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2/20/2008 - Write Your Representatives and Senators to Urge Them Not To Co-Sponsor or Support the "SAVE Act"
The Secure America with Immigration and Enforcement bill, also known as the "SAVE Act" has unfortunately been gaining momentum and now has 137 co-sponsors in the House and six in the Senate. The bill was introduced in November 2007, and is yet another enforcement-only bill without any provision for assisting the millions here and abroad without any pathway in existing law to obtain valid immigration status, or to assist American businesses which desperately need qualified and willing workers in order to remain competitive.
Enforcement-only measures such as the SAVE Act are the lowest form of political pandering, and do nothing to solve the real problems facing the U.S.
All U.S. Citizens, Permanent Residents, and Businesses!
2/17/2008 - USCIS Service Centers Already Reviewing Pending Name Check Cases Under New Policy, Local Office Guidance Awaited
The Service Center Operations Liaison (SCOPS) of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has confirmed to the American Immigration Lawyers' Association (AILA) that individual USCIS Service Centers are conducting "sweeps" of cases they have pending to see if any of them can now be approved under the new name check guidance announced February 4, 2008.
This is a promising start towards implementation, although many cases subject to name check delays are pending at local offices - so until we know that these local District offices are moving forward to adjudicate cases it is still too early to be completely optimistic.
Any individual who has been subject to long delays in their case pending FBI name check completion.
2/15/2008 - European Union To Implement Biometric Check-In/Check-Out System
Under a newly proposed system, travelers to the European Union would need to submit biometric information when applying for a visa or - if not required to obtain a visa - to submit biometric information upon arrival in the EU. Biometrics collection would be in force by 2011. By 2015, entry and exit dates - and therefore compliance with permitted period of stay - would also be tracked under the proposed system. The measures would apply to all EU states within the passport-free-travel Schengen zone (which includes all EU nations except Bulgaria, Cyprus, Ireland, Romania, and the UK).
Perhaps this is only a minor inconvenience to both U.S. citizens and foreign nationals traveling to EU nations; perhaps it will in practice prove invasive. The most important thing about this item may be this: it reminds us that there is reciprocity; there is a golden rule as applied to freedom of international movement. The way we as a nation treat non-Americans, we may well be treated.
All non-EU citizens who may travel to the European Union, including U.S. citizens.
2/13/2008 - Department of State Releases March Visa Bulletin, Some Advance in General EB-3 Category and China EB-2
The U.S. Department of State has released the Visa Bulletin for the month of March. The EB-2 category remains current in the general category (all countries of birth except India, China, Mexico and the Philippines) while advancing forward almost one year for China. India remains unavailable.
In the EB-3 category for degreed professionals and skilled workers, we see even more significant jumps forward spread across all countries, with some countries moving up by two years or more.
Many who have had cases approved since this past summer's filing window or those who otherwise were unable to file during this period may now be able to file Adjustment of status applications, thus protecting their ability to remain in the U.S. in valid status and with continued employment eligibility (assuming application for, and if necessary renewal of, Employment Authorization Documents).
Individuals with approved or soon-to-be-approved preference petitions which carry priority dates which will now be current, or those who were for some reason unable to file during last summer's filing window whose priority dates will be current as of March 1. The employers of such individuals.
2/6/2008 - USCIS Announces New Policy on FBI Name Checks
In a February 4 memo, Michael Aytes, Associate Director of Field Operations for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced a new policy concerning cases that are approvable but for incomplete FBI name checks. These name checks have up until now been a prerequisite for case approval for many types of cases including permanent residence, temporary residence, and waivers of grounds for inadmissibility not to mention naturalization (citizenship).
We still don't know exactly how this will be implemented, but this sounds like very good news for those with permanent residence cases in limbo because of FBI name check delays. Actual cases where the FBI name checks turn up real information concerning some sort of criminal background are extremely rare, and under the current system these individuals are present in the U.S. awaiting decision on their case in any event.
Any individual who has been subject to long delays in their case pending FBI name check completion.