USCIS Issues Guidance on Employment Eligibility Verification Form

WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that the Employment Eligibility Verification form I-9 (Rev. 02/02/09) currently on the USCIS Web site 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. While this request is pending, the Form I-9 (Rev. 02/02/09) will not expire.

USCIS will update Form I-9 when the extension is approved.   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 at the bottom of the form. 

For more information on USCIS and its programs, visit www.uscis.gov.

Source: www.uscis.gov

USCIS Announces Resumption of Premium Processing Service for Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker

WASHINGTON—USCIS announced today that effective June 29, 2009, it will resume Premium Processing Service for Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker, in accordance with 8 CFR 103.2(f)(2). 

After an evaluation of its I-140 backlog reduction efforts and increased I-140 adjudicative efficiencies, USCIS has concluded that it is now able to provide Premium Process Service for this benefit.

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. 

Premium Processing Service is still not available for Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker, involving EB-1 Multinational Executives and Managers and EB-2 Members of Professions with Advanced Degrees or Exceptional Ability seeking a National Interest Waiver.

Under the Premium Processing Service, USCIS guarantees petitioners that, for a $1,000 processing fee, it will issue either an approval notice, or where appropriate, a notice of intent to deny, a request for evidence or open an investigation for fraud or misrepresentation, within 15 calendar days of receipt.  If the petition is not processed within 15 calendar days, USCIS will refund the $1,000 fee and continue to process the request as part of the Premium Processing Service.  In addition to faster processing, petitioners who participate in the program may use a dedicated phone number and e-mail address to check on the status of their petition or ask any other questions they may have concerning their petition.  Premium Processing Service continues to be available for previously designated classifications within Form I-140 and Form I-129, Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker.

Source: www.uscis.gov

USCIS, FBI Eliminate National Name Check Backlog

WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced that, in partnership with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), it has met all milestones set forth in a joint business plan announced April 2, 2008, resulting in the elimination of the FBI National Name Check Program (NNCP) backlog.

“Our close partnership with the FBI has resulted in the accomplishment of this significant achievement with national security as its foundation,” said USCIS Acting Deputy Director Michael Aytes.  “This continued working relationship will help to ensure that name check processing is accomplished as quickly as possible without compromising security concerns.”

The final goal of the business plan was to achieve a sustainable performance level by the NNCP of completing 98 percent of name check requests submitted by USCIS within 30 days, and the remaining two percent within 90 days.  This performance level will become the new standard. 

These vastly improved performance levels were achieved through a variety of collaborative steps taken by USCIS and the FBI, including:

• an increase in NNCP staffing made possible by the transfer of appropriated funds from USCIS funding and additional fee revenue for name check processing;
• name check  process improvements initiated by the FBI;
• refinements in the name check file search criteria which enabled the FBI to focus on files most likely to yield pertinent search results;
• training of NNCP staff on USCIS adjudication requirements and the applicability of name check search results to USCIS adjudications; and
• other cooperative measures including assignment of USCIS personnel to the NNCP.

As is the case with all security checks undertaken by USCIS, any information provided by the FBI through these checks may require further evaluation and may need additional interaction with agencies outside USCIS to obtain updated or additional information.  This could result in additional delays in processing and is not governed by the processing goals contained in the joint business plan.
 
In the majority of instances, however, the completion of a backlogged FBI name check has resulted in a “no record response.”  As a result, USCIS has been able to resume normal processing of most cases which most often ends in a final determination of eligibility.  Next steps in the adjudication of cases that were previously delayed as a result a pending FBI name check request may now include updating fingerprint results, scheduling interviews, requesting additional evidence and other reviews to determine whether the applicant is eligible for the requested immigration benefit. 

Source: www.uscis.gov

July 2009 Visa Bulletin

Visa Bulletin

Number 10
Volume IX
Washington, D.C.

VISA BULLETIN FOR JULY 2009

 

A. STATUTORY NUMBERS

1. This bulletin summarizes the availability of immigrant numbers during July. Consular officers are required to report to the Department of State documentarily qualified applicants for numerically limited visas; the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services in the Department of Homeland Security reports applicants for adjustment of status. Allocations were made, to the extent possible under the numerical limitations, for the demand received by June 8th in the chronological order of the reported priority dates. If the demand could not be satisfied within the statutory or regulatory limits, the category or foreign state in which demand was excessive was deemed oversubscribed. The cut-off date for an oversubscribed category is the priority date of the first applicant who could not be reached within the numerical limits. Only applicants who have a priority date earlier than the cut-off date may be allotted a number. Immediately that it becomes necessary during the monthly allocation process to retrogress a cut-off date, supplemental requests for numbers will be honored only if the priority date falls within the new cut-off date which has been announced in this bulletin.

2. Section 201 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) sets an annual minimum family-sponsored preference limit of 226,000. The worldwide level for annual employment-based preference immigrants is at least 140,000. Section 202 prescribes that the per-country limit for preference immigrants is set at 7% of the total annual family-sponsored and employment-based preference limits, i.e., 25,620. The dependent area limit is set at 2%, or 7,320.

3. Section 203 of the INA prescribes preference classes for allotment of immigrant visas as follows:

FAMILY-SPONSORED PREFERENCES

First: Unmarried Sons and Daughters of Citizens: 23,400 plus any numbers not required for fourth preference.

Second: Spouses and Children, and Unmarried Sons and Daughters of Permanent
Residents: 114,200, plus the number (if any) by which the worldwide family preference level exceeds 226,000, and any unused first preference numbers:

A. Spouses and Children: 77% of the overall second preference limitation, of which 75% are exempt from the per-country limit;

B. Unmarried Sons and Daughters (21 years of age or older): 23% of the overall second preference limitation.

Third: Married Sons and Daughters of Citizens: 23,400, plus any numbers not required by first and second preferences.

Fourth: Brothers and Sisters of Adult Citizens: 65,000, plus any numbers not required by first three preferences.

EMPLOYMENT-BASED PREFERENCES

First: Priority Workers: 28.6% of the worldwide employment-based preference level, plus any numbers not required for fourth and fifth preferences.

Second: Members of the Professions Holding Advanced Degrees or Persons of Exceptional Ability: 28.6% of the worldwide employment-based preference level, plus any numbers not required by first preference.

Third: Skilled Workers, Professionals, and Other Workers: 28.6% of the worldwide level, plus any numbers not required by first and second preferences, not more than 10,000 of which to “Other Workers”.

Fourth: Certain Special Immigrants: 7.1% of the worldwide level.

Fifth: Employment Creation: 7.1% of the worldwide level, not less than 3,000 of which reserved for investors in a targeted rural or high-unemployment area, and 3,000 set aside for investors in regional centers by Sec. 610 of P.L. 102-395.

4. INA Section 203(e) provides that family-sponsored and employment-based preference visas be issued to eligible immigrants in the order in which a petition in behalf of each has been filed. Section 203(d) provides that spouses and children of preference immigrants are entitled to the same status, and the same order of consideration, if accompanying or following to join the principal. The visa prorating provisions of Section 202(e) apply to allocations for a foreign state or dependent area when visa demand exceeds the per-country limit. These provisions apply at present to the following oversubscribed chargeability areas: CHINA-mainland born, INDIA, MEXICO, and PHILIPPINES.

5. On the chart below, the listing of a date for any class indicates that the class is oversubscribed (see paragraph 1); “C” means current, i.e., numbers are available for all qualified applicants; and “U” means unavailable, i.e., no numbers are available. (NOTE: Numbers are available only for applicants whose priority date is earlier than the cut-off date listed below.)

	All Charge- ability Areas Except Those Listed	CHINA-mainland born	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIPPINES
Family
1st	15NOV02	15NOV02	15NOV02	01JAN91	01SEP93
2A	22DEC04	22DEC04	22DEC04	22JUN02	22DEC04
2B	15APR01	15APR01	15APR01	01MAY92	01APR98
3rd	22OCT00	22OCT00	22OCT00	01JUL91	01JUL91
4th	22OCT98	22OCT98	22OCT98	15JUN95	08AUG86

*NOTE: For July, 2A numbers EXEMPT from per-country limit are available to applicants from all countries with priority dates earlier than 22JUN02. 2A numbers SUBJECT to per-country limit are available to applicants chargeable to all countries EXCEPT MEXICO with priority dates beginning 22JUN02 and earlier than 22DEC04. (All 2A numbers provided for MEXICO are exempt from the per-country limit; there are no 2A numbers for MEXICO subject to per-country limit.)

	All Charge- ability Areas Except Those Listed	CHINA-mainland born	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIPPINES
Employment-Based
1st	C	C	C	C	C
2nd	C	01JAN00	01JAN00	C	C
3rd	U	U	U	U	U
Other Workers	U	U	U	U	U
4th	C	C	C	C	C
Certain Religious Workers	C	C	C	C	C
5th	C	C	C	C	C
Targeted Employ- ment Areas/ Regional Centers	C	C	C	C	C

The Department of State has available a recorded message with visa availability information which can be heard at: (area code 202) 663-1541. This recording will be updated in the middle of each month with information on cut-off dates for the following month.

Employment Third Preference Other Workers Category: Section 203(e) of the NACARA, as amended by Section 1(e) of Pub. L. 105-139, provides that once the Employment Third Preference Other Worker (EW) cut-off date has reached the priority date of the latest EW petition approved prior to November 19, 1997, the 10,000 EW numbers available for a fiscal year are to be reduced by up to 5,000 annually beginning in the following fiscal year. This reduction is to be made for as long as necessary to offset adjustments under the NACARA program. Since the EW cut-off date reached November 19, 1997 during Fiscal Year 2001, the reduction in the EW annual limit to 5,000 began in Fiscal Year 2002.

B. DIVERSITY IMMIGRANT (DV) CATEGORY

Section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act provides a maximum of up to 55,000 immigrant visas each fiscal year to permit immigration opportunities for persons from countries other than the principal sources of current immigration to the United States. The Nicaraguan and Central American Relief Act (NACARA) passed by Congress in November 1997 stipulates that beginning with DV-99, and for as long as necessary, up to 5,000 of the 55,000 annually-allocated diversity visas will be made available for use under the NACARA program. This reduction has resulted in the DV-2009 annual limit being reduced to 50,000. DV visas are divided among six geographic regions. No one country can receive more than seven percent of the available diversity visas in any one year.

For July, immigrant numbers in the DV category are available to qualified DV-2009 applicants chargeable to all regions/eligible countries as follows. When an allocation cut-off number is shown, visas are available only for applicants with DV regional lottery rank numbers BELOW the specified allocation cut-off number:

Region	All DV Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed Separately
AFRICA	48,700	Except: Egypt 21,600 Ethiopia 21,100 Nigeria 14,400
ASIA	CURRENT
EUROPE	CURRENT
NORTH AMERICA (BAHAMAS)	CURRENT
OCEANIA	CURRENT
SOUTH AMERICA, and the CARIBBEAN	CURRENT

Entitlement to immigrant status in the DV category lasts only through the end of the fiscal (visa) year for which the applicant is selected in the lottery. The year of entitlement for all applicants registered for the DV-2009 program ends as of September 30, 2009. DV visas may not be issued to DV-2009 applicants after that date. Similarly, spouses and children accompanying or following to join DV-2009 principals are only entitled to derivative DV status until September 30, 2009. DV visa availability through the very end of FY-2009 cannot be taken for granted. Numbers could be exhausted prior to September 30.

C. ADVANCE NOTIFICATION OF THE DIVERSITY (DV) IMMIGRANT CATEGORY RANK CUT-OFFS WHICH WILL APPLY IN AUGUST

For August, immigrant numbers in the DV category are available to qualified DV-2009 applicants chargeable to all regions/eligible countries as follows. When an allocation cut-off number is shown, visas are available only for applicants with DV regional lottery rank numbers BELOW the specified allocation cut-off number:

Region	All DV Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed Separately
AFRICA	64,300	Except: Egypt 22,750 Ethiopia 22,800 Nigeria 15,650
ASIA	CURRENT
EUROPE	CURRENT
NORTH AMERICA (BAHAMAS)	CURRENT
OCEANIA	CURRENT
SOUTH AMERICA, and the CARIBBEAN	CURRENT

 

D. RETROGRESSION OF AUGUST CUT-OFF DATES

It has been necessary to retrogress the Mexico Family First and Third preference cut-off dates, as well as the China Employment Second preference cut-off date for July to keep visa issuances within those annual category numerical limits.

E. OBTAINING THE MONTHLY VISA BULLETIN

The Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs offers the monthly “Visa Bulletin” on the INTERNET’S  WORLDWIDE WEB. The INTERNET Web address to access the Bulletin is:

http://travel.state.gov

From the home page, select the VISA section which contains the Visa Bulletin.

To be placed on the Department of State’s E-mail subscription list for the “Visa Bulletin”, please send an E-mail to the following E-mail address:

listserv@calist.state.gov

and in the message body type:
Subscribe Visa-Bulletin First name/Last name
(example: Subscribe Visa-Bulletin Sally Doe)

To be removed from the Department of State’s E-mail subscription list for the “Visa Bulletin”, send an
e-mail message to the following E-mail address:

listserv@calist.state.gov

and in the message body type: Signoff Visa-Bulletin

The Department of State also has available a recorded message with visa cut-off dates which can be heard at: (area code 202) 663-1541. The recording is normally updated by the middle of each month with information on cut-off dates for the following month.

