Service Center Processing Time Reports as of October 30, 2006
Service Center Processing Time Reports as of October 30, 2006
Links go to PDFs
Texas Service Center Processing Time Report (10/30/06)
Nebraska Service Center Processing Time Report (10/30/06)
National Benefits Center Processing Time Report (10/30/06)
California Service Center Processing Time Report (10/30/06)
Vermont Service Center Processing Time Report (10/30/06)
USCIS Announces Filing Change for Form I-539 Application for Extension/Change of Nonimmigrant Status for the Purpose of Student Reinstatement
USCIS PUBLIC NOTICE
October 25, 2006
Beginning October 30, 2006, local USCIS offices will forward any new filings for Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status, for F-1 and M-1 student reinstatement, to the California Service Center or the Vermont Service Center, depending on where the student is engaged in academic or vocational study. The California Service Center will receive F-1 and M-1 reinstatement applications from USCIS District and Sub Offices located in: AK, AZ, CA, CO, GU, HI, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, ND, OH, OR, SD, UT, WA, WI, and WY. The Vermont Service Center will receive F-1 and M-1 reinstatement applications from USCIS district and sub offices located in: AL, AR, CT, DE, DC, FL, GA, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MS, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, SC, OK, PA, PR, RI, TN, TX, VA, VI, VT, and WV. This transfer is being implemented in preparation for Phase 3 of Bi-Specialization, the USCIS initiative to use centralized filing and bi-specialized adjudication. Through the Bi-Specialization effort, USCIS is aligning similar workloads between two “sister” service centers, in this case the California and Vermont Service Centers, working toward process efficiencies and consistency in the adjudication of applications for F-1 and M-1 reinstatements.
Customers applying for student reinstatement will receive a receipt notice from the service center that will process their case. USCIS District Offices will continue to process student reinstatement cases received before October 30, 2006 using existing procedures. Local USCIS Offices will continue to accept the Application for Extension/Change of Nonimmigrant Status (I-539) specifically for the purpose of student reinstatement until such time when provisions are in place allowing for direct mail filing.
Applications received by a local USCIS office prior to October 30, 2006, will remain within the jurisdiction of that office for the completion of processing. Therefore, it is not necessary for individuals who previously filed an application at a local USCIS office to file a new application in connection with this change of procedure. The printed filing instructions on Form I-539 and the public information posted on http://www.uscis.gov will be amended accordingly.
If USCIS customers have inquiries about their pending applications, they can use any of three methods to receive information about the processing of their application:
• Calling the National Customer Service Call Center (NCSC) at 1-800-375-5283.
• Using the USCIS web-based Case Status Service located at: http://www.uscis.gov
• Contacting the service center from which they received their last notice.
Crackdown on illegals takes toll in Pennsylvania town
Via CNN.com
10/31/2006
HAZLETON, Pennsylvania (AP) — Elvis Soto’s variety store
used to make money. But few customers have been walking through his
door lately, and his merchandise — calling cards, cell phones, car
stereos, clothing — is collecting dust on the shelves.
With bills mounting, Soto might have to take another job to stay afloat financially, and may even close the store.
On
Wednesday, a tough, first-of-its-kind law targeting illegal immigrants
goes into effect in this small hillside city in northeastern
Pennsylvania. But the evidence suggests many Hispanics — illegal or
otherwise — have already left.
That, in turn, has hobbled the
city’s Hispanic business district, where some shops have closed and
others are struggling to stay open.
“Before, it was a nice
place,” said Soto, 27, who came to the United States from the Dominican
Republic a decade ago. “Now, we have a war against us. I am legal but I
feel the pressure also.”
The ordinance, approved by City Council
in September, imposes fines on landlords who rent to illegal immigrants
and denies business permits to companies that give them jobs. The law
empowers the city to investigate written complaints about a person’s
immigration status, using a federal database.
Mayor Lou Barletta,
chief proponent of the new law, contends illegal immigrants have
brought drugs, crime and gangs, overwhelming police and municipal
budgets. He announced the crackdown in June, a month after two illegal
immigrants from the Dominican Republic were charged in a fatal shooting.
At
Isabel’s Gifts, owner Isabel Rubio said business is so bad that she and
her husband have put their house up for sale, moved into an apartment
above their store and started dipping into their savings.
“I am
in a lot of stress right now,” said Rubio, 50, a Colombian who moved to
Hazleton 24 years ago. “Every day, we hope to have a good day.”
Opponents
sued on Monday to block the law and a companion measure, saying they
trample on the federal government’s exclusive power to regulate
immigration.
Continue reading
USCIS Is Changing Its Website
Via AILA
10/30/2006
USCIS has advised that it is updating and upgrading its website, and
that the new site will be launched in the very near future. It is
expected that any existing links to the site will break at that time.
