Articles Posted in Immigrant Visas

The Nebraska Service Center (NSC) of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has informed American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) that all applications for reentry permits will be denied if the fingerprinting is not completed within 120 days of filing. The NSC issued an advisement in June 2009 regarding a change in procedures related to requests for rescheduling biometrics (fingerprinting) appointments for applications for reentry permits. Reentry permits are travel documents used by U.S. permanent residents (green card holders) who need to remain outside of the U.S. in excess of one year. The procedures for requesting expedited fingerprinting have not changed. Applications for reentry permits must be filed from within the United States and the subsequent biometrics appointment must also be completed inside the United States. This request must occur before the appointment date. A request for rescheduling must be accompanied by a reasonable excuse for the inability to appear for the scheduled appointment. Rescheduled appointments are set within a maximum 30-day time frame. Applicants should plan their travel accordingly, as the announcement is absolute with respect to the 30-day time frame.

We will keep you posted for the changes pertaining to biometrics procedure for reentry permits.

On June 26, 2009, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that the current edition of the Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9 (Rev. 02/02/09) will continue to be valid for use beyond June 30, 2009. USCIS has requested that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approve the continued use of the current version of Form I-9. Once the extension request is approved, USCIS will update Form I-9. At that time, employers will be able to use either the Form I-9 with the new revision date or the Form I-9 with the 02/02/09 revision date.

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If you hold a green card and know in advance that you must be outside the United States for more than one year, it’s worth applying to USCIS for a reentry permit. This lets you to stay away for up to two years.

You should send in your application before leaving. Your reentry permit will serve as an entry document when you are ready to return. Reentry permits cannot be renewed and can be applied for only inside the United States. If you want to stay away for more than two years, you must return briefly and apply for another reentry permit.

The Nebraska Service Center (NSC) of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued an advisement in June 2009 regarding a change in procedures related to requests for rescheduling biometrics (fingerprinting) appointments for applications for reentry permits. The NSC has advised that all applications for reentry permits will be denied if the fingerprinting is not completed within 120 days of filing. The procedures for requesting expedited fingerprinting have not changed. I assume this is due to fact that many Green Card holders living abroad were trying to apply for the permit from overseas. In order to stp the practice, USCIS is trying to impose the strict biometrics schedule to make sure applicants apply form inside the US.

After all the grim news about the Visa Bulletin delays we reported, I have some good news this Tuesday morning. USCIS announced today that effective June 29, 2009, it will resume Premium Processing Service for Form I-140 petitions. I-140 form is used in all Permanent residency applications based on employment. Premium processing will guarantee a 2 week processing as opposed to the lengthy regular process.

So who can use the new procedure?

USCIS will accept Premium Processing requests for Form I-140 Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker, involving EB-1 Aliens with Extraordinary Ability, EB-1 Outstanding Professors and Researchers, EB-2 Members of Professions with Advanced Degrees or Exceptional Ability not seeking a National Interest Waiver, EB-3 Professionals, EB-3 Skilled Workers, and EB-3 Workers other than Skilled Workers and Professionals.

The U.S. Dept. of State has estimated that all 140,000 employment-based immigrant visa numbers will be used this fiscal year (October 1, 2008 through September 30, 2009). This is a statistical projection based upon the utilization of Green Cards so far. Because of greater usage in EB-4 and EB-5, the unused visas from these categories which were applied for EB-1 and EB-2 categories would no longer be helpful. So, EB-2 applicants from China and India could have an even longer wait to obtain green cards. As always, EB-1 category is doing well so far, but the number of applications is higher and it will be current for India and China during the month of July 2009, but will probably retrogress in August/September. The condition for EB-2 for country like India seems bad. Currently about 25,000 EB-2 cases (for India) are awaiting visa numbers. Like all other countries, India has a limit of 2,800 EB-2 numbers available per year plus any “fall across” and “fall down” numbers from EB-4, EB-5 and EB-1 visa numbers.

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In a recent decision, RUIZ-DIAZ v. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, the court ruled that Petitioners who filed or will file a Petition for Special Immigrant Religious Worker Visa (Form I-360) with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) on behalf of individual beneficiaries are hereby notified that you or your beneficiary may now file an Application for Adjustment of Status (Form I-485) and, if your beneficiary seeks employment status as an adjustment applicant, an Application for Employment Authorization (Form I-765) even if USCIS has not yet issued a final administrative decision regarding the I- 360 petition. Previously, the I-360 had to be adjudicated before the adjustment package could be filed.

The Court has invalidated USCIS’ bar against concurrent filings as an unreasonable

interpretation of the governing statute. Pursuant to an order dated June 11, 2009, USCIS is required to accept as properly filed adjustment of status applications (Form I-485) and employment authorization applications (Form I-765) from individuals who are beneficiaries of petitions for special immigrant visas (Form I-360), whether submitted concurrently with or subsequent to the visa petition, provided the applications meet USCIS’ valid filing requirements.