Rachel Huan Kao's Archived Articles
Immigration
News
April 2004
I-485 Pilot Program
The Citizenship and Immigration Services Dallas District Office (analogous
to our Chicago District Office) is implementing a pilot program to test
adjudication of adjustment of status applications within a 90-day time
frame, eliminating the need to issue employment authorization documents
and advance parole documents while adjustments are pending. Eligible applicants
include: all family-based applicants, Diversity Visa lottery winners,
Special Immigrant Juveniles, and other Special Immigrants with approved
Form I-360. Asylees, Refugees, Employment-Based, and Life Act applicants
are not eligible for this program. If this program works, expect it to
be implemented at other offices.
USVISIT
On March 26, 2004 the Bureau of Customs and Border Patrol granted AILA
attorneys an opportunity to see the USVISIT system in operation. Beginning
January 5, 2004, the USVISIT system has been collecting biometric information
on all entrants to the US between the ages of 14 and 79 who are making
their entry using a nonimmigrant visa. Citizens of Canada, Mexico, Visa
Waiver Program countries, legal permanent residents, and US citizens are
exempt from USVISIT at this time. USVISIT collects fingerprints and a
photograph of each applicable entrant and compares these biometric identifiers
against the information in their database – especially the visa
application submitted to the consulate. This system permits BCBP officers
to check information on visas and fingerprints against their database
to determine an individual’s identity, if an individual possesses
a prior criminal record, if an individual is of interest to the Department
of Homeland Security, etc. Individuals who are not subject to USVISIT
do not have their photos and fingerprints collected upon entry, but their
names and dates of birth are run against the same database from the passenger
manifest of the airplane or ship they arrive on. So far, USVISIT has been
very helpful in detecting fraudulent passports and visas. Individuals
who are of interest are subject to secondary inspection.
All individuals, even those not subject to USVISIT, with criminal arrests, charges, or convictions, who wish to leave the country and reenter, should obtain copies of their court dispositions and be prepared to go to secondary inspection and present these documents. USVISIT is currently operational in over 100 airports and seaports used as ports of entry. Expect USVISIT to be expanded to all ports of entry eventually, even land ports, and to all arriving individuals, including legal permanent residents, US citizens, Canadian citizens, Mexican citizens, Visa Waiver Program citizens, and individuals of all ages.
Labor Certification
Applications
Pending labor certification applications are experiencing more scrutiny
than ever due to changes in the economy. Some cases may have additional
recruitment requirements depending on when they were filed, and the initial
recruitment results. The Department of Labor has indicated that as the
condition of the economy changes, their requirements will fluctuate. For
instance, if the economy was strong at the time of recruitment and filing,
and the recruitment requirements in existence at that time were met, but
by the time the case gets reviewed, the economy has changed, new recruitment
requirements may have been implemented and applicants will have to meet
these new requirements. Employers and employees with pending labor certification
applications should be prepared to re-advertise the jobs and interview
a new batch of applicants in order to qualify for labor certification.
Opting out of automatic
conversion from 2B to 1
Under the Child Status Protection Act, unmarried sons or daughters of
lawful permanent residents can request their classification to remain
2B (unmarried sons or daughters of lawful permanent residents) preference,
even if their parent naturalizes, which would normally change their classification
to 1 (unmarried sons or daughters of US citizens) preference. All affected
beneficiaries who want to opt out of this automatic conversion must file
a written request to the Officer in Charge, Manila. The Officer in Charge
will notify the beneficiary of the decision of their request. This decision
will come in the form of a letter on U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Services letterhead. If approved, the beneficiary’s eligibility
will remain unchanged, and will not have to use the 1st preference priority
date otherwise used for unmarried sons and daughters of US citizens. Only
those that were petitioned as unmarried sons and daughters of lawful permanent
residents are eligible.
Revised and New Forms
Form N-600, Application for Certificate of Citizenship has been revised,
and Form N-600K, Application for Citizenship and Issuance of Certificate
under Section 322 has been newly created. Valid Form N-600’s are
November 15, 2002 edition or later, and valid Form N-600K’s are
April 30, 2003 edition or later. Form I-131, Application for Travel Document
(covers reentry permits and advance parole as well) has been revised.
Valid Form I-131’s are September 19, 2003 edition.
Processing changes at the District Offices
District offices (ours is Chicago, 10 W. Jackson) have begun sending all
new family-based cases to the National Benefits Center for initial processing.
Receipt notices, employment authorization, and advance parole will be
processed at the National Benefits Center in hopes of providing more uniform
and speedy processing times to all district offices. The procedure for
applicants in our district will remain the same - send the applications
to the district office. From there, applications are boxed up and sent
to the NBC. NBC sends out receipts for filing fees, incorporating an invitation
to schedule a biometrics appointment at a designated application support
center. So far, the system has been working fairly smoothly. In the future
CIS may direct us to send all applications to the NBC directly, but until
this direction is provided applicants should continue to send cases to
the district office. Applicants will no longer go to the Chicago District
Office to pick up EAD cards or advance parole documents. After security
checks have been completed, cases will be sent to the District Offices
for interview scheduling and adjudication. Interviews and decisions will
continue to be made at the District Offices. Applications for waivers
of inadmissibility will be processed at the National Benefits Center.
Would you like to
vote for the next President? Can you vote?
In Chicago, the processing time for a naturalization application is approximately
six months. If you are eligible for naturalization, and you apply very
soon, you may be able to obtain your citizenship and register to vote
before the next Presidential election! I encourage every citizen to register
to vote. If you are not registered to vote, please do so. If you are registered,
but do not vote regularly, please consider doing so. Your voices should
be heard!!! For those of us who are naturalized citizens, remember that
we chose this country. We should exercise our rights, and the most important
right is our right to vote. If anyone has questions about where to go
to register, I will include that information in later articles. By calling
your local alderman or congressional representative, you can obtain information
on voter registration drives. In the meantime, if you need to renew your
driver’s license, you can automatically be registered to vote at
the same time.