DHS / US CIS Issues

Visas Allocation

The 140,000 EB visas were never allocated from 98!

http://www.ced.org/projects/immigration.shtml

Figure 9 shows the rapid growth in total
adjustment backlogs for family, employment,
and refugee classes over the past decade. As
noted below, this backlog grew tenfold during
the 1990s, from 100,000 to over one million, as
agency-wide INS problems mounted. At least
The adjustment backlog accounts in part
for the failure to grant the full complement of
140,000 employment-based visas allowed by law.
For instance, in 1998 only 77,517 of the 140,000
visas were used.82 This shortfall, of course, does
not signify a lack of demand. Cumbersome
regulations and administrative inefficiencies….
 
New AP

Curtesy of adyav:

Info About AP: From immihelp.com

On November 24, 2003, the Director of USCIS officially released the newly designed documents as follows: The production of a
new, re-designed travel document which allows permanent residents, refugees and asylees to re-enter the United States following
travel abroad, incorporates increased security features aimed at eliminating a counterfeiter's ability to duplicate them,using the
latest state-of-the-art technology. The newly designed documents adds security features that frustrate the illegal production of
these documents and improve production techniques and processes to shorten the processing times. Produced at the USCIS
Nebraska Service Center, the new travel documents utilize the same patented personalization process as the current U.S.
passport. This includes a digitized integrated photo, which has proven difficult for counterfeiters to duplicate. The redesigned
document also features a number of covert or hidden features that require sophisticated forensic equipment to view. The new
travel document is light green in color and resembles the size and shape of the U.S. passport. It replaces the existing refugee
travel document and the re-entry permit for permanent residents. Refugee travel documents and re-entry permits currently in
circulation will remain valid until the expiration dates printed on those documents. The use of new production equipment and
techniques will increase the production rate by ten fold of the current production rate. This is a very good news for the
Permanent Residents and Refugees who have been experiencing a delay of almost one year to obtain the travel documents.

Comment: This is all they did so far. PLus they eliminated the backlog for the ADOPTED CHILDREN (for US Citizens) and spent considerable amounts of money and time on the NEW OATH and conferences!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
NSC

Curtesy of "www.immigration-law.com"

Comments about possible NSC progress. Connection to the lawsuit? I do not think so.

03/09/2004: Sign of I-485 Progress at Nebraska Service Center

In nonimmigrant proceedings, the RFE is a bad sign which leads to denial in substantial number of cases or a substantial delay of decision at the best. However, the RFE is a good sign in the I-485 proceedings which indicate that the I-485 file left the dark space in dormant stage and awaking from the long and forced sleep. Nowadays, almost no I-485 cases are adjudicated without first requesting evidence to prove the continued existence of the petitioned job. Accordingly, the fact that one receives a RFE should be taken as a good news that his/her I-485 is finally being adjudicated after being pull out of the cabinet or shelves.
There is a sign that the Nebraska Service Center has opened such door in that the I-485 applicants start receiving either RFE or approval notices. There is no confirmation, but it is obvious that some of the adjudicators in the H-1B cap production line must have been switched to this production line. Please cross your two fingers!!
 
DOL

Curtesy of "www.immigration-law.com"

03/24/2004: DOL PERM and Backlog Reduction Centers Locations

DOL has disclosed to the AILA the locations of the PERM reengineered labor certification processing centers and Backlog Reduction Centers as
follows:
PERM Processing Centers: Atlanta and Chicago
Backlog Reduction Processing Centers: Philadelphia and Dallas
DOL has reported that there are over 300,000 permanent labor certification applications pending at this time. The two Backlog Reduction Centers should help to reduce the backlog cases once the centers open. The Backlog Reduction Centers are expected to be manned by private contractors and
according to the unconfirmed sources of information, such contract may not be offered until May 2004. Our earlier report that some state offices started transferring backlog cases to contractors turned out to be outsourcing of backlog cases to overseas contractors by the Texas state labor certification office. It is unclear how far the overseas outsourcing of permanent labor certification applications will go in terms of the involved large states. Please stay tuned.
 
USCIS Director 03/23/04

The Director did it again. Another insult, repreated again.

Curtesy of "www.immigration-law.com"
Source: usinfo.state.gov
Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

.........................
In the area of customer service, we have:
-- Initiated on-line features that allow customers to file and pay for a number of our commonly used
applications, as well as offering individual case status updates;
-- Established the Office of Citizenship to develop and implement public outreach and educational
initiatives that better prepare immigrants for their rights and responsibilities;
-- Improved access to information by establishing a toll-free, bilingual National Customer Service Center
help line (800-375-5283); and
-- Reduced the lines at a number of offices with the highest customer volume, such as New York, Miami
and Los Angeles.

In the area of backlog reduction, we have:
-- Created a Backlog Reduction Team to identify immediate changes to speed up adjudication processes
as well as to revise implementation plans;
-- Eliminated the backlog of applications for Certificate of Citizenship on Behalf of an Adopted Child with a
program that proactively provides parents the certificate without application.
..................................
 
Re: DOL

Originally posted by cinta
Curtesy of "www.immigration-law.com"

03/24/2004: DOL PERM and Backlog Reduction Centers Locations

DOL has disclosed to the AILA the locations of the PERM reengineered labor certification processing centers and Backlog Reduction Centers as
follows:
PERM Processing Centers: Atlanta and Chicago
Backlog Reduction Processing Centers: Philadelphia and Dallas
DOL has reported that there are over 300,000 permanent labor certification applications pending at this time. The two Backlog Reduction Centers should help to reduce the backlog cases once the centers open. The Backlog Reduction Centers are expected to be manned by private contractors and
according to the unconfirmed sources of information, such contract may not be offered until May 2004. Our earlier report that some state offices started transferring backlog cases to contractors turned out to be outsourcing of backlