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Media Note

Office of the Spokesperson Washington, DC
August 7, 2013

Last week, Secretary of State John Kerry announced that the Department of State would begin processing visas for same-sex couples in the same manner that it considers applications for opposite-sex spouses. On Thursday, August 8 at 1 p.m. EDT, the Department will host a Google+ Hangout to discuss what these new guidelines mean for both immigrant and nonimmigrant visa applicants.

SCIS recently began transferring some casework within the service centers to balance workload processing capacity. The affected casework includes the following forms:

According to BIA a spouse or child accompanying or following to join a principal grandfathered alien cannot qualify as a derivative grandfathered alien for purposes of section 245(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1255(i) (2006), by virtue of a spouse or child relationship that arose after April 30, 2001.

For more details click the link or attachment.  Matter of Charlemagne Micabalo ESTRADA and Matter of Vanessa Joan ESTRADA

In order to provide faster and more efficient service beginning August 16 USCIS will be changing call routing procedures at the National Customer Service Center (NCSC). This will be a great advantage for attorneys and  BIA accredited representatives. Attorney's can quickly connect with the NCSC customer service representative and avoid long delays.Customer representatives will evaluate the nature of the call and transfer or accept service request for detailed review.

Current Average FOIA Request Processing Times

(All times in business days)

USCIS uses a three-track system to process FOIA requests for alien file material.

• Track One (19 days):  Simple requests;
• Track Two (32 days):  Complex inquiries that normally necessitate additional search and review time; and
• Track Three (36 days):  Requests by individuals scheduled for a hearing before an immigration judge.

USCIS uses a two-track system to process FOIA requests for non-alien file material.

The Department has published a Notice in the Federal Register announcing a 60-day comment period on its proposed changes to the form ETA-9033, Attestation by Employers Using Alien Crewmembers for Longshore Activities in U.S. Ports and ETA-9033A, Attestation by Employers Using Alien Crewmembers for Longshore Activities in the State of Alaska. To read the Notice, please click here.

Please click the attachment or the link to view the DACA Processing Dates.

U.S. embassies and consulates are sometimes forced to limit or, at times, suspend visa services because of natural disasters, civil unrest, war, and/or security concerns, among other reasons. Information in the link provided below notes the U.S. embassies and consulates that currently provide limited visa services, locations where visa services are suspended, and countries that do not have U.S. embassies or consulates.

For more information on this please visit the DOS website.

As announced in Ref A, 9 FAM 40.92 has been updated with information and guidance to consular officers related to a new final rule permitting certain immediate relatives of U.S. citizens to apply to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) for an I-601A provisional waiver of unlawful presence before leaving the United States for their immigrant visa appointments. This cable provides supplemental information for posts in processing these cases.

For more information on this please click the attachment.