VISANOW Voice Newsletter - November 2006

Travel Guidelines for the Impending Holiday Season

The U.S. government has recently imposed much stricter visa issuance admission policies. Here are a few guidelines to share with your foreign employees to ensure a smooth and problem free travel process as the holiday season gets underway.

Make sure your foreign workers verify that both their passport and visa are valid for reentry into the U.S. A passport must be valid for at least six months following the return travel date to the U.S. However, there are many countries that have international treaties with the U.S. that allow an individual to travel on an expired passport for up to six months beyond the expiration date so the passport holder can return to his/her country of citizenship.

With regards to a foreign employee’s visa, it is important they make sure the visa stamp in the passport reflects their most current nonimmigrant visa status.

It is also a good idea for foreign nationals to look into the visa and passport requirements of the country of intended travel if it is different from their country of origin. There may be strict guidelines they should be aware of before leaving to ensure their trip runs smoothly.

Reflection on Post-Election Impact on Immigration Reform

In the wake of the recent mid-term elections, the 109th Congress is now headed towards a “lame duck” session in which the current sitting members of Congress convene on upcoming measures. Lame duck sessions in recent years have focused on completing actions on appropriations and the budget since these actions must be completed before the fiscal year begins. It is widely expected that the upcoming session will readdress important immigration issues by attaching immigration-related riders to appropriations bills and passing continuing resolutions to approach issues in the following congressional session.

With the recent majority shifts in both the House and the Senate, Congress will likely reexamine the much publicized Comprehensive Immigration Reform which would not only boost border patrol, but also offer a guest worker program and pathway to citizenship for undocumented workers. We greatly anticipate the coming congressional sessions and hope that the members of Congress can work in a bipartisan manner to effect positive immigration reform.

Premium Processing for EB-1 Category

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has expanded the Premium Processing Program to include Extraordinary Ability Petitions as of November 13, 2006. The EB1 category is the first employment based preference allowing priority workers to gain permanent residence. To be considered under this category, the worker must have certain characteristics to qualify such as a person of extraordinary ability in the arts, science, education, business, or athletics; an outstanding professor or researcher; or a multinational executive or manager.

Form I-907 (Request for Premium Processing Service) is filed either along with Form I-140 (Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker) or subsequently to upgrade a pending petition. The USCIS requires that employers pay an additional $1000 premium processing fee in order to attain a determination of the case within 15 calendar days. The petitioner is guaranteed to receive a decision within this time period, whether it is an approval notice, a notice of intent to deny, a request for evidence or a request for an investigation.

This upgrade to Premium Processing Service was made available for the EB2 category on August 28, 2006, and for the EB3 category on September 25, 2006. For all these categories, employers also file using Form I-140 (Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker).

USCIS Website Update

The USCIS has recently made changes to its website, www.uscis.gov. In conjunction with the newly updated site, the USCIS released a fact sheet to the public detailing many of the highlights including easier navigation and presenting much of the most-used information on the front page. Likewise, the search function now utilizes new technology designed to yield more accurate results.

The most significant new addition to the site is increased tracking functionality with pending cases. The USCIS has joined forces with a separate provider to more effectively issue alerts in the event of case status changes. The new system more efficiently generates emails to the associated email address(es) for each case.

We are excited about this increased functionality and look forward to sharing more information with you as we determine how you can more proactively track the progress of your case(s) through the USCIS website.

December 2006 Visa Bulletin: Priority Dates Continue to Advance; Special Schedule A Quota Has Been Met

The December 2006 Visa Bulletin issued by the U.S. Department of State shows that priority dates for most categories still continue to progress with the greatest amount of movement going to those in the EB-3 category for nationals of China, the Philippines, and all other chargeability areas other than India and Mexico.

Also, the new bulletin shows that special quota of 50,000 immigrant visa numbers for Schedule A workers has been allocated and is now “Unavailable” for all chargeability areas. This means that the concurrent filing of Form I-485 (Application to Register Permanent Residence or to Adjust Status) with an immigrant visa petition under the Schedule A quota will not be allowed until the applicant’s priority date has become current. Any currently pending filings for nurses or physical therapists that have not been adjudicated prior to the exhaustion of these numbers are now subject to the normal EB-2 or EB-3 quotas. These applicants will be able to apply for work and travel authorization based on this filing until their priority dates becomes current and their green cards are granted.

New Memorandum Clarifies USCIS Case Processing Timelines

A memorandum from Michael Aytes, Associate Director of Domestic Operations at the USCIS, dated October 27, 2006, provides guidance to all USCIS officers regarding case processing timelines. The memorandum highlights their effort to achieve active case management of all cases using their National File Tracking System ensuring that cases are not idly pending and are always returned to active processing as soon as possible. Of especial note are the following guidelines:

Processing After a Response to a Request for Additional Evidence (RFE) or Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID) Has Been Filed: The memorandum instructs all USCIS offices to promptly match an RFE or NOID response with the proper application and return the case to the processing queue. Their goal for such cases is to adjudicate the case within 60 calendar days after the RFE/NOID response has been received.

Rescheduling Fingerprint Appointments: Their goal is to reschedule the fingerprinting appointment within 10 calendar days of the request for rescheduling, with a new appointment scheduled within a 14 calendar day timeframe.

Rescheduling Interviews: While every effort should be made to attend the interview on the date and time scheduled, sometimes extenuating circumstances beyond the applicant’s control compel rescheduling. When necessary, the USCIS plans to reschedule the appointment within 11 weeks of the original interview date.