It is not clear if users will be forwarded to the new pages, or if the
links will become dead. If you maintain a website that links to the
USCIS site, you may need to update your links once the new site is
launched.
US visas for Indians in six days soon
Via Rediff News
October 12, 2006 15:33 IST
Last Updated: October 12, 2006 20:41 IST
Tired of waiting for months to get an appointment for an interview to secure a US visa? Here’s some good news for you.
The
prolonged wait for a visa may soon be a thing of the past with US
authorities looking to streamline the process for applying for
non-immigrant visas to America. Their goal: clearing visas in six days,
instead of the two to six months it takes currently.
As part of a
countrywide effort in this direction, the US Consulate General in
Mumbai has announced the addition of over 8,000 appointment dates to
the schedule for the next three months.
Addressing media persons
at a press conference at the US Consulate in Mumbai, Chief of Consular
Services Glen Keiser said: “Every year over 125,000 non-immigrant US
visas are adjudicated in India. Due to limited resources, the
processing of the applications used to take almost six months. The
authorities found this to be too long a delay. So, more resources, with
regard to increase in the number of personnel attending to applicants,
are being mobilised.”
“In order to further speed up the process,
we have a new Consulate coming up at the Bandra-Kurla Complex in
Mumbai, which will be operational by April 2008. The new Consulate will
process double the number of applications we do here,” he added. The
new building will have more staff, greater space and a larger waiting
hall.
With US Consulate General here initiating steps to
eliminate backlog of visa applications, Mumbai is all set to become the
leading non-immigrant US visa processing post in the world, Keiser
said.
“We will soon be the busiest post in the world,” he said.
Mumbai is at present the 12th busiest non-immigrant visa processing
post in the world with Mexico and Seoul being the leading posts,
Keiser, who had served in Mexico before joining Mumbai last month, said.
Walking
through the simplified process of applying for a visa, Keiser said that
applicants must, to begin with, pay the Application Fee and Visa
Facilitation Service charges at a designated branch of HDFC Bank.
Upon making the payments, the applicant is given a bar code, which gets activated within 48 hours.
“Once the bar code gets activated, the applicant can log on to the Web site www.vfs-usa.co.in
to select a date for the interview from the calendar. The applicant
must send in the application form and the required documents by post a
week prior to the date of interview,” he said.
“Once the
documents are received, the applicant will be called for the interview
on the date he or she decided. The date for the interview can also be
re-scheduled,” he added.
For those who had applied prior to the
announcement can also have their dates rescheduled to the earliest
date. In order to facilitate the process, the working hours have also
been rescheduled. Interviews will now be held from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on
working days. The interview process will also be conducted on alternate
Saturdays.
In case the applicant does not have Internet access at
home, he or she can get assistance from the VFS offices in Mumbai, Pune
and Ahmedabad.
Keiser also sought to dispel apprehensions about preference being given to business and student visas.
“Last
year, out of the 125,000 non-immigrant visa applications that were
received, 33,000 (26%) were requests for skilled work visas (H1B &
L), while 10,500 applications were for student visas, especially for
pursuing education at the Masters level. But this does not mean that
they do not go through the same process as other applications do. The
procedure is the same for everyone,” he said.
US Consul General
Michael S Owen, who was also present at the briefing, observed that the
visa facilitation process was being revamped keeping in mind the
growing ties between India and the United States.
He recalled the
statement made by US Ambassador to India David Mulford a few days ago
that relations between the two countries had never been so better.
“In
fact, our people have been establishing business and people-to-people
contacts in far greater numbers than anyone ever predicted. There has
been enormous growth in the movement of people between the two
countries, and the US Mission is making it a priority to make this
process easier,” he had said.
DOL to Notify Attorneys of Each Stage in the E-mail Sponsorship Verification Process
VIA AILA
As requested by the AILA-DOL Liaison Committee, beginning October 20, 2006,
DOL will notify attorneys of each stage in the e-mail sponsorship verification
process. Attorneys will receive a copy of an email to the employer confirming
that the case has been filed, a copy of the sponsorship check email and a copy
of an acknowledgement that the employer has responded to the sponsorship check.
Ireland considering immigration deal with U.S
Via Reuters UK
10/25/2006
DUBLIN (Reuters) – Thousands of Irish citizens living unlawfully in
the United States could be legalised in return for more work permits
for U.S. citizens lured to Ireland by its thriving economy, an Irish
minister said on Wednesday.
“There is clear evidence to support
the establishment of some form of bilateral agreement between the U.S.
and Irish governments,” Labour Minister Tony Killeen said in a
statement after he returned from a trip to New York.
Killeen said
that, while 30,000 to 40,000 illegal Irish immigrants were living in
the United States, two centuries of mass emigration to the United
States from Ireland because of famine and unemployment was clearly now
at an end.
