Labor Immigration Law

The USCIS has revised the instructions on Form I-751 which is generally filed by green card holders who have conditions on their residency - often by marriage or investors.

The revised instructions direct the form to be filed either to the California or to the Vermont Service Centers, depending on the state of residency.

California Service Center.

Petitioners whol live in Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, California, Colorado, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming should file at the California Service Center.

Vermont Service Center.

Petitioners who live in  Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Washington, D.C., Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, U.S. Virgin Islands, and West Virginia should file at the Vermont Service Center.

The revised form must be used for all filings after September 24, 2008, can be located here.

The USCIS has released an update to the projected processing times for naturalization petitions.  Based on updated projections, USCIS estimates that the naturalization process would take an average of 10-12 months by the end of September 2008 (compared with the estimated 16-18 months projections announced last year).

The increase in processing time was mainly due to the 1.4 million naturalization applications received in 2007, an amount which is double the normal annual volume.

The USCIS projections for processing time by office are listed below:

Agana, Guam…………………………….5.0
Albany, N.Y……………………………..5.6
Albuquerque, N.M……………………..8.4
Anchorage, Alaska…………………….5.0
Atlanta, Ga………………………………..6.7
Baltimore, Md…………………………..7.0
Boise, Idaho…………………………….10.5
Boston, Mass…………………………….8.8
Buffalo, N.Y……………………………..7.0
Charleston, S.C………………………..14.1
Charlotte Amalie, Virgin Islands….7.2
Charlotte, N.C………………………….14.9
Chicago, Ill……………………………….5.1
Cincinnati, Ohio………………………..7.0
Cleveland, Ohio…………………………6.8
Columbus, Ohio…………………………5.7
Dallas, Texas…………………………..11.0
Denver, Colo…………………………….5.2
Des Moines, Iowa………………………5.7
Detroit, Mich…………………………….5.0
El Paso, Texas…………………………..7.9
Fort Smith, Ark………………………….7.6
Fresno, Calif……………………………..6.7
Harlingen, Texas……………………….5.0
Hartford, Conn…………………………14.3
Helena, Mont…………………………….5.0
Honolulu, Hawaii………………………5.0
Houston, Texas………………………….5.1
Indianapolis, Ind………………………..5.0
Jacksonville, Fla………………………..7.4
Kansas City, Mo………………………..7.0
Las Vegas, Nev………………………….9.0
Los Angeles, Calif……………………12.5
Louisville, Ky……………………………7.1
Manchester, N.H………………………..5.3
Memphis, Tenn…………………………8.4
Miami, Fla………………………………12.0
Milwaukee, Wis………………………..6.6
Mount Laurel, N.J……………………..5.0
New Orleans, La……………………..14.5
New York, N.Y……………………….10.0
Newark, N.J………………………………7.4
Norfolk, Va………………………………7.2
Oklahoma City, Okla…………………8.6
Omaha, Neb……………………………..5.0
Orlando, Fla……………………………..9.5
Philadelphia, Pa……………………….10.0
Phoenix, Ariz……………………………8.6
Pittsburgh, Pa……………………………6.0
Portland, Maine…………………………5.5
Portland, Ore…………………………….5.4
Providence, R.I………………………….6.7
Reno, Nev…………………………………5.0
Sacramento, Calif………………………5.0
Salt Lake City, Utah…………………..5.0
San Antonio, Texas……………………5.0
San Diego, Calif………………………..5.0
San Francisco, Calif…………………..5.5
San Jose, Calif…………………………..5.0
San Juan, Puerto Rico………………10.4
Seattle, Wash…………………………….9.0
Spokane, Wash………………………….5.0
St Albans, Vt…………………………….9.5
St Louis, Mo……………………………10.3
St Paul, Minn…………………………….5.5
Tampa, Fla……………………………….8.6
Tucson, Ariz……………………………12.0
Washington, D.C……………………..12.7
West Palm Beach, Fla………………..5.0
Yakima, Wash…………………………..5.0

Of course, these times are projections and although we hope that USCIS would be able to meet these timelines, we encourage applicants to allow additional time.

We have written previously on several occasions about the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) which is now live and operational.  Direct link.

The new system opened on August 1 and will be voluntary in nature until January 12, 2009, when it becomes mandatory for all individuals traveling under the visa waiver program (VWP).  We have not yet received a meaningful amount of feedback to judge the system’s usability, operation, and its actual effect on clearing U.S. border control, but we expect to do so over the next few days as ESTA-registered travelers make their entry into the U.S.

If you are a VWP traveler who used ESTA to pre-register your trip to the U.S. and would like to share your opinion of the ESTA system and your entry into the U.S. please let us know.

Update: we have heard that the ESTA system does not permit passports with expiration of more than 10 years to use the system.  We believe this is an oversight by the ESTA developers and will be corrected soon as there are legitimate reasons to have passports with expiration date of more than 10 years in the future.

The USCIS has released a revised list of vaccines required for applicants seeking to adjust status to become permanent legal residents.  The updated list, required for all medical exams conducted on or after August 1, 2008, are as follows:

• Rotavirus;
• Hepatitis A;
• Meningococcal;
• Human papillomavirus; and
• Zoster.

Although the requirements for these vaccines went into effect on July 1, 2008, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) approved a 30-day grace period for all exams conducted prior to August 1.  In connection with the revised list of vaccinations, the revised Form I-693, Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record, dated as of June 5, 2008, or later must be used.

