Archive for the Uncategorized Category

USCIS ISSUES FACT SHEET ON IRAQI REFUGEE PROCESSING

The USCIS issued a Fact Sheet on Iraqi Refugee Processing.

RECENT IMMIGRANT TEEN ADMITTED TO SEVEN IVY LEAGUE SCHOOLS

According to an article on msnbc.com, a  “New York teenager, who emigrated from Poland only five years ago, applied to seven Ivy League schools — and was accepted by every one of them.”

Great story.  However, imagine the geniuses of similar caliber who study at these great US Universities and end up returning to their home countries rather than benefitting the US.  Not because they “used us” but rather because the US won’t allow them to stay due to the lack of available H-1B visas or other viable immigration options.

NEW USCIS FACT SHEET REGARDING TWO-YEAR EADs

The USCIS has issued a new Fact Sheet (Q&A) that states that the new two-year EADs are limited to certain individuals who have applied for legal permanent resident status.

USCIS TO OFFER PREMIUM PROCESSING FOR CERTAIN I-140 PETITIONS

According to a USCIS Update: “U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that on June 16, 2008, it will begin accepting Premium Processing Service requests for Forms I-140 (Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker) filed on behalf of certain alien workers who are nearing the end of their sixth year in H-1B nonimmigrant status.”

The agency has also published a related Fact Sheet.

JULY 2008 VISA BULLETIN

The DOS has released the July 2008 Visa Bulletin.

The Employment-Based third preference category (EB-3) is Unavailable for all countries.

TRUE IMMIGRANT STORIES

According to an interesting article on boston.com:  “Traditionally, marriage to a US citizen is one of the easiest ways for immigrants to gain legal residency. But now it can be an uphill battle, even for legitimate couples with children, mortgages, and scrapbooks filled with photos.”

USCIS CENTRALIZES INITIAL NATURALIZATION PROCESSING

According to a USCIS Press Release:  “U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today it has centralized initial processing of all applications for naturalization (Form-400) at its National Benefits Center in Missouri. This change is part of the USCIS initiative to increase the efficiency of case management and improve customer service.”

USCIS CLARIFIES LANGUAGE IN FORM I-751 TRANSFER NOTICES SENT TO PETITIONERS

According to a USCIS Press Release:  “U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today it will revise language in transfer notices received by petitioners who filed a Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence. The current notice includes language that may cause petitioners to believe their cases have been approved.”

U.S. TO REQUIRE ELECTRONIC TRAVEL DATA

According to an article on boston.com:  “The United States will make visa-free foreign travelers provide electronic information about themselves and their trip before they depart, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said on Tuesday.”

SUBSCRIBING TO IMMIGRANTCONNECT.COM

I notice that the list of subscribers to this blog grows weekly.  If you would like to subscribe, here’s what our resident tech genius had to say regarding how to do it:

All they need to do is point their RSS reader to http://immigrantconnect.com/feed/.

RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication,”  and the idea behind RSS is that you won’t have to keep coming back to websites for updates.  Instead, a piece of software called an “RSS Reader” will do that job of checking the websites you specify for updates, alerting you when new articles are available, and then presenting the new articles in a succinct form.

Modern web browsers (such as Firefox and Internet Explorer 6), e-mail clients (such as Thunderbird), and some portals like My Yahoo! and Google already work as RSS readers.   For Outlook, there’s a free plug-in called RSS Popper, which you can download here:  http://rsspopper.blogspot.com/

Doesn’t sound “really simple” to me, but I welcome new subscribers.