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WASHINGTON — The Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) deployed 14 additional field representatives to territories across the country this week. The field representatives serve as liaisons between the nearly 9,000 U.S. schools that enroll international students and SEVP. The program, housed within U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), certifies schools to enroll international students and protects national security by overseeing those students for compliance with U.S. laws.

WASHINGTON— Due to the outbreak of Ebola virus disease in West Africa, Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson has announced his decision to designate Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 18 months.  As a result, eligible nationals of Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone who are currently residing in the United States may apply for TPS with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

On November 20, 2014, the President announced a series of executive actions to crack down on illegal immigration at the border, prioritize deporting felons not families, and require certain undocumented immigrants to pass a criminal background check and pay taxes in order to temporarily stay in the U.S. without fear of deportation.

In early 2015, the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the Department of Labor will begin exercising its authority to certify applications for trafficking victims seeking T visas. In addition, WHD will expand its existing U visa program by certifying such requests when it detects three additional qualifying criminal activities in the course of its workplace investigations: extortion, forced labor, and fraud in foreign labor contracting.

• Have you been using E-Verify more than 10 years?

  If yes, please download the new “Historic Records Report” before Dec 31, 2014.

  Effective January 1, 2015, E-Verify transaction records more than 10 years old will be deleted from the system. You will no longer have access in E-Verify to cases you created prior to December 31, 2004.

The National Hockey League (NHL) requested USCIS to hold a teleconference during its annual conference. During that teleconference, NHL counsel posed several questions to USCIS. The question and answers are provided below (see attachment) for the benefit of interested stakeholders.In order to avoid repetition in the answers, USCIS notes that it stated several times that each petition mustestablish visa eligibility on its own merits. The Vermont Service Center (VSC) does not maintain acentral document depository for O and P nonimmigrant visa petitions.

WASHINGTON — The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) launched an enhanced Study in the States website Monday with four new features. The features enable the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), housed within U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), to convey pertinent information to stakeholders about the international student process in a clear and interactive manner.

The new features include:

Release Date: July 01, 2014

WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Acting Director Lori Scialabba will help USCIS celebrate our nation’s 238th birthday as the agency welcomes approximately 9,000 new U.S. citizens during more than 100 naturalization ceremonies across the country from June 30 to July 4.

On July 1, 2014, OFLC uploaded the newest prevailing wage data from the Occupational Employment Survey as generated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the year from July 2014 - June 2015. The effective date is July 1, 2014. Prevailing wages issued from the National Prevailing Wage Center will reflect the new data.

On Oct. 29, 2014, the Department of Homeland Security published a final rule amending its regulations governing when USCIS will

• correspond with,
• issue a notice of decision to, or
• provide documents to

an applicant, petitioner, or requester, and/or an attorney of record or accredited representative.

Applicants must submit biometrics if the applicant is applying or re-registering for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and over 14 years old.

USCIS recently began transferring some casework from the Vermont Service Center to the California Service Center to balance workloads. The affected casework includes:

• Form I-751, Petition to Remove the Conditions of Residence

How You Will Be Affected

If USCIS transferred your case, USCIS will send you a transfer notice. Your original receipt number will not change and the transfer will not delay the processing of your case. Please note: