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February 2, 2006  

Immigration ombudsman hears today from immigrants, employers

The Miami Herald – 02/02/2006 – Immigrants in South Florida have a chance today to tell the
government what they think of the U.S. Office of Citizenship and
Immigration Services.

Prakash I. Khatri, the ombudsman for the citizenship agency, will be
at a community forum tonight at the Stephen P. Clark Government Center,
111 N.W. 1st St. in Miami. The forum runs from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the
Board of County Commissioners chambers.

The agency oversees immigrant visas, employment petitions,
citizenship naturalization, asylum and refugee processing and
humanitarian and temporary protective status programs.

Khatri reports directly to the U.S. deputy secretary for Homeland
Security and to Congress. He is responsible for working with
individuals and employers to resolve problems with USCIS. The office of
the ombudsman operates independently. Tonight’s event is sponsored by
the Miami-Dade County Community Relations Board.

January 31, 2006  

Banks aim to help immigrants send money home – The Christian Science Monitor

US Immigrants send $100 Billion home to relatives each year. These
remittances have thus far been monopolized by small companies and agents, but this is changing as large banks seek to
provide money transfer services at lower fees. For the full story, see here.

January 24, 2006  

AIR Assesses Naturalization Test for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service 

    WASHINGTON, Jan. 24 /PRNewswire/ — The American Institutes for Research

(AIR), on behalf of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service — formerly

known as the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service — has been

conducting an assessment of the current U.S. Naturalization Test to determine

options for redesigning the test.


In September 2005, AIR was asked to assess the Naturalization Test process

to help determine how to make the test’s content and testing procedures more

efficient, fair, secure, and applicant-centered.  AIR’s report to Citizenship

and Immigration Service considers the value and feasibility of strategies to

rewrite the entire Naturalization Test, and to redesign only certain sections

of the test, as well as strategies to continue using parts of the current test

in their existing form.

About AIR

Established in 1946, the American Institutes for Research (AIR) is a

nonpartisan not-for-profit organization that conducts behavioral and social

science research on important social issues and delivers technical assistance

both domestically and internationally in the areas of health, education, and

workforce productivity.

SOURCE American Institutes for Research
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/01-24-2006/0004266756&EDATE=

January 24, 2006  

Updated USCIS Service Center Processing Dates (01/24/2006)

The following processing dates are current as of
January 24, 2006:

Current Vermont SC Processing Dates

Current California SC Processing Dates

Current Missouri/NBC Processing Dates

Current Nebraska SC Processing Dates

Current Texas SC Processing Dates

January 23, 2006  

Held in 9/11 Net, Muslims Return to Accuse U.S. – New York Times Article

January 23, 2006
The New York Times


Hundreds of noncitizens were swept up on visa violations in the weeks after 9/11, held for months in a much-criticized federal detention center in Brooklyn as “persons of interest” to terror investigators, and then deported. This week, one of them is back in New York and another is due today – the first to return to the United States.




 
Hany Ibrahim, left, and his brother
Yasser last week in Alexandria, Egypt,
where they were deported in 2002.

They are no longer the accused but the accusers, among six former detainees who are coming back to give depositions in their federal lawsuits against top government officials and detention guards, at a time when the constitutionality of part of the government’s counterterrorism offensive is under new scrutiny.


As in the cases of all the Muslim immigrants rounded up in the New York area after the terror attacks, the six were never accused of a crime related to 9/11; officials eventually cleared all of them of links to terrorism. A report by the inspector general of the Justice Department found systemic problems with immigrant detentions and widespread abuse at the federal detention center where the six had been held; several guards have since been disciplined.


Continue reading the article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/23/nyregion/23detain.html

January 12, 2006  

Courts told to be nicer to immigrants

01/11/2006 – WASHINGTON (Via CNN) — Saying judges have been “intemperate or even abusive,” Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on Tuesday ordered a review of immigration courts and insisted that they improve their treatment of immigrants.

Gonzales did not say what prompted his sharply worded memo. However, aides said internal information and media reports prompted the unusual admonition of employees.

“I have watched with concern the reports of immigration judges who fail to treat aliens appearing before them with appropriate respect and consideration, and who fail to produce the quality of work that I expect from employees of the Department of Justice,” Gonzales wrote.

Justice Department officials say critical press reports were one of many factors that prompted the memo. A recent account in The New York Times quoted a federal appeals court ruling that claimed circuit judges continuously had to rebuke immigration judges for their “intemperate and humiliating remarks.”

A federal appeals court in Chicago concluded in November that handling of immigration cases had “fallen below the minimum standards of legal justice.”

A Justice Department official insisted that such problems represent only a fraction of cases appealed from immigration courts, and Gonzales was quick to emphasize that he wasn’t painting all immigration judges with the same brush.

“While I remain convinced that most immigration judges ably and professionally discharge their difficult duties, I believe there are some whose conduct can aptly be described as intemperate or even abusive and whose work must improve,” Gonzales said.

The attorney general wrote an almost identical memo to members of the Board of Immigration Appeals, saying he instructed acting Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty and Associate Attorney General Robert McCallum to conduct a comprehensive review of immigration courts.

“I have requested that the review include the quality of work as well as the manner in which it is performed,” Gonzales wrote.

Deborah Notkin, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, commended Gonzales for ordering the review.

Immigration lawyers have had “deep and long-standing concerns about the functioning of the immigration courts and the behavior of the immigration judges,” she said in a written statement. “Increasingly, courts are reversing immigration decisions due to seriously flawed immigration judge decisions.”

January 10, 2006  

VISA BULLETIN FOR FEBRUARY 2006

Number 90
Volume VIII
Washington, D.C.

VISA BULLETIN FOR FEBRUARY 2006

IMMIGRANT NUMBERS FOR FEBRUARY
2006


A.
STATUTORY NUMBERS

1. This bulletin summarizes the
availability of immigrant numbers during February. 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 January 9th 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.

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”.

Schedule A Workers:
Employment First, Second, and Third preference Schedule A applicants are
entitled to up to 50,000 “recaptured” numbers.

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 Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed CHINA-mainland born INDIA MEXICO PHILIP-PINES
Family          
1st 22APR01 22APR01 22APR01 08AUG94 22AUG91
2A* 08FEB02 08FEB02 08FEB02 15APR99 08FEB02
2B 01JUL96 01JUL96 01JUL96 15FEB92 01JUL96
3rd 15JUL98 15JUL98 15JUL98 01JAN95 08FEB91
4th 22AUG94 22AUG94 01FEB94 01JAN93 01OCT83

*NOTE: For February, 2A
numbers EXEMPT from per-country limit are available to applicants from all
countries with priority dates earlier than 15APR99. 2A numbers
SUBJECT to per-country limit are available to applicants chargeable to all
countries EXCEPT MEXICO with priority dates beginning 15APR99 and earlier than
08FEB02. (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 Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed CHINA INDIA MEXICO PHILLIPINES
Employment–Based          
1st C 01JAN03 01FEB04 C C
2nd C 01APR02 01AUG01 C C
3rd 22APR01 22APR01 01JAN00 15MAR01 22APR01
Schedule A Workers C C C C C
Other Workers 01OCT01 01OCT01 01OCT01 01OCT01 01OCT01
4th C C C C C
Certain Religious Workers C C C C C
5th C C C C C
Targeted Employment 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-2006 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 February, immigrant numbers in the DV
category are available to qualified DV-2006 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 AF 11,600

Nigeria 8,150
ASIA AS 3,900  
EUROPE EU 8,300  
NORTH AMERICA (BAHAMAS) NA 6  
OCEANIA OC 400  
SOUTH AMERICA, and the CARIBBEAN SA 700  

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-2006 program ends as of September 30, 2006. DV visas may
not be issued to DV-2006 applicants after that date. Similarly, spouses and
children accompanying or following to join DV-2006 principals are only entitled
to derivative DV status until September 30, 2006. DV visa availability through
the very end of FY-2006 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
MARCH

For March, immigrant numbers in the DV
category are available to qualified DV-2006 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 Region Listed
Separately		    
AFRICA AF 14,200

Nigeria 9,550
ASIA AS 4,700  
EUROPE EU 9,850  
NORTH AMERICA (BAHAMAS) NA 7  
OCEANIA OC 500  
SOUTH AMERICA, and the CARIBBEAN SA 820  

D. VISA AVAILABILITLY IN THE
EMPLOYMENT PREFERENCE CATEGORIES

The movement of Employment cut-off dates
during the past several months has been greater than originally anticipated.
This has been a direct result of low visa number demand by Citizenship and
Immigration Services (CIS) for adjustment of status cases. It is not possible at
present to speculate how soon CIS number use will significantly increase. Once
increased demand does materialize, however, cut-off date movements will
necessarily slow or stop.

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:January 9, 2006

January 5, 2006  

USCIS INTRODUCES NEW DIRECTOR

01/05/2006 – Via USCIS – Washington, D.C. – Last night (on January 4, 2006) Department of Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Michael Jackson swore in Dr. Emilio Gonzalez as the new Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Nominated for the position in September 2005, Dr. Gonzalez appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee on October 18, 2005, and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on December 23, 2005.


“It is an honor and privilege to have been selected by President Bush to lead the USCIS team,” said Director Gonzalez. “The outstanding work of my predecessor, and the countless contributions of dedicated employees have established a strong foundation and institutional framework at USCIS. Building on these achievements, the USCIS leadership team will use our current momentum to carry us forward and improve upon what we have already accomplished to enhance national security, ensure quality customer service and reduce case backlogs.”


Dr. Gonzalez will immediately begin his tenure as USCIS Director, an Undersecretary rank position within the Department of Homeland Security. Dr. Gonzalez brings a passion for immigration work and a wealth of policy experience with him to his new position. As a Cuban immigrant and naturalized American, he also shares a special connection with the American immigrant population.

January 3, 2006  

U.S., Canada seek way around border passport plan

11/30/2005
USA TODAY

The Homeland Security and State departments are trying to come up with a cheap, convenient way for U.S. citizens and Canadians to prove their identities while crossing the border.











A car passes through a Canadian border station at Walhalla, N.D. A car passes through a Canadian border station at Walhalla, N.D.
USA TODAY file photo

Faced with growing opposition to a proposal requiring people to show passports or other similar IDs, the Bush administration will propose new forms of identification next spring, Homeland Security spokesman Jarrod Agen said.


It’s unclear what kind of an ID might be used, but Agen said the government is looking for ways to make the new card easy to obtain and carry.


“We’ve heard and certainly recognize the concerns that folks don’t want this delaying them or creating problems along the border,” Agen said.


The passport requirement would be phased in by 2008. Among those complaining about the idea is British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell, who said Wednesday that requiring people to use passports to cross land borders “will do very serious damage to our tourist industry and the tourist industry of Washington state.”


He and Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire are asking President Bush to develop a border-crossing card.


The passport plan, proposed in April, is part of a post-9/11 effort to tighten security along the nation’s vast borders.


It would require U.S. citizens to show passports or similar IDs instead of just driver’s licenses or birth certificates when re-entering the country from Canada, Mexico, Panama, Bermuda and the Caribbean. And it would require Canadians, who can now enter with driver’s licenses, to show a passport to enter the USA.


Businesses, the tourism industry and politicians have warned that the requirement would stifle cross-border travel and hurt the economy. They say passports or comparable documents are too expensive and would discourage travel.


One in five Americans has a current passport. The typical cost to obtain one is $97.


Andrew Rudnick of the Buffalo Niagara Partnership said a passport requirement would not stop terrorists who aren’t likely to use official checkpoints to cross the border.


Rudnick said up to 15 million tourists visit the Niagara Falls area each year and the economy could take a huge hit under the passport rule. “People are very nervous around here.”


Agen noted that the 9/11 Commission recommended a secure ID for the borders and Congress ordered the Bush administration to develop one. Driver’s licenses don’t prove nationality, he said, and there are hundreds of variations, which make it hard for agents to recognize fakes.

November 21, 2005  

How To Report a Change of Address to the USCIS

VIA USCIS – All non-U.S. citizens (aliens) who are required to be registered are also required to keep the USCIS informed of their current address. This is particularly important when you have filed an application or petition for a benefit under the Immigration and Nationality Act and expect notification of a decision on that application. In addition, the USCIS may need to contact you to provide other issued documents or return original copies of evidence you submitted. It is also mandatory for any alien who has been designated as a “special registrant” under 8 CFR § 264.1(f)(as amended by 67 Federal Register 52585 (August 12, 2002) to inform the USCIS whenever he or she has a change of address, employment or school. The special registrant rule is effective as of September 11, 2002.


Who Must Comply?
All aliens in the United States who are required to be registered under the law (INA § 262 and 261) must keep the USCIS informed of their changes of address. The only aliens exempt from this requirement are diplomats (visa status A), official government representatives to an international organization (visa status G), and certain nonimmigrants who do not possess a visa and who are in the U.S. for fewer than 30 days (INA § 263).


How Do I Report?
All aliens changing their address must file Form AR-11 with the USCIS address listed on the form. That address is:


    U.S. Department of Homeland Security
    USCIS
    Change of Address
    P.O. Box 7134
    London, KY 40742-7134

    For commercial overnight or fast freight services, only:

    U.S. Department of Homeland Security
    USCIS
    Change of Address
    1084-I South Laurel Road
    London, KY 40744

USCIS has created an additional procedure and recommends additional notifications for those aliens who are also applicants for benefits. Applicants and Petitioners with pending cases should telephone customer service at 1-800-375-5283 to report their change of address and get the address on the pending application/petition changed. If you are not a U.S. Citizen you will also be required to complete a Form AR-11. If you are not a U.S. citizen and you have a case pending with USCIS you need to do both – call customer service and complete the Form AR-11. The AR-11 is used by non-U.S. citizens to meet the legal requirements of informing USCIS of any change of address. Presently, completing an AR-11 does not update your address on any pending case. Also, while calling customer service updates the address on your pending case, it does not meet the legal requirement of completing an AR-11. Please see Change of Address (found under Contacting Us) on your local office About Us page.


Penalties for Failure to Comply
A willful failure to give written notice to the USCIS of a change of address within 10 days of the change is a misdemeanor crime. If convicted, the alien (or parent or legal guardian of an alien under age 14 who is required to give notice) can be fined up to $200 or imprisoned up to 30 days, or both. The alien may also be subject to removal from the United States. (INA § 266(b)). Compliance with the requirement to notify the USCIS of any address changes is also a condition of an alien’s stay in the United States. Failure to comply could also jeopardize the alien’s ability to obtain a future visa or other immigration benefit.

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