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September 5th, 2008
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Friday, September 5, 2008
USCIS Ciudad Juarez office Waiver Appointment System Back Up! - 09/05/08
Warren Janssen, Officer-in-Charge at the USCIS Ciudad Juarez office, has advised AILA liaison that the immigrant visa waiver appointment system has resumed operation effective September 4, 2008, and that the first available appointments are on November 12, 2008. [ more ]
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Immigration office (USCIS) Revises Filing Instructions for Form I-751 - 09/02/08
On 8/25/08 USCIS announced revised filing instructions for Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence. As of 9/24/08, USCIS will only accept forms dated 8/25/08 and reject previous editions of the form. Effective immediately, all I-751s must be filed with either the Vermont or California Servie Centers. [ more ]
Friday, August 22, 2008
Department of State (DOS) Issues Final Rule on Nonimmigrant Visa Fingerprinting - 08/22/08
The Department of State issued a final rule amending nonimmigrant visa regulations to require all applicants to provide ten scanned fingerprints with their applications. The rule is effective August 20, 2008. See (73 FR 49091, 8/20/08). [ more ]
Thursday, August 7, 2008
House Immigration Subcommittee Marks-Up Three Immigration-Related Bills - 08/07/08
On 7/31/08 and 8/1/08, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration held a mark-up session and approved the following three pieces of immigration-related legislation:
H.R. 6020, sponsored by Representative Lofgren (D-CA), would amend the INA to allow soldiers who have served in support of contingency operations to be eligible for naturalization and for other purposes. It passed by a vote of 6-3.
H.R. 5882, sponsored by Representative Lofgren (D-CA), would recapture employment-based and family-sponsored immigrant visas lost to bureaucratic delays and to prevent losses of these visas in the future. It passed by a vote of 8-1.
H.R. 5924, sponsored by Representative Wexler (D-FL) would provide 20,000 employment-based visas per year for three years specifically for nurses. It passed by a vote of 7-2.
All three bills will now go to the full House Judiciary Committee for review, though no date has been scheduled yet
[ more ]
Saturday, August 2, 2008
The Processing Times for Regional Service Centers Updated - 08/02/08
The Processing Times for the Regional Service Centers has been Updated. Click on Proc. Times to the left to view. [ more ]
Executives of McDonald's Franchisee Plead Guilty to Immigration Offenses - 08/02/08
ICE announced that a former and current top executive for a McDonald's franchisee in Nevada, plead guilty to federal felony immigration offenses for encouraging undocumented foreign nationals to reside in the United States. [ more ]
Immigration Service Changes Vaccination Requirements for adjustment of status Applications - 08/02/08
A 7/24/08 USCIS Update announces changes to the vaccination requirements for adjustment of status applications. [ more ]
District Court Denies FBI Motion to Dismiss Mandamus, Finding Unreasonable Delay - 08/02/08
Is your case being delayed due to security background checks? Call us we can help! District Court Judge in NY denies defendants’ motion to dismiss in part. Finds claim against DHS lacks subject matter jurisdiction, but concludes FBI unreasonably delayed the completion of the plaintiff’s background check. Kakushadze v. Chertoff et. al., (S.D. NY 7/24/08) (order granting motion to dismiss in part.) [ more ]
ABA Journal Article on "Forgotten" Iraqi Refugees - 08/02/08
An article in the July 2008 issues of the ABA Journal entitled "The Forgotten" chronicles the odyssey that Iraqi refugees face in seeking visas, and describes how some U.S.-based attorneys, and AILA Members, are trying to help [ more ]
USCIS Reaches H-2B Cap for First Half of Fiscal Year 2009 - 08/02/08
On July 30, 2008, USCIS announced that it reached the H-2B cap for the first half of the fiscal year 2009. July 29, 2008 is the “final receipt date” for new H-2B worker petitions requesting employment start dates prior to April 1, 2009. [ more ]
Repeal of the HIV Immigration Ban: Practice Tip - 08/02/08
On 7/30/08 President Bush signed into law the US Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Reauthorization Act (H.R.5501). AILA alerts members that while this legislation rids the statute of unfair discrimination against foreign nationals with HIV, it does not repeal the ground of inadmissibility for those that are HIV positive. [ more ]
Religious Organizations Request Expedited Treatment for Religious Worker Adjustments - 08/02/08
In light of the impending sunset of the non-minister religious worker special immigrant provisions, a group of religious organizations sent a letter to USCIS' Acting Director Jonathan Scharfen urging expedited treatment so applicants in this category can adjust status prior to the 9/30/08 sunset. [ more ]
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) encourage undocumented people to turn themself in! - 08/02/08
Not funny! ICE announces a pilot program it dubs "Scheduled Departure" to ask those with final orders of deportation to turn themselves in for removal. [ more ]
Friday, June 27, 2008
Court discusses Ineffective Assistance Rendered by Non-Attorney - 06/27/08
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals held that knowing reliance upon the advice of a non-attorney cannot support a claim for ineffective assistance of counsel in removal proceedings. (Hernandez v. Mukasey, 4/30/08). [ more ]
ICE Raids Airline Manufacturer Near Seattle - 06/27/08
ICE raided an aircraft manufacturing plant near Seattle, Washington, arresting 32 employees on administrative immigration violations. [ more ]
USCIS Now Offering Grace Period Following Release of New Form I-9 - 06/27/08
USCIS has revised the Form I-9 page on its website to indicate that it is accepting the “Rev. 6/5/07” edition of the form. USCIS recently released a new edition of Form I-9, dated 6/16/08. [ more ]
Friday, June 13, 2008
FY2009 Cap-Subject H-1B Update - 06/13/08
USCIS Service Center Operations has provided the following information to AILA liaison regarding processing cases under the FY2009 H-1B cap: Except for cases that were being reviewed as potential duplicate filings, all receipts have been issued for those cases selected in the random lottery. The CSC and VSC completed data entry on all selected cases on May 23, 2008, and mailing of all receipts was completed on may 24, 2008. [ more ]
USCIS to Resume Premium Processing for Certain I-140sOn - 06/13/08
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that on June 16, 2008, it will begin accepting Premium Processing Service requests for Forms I-140 (Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker) filed on behalf of certain alien workers who are nearing the end of their sixth year in H-1B nonimmigrant status. [ more ]
EB-3 Category Will Become Unavailable: Adjustment Applications to be Accepted Through End of June - 06/13/08
Effective with the July 2008 Visa Bulletin, the EB-3 category will become unavailable until October 1, 2008. AILA has confirmed with USCIS SCOPS that adjustment of status applications will continue to be accepted and receipted through the end of June. [ more ]
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