Ireland’s Trade and Employment Ministry said more than
4,300 Americans immigrated to Ireland in search of employment in 2005,
compared with 1,700 Irish people moving to the United States, where
more than 10 percent of the population claims Irish descent.
Killeen said a jobs fair in New York showed how appealing Ireland had become in the wake of the “Celtic Tiger” boom.
“The
interest expressed by Americans to come and work in Ireland was so
great that a queue more than two-and-a-half blocks long formed outside
the exhibition venue,” he said.
“In less than 15 years, Ireland
has gone from being the sick man of Europe to one of the most dynamic
economies in the developed world.”
Killeen told Reuters in New
York last week that Ireland would also try to lure Irish and U.S.
citizens back to Ireland where the population is now back above 4
million, having slumped to a 120-year low of 2.8 million in the 1960s.
America Votes 2006 – Issues – Immigration
VIA CNN
 
The House and Senate each passed vastly different versions of The impact on candidates is still unclear. Rep. Chris Cannon While not passing reform before November could hurt both sides Related: |
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AILA-SCOPS Update on Chile-Singapore Leftover H-1Bs
VIA AILA
10/25/2006
USCIS advised AILA’s Service Center Operations
(SCOPS) Liaison Committee on the processing of the remaining 89 H-1B
cap subject cases that were not selected as part of the random number
generator on 5/26/06 as follows:
- A letter will be issued to each petitioner/attorney notifying them
that their case will be processed if they submit the appropriate fees. - The letter will include instructions on mailing the fees to a dedicated mailing address.
- The deadline to respond to the letter will be November 14, 2006.
- Those that have not responded by November 14, 2006, will be
contacted by the Vermont Service Center (VSC) via e-mail or phone to
determine whether they are interested in pursuing the petition. - A dedicated e-mail address will be set up for any filing questions
pertaining to these cases. This e-mail account will be monitored
through the deadline date.
AILA-SCOPS Liaison has requested further clarification on this and will post further information as it becomes available.
USCIS Announces Extension of Returning Worker Exemption
VIA USCIS
10/23/2006
Washington, D.C.– U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that the “returning worker” exemption to the H-2B numerical limitation has been extended by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007 (H.R. 5122), section 1074, which was signed by President Bush on Oct. 17, 2006. The one year extension of the “returning worker” provisions will remain in effect until September 30, 2007.
Petitions filed for returning H-2B workers do not count towards the congressionally mandated bi-annual H-2B cap. “Returning workers” are exempt from H-2B cap limitations. In order to qualify, USCIS must have previously counted the “returning worker” against the H-2B numerical cap in one of the three fiscal years preceding the current year (i.e. between October 1, 2003 and September 30, 2006). Any worker not certified as a “returning worker” is subject to the numerical limitations for the relevant fiscal year. Petitions received after the “final receipt date” which contain a combination of “returning workers” and workers subject to the current H-2B cap will be rejected with respect to non-returning workers, and petitioning employers will receive partial approvals for those aliens who qualify as “returning workers” if otherwise approvable.
USCIS will continue to process petitions filed to:
• Extend the stay of a current H-2B worker in the United States;
• Change the terms of employment for current H-2B workers and extend their stay;
• Allow current H-2B workers to change or add employers and extend their stay; or
• Request eligible H-2B “returning workers.”
More information about the H-2B work program is available at http://www.uscis.gov or by calling the National Customer Service Center at 1-800-375-5283.
US visa appointment slots hiked to 30,000 at the US Consulate in Chennai
Via Rediff News
October 19, 2006
Taking serious note of the vast backlog for US visa appointments, the
US Consulate in Chennai has added 30,000 visa appointments till the end
of this year, Peter Kaestner, Minister Counsellor of US Consular
Affairs, New Delhi, said on Thursday.
He
said the number of visa appointment slots was being increased in a bid
to streamline the US visa application process and to reduce the
long-waiting time for applicants.
“The US Consulate General is
not satisfied with the long-waiting time for visa appointments, as much
as the applicants. The headquarters at Washington has sanctioned more
resources in the form of money and extra personnel to quicken the
process of visa issuance,” Kaestner informed the media.
In
order to enable better service, the US consulate was strongly urging
the applicants, who had obtained appointment slots in 2007, to advance
their appointments to this year.
As many as 500 slots are
available every day and these can be used to eliminate the backlog in
issuing visas, he said. This year alone, over 1,25,000 visa
applications were received from all over the country and another 40,000
appointment requests had already been made for 2007, he said.
“There
has been an increase of 19 per cent in the number of visas issued in
the last budgetary year when compared to the previous year, with
1,20,000 issuances in 2004-05 increasing to over 1,43,000 in 2005-06,”
Kaestner said.
“The US Consulate receives fraudulent visa
applications in which the applicant supplies false documents in the
form of school leaving certificates, bank documents and university
degrees,” Kaestner said. He attributed this to the wrong information
being provided to the applicants by people posing as visa agents, about
the documents required.
“Even legitimate applicants have to be
denied visas because they follow the advice of such agents. In reality,
very few documents are required to be attached with a visa application
and the specifications are available in the website http://www.vfs-usa.co.in”,
Kaestner said.
Voicing concern over this fraudulent activity, he
said that the number of fake applications was large enough to intervene
in the smooth processing of visas. Over 80,000 students from India were
pursuing higher education in America of which 12,000 were from South
India alone.
The number of student visas had increased steadily
and last year registered the highest number of student visas, Kaestner
said. Compared to 2004-05, the last financial year recorded a 20 per
cent increase in the number of student visas, he said.
Revealing
that Chennai topped the country in the highest number of visa
applications, he said the city was way ahead of all other states in
eliminating the backlog.
Foreign alums cope with visa troubles – Via The Yale Daily News
Via The Yale Daily News
After
studying at Yale for four years, Semih Salihoglu ’06 was ready to
continue his life in the United States as a software engineer for
Google in New York City.
A Turkish citizen, Salihoglu was a computer science and
economics double major and holder of the highest grade-point average in
Silliman College after seven terms – an ideal candidate for many jobs
in the United States. But his plans were disrupted when he was denied
the necessary visa for employment for foreign workers with the
equivalent of a bachelor’s degree or higher, the H-1B.
“It was shocking because no one thought there was any risk in not getting an H-1B visa,” Salihoglu said.
Salihoglu is one of many foreign graduating seniors who were
unable to obtain H-1B visas this year due to increasing demand. Months
later, they continue to deal with the ramifications of the visa
shortage, and pending immigration legislation may or may not raise the
visa cap for the coming fiscal year.
The U.S. Immigration Law Blog by Ashwin Sharma 
A Few [More] Thoughts on Jobs and Immigration
Via SeattlePI
By Bill Center
Traveled to Vancouver, BC this week for a leadership conference hosted by the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce. The conference took a comprehensive, future-oriented look at human capital in the Puget Sound region.
The clear consensus was we have a lot of work to do. There is
already a serious mismatch between job openings/requirements and
available workers/skills. It is projected to get worse.
Demographers forecast a SHORTAGE – that’s right, I said a shortage –
of as many as 10 million workers in the U.S. economy by 2010 as baby
boomers leave the workforce. Despite this shortage unemployment could
hover at 5% – 6% because of the skills mismatch between new jobs and
available workers.
The solutions are pretty obvious.
We must educate our workers for the jobs of the future. We need more
scientists, engineers, computer programmers and researchers – and more
of them with advanced degrees. Clearly, that is a long-term answer, and
we have been slow to react to that requirement even though we’ve seen
it coming for years.
Failing to grow our own talent, we can compete in the global
marketplace for the best and brightest from outside the region. We’ve
done pretty well at that. The quality of life here in the Pacific
Northwest is a big draw.
It’s one thing to import talent from Cal Tech and MIT. It’s something else entirely to import workers from India or China.
So what’s the difference? … About five-to-ten years and $50-$60,000.
Bringing a worker to Seattle from Boston or LA is relatively easy. A
visit to the area, a signing bonus and relocation expenses usually do
the trick.
the same highly skilled, highly educated worker from overseas may
require the same visit and bonus package. It will also require an H1B
visa and work permit, assuming the hiring firm can even obtain one of
the limited number of H1B quota slots.
One speaker at the conference detailed the time consuming,
expensive, arbitrary process of bringing these highly sought after
immigrants to our shores. He saw this as limiting our region’s economic
growth. Another questioner suggested that importing talent was limiting
opportunities for American workers. A lot of people see it that way.
This is one case where I think the macroeconomic factors carry the day.
First of all, we cannot fix the education system overnight. In my
view, we have yet to really embark on that process. If we fail to
provide the needed workers, the jobs will eventually leave … to Boston,
Silicon Valley, the Research Triangle or Bangalore.
More importantly these highly educated, highly skilled workers will
not only fill jobs, they will create them. These knowledge workers will
invent, incubate and launch new firms, businesses and jobs we want
located right here in Puget Sound.
So if we cannot bring enough talented immigrants from offshore to
meet requirements, eventually firms will have no choice but to set up
business where the work can be done. We will be the big losers. We will
lose twice … losing not only the jobs sent offshore but all the jobs
that would have been created by the talented people we imported.
Congress should lift the cap on H1B visas.
Immigration is not the only solution. We still have to fix the education system. Perhaps the immigrants can help us with that.