We have written about the upcoming new system for pre-registration of travelers of visa waiver countries coming to the U.S.  Under the new system, all travelers will be required to complete a pre-registration via an online system before departing for the U.S. There will be a period of several months in which the system will be functional, yet completion of the information will be optional.  It is expected that beginning January 2009 such pre-registration will be mandatory for all visa waiver country travelers.

USCIS has released screenshots of the new system to allow the affected parties to become familiar with the system before it launches.  We are republishing these screenshots for the benefit of our clients.

The receipt number is one of the most commonly used numbers, by immigrants and lawyers alike, to track the progress or identify a particular immigration case or filing.

These receipt numbers start with three letters and follow by a series of numbers, for example EAC-06-123-45678.  Here is how to understand what the numbers mean.

The first three letters indicate the USCIS service center which is processing the petition, as follows:
- EAC - Vermont Service Center;
- WAC - California Service Center;
- LIN - Nebraska Service Center; and
- SRC - Texas Service Center.

The next two digits represent the fiscal year in which USCIS received the petition.  In the example above, “06″ means that the petition was received by USCIS during Fiscal Year 2006.  The next three digits represent the computer workday on which the receipt was processed and the fee was taken.  Finally, the last five digits are used to identify uniquely the petition filed.

We wrote earlier about the availability of limited I-140 premium processing filings.  It is only available to certain H-1B holders who “H-out” of their status and for whom the only way to remain on H-1B status would be a I-140 premium processing filing.  Please read our earlier article for details on this.

The USCIS has released some clarifications on the I-140 premium processing procedure.

First, not all cases of I-140s are eligible for premium processing.  Prior to the suspension of premium processing for I-140’s last Fall, only certain I-140 case types were eligible. For example, National Interest Waivers and Multinational Managers were not eligible for premium processing. Those case types are still not eligible for premium processing, even in an “H-out” situation.

Second, the I-140 premium processing is available if the beneficiary is in H-1B status in the U.S.

Finally, the current program is only available if the beneficiary is within 60 days of the end of the 6th year of H-1B time. The purpose of this premium processing option was to benefit those individuals who could not qualify for a one-year extension and who needed an approved I-140 to remain in the US.  It was originally assumed that the term “6th year” could be read to mean “last year” in H-1B time. However, USCIS has said that they will be taking the term “6th year” literally. Therefore, if the beneficiary is in the 7th or 8th year of H-1B time, your premium processing request may not be accepted.

The USCIS has received comments on these three clarifications and is working to consider, and possibly, adjust the scope of the I-140 program.  However, until USCIS releases modifications of the program, the I-140 premium processing program remains somewhat limited in scope and applicability.

USCIS has provided two recent updates on the numbers on the H-2B visa count.  The two recent updates are useful because it allows us to sample the rate at which H-2B visa numbers are being used.

The July 1 announcement stated that the H-2B count, as of July 1, stands at 17,305 for the first half of FY 2009.  The July 7 announcement stated that the H-2B count, as of July 7, stands at 20,390, an increase of nearly 3,000 over a period of less than a week. It should be noted that the period included the July 4th holiday, so it is safe to assume that the actual filing rate is somewhat higher.

The cap for the first half of FY 2009 is set at 33,000, so based on current demand at a rate of 3,000 visa petitions in 6 days, we anticipate that the remaining numbers will be exhausted some time in August.  This expectation assumes that the rate of 3,000 visa petitions per 6 days will not change.

USCIS recently announced the launch of the online FOIA status check.  The system is designed to provide a secure way for FOIA petitioners to check the status on their request.

While the information provided by the system is not very detailed, it nonetheless is bound to eliminate a large number of status check calls to USCIS’s FOIA request service center. There are 110,000 annual FOIA requests and the amount of status request calls they generate creates a heavy burden on USCIS.

Customers can use the online service anytime by entering their assigned control number to receive an immediate response on the status of their FOIA request. The customer will then receive either a ‘pending’ or ‘processed’ response. A pending response indicates to the customer the position of their request relative to all other requests in the same processing track. A ‘processed’ request indicates that the request was processed and the customer will be provided that processing date. USCIS will make daily updates to the status information.

We have all heard or seen references to the “A Number.”  Many USCIS forms ask for it, and many of our clients have asked us, “What exactly is the ‘A Number’?”

The “A Number” stands for Alien Registration Number.  It is a number that starts with an “A” followed by eight-digits.  Not all foreign nationals have an A Number.  Most people get A Number when they apply for adjustment of status, seek employment authorization document (EAD), apply for a V visa or are subject to deportation proceedings.

There are four separate kinds of A Numbers:

• Eight-digit A Numbers are manually assigned at local offices. If you have one of these numbers, simply treated it as if it was “0″ plus the number;
• Nine-digit A Numbers that start with the digit 1 are used for employment authorization cards, usually related to students;
• Nine-digit A Numbers that start with the digit 3 are used for fingerprint tracking of V visa applicants;
• All other nine-digit A Numbers  are permanent A Numbers and remain permanently with you for life.

Many USCIS forms ask for the A Number and we have advised our clients to enter “NONE” if they have not been issued one  yet.  However, if you have an A Number, it is important to enter it on any USCIS forms.