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Release Date: March 19, 2010

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
Contact: 202-282-8010

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano met with stakeholders today to discuss ongoing efforts to work together to create a comprehensive approach to immigration reform.

[Federal Register: March 23, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 55)]
[Notices]
[Page 13784]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr23mr10-99]

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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration

Announcement of Public Webinar on the Changes to the Labor Certification Process for the Temporary Agricultural Employment of H-2A Aliens in the United States

AGENCY: Employment and Training Administration, Department of Labor.

ACTION: Notice of webinar.

OFLC has issued updated prevailing wage FAQs to assist employers and others. These FAQs replace those issued in December 2009 by updating certain information. To see the FAQs click attachment.

[Federal Register: March 24, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 56)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 14111-14116]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr24mr10-17]

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DEPARTMENT OF STATE

22 CFR Part 22

[Public Notice: 6928]

RIN 1400-AC57 and 1400-AC58

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

AGENCY: Department of State.

ACTION: Supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking.

The Department has posted the first round of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) addressing the H-2A program under the new regulations, which took effect March 15, 2010. To see the FAQs check the attachment.

The attached report presents the results of USCIS consolidated balance sheet audit for fiscal year (FY) 2009.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced  that it will begin accepting H-1B petitions subject to the fiscal year (FY) 2011 cap on April 1, 2010.  Cases will be considered accepted on the date that USCIS takes possession of a properly filed petition with the correct fee; not the date that the petition is postmarked.

To support implementation of the new H-2A regulations and current H-2B regulations, the Office of Foreign Labor Certification is making available the ETA Form 9142 - Application for Temporary Employment Certification in a fillable Adobe Acrobat PDF format to provide users with the option to save and reuse the information on the form for future applications. To access the fillable form, please check attachment.

On March 15, 2010 Secretary Solis announced that the Department of Labor (DOL) will begin exercising its authority to certify applications for U Nonimmigrant Status Visas ("U Visas").

What are U Visas?

Reference Document: STATE 057336, 06/09

TO ALL DIPLOMATIC AND CONSULAR POSTS

1.  The revised 2009 J-1 visa Exchange Visitor Skills List was published in the Federal Register (Volume 74, Number 82) on April 30, 2009.

2.  The new Skills List is effective on June 28, 2009.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)  reopened the fiscal year 2009 H-2B petition filing period and will immediately accept new H-2B petitions. Although on Jan. 7, 2009, USCIS announced it accepted and approved a sufficient number of H-2B petitions to meet the congressionally mandated annual cap of 66,000, the Department of State received far fewer than expected requests for H-2B visas and as a result, has issued only 40,640 H-2B visas for fiscal year 2009 to date. This means that there are approximately 25,000 visas that may go unused, as they have not been granted.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Assistant Secretary John Morton announced that ICE is undertaking a major overhaul of the agency's immigration detention system.

"This change marks an important step in our ongoing efforts to enforce immigration laws smartly and effectively," said Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. "We are improving detention center management to prioritize health, safety and uniformity among our facilities while ensuring security, efficiency and fiscal responsibility."

U. S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has issued instructions on making inquiries with the agency's four Service Centers. Customers, community-based organizations and liaison groups should follow this guidance when inquiring about case related issues. This new process standardizes customer service and streamlines processing of customer inquiries at USCIS Service Centers. To get step-by-step instructions please check attachment:

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today the manner in which petitioners for religious workers must notify USCIS regarding their employment of nonimmigrant religious workers in R-1 status.  The procedures are necessary to enable petitioners to comply with the notification requirements established by USCIS regulations governing the R-1 nonimmigrant classification. 

Time taken for a check to be valid after the time of arrival at the USCIS - The USCIS usually processes the fee-ing in of most of the applications within 24 hours of receipt. The bank has the option to accept or reject a fee instrument that expired at the time of its deposit. If the bank for expiry rejects the fee instrument, then the bounced check procedure is implemented and pursuant to 8 CFR 103.2(a)(7) (ii), the finance center will issue a bounced check notification.