DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Archives - Page 24 of 29

15 02, 2007

New Poverty Guidelines In Effect For Sponsors Completing Affidavits Of Support

By Richard Hanus|2007-02-15T14:00:36-06:00February 15th, 2007|Categories: DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Family-Based Immigration Law|

New Poverty Guidelines In Effect For Sponsors Completing Affidavits Of Support February 15, 2007 Before any intending family-based immigrant is issued their visa, or approved for adjustment of status, the petitioning U.S. family member or their joint co-sponsor will have to submit an I-864 Affidavit of Support and most of the time, satisfy certain income requirements (exceptions exist for those proving their financial health via assets owned such as bank/brokerage accounts, real property, etc). The income requirements (125% of the poverty level) for sponsors residing in the lower 48 contiguous states in the U.S., effective March 1, 2007, are set forth […]

29 11, 2006

Feds Testing New Naturalization Exam in Designated Cities

By Richard Hanus|2006-11-29T14:00:36-06:00November 29th, 2006|Categories: Citizenship / Naturalization and the N-400 Application, DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)|

Feds Testing New Naturalization Exam in Designated Cities November 29, 2006 The start of the New Year not only brings wishes for a better year or New Year’s resolutions, but early 2007 will also bring a trial run of a new naturalization exam for immigrant applicants in designated cities across the U.S. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ Director Emilio Gonzalez announced on November 30, 2006 that beginning in early 2007, a new version of the naturalization exam that immigrants applying for U.S. citizenship are required to pass will be put into use in 10 cities across the U.S. and will roughly […]

10 10, 2006

CIS Chicago: Adjustment of Status Interviews Scheduled Within 120 Days

By Richard Hanus|2006-10-10T14:00:36-05:00October 10th, 2006|Categories: DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Employment Authorization / Work Cards in the U.S., Family-Based Immigration Law, Green Cards, Immigrant Visas for Spouse / Fiancee / Child Visas, Lawful Permanent Residence in the U.S.|

CIS Chicago: Adjustment of Status Interviews Scheduled Within 120 Days October 10, 2006 Applicants for permanent residence who are already in the U.S. in some sort of temporary, nonimmigrant visa status can expect their adjustment of status interview to be scheduled by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service’s Chicago office within 120 days of filing their application. And following the interview, the applicant, if approved, will usually receive their alien registration card (“green card”) within 2 weeks of their appearance at CIS. While such efficiency is something truly to be appreciated, there are some downsides. The negative impact of such quick interview […]

15 09, 2006

Expedited, Premium Processing Further Expanded

By Richard Hanus|2006-09-15T14:00:36-05:00September 15th, 2006|Categories: DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Employment-Based Immigration Law, Non-Immigrant Visas for Temporary Workers / H-1B, U.S. Immigration Law and Legislation|

Expedited, Premium Processing Further Expanded September 15, 2006 In the past few months, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (CIS) has extended “premium,” expedited processing to a variety of new immigration filings, including the I-140, Immigrant Worker Petition for 2 categories of “EB-3” workers, skilled workers and professionals. Employers seeking to facilitate permanent residence/immigrant visa processing for its employees in these categories can have an I-140 petition decided within 15 calendar days of receipt by submitting an additional $1,000.00 filing fee (on top of the standard $195.00 fee). Just 10 days ago, this program has been further expanded to include Employment […]

31 08, 2006

Expedited, Premium Processing Finally Available for Immigrant Worker Petitions, including Registered Nurse Filings

By Richard Hanus|2006-08-31T14:00:36-05:00August 31st, 2006|Categories: DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Employment Authorization / Work Cards in the U.S., Employment-Based Immigration Law, Immigrant Health Care Workers in the U.S., Non-Immigrant Visas for Temporary Workers / H-1B, U.S. Immigration Law and Legislation|

Expedited, Premium Processing Finally Available for Immigrant Worker Petitions, including Registered Nurse Filings August 31, 2006 A couple months back, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (CIS) announced a plan to extend “premium,” expedited processing to a variety of new immigration filings, including the I-140, Immigrant Worker Petition. As of August 28, 2006, the plan has been put into action for 2 categories of I-140 petitions, and employers seeking to facilitate permanent residence/immigrant visa processing for its employees in these categories can have an I-140 petition decided in less than 14 days. The implementation of this new program is especially significant […]

