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[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 243 (Wednesday, December 18, 2013)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 76529-76533]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-30075]

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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

19 CFR Part 148

[CBP Dec. 13-19; USCBP-2012-0008]
RIN 1515-AD76

The geographic mobility of lawful permanent residents (LPRs) within the United States has implications for their integration and socioeconomic achievement. Migration data on LPRs are not routinely collected by the Department of Homeland Security. However, information supplied on applications for LPR status and naturalization may be used to measure changes in the state of residence occurring between the grant of LPR status and the time of naturalization. This Office of Immigration Statistics Fact Sheet examines interstate migration among LPRs who became naturalized U.S.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has approved the statutory maximum 10,000 petitions for U-1 nonimmigrant status (U visas) for fiscal year 2014. This marks the fifth straight year that USCIS has reached the statutory maximum since it began issuing U visas in 2008.

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 of assistance from law enforcement.

On December 8, 2013, E-Verify released three revised Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) for E-Verify browser users and three new MOUs for Web Services users and developers.  

The new and revised MOUs become effective for new users beginning December 8, 2013, and for existing users on January 8, 2014.  Existing users will not need to execute a new MOU.  For more information, including copies of the new and revised MOUs, please see the:

MOU Enhancements page 

• This Labor Certification Registry allows the public to search, analyze, and retrieve labor certification decisions with unprecedented ease, clarity, and timeliness. This new web-based tool is a core component of the iCERT Visa Portal System providing real-time access to labor certification decisions in the PERM, H-1B, H-2A, and H-2B visa programs through one location and searchable along a series of common data points.

The NPWC is experiencing an unprecedented number of prevailing wage determination requests (PWDRs) for H-2B labor certifications, many of which include surveys. The lingering effect of the government shutdown, coupled with the complexity of reviewing new surveys, has resulted in increasing wait times for PWDs with survey requests. Employers' needs may not be able to accommodate the longer processing times, although the NPWC is working to reduce the processing time of these surveys as quickly as possible.

The Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices (OSC) enforces the anti-discrimination provision (§ 274B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 8 U.S.C. § 1324b.

This federal law prohibits:

Questions & Answers: Victims of Criminal Activity, U Nonimmigrant Status

The U nonimmigrant status (U visa) is set aside for victims of crimes who have suffered substantial mental or physical abuse and are willing to assist law enforcement and government officials in the investigation or prosecution of the criminal activity. Below are Questions and Answers pertaining to U nonimmigrant visas.

On Nov. 4, 2013, the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington granted final approval of the revised ABT Settlement Agreement, bringing to a close class action litigation that began in December 2011.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is proposing changes to the requirements governing its Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) that are intended to improve management of international student programs and increase opportunities for study by spouses and children of nonimmigrant students.