Latest News

The Department is announcing the implementation of electronic filing in the H-2A and H-2B visa programs through the Department's iCERT Visa Portal System. We believe this new electronic filing capability will enhance the accessibility and quality of labor certification services, reduce the data collection and reporting burden on small employers, facilitate more streamlined business processes, and establish greater transparency in the Department's decisions.

Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano has extended Haiti’s Temporary Protected Status (TPS). Next week, the Department of Homeland Security will publish a notice in the Federal Register announcing this decision.

The Federal Register notice will provide additional guidance on:

Citizenship Information and Resources Available for Local Immigrant Population

Released Sept.19, 2012

Progress Report on Improvements to Visa and Foreign Visitor Processing

Media Note

Office of the Spokesperson

Washington, DC
September 19, 2012

Today, the Administration released a 180 Day Progress Report on its efforts to build capacity, leverage resources, and improve the visa application and entry process – without compromising security – as directed by the President in a January 2012 Executive Order.

• Foreign visitors to the U.S. who need to prove their legal-visitor status—to employers, schools/universities or government agencies--during their first two months in the U.S. may need information in addition to the Form I-94 Arrival/Departure Record that they received from Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

   

  CBP is experiencing a delay in processing foreign visitors’ travel information into the I-94 database. This does not affect the majority of foreign travelers visiting for business or leisure and will not affect any visitor’s record of departure.

   

Online registration for the DV-2014 Program will begin on Tuesday, October 2, 2012 at 12:00 noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4), and conclude on Saturday, November 3, 2012 at 12:00 noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4).

See the Diversity Visa Program Instructions webpage for the DV 2014 Instructions and any available translations.

• [Federal Register Volume 77, Number 180 (Monday, September 17, 2012)]
  [Rules and Regulations]
  [Pages 57012-57013]
  From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
  [FR Doc No: 2012-22862]

  DEPARTMENT OF STATE

  [Public Notice: 8026]

  22 CFR Parts 22 and 42

  RIN 1400-AD06

  Schedule of Fees for Consular Services, Department of State and
  Overseas Embassies and Consulates

  AGENCY: Bureau of Consular Affairs, Department of State.

• One-page SSA handout providing information to individuals granted deferred action for childhood arrivals (DACA) on the requirements and process for applying for a social security number.

Please check the attachment for details.

• What GAO Found

• The Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) is aware of current difficulties that some F and M students have when applying for a Social Security number (SSN) or driver’s license. SEVP and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) Program are working on a solution that they will implement on September 14, 2012.