16 08, 2006

Justice Department Initiative to Improve Immigration Courts and BIA

By Richard Hanus|2006-08-16T14:00:36-05:00August 16th, 2006|Categories: Asylum in the United States, DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), DHS / Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Immigration Law and Legislation|

Justice Department Initiative to Improve Immigration Courts and BIA August 16, 2006 After ordering the review of almost 20 immigration courts and conducting extensive field research and interviews, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales announced that the Department of Justice will be implementing several new measures aimed at improving the quality and functioning of our nation’s immigration court system (where deportation/removal proceedings are conducted). Upon revealing the new reforms he stated, “I am secure in the knowledge that our immigration judges and Board [of Immigration Appeals] members stand ready to serve their country in discharging their demanding responsibilities to apply the rule […]

10 07, 2006

CIS Chicago’s New Facility

By Richard Hanus|2006-07-10T14:00:36-05:00July 10th, 2006|Categories: DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Green Cards, Lawful Permanent Residence in the U.S.|

CIS Chicago’s New Facility July 10, 2006 In the coming month, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service’s Chicago office will be moving to a new facility downtown at 101 W. Congress, Chicago – the southwest corner of Clark and Congress. Practically all immigration-related Department of Homeland Security functions will be consolidated at this office, with agency activity at the 230 S. Dearborn and 10 W. Jackson offices coming to an end as of August 25. Some may recognize the new location as the building where they had attended their citizenship interview over the course of the past couple of years, and […]

15 06, 2006

Premium Processing to be Extended to Certain I-140, I-539 and I-765 Filings

By Richard Hanus|2006-06-15T14:00:36-05:00June 15th, 2006|Categories: Customs and Border Patrol / Travel to and from the U.S., DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Employment Authorization / Work Cards in the U.S., Employment-Based Immigration Law, Non-Immigrant Visas for Temporary Workers / H-1B|

Premium Processing to be Extended to Certain I-140, I-539 and I-765 Filings June 15, 2006 For the past few years, companies seeking to employ foreign workers in a variety of temporary work visa categories (including H-1B, L-1 and R-1) have had the option to pay an extra $1,000 filing fee in order to have their visa petition processed in 15 days or less. This process, known as premium processing, will soon be available for most categories of I-140 immigrant worker petitions (effective August 28, 2006, available for most EB-3 professionals and skilled workers), I-539 applications to change or extend nonimmigrant visa […]

8 06, 2006

1,100 Approved Fiance Petitions are Recalled

By Richard Hanus|2006-06-08T14:00:36-05:00June 8th, 2006|Categories: DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Family-Based Immigration Law, Immigrant Visas for Spouse / Fiancee / Child Visas|

1,100 Approved Fiance Petitions are Recalled June 8, 2006 Speaking of criminal background checks, as of March 5, 2006, US CIS was mandated by federal statute to conduct background checks on all U.S. citizens seeking to petition their foreign fiancés. The federal statute, known as the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act, was enacted in order to protect foreign fiances from the unknown dangers, such as the potential for domestic abuse, that could arise as a result of their future spouse’s criminal backgrounds. However, apparently by mistake, CIS has approved more than 1,100 such petitions without having the requisite investigations take place […]

11 05, 2006

Immigration Security Checks

By Richard Hanus|2006-05-11T14:00:36-05:00May 11th, 2006|Categories: Customs and Border Patrol / Travel to and from the U.S., DHS / Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Immigration and Criminal Law / Detainees|

Immigration Security Checks May 11, 2006 “Everything looks o.k. with your case, but we are awaiting final FBI clearance on your name check before we can approve you.” This may sound familiar to many of you who have recently appeared for an interview at a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (CIS) office on an application for U.S. permanent residence or citizenship. Unfortunately, those who are awaiting such a final security clearance, may find their applications on hold for many months or years. So exactly what is the exact nature of these security procedures? And what can be done to speed things […]

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