistance with obtaining your h1b work visa.

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently completed a multi-year redesign of the naturalization test. The major goal of the redesign process is to ensure that naturalization applicants have uniform, consistent testing experiences nationwide, and to provide a fair and meaningful naturalization process. The USCIS believes that the newly designed test will help encourage citizenship applicants to learn and identify with the basic values we all share as Americans.

To accomplish their goals, USCIS piloted a new test with an overhauled English reading and writing section, as well as new history and government questions in several sites across the country. The feedback from the pilot program was used to finalize testing procedures, reading and writing prompts and new history and government questions. While it sounds as if the changes are drastic they are pretty slight with only the format of the questions asking now about US History as opposed to daily living.

Naturalization applicants will begin taking the redesigned test on October 1, 2008.

We recently reported that DHS Secretary Chertoff announced that USCIS will begin issuing Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) with a two-year validity period for a limited number of individuals who have applications for legal permanent residence status pending with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). On June 12, 2008, USCIS issued a addressing frequently asked questions regarding the eligibility requirements for the two year EAD. In summary the fact sheet states:

1. The two-year  EAD cards will be available to individuals with pending adjustment of status applications who have filed for an EAD and are currently unable to adjust their status to that of a permanent resident because an immigrant visa number is currently not available. Individuals with visa numbers that are available will continue to be granted EADs that are valid a one-year period.
2. USCIS expects to implement these new rules for issuing EADs on June 30, 2008.
3. Applicants who file for an initial EAD application with their adjustment of status application (Form I-485) will only receive a one-year EAD because such individuals can only file for adjustment of status if visa numbers are current. EAD Applicants are only eligible for a two-year EAD if their immigrant visa availability date retrogresses after their adjustment of status application is filed.
4. The USCIS will decide whether to issue a two-year EAD based upon the most recent Department of State Visa Bulletin.

On July 24, 2008, the USCIS posted changes to the vaccination requirements to adjust status to that of a Legal Permanent Resident for Form I-693. The new vaccination requirements require the following age-appropriate additional vaccinations to adjust status: Rotavirus, Hepatitis A, Meningococcal, Human papillomavirus, and the Zoster vaccine. These new vaccine requirements went into effect on July 1, 2008. The new vaccinations must be administered for USCIS to approve the applicant for adjustment of status.

As of August 12, 2008, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) informed USCIS that the Zoster vaccine is currently unavailable due to shipping delays with the manufacturer. The new Zoster vaccine is required to be administered to applicants age 60 and older. Until further notice from the CDC, Form I-693 may be accepted by USCIS if it is only missing the Zoster vaccine.