Just came back with my wife from biometrics. I live near Buffalo NY (like my nickname doesn't hint that 
), so it took us just 20 min to get there. You can park in the back of the building as there is paid parking ($15 for the day, no hourly option- ripoff!) As we entered the building at around 8:15 AM we were asked by the guard to state the nature of our visit, we showed him the fingerprint appointment notices, then we had to go through the metal detector.
The Office of Foreign Labor Certification will implement an enhancement to its Labor Condition Application (LCA) Electronic Filing Module within the iCERT System allowing employers or their authorized attorneys or agents to reuse previously filed LCAs under the H-1B, H-1B1, and E-3 visa programs. This new feature is expected to significantly reduce the administrative time and cost of preparing and submitting the ETA Form 9035E.
To learn more about the new reuse feature please read this factsheet.
WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Alejandro Mayorkas today announced that users of E-Verify, the free Internet-based system that allows businesses to determine the eligibility of their employees to work in the United States, have given the program high marks in a recent customer survey.
My wife interview is scheduled on September 1st. And she is 38 weeks pregnant.
I havent posted my interview experience elsewhere, so am just going to write it in here. I must say that I was not too prepared for the interview (esp compared to most of you), since I had been traveling all that week, and since I am basically lazy
My interview was for 9am, so we reached the DO 15 min before 9. There was no line at security, and we quickly made our way to the upstairs waiting room. I must say that the security guy here was much nicer than the ones at the front.
Had my interview today and the officer who was a lady was awesome. Very friendly and she had no hidden agenda to try and prove our marriage wrong. This is how interviews for this should be versus some of the horror stories you hear.
The only document she asked for was to see originals of: marriage cert, birth cert of me and spouse. She then asked for any documents I had showing joint documents: I handed her bank acc, and medical document showing joint memberships. Thats it!! She didnt even ask to see 1 photograph!! She took I-94.
The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release January 29, 2013
FACT SHEET: Fixing our Broken Immigration System so Everyone Plays by the Rules
America’s immigration system is broken. Too many employers game the system by hiring undocumented workers and there are 11 million people living in the shadows. Neither is good for the economy or the country.
On Saturday, March 9, from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m., U.S. citizens may apply for or renew their passport book or passport card at any one of 25 passport agencies/centers that are open to the general public. No appointment is necessary on March 9 – normally, U.S. citizens would have to make an appointment at passport agencies.
For more information on this please click here
DHS, USCIS invites the general public and other Federal agencies to comment upon this proposed revision of a currently approved collection of information. In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the information collection notice is published in the Federal Register to obtain comments regarding the nature of the information collection, the categories of respondents, and the estimated burden (i.e. the time, effort, and resources used by the respondents to respond).
USCIS extends application Form I-821D Revision for 30 days.
For more information on this notice please click here
AAO Processing times as of February 1, 2013.
ETA 9141 FORM QUESTIONS
Are there any items on the ETA 9141 that requestors are routinely leaving incomplete and may cause a delay in processing or result in the request being voided?
Immigration and Entrepreneurship
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the government agency responsible for administering immigration benefits, invites you to join a panel discussion about issues at the nexus of immigration law, entrepreneurship, and innovation on Friday, March 8, 2013 at 11:30 a.m. (Central). This engagement will take place in the Avaya Auditorium, A.C.E.S. Building at the University of Texas at Austin.
Easy-to-Use Formats: We are publishing many of our forms in a 2-column, Adobe fillable format. When completed electronically, this format restricts incorrect entries and provides informational pop-up boxes to assist customers.
User-Friendly Look and Feel: We have improved several of our naturalization forms to include clear and comprehensive instructions in plain language.
In January, the Taiwan Child Welfare Bureau issued an administrative order that requires all adoption cases filed on behalf of U.S. prospective adoptive parents with the Taiwan courts to undergo the U.S. PAIR process. The order applies to all currently licensed Taiwan adoption services providers (ASP), and any ASPs which may be licensed in the future.
On February 13, 2013, USCIS transferred some casework from the Vermont Service Center to the Nebraska Service Center to balance overall workload with processing capacity at the centers. The affected casework includes the following forms:
There was an interesting question in today's community conference call we host every other Thursday. The link to the question is here: http://forums.immigration.com/showth...onference-Call
PERM filing issue
Here is an excerpt from a press release from USDOL. I have said this many times before, - government investigations are NOT the same as litigation or practicing transactional immigration or corporate law. This is an entirely different area of practice. We as counsel need to know the law, compliance as well as litigation. We must approach all investigations in the spirit of good faith compliance, yet protect our clients from unnecessary liability. The investigators are not only investigators, but in effect also prosecution and judge.