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Your Immigration Action Newsletter

Posted in Consular Issues, Green Card, ICE, Immigrant Visas, In The News, Nonimmigrant Visas, Uncategorized, USCIS New Policies/Procedures

   Thursday                                                                                                                                May 16, 2013   Your Immigration Action Newsletter Friends, Now that the bipartisan Senate Gang of Eight’s bill (S. 744) has been introduced we are monitoring the legislative process very closely. As you know, next week, the Senate Judiciary Committee will continue to introduce and debate amendments to hopefully improve the legislation, bringing… Continue Reading

Let’s show we’re a nation of immigrants

Posted in Consular Issues, Green Card, ICE, Immigrant Visas, In The News, Nonimmigrant Visas, Uncategorized, USCIS New Policies/Procedures

  Hi, everyone – This is the start of a national debate. Across the country, we’re having a serious discussion about how we can build a fair and effective immigration system that lives up to our heritage as a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants. And we need your help to make sure… Continue Reading

DV 2013 Program

Posted in Consular Issues, Green Card, Immigrant Visas, In The News, Uncategorized, USCIS New Policies/Procedures

Entrants from DV 2013 (those who submitted entries during the registration period between October 4, 2011 and November 5, 2011), should now check the status of their entry using their confirmation number through Entrant Status Check on the E-DV website.  To view instructions for DV-2013 entrants and selectees, see travel.state.gov then go to Instructions for the 2013… Continue Reading

Your Immigration Action Newsletter

Posted in Consular Issues, Green Card, ICE, Immigrant Visas, In The News, Nonimmigrant Visas, Uncategorized, USCIS New Policies/Procedures

  Monday,  April 29, 2013 Friends, Last week, Congress took another step forward in advancing commonsense immigration reform. Just a week after bipartisan Senate leaders introduced their comprehensive bill – the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013 (S. 744) – Secretary Napolitano testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee in support of… Continue Reading

The Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013

Posted in Consular Issues, Green Card, ICE, Immigrant Visas, In The News, Nonimmigrant Visas, USCIS New Policies/Procedures

A bipartisan group of eight U.S. senators on Tuesday (April 16, 2013) introduced the Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013, an 844-page bill that aims to bolster border security and seeks to provide some of the nation’s 11 million undocumented people with a path to citizenship.  A brief summary issued by… Continue Reading

Big Immigration Development

Posted in Consular Issues, Green Card, ICE, Immigrant Visas, In The News, Nonimmigrant Visas, Uncategorized, USCIS New Policies/Procedures

  Tuesday, April 16, 2013 Big Immigration Development Friends, Today, the President met with Senator McCain and Senator Schumer to discuss commonsense immigration reform. In a statement released earlier, President Obama said: “This afternoon, Senators Schumer and McCain briefed me on the bipartisan immigration reform bill that they have drafted with their colleagues in the Senate. This bill… Continue Reading

New Employment Eligibility Verification Form, Form I-9, Issued by USCIS

Posted in Immigrant Visas, In The News, Nonimmigrant Visas, Uncategorized, USCIS New Policies/Procedures

Debra S. Friedman Rachel Fendell Satinsky           On March 8, 2013, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a new Employment Eligibility Verification Form, Form I-9, and a revised Handbook for Employers, M-274.  The main changes to the new Form are that it contains further instructions on how to complete the Form I-9 and… Continue Reading

H-1B Cap for Fiscal Year 2014 Opens on April 1, 2013

Posted in Immigrant Visas, In The News, Nonimmigrant Visas, Uncategorized, USCIS New Policies/Procedures

USCIS will begin accepting H-1B visa petitions on April 1, 2013 pursuant to its Fiscal Year 2014 (FY2014) quota.   By law, the earliest starting employment date for petitions approved under the FY2014 H-1B cap is October 1, 2013.  Usually, the cap is filled before the start date, so all employers need to plan properly.  In… Continue Reading

The White House Immigration Action Newsletter

Posted in Consular Issues, Green Card, ICE, Immigrant Visas, In The News, Nonimmigrant Visas, Uncategorized, USCIS New Policies/Procedures

Tuesday, March 12, 2013 Friends, It has been a busy few weeks here at the White House. Last Friday, the President met with leaders from the faith community to discuss the need to fix the broken immigration system, focusing on the growing consensus building across American for common sense immigration reform. Last Thursday, President Obama… Continue Reading

SEQUESTRATION TO DELAY CONSULAR VISA PROCESSING & OTHER EFFECTS

Posted in ICE, Immigrant Visas, In The News, Nonimmigrant Visas, Uncategorized, USCIS New Policies/Procedures

According to the Department of State, sequestration will likely reduce the number of officers processing visa applications, which will negatively impact wait times at U.S. consulates. Department of Homeland Security will be affected as a whole, but many agencies within DHS will be impacted more than others.  For example, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and… Continue Reading

White House Draft Immigration Bill Leaked

Posted in Immigrant Visas, In The News, Nonimmigrant Visas

Parts of a draft White House immigration reform bill  have been leaked to the press.  The sections that were released include legalization, border security, interior enforcement, and worksite enforcement.  There appear to be no surprises in the draft, the bill takes a moderate approach consistent with the principles the President has already announced.  It also… Continue Reading

USCIS’ Case Status Online System Has Long Delays

Posted in Green Card, Immigrant Visas, In The News, Nonimmigrant Visas

USCIS’ normally reliable status online system (go to uscis.gov then to case status on-line) now has a red warning to expect a 30-45-day delay between when your application or petition is filed and when your information is available in Case Status Online, depending on the volume of applications USCIS receives.  What was initially a good… Continue Reading

A Really Exciting Time for Immigration

Posted in In The News

Friends, This has been an exciting week. Last Tuesday President Obama traveled to Nevada to redouble our Administration’s efforts to work with Congress on commonsense reform to fix our broken immigration system so that everyone plays by the same rules. Speaking from Del Sol High School in Las Vegas, the President laid out further detail… Continue Reading

The U.S. Mission in Mexico Increases Corporate Eligibility to Participate in its Business Facilitation Program

Posted in In The News, Uncategorized

The United States Embassy in Mexico city announced the expansion of its Business Facilitation Program (BFP) that allows access to expedited visa processing for employees of qualifying firms traveling to the U.S. on company business. The BFP provides time-saving benefits for businesses whose employees need to travel to the U.S., and highlights the United States’… Continue Reading

White House Immigration Newsletter December 2012/January 2013

Posted in Consular Issues, Green Card, ICE, Immigrant Visas, In The News, Nonimmigrant Visas, Uncategorized, USCIS New Policies/Procedures

Immigration Newsletter: December 2012/January 2013 Friends, Happy New Year!  2013 brings several exciting immigration updates.  President Obama issued a Presidential Proclamation designating January as National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month: [F]or more than a century, we have made it a national mission to bring slavery and human trafficking to an end. My Administration has… Continue Reading