Fact Sheet and QA
Introduction
The Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State announced on, July 13, 2011, that Secretary of State Hilary Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov signed a bilateral adoptions agreement that will strengthen procedural safeguards in adoptions between our countries.
WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced the availability of new data reports covering agency performance in a broad range of data and operational areas. The reports, prepared at the request of agency stakeholders, advance agency efforts to enhance transparency and improve customer service.
Fact Sheet
Office of the Spokesperson Washington, DC
July 13, 2011
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov today announced an agreement on the issuance of nonimmigrant business, tourist, private and humanitarian visas to the Russian Federation, and for business and tourist visas to the United States, as well as short-term official travel visas to both counties in keeping with the joint statement issued during the meeting of President Obama and President Medvedev in Deauville, France on May 26, 2011.
ICE announces changes to the Form I-515A process, and alerting SEVIS users of that as of 7/15/11. SEVP will terminate the SEVIS record of any F or M nonimmigrant who does not comply with the I-515A directive within the 30-day response period.
Diversity Visa lottery DV-2012 entrants can check the status of their DV-2012 Lottery entry starting on or about 7/15/11 at the DOS E-DV website.
USCIS notes from the stakeholder meeting on religious workers, providing an outline of changes resulting from the Religious Worker Final Rule that was published on 11/26/08.
Please check the attachment.
USCIS Publishes Report On Service-wide Receipts And Approvals Of All Form Types For FY2011.
Please check the attachment to see the report.
Correcting a mistake on the Form I-140
NSC would allow for a change of the I-140 classification to correct a clerical error as long as NSC is notified of the requested change to the box selected on the I-140. This has to be done before the case is adjudicated. However, NSC will not allow a change in the classification in response to an RFE but the issue will be considered.
EB3 skilled worker
This report contains information on the Victims of Trafficking (T visa) applications and the Victims of Crime (U visa) petitions. The number of receipts, approvals, denials, and pending cases are displayed by fiscal year and by office.
The U.S. Department of Labor has released PERM statistics for the first eight months of the fiscal year that began last October. Of the 43,100 applications it processed, 27,600 (64%) were certified, 83% were for H-1B and H-1B1 visas, 44% were for IT-related fields, and 55% were for applicants from India. The minimum education requirement was an advanced degree for 51% of those certified, and a bachelor degree for 39%. The Department certified more applications in the last two months than in either of the prior three-month periods.
Israeli investors will soon be able to apply for the E-2 visa, which allows holders to live and work in the U.S. for an extended period of time while overseeing a major investment in the United States. Legislation to allow Israelis to apply for these visas was approved in Congress in May 31 and signed by the President this month. The legislation requires that similarly situated United States nationals must be eligible for similar nonimmigrant status in Israel. Therefore, visa applications will be accepted once Israel confirms that it will issue similar visas to U.S. citizens.
US Department of State, which is responsible for monitoring and controlling the priority date movement, has made the following comments regarding the Fiscal Year 2012-2013 (October 1, 2012 through September 30, 2013):
EB-2 China and India
Legislation to Eliminate Annual Per-Country H-1B Limits Passes One Hurdle
The U.S. State Department is launching a pilot program to pre-screen E-1/E-2 visa applicants at consular posts in Canada. Kentucky Consular Center officials will contact the E-1/E-2 applicant's U.S. employer to verify information about the application, including the legitimacy of the company and the investment. This prescreening aims to assist consular officers to focus on the individual applicant's qualifications. The State Department hopes to implement the pilot around the world at consular posts that process E visa applications.