Starting January 1, 2016, customers who wish to file Form I-290B, Notice of Motion or Appeal, in response to a decision on their Form N-600 or N-600K must mail their Form I-290B to the Chicago Lockbox. USCIS will no longer accept these forms at local field offices.
Customers should mail their Form I-290B for Form N-600 or N-600K to:
USCIS will provide a 30 day grace period from January 1-30, 2016, for customers who file their Form I 290B with the local office. Local field offices who receive Form I-290Bs during this time will forward the forms to the Chicago Lockbox.
After January 30, 2016, local field offices will return all Form I-290Bs for Forms N-600 or N-600K they receive and advise customers to file at the Chicago Lockbox.
|
Wednesday, December 30, 2015
Customers Must Mail Form I-290B for Form N-600 or Form N-600K to the Chicago Lockbox
USCIS Approves 10,000 U Visas for 7th Straight Fiscal Year
| U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has approved the statutory maximum of 10,000 petitions for U-1 nonimmigrant status (U visas) for fiscal year 2016. This marks the seventh straight year that USCIS has reached the statutory maximum since it began issuing U visas in 2009. Each year, 10,000 U visas are available for victims of certain qualifying crimes who have suffered substantial mental or physical abuse and are willing to help law enforcement authorities investigate or prosecute those crimes. A U visa petition requires certification that the victim has been helpful to law enforcement. Although USCIS has reached the statutory cap of 10,000 U visas, it will continue to review pending petitions for eligibility. For eligible petitioners who cannot be granted a U-1 visa solely because of the cap, USCIS will send a letter notifying them that they are on a waiting list to receive a U visa when visas become available again. The letter will also inform the petitioners of options available to them while they are on the waiting list. Petitioners and qualifying family members must continue to meet eligibility requirements at the time the U visa is issued. USCIS will resume issuing U visas on October 1, 2016, the first day of fiscal year 2017, when visas become available again. Congress created the U visa program to strengthen the law enforcement community’s ability to investigate and prosecute cases of domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking, and other crimes, while also offering protection to victims. More than 117,579 victims and their family members have received U visas since the program began in 2009. |
Source: USCIS
Tuesday, December 29, 2015
USCIS Transferring Workload between Processing Centers
| USCIS recently began transferring certain casework from the Vermont Service Center (VSC) to the California Service Center (CSC) and Nebraska Service Center (NSC) to balance workloads. The CSC will now process Form I-539, Application to Extend/Change Nonimmigrant Status. The NSC will process Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, filed by an asylum applicant with a pending asylum application filed on or after Jan. 4, 1995. The eligibility category for the application is (c)(8). How You Will Be Affected If We Transfer Your CaseIf we transfer your case, we will send you a transfer notice. Your original receipt number will not change, and the transfer will not delay the processing of your case except for the additional time needed to transfer the file.The filing location and instructions for these forms will not change. Please continue to file the forms at the address on the form instructions and on the USCIS website at www.uscis.gov. How to Track the Status of Your CaseYou can check your case status at Case Status Online by entering your receipt number. You can also sign up to receive automatic case status updates by email.If you do not receive a decision on your case within the published processing time, you may submit an inquiry using e-Request or by calling the National Customer Service Center (NCSC) at 800-375-5283 (TDD for the deaf and hard of hearing: 800-767-1833). When asking about your case status, please provide us with your original receipt number and specify that your case was transferred to a new location. If we send you any notice (such as a Request for Evidence), please read the notice carefully and follow the instructions provided. If you move while your case is pending, you must inform USCIS of your address change. You may file a change of address on our website or by calling the NCSC. It is important that you notify us of any address change as soon as possible, so that you continue to receive notifications from USCIS. |
Form I-751 Removal of Conditions Update by USCIS
USCIS published an update to Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence. The new edition is dated 11/23/15.
Starting 02/29/16, USCIS will accept only the 11/23/15 edition. USCIS will not accept editions dated 04/13/13 or earlier after that date. The edition date can be found at the bottom of every page on the form and instructions.
Friday, December 18, 2015
BALCA on ACWIA, H-1B Prevailing Wage, Higher Education
BALCA, Matter of University of Michigan, Nov. 18, 2015- "The Employer filed an Application for Prevailing Wage Determination (ETA Form 9141) in connection with its efforts to hire an H-1B worker. (AF 27-31). The Employer noted on the Form 9141 that it was an institution covered by the American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act (“ACWIA”). (AF 27). The Employer indicated the job opportunity corresponded with the SOC/O*Net code for “Compliance Officers,” but requested that the Certifying Officer (“CO”) use an EduComp wage survey to calculate the prevailing wage instead of the OES data for Compliance Officers. (AF 28). The survey provided by the Employer contained wage data from several universities for the position of “Institutional Review Board Specialist” and listed an average annual salary of $57,428.00. (AF 37-91). The CO rejected the Employer‟s wage survey for reasons not relevant to this appeal and relied on the OES data for “Compliance Officers” to issue a prevailing wage determination (“PWD”) of $95,534.00. ... - See more at:
Thursday, December 17, 2015
EB-5 & Other USCIS Timelines For December 2015
The Form I-526 and Form I-924
Application for Regional Center processing times had a good drop in processing
time to 12.8 months and 11.6 months respectively, but Form I-829 (petition
by entrepreneur to remove conditions) had slight increase.
For more
information about the EB-5 program, please contact the JQK Law Firm at (310)
582-5904.
Form I-526 (Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur)
Form I-829 (Petition by Entrepreneur to Remove
Conditions)
Form I-924 (Application for Regional Center)
For other USCIS
Processing times, please visit:https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/processTimesDisplayInit.do
Monday, December 14, 2015
Thursday, December 10, 2015
U.S. House Passes Visa Waiver Bill
As Republicans squabbled over Donald Trump’s controversial proposal to bar all Muslims from traveling to the United States, the House on Tuesday overwhelmingly passed a bill imposing new restrictions on a visa waiver program that currently welcomes roughly 20 million people into the country each year.
The bill, which was approved on a 407 to 19 vote, would increase information sharing between the United States and the 38 countries whose passport-holders are allowed to visit the country without getting a visa, while also attempting to weed out travelers who have visited certain countries where they may have been radicalized.
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
New Policy Memo: Visa Petition after death of Spouse
Approval of a Spousal Immediate Relative Visa Petition under Section 204(l) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act after the Death of a U.S. Citizen Petitioner
http://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Laws/Memoranda/2015/2015-1118_Approval_of_a_Spousal_Immediate_Relative_Visa_Petition.pdf
http://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Laws/Memoranda/2015/2015-1118_Approval_of_a_Spousal_Immediate_Relative_Visa_Petition.pdf
US Visa Waiver Program Tightened
PARIS — The White House announced changes Monday to the government’s visa-waiver program to try to stop those who have visited conflict zones from easily boarding American-bound commercial flights, a move intended to prevent an attack in the United States similar to the ones that struck Paris.
But the new measures — which include potentially higher fines for airlines that fail to verify their passengers’ identities and increased information-sharing between countries — are limited, and White House officials acknowledged that they would need Congress to pass legislation to further tighten controls.
Congressional Republican leaders announced Monday that they would pursue more potent legislation to toughen the waiver program.
Read more at the NY Times
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)