USCIS Updates Rejection Criteria for Form I-129
USCIS will reject petitions lacking petitioner’s or applicant’s primary U.S. office address
USCIS will reject petitions lacking petitioner’s or applicant’s primary U.S. office address
USCIS will implement a national strategy to decrease differences in processing times based on location for Form N-400, Application for Naturalization, and Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status.
WASHINGTON — This week, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will celebrate the Declaration of Independence and the birth of the country by welcoming almost 7,500 new citizens in nearly 110 naturalization ceremonies between July 1 and July 5. The naturalization ceremonies will be held in venues across the country, and include several notable ceremonies.
Are you seeking to adjust your status and become a U.S. permanent resident under a family-sponsored or employment-based preference immigrant visa? If you have not yet had a relative or employer file an immigrant visa petition on your behalf, please learn more about the Adjustment of Status Filing Process.
On July 1, 2019, the Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) published the latest prevailing wage data from the Occupational Employment Survey as generated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for use July 2019-June 2020. Updates include:
WASHINGTON — U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is revising the current naturalization test with improvements to ensure it continues to serve as an accurate measure of a naturalization applicant’s civics knowledge and that it reflects best practices in adult education assessments.
A message sent by the acting director to USCIS asylum officers regarding asylum and internal relocation guidance.
On July 3, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) implemented its new Foreign Labor Application Gateway (FLAG) system for the H-2B temporary non-agricultural worker program. As of July 3, employers who file an H-2B application for temporary labor certification in FLAG will only receive a temporary labor certification electronically.
USCIS recently updated the following USCIS form(s):
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.
This bulletin summarizes the availability of immigrant numbers.
As of August 7, 2009, approximately 44,900 H-1B cap-subject petitions and approximately 20,000 petitions qualifying for the advanced degree cap exemption had been filed. USCIS will continue to accept both cap-subject petitions and advanced degree petitions until a sufficient number of H-1B petitions have been received to reach the statutory limits, taking into account the fact that some of these petitions may be denied, revoked, or withdrawn.
USCIS has received 8,974 H-2B petitions for the first half of FY 2010. It has approved 8,183 and 791 are pending.
Procedures at NBC for I-485 applications that require an interview - NBC works as a pre-interview processing center for I-485 applications that require an interview. The center (NBC) also performs an “Initial Evidence Review’ for basic required documents like the birth certificate, I-693, I-864, proof of legal entry and for other documents. A case is “interview ready” once the application is placed under the scheduling queue as soon as NBC completes its pre interview processing steps and verifies the case.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) reminds special immigrant religious workers, who have a pending or approved Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant, (Form I-360), to file their Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, (Form I-485), on or before Aug. 31, 2009. Special immigrant religious workers who wish to file a Form I-360 petition with an I-485 application should also file on or before Aug. 31, 2009.
This page provides you with the most recent processing times for petitions and applications submitted to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS).
Procedures for O*NET Job Zone Assignment - The Job Zone classification provides O*NET users a guide to the vocational preparation levels (e.g., education, training, and work experience) of O*NET-SOC occupations. For more information on this please visit this link.
http://www.onetcenter.org/reports/JobZoneProcedure.html
[Federal Register: August 19, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 159)]
[Notices]
[Page 41919-41924]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Office of the Secretary
[Docket No. DHS-2009-0102]
Privacy Act of 1974; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement-003 General Counsel Electronic Management System, System of Records
AGENCY: Privacy Office, DHS.
[Federal Register: August 19, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 159)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Page 41801-41805]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr19au09-9]
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Proposed Rules
Federal Register
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