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Updates from MURTHY.COM - the web's largest source for U.S. immigration information!

• Immigrant Religious Worker Petitions Require Site Visits
  The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) provided answers in November 2007 to questions raised at a national meeting. Some of the information related to immigrant petitions for special religious workers. This category has particular antifraud procedures. The USCIS discussed these, as well as procedures for obtaining advance parole documents. This information pertains to the permanent residence category for special religious workers rather than the separate, temporary religious worker "R" category.
• POEs to Begin Scanning 10 Fingers
  The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced plans to replace current two-fingerprint scanners with ten-fingerprint scanners at all U.S. ports of entry within the next year. The new fingerprinting requirement is one of the top priorities for the DHS, as it furthers efforts to keep potentially dangerous individuals out of the United States, while making legitimate travel more efficient. On November 29, 2007, the DHS started the initial transition at Washington Dulles International Airport. By early 2008, nine U.S. airports will collect additional fingerprints from international visitors. All U.S. citizens and permanent residents, as well as certain parolees, are exempt from this fingerprint collection requirement, which focuses on foreign nationals entering the U.S. in nonimmigrant status
• DHS Indicates It Will Expedite FBI Name Checks
  Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Michael Chertoff indicated in a November 2007 meeting with the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and other organizations that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) will make significant changes to the existing name-check process. The goal of these changes is to clear the backlog of immigration cases that are pending due to name-check delays. In addition to clearing the backlog, the changed procedures should permit further expedited processing of such cases, to prevent future name-check delay backlogs. Secretary Chertoff, however, warned that some checks would still be delayed by investigations, but this number should be significantly reduced.
• PIMS Verification Required for Certain Nonimmigrant Visas
  The U.S. Department of State (DOS) issued a directive in November 2007 to the U.S. consular posts that the correct procedure for visa issuance in nonimmigrant categories H, L, O, P, and Q will now require consulting an electronic record. The purpose of the Petition Information Management Service, known as PIMS, is to verify that the employer's underlying petition has been approved by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Even if a beneficiary takes an original I-797 approval notice to the interview, previously sufficient basis for visa issuance, s/he now will have to wait until the information is confirmed through PIMS.
• New Anti-Terrorism Security Requirements for Visitors to Japan
  New security measures were implemented November 20, 2007 with regard to all visitors to Japan as part of efforts made by the Japanese government to prevent terrorism. While this concerns Japan's immigration laws and not U.S. immigration laws, it may be of interest to MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers planning to travel. Under Japan's new immigration procedures, when a foreign national arrives in Japan, fingerprints and a facial photograph are taken at the port of entry by an immigration officer, similar to the procedures for nonimmigrants at U.S. airports.
• USCIS Issues Notice on New Form I-9
  The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issued a notice in the Federal Register on November 26, 2007, to introduce a newly amended Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification. The amended form incorporates the current regulations on the identity and employment authorization of newly-hired and returning employees. MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers were informed of this matter in our November 16, 2007 article USCIS Releases New Form I-9 for Employment Eligibility.
• Humanitarian Concerns by ICE in Worksite Enforcement
  The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has issued Guidelines for Identifying Humanitarian Concerns among Administrative Arrestees When Conducting Worksite Enforcement Operations. ICE is the arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) responsible for enforcement of immigration laws involving detention and removal of unauthorized foreign nationals. The guidelines set forth practices for quick identification of persons arrested as a result of worksite enforcement who are sole caregivers or who should be released from ICE custody due to other humanitarian concerns. There has been significant controversy surrounding the fallout from worksite enforcement because of the impact upon U.S. citizen children and other dependants left without caregivers.
• Second A Numbers for Some Who Filed I-485s During Summer 2007
  The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) provided answers to questions raised at the national stakeholder meeting on October 30, 2007. A key topic, important to many MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers, was the issuance of multiple "A" numbers (Alien numbers) to persons who filed Application for Adjustment of Status (AOS), I-485, cases between July 2 and August 17, 2007.
• BALCA Suggests Employer Use Services of Immigration Attorney
  The Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals (BALCA) issued a denial decision on October 15, 2007 in a case in which a self-represented applicant did not comply with advertisement requirements. As many MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers may know, Labor Certification (LC) is a process that involves specific and sometimes complex requirements. These requirements include proper advertisement and recruitment processes fundamental to the purpose of the LC. Without meeting these requirements, the LC cannot be approved, even if the circumstances of the case are extremely sympathetic, as they were in this BALCA case.
• December 2007 Visa Bulletin - Summary
  As reported in our late-breaking news item last week, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) Visa Bulletin has been released for December 2007. The December Visa Bulletin brings significant retrogression in the EB2 category for the India and China chargeability areas. There was slight forward movement in EB3. Categories that were previously current remain current. The latest Visa Bulletin chart is always available on MurthyDotCom. Summarized here are highlights of the December 2007 Visa Bulletin that will be of particular interest to many MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers.
• Thanksgiving Greetings from Attorney Sheela Murthy 2007
  At this time of year, when our thoughts turn to life's blessings, we at the Murthy Law Firm would like to thank you for placing your trust in us and allowing us to help you and your family with your immigration law needs. I, personally, would like to thank those of you who are our loyal, return clients, as well as those who may be using us for the first time, those who call for a single consultation or who rely on the information in our bulletin and our website - each one of you is a blessing to us due to the fact that you allow us to engage in life. It is through helping others that we are able to connect with other human beings and share our gifts and talents and knowledge to help them reach a place in their lives from which they can turn to help those who come after them.
• VSC FAQs on Expedite Procedure
  The Vermont Service Center (VSC) changed its procedures for requesting expedited action as of November 1, 2007. The end of the fax system and its replacement with the need to call the National Customer Service Center (NCSC) was reported in our October 26, 2007 MurthyBulletin article, VSC New Procedures on Expedite Requests, available on MurthyDotCom. The VSC has now provided the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) with more details regarding the new procedure
• DHS Proposal to Permit B-1/B-2 Entry for HIV-Infected Visa Applicants
  The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), an agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), issued a proposed rule in the Federal Register on November 6, 2007, which would authorize issuance of nonimmigrant visas to certain HIV-infected foreign national applicants without the need for a waiver. This change would allow HIV-infected individuals to come to the U.S. for short visits if they met all other visitor visa requirements. This rule is meant to streamline the visa issuance process and would authorize these nonimmigrant foreign nationals to enter the U.S. as visitors for a