Readers may submit questions regarding Visa Bulletin related items by
E-mail at the following address:

VISABULLETIN@STATE.GOV

(This address cannot be used to subscribe to the Visa Bulletin.)

Department of State Publication 9514
CA/VO:June 8, 2009

Source: www.uscis.gov

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DHS Leadership To Participate in United We Serve

WASHINGTON—Answering President Obama’s call to service, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano will be joined by Deputy Secretary Jane Holl Lute and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Craig Fugate on Monday volunteering their time and efforts to promote service across the country. The President’s 81-day summer service initiative, United We Serve, challenges all citizens to get involved in their communities and start building a better future for the nation.

“Volunteerism strengthens a community’s capacity to meet challenges,” said DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano. “President Obama’s call for service—today and everyday—plays a critical role in our efforts to prepare and protect the nation.”

Secretary Napolitano will help jumpstart community readiness in Orlando, Fla., where she will work with local members of the FEMA Citizens Corps to help prepare their neighborhoods and communities for successful emergency response and recovery.

Deputy Secretary Lute will lead a citizenship class at the Northern Manhattan Coalition for Immigrant Rights (NMCIR) in New York, where immigrants from around the world come to learn English, learn about America and prepare to become U.S. citizens.

Administrator Fugate will discuss the importance of service at a roundtable in Denver with Americans who have made President Obama’s challenge central to their daily lives, including firefighters as well as volunteers from FEMA’s Fire Corps and CERT programs—two entities that train people to assist and become first responders.

United We Serve will culminate with a National Day of Service and Remembrance on September 11, 2009. This milestone will provide an opportunity to recognize the summer’s accomplishments, honor those who died on September 11, 2001, and encourage Americans to make an ongoing commitment to service.

Source: www.uscis.gov

USCIS Issues Guidance Memorandum on EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program

WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today issued a guidance memorandum that provides USCIS adjudication officers with instructions related to the timing of job creation and the meaning of “full-time” positions in the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program.

The guidance memorandum update to the Adjudicator’s Field Manual (AFM) (see link to memo under Related Links on right side of this page), clarifies that for purposes of the Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur (Form I-526) adjudication and the job creation requirements, USCIS will consider the two-year period to begin six months after the adjudication of the Form I-526. 

USCIS officers will ensure that the business plan filed with the Form I-526 reasonably demonstrates that the requisite number of jobs will be created by the end of the two-year period. For Regional Center petitions and for purposes of indirect job creation, USCIS adjudicators may consider economic models that rely on certain variables to show job creation and the amount of investment to determine whether the required infusion of capital or creation of direct jobs will result in a certain number of indirect jobs.

USCIS also has concluded that certain direct and indirect jobs that would have previously been considered to be temporary or intermittent (such as construction jobs) may be considered as permanent jobs for Form I-526 and the Petition by Entrepreneur to Remove Conditions (Form I-829) purposes if the positions can be expected to last at least 2 years.

Source: www.uscis.gov

Obama Reforms Immigration

Things are moving pretty rapidly on the immigration front – and President Obama’s leadership has much to do with it.

The President has called for a bipartisan meeting on Monday with members of both houses of Congress to explore effective ways to speed immigration reform forward this year.

Meanwhile, this week, hundreds of reenergized advocates across the country are organizing a series of events to launch the Reform Immigration for America campaign, a broad-based national effort to fix the nation’s broken immigration system through a comprehensive legislative approach.

“The reality is that the President wants immigration reform, the American people want immigration reform, and we are launching the Reform Immigration for America campaign to make it happen,” said Ali Noorani, executive director of the National Immigration Forum, a nonpartisan group in Washington.

Two hundred organizations have signed on to the campaign that was announced Monday in more than 30 cities.

Locally, Make the Road New York – a grass-roots community group with offices in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island – and the New York Immigration Coalition announced their participation to an enthusiastic crowd gathered at the Prince George Ballroom in Manhattan.

“The room was completely full,” said Javier Valdés, of Make the Road by Walking. “There were more than 250 people, from labor leaders to business owners, from religious leaders to community organizers, pretty much the kind of coalition that will be needed to be effective.”

The local announcements were followed by a press conference held at the National Press Cub in Washington yesterday attended by a diverse coalition.

Groups such as the AFL-CIO, the Agriculture Coalition for Immigration Reform, the SEIU, the National Council of La Raza, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the American Immigration Lawyers Association and the National Immigration Forum said they are optimistic Congress will pass an immigration reform law in the coming months.

The group’s leaders described “a new political reality” made up of “a united labor movement and a President committed to comprehensive reform,” as well as unprecedented voter mobilization and turnout in immigrant communities last November.

The also point to polls showing support for reform from at least 60% of American people, and the practical impossibility of deporting 12,000,000 people.

Also in Washington, a national summit bringing together 700 grass-roots advocates representing more than 35 states convened yesterday and will run through Friday.
A NATIONAL TOWN HALL meeting on Capitol Hill Thursday, focusing on the urgent need for comprehensive solutions to the immigration crisis, will include key members of Congress such as Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-Ill.), Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.), and immigration subcommittee chairwoman Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.). They are likely to be among those meeting with President Obama in a few days.

“The purpose of the summit is to prepare for the June 8 meeting,” Valdés said. “From that day on, we will have a lot of work ahead of us.”

Also, organizers said, the campaign is an effort to help support Obama and ensure that his promises of comprehensive immigration reform becomes legislative reality.
“The time to act is now, and we are committed to do all we can to help the President and Congress to make immigration reform a reality,” Valdés
said.aruiz@nydailynews.com

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2009/06/04/2009-06-04_finally_a_national_push_for_immigration_reform.html#ixzz0HZEpNnTn&C

Source: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2009/06/04/2009-06-04_finally_a_national_push_for_immigration_reform.html

Rule Requiring Federal Contractors to Use E-Verify System Delayed

WASHINGTON  — Implementation of the final rule requiring federal contractors and subcontractors to begin using U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) E-Verify system has been delayed until Sept. 8, 2009.

The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (collectively known as the Federal Acquisitions Regulatory Councils) will publish an amendment in the Federal Register on June 5, 2009, postponing the applicability of the final rule until Sept. 8, 2009.  The rule was first published on Nov. 14, 2008 requiring federal contractors and subcontractors to agree to electronically verify the employment eligibility of their employees.  

Source: www.uscis.gov

USCIS Begins Transfer of Historical A-Files to National Archives

WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the National Archives and Records Administration took a major step today for personal, historical and genealogical research with a formal schedule to begin the transfer of alien registration files (A-files) for permanent retention at the National Archives.  Archival processing of approximately 135,000 files could be completed by next summer and available for public access.

The schedule was formalized in a signing ceremony at the National Archives in Washington.  Gregory B. Smith, Associate Director, USCIS and Chief, National Security and Records Verification Directorate, delivered the first files to Adrienne Thomas, Acting Archivist of the United States, who signed the new schedule. 

“Immigration is one of the most significant aspects of the American experience,” said Smith.  The information contained in the A-file is unique.  No other type of case file contains the same level of comprehensive personal data…especially concerning the alien’s interaction with USCIS and the former Immigration and Naturalization Service, and their request for resident status and/or citizenship.  This ensures that the records contained within the A-File will be retained forever in our National Archives – preserving a rich and important part of America’s immigration history.”

“These A-files are a key to unlocking the fascinating stories of millions of people who traveled to the United States in search of opportunity,” added Thomas.  “The National Archives is delighted that it will be able to safeguard the unique and important stories of brave men and women who left their homelands in search of a better life.”

The A-file is a series of records consisting of numbered files used to document the complete history of the interaction between an alien and the U.S. government.  The file is unique in that it not only contains routine demographic information, but may also include photographs, foreign birth certificates, marriage licenses, interview transcripts or actual recordings, and more.  Currently, USCIS maintains approximately 53 million A-files; of these, about 21 million have been retired to a Federal Records Center. 

Previously, the A-file was considered a ‘temporary record’ and could possibly have been disposed of 75 years from the date the file was retired to a Federal Records Center or 75 years from the date of last action.  Now, the A-file becomes a permanent record which will transfer to National Archives custody 100 years from the individual’s date of birth.  Newly-eligible files will be transferred to the National Archives every five years. 

After transfer to the National Archives, the majority of files will be housed at the National Archives in Kansas City.  Files on immigration through the port of San Francisco will be housed at the National Archives in San Francisco.  Once these records have been transferred, they will be available in the research rooms at these two National Archives facilities.  Copies will also be available through the mail.

Additional immigration-related information and links to resources geared specifically for genealogical research is available online from the Related Links of this page.

Source: www.uscis.gov