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On October 20, 2011, the Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman (Ombudsman's Office) hosted its First Annual Conference bringing together more than 300 participants with diverse backgrounds and interests, to discuss their common goal of improving the delivery of immigration and citizenship services.

Introduction

Chairman Smith, Ranking Member Conyers, and members of the Committee: Thank you for the opportunity to testify today about the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) efforts to secure our Nation from the many threats we face.

This committee continues to play a critical role in helping the Department in our security mission, and I am grateful for the chance to update you on the progress we are making. The Department has six mission areas:

Self Check is a voluntary, fast, free and simple service that allows you to check your employment eligibility in the United States. If any mismatches are found between the information you provide and your Department of Homeland Security or Social Security Administration records, Self Check will inform you of how to correct those mismatches.

Self Check is a service of E-Verify. Once you have confirmed your employment eligibility using Self Check, you are unlikely to encounter difficulties upon being hired by an E-Verify participating employer.

For temporary visitors to the United States (nonimmigrants), reciprocity tables, available from the drop-down menu above, show applicable visa issuance fees by country and by visa classification type, and the maximum period of visa validity and number of applications, or entries, that may be authorized.

The Department of State has updated the visa reciprocity tables. Please click here to get the updated information.

http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/fees/fees_3272.html

WASHINGTON – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is proposing changes to the requirements governing its Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) that are intended to improve management of international student programs and increase opportunities for study by spouses and children of nonimmigrant students.

On Nov. 4, 2013, the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington granted final approval of the revised ABT Settlement Agreement, bringing to a close class action litigation that began in December 2011. The settlement agreement provides that certain individuals who intend to file an asylum application, or who have already filed an asylum application, are entitled to have their eligibility for employment authorization determined using new procedures.  

Questions & Answers: Victims of Criminal Activity, U Nonimmigrant Status

The U nonimmigrant status (U visa) is set aside for victims of crimes who have suffered substantial mental or physical abuse and are willing to assist law enforcement and government officials in the investigation or prosecution of the criminal activity. Below are Questions and Answers pertaining to U nonimmigrant visas.

The Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices (OSC) enforces the anti-discrimination provision (§ 274B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 8 U.S.C. § 1324b.

The NPWC is experiencing an unprecedented number of prevailing wage determination requests (PWDRs) for H-2B labor certifications, many of which include surveys. The lingering effect of the government shutdown, coupled with the complexity of reviewing new surveys, has resulted in increasing wait times for PWDs with survey requests. Employers' needs may not be able to accommodate the longer processing times, although the NPWC is working to reduce the processing time of these surveys as quickly as possible.

On December 8, 2013, E-Verify released three revised Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) for E-Verify browser users and three new MOUs for Web Services users and developers.  

The new and revised MOUs become effective for new users beginning December 8, 2013, and for existing users on January 8, 2014.  Existing users will not need to execute a new MOU.  For more information, including copies of the new and revised MOUs, please see the:

MOU Enhancements page 

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has approved the statutory maximum 10,000 petitions for U-1 nonimmigrant status (U visas) for fiscal year 2014. This marks the fifth straight year that USCIS has reached the statutory maximum since it began issuing U visas in 2008.

Each year, 10,000 U visas are available for victims of certain qualifying crimes who have suffered substantial mental or physical abuse and are willing to help law enforcement authorities investigate or prosecute those crimes. A U visa petition requires certification of assistance from law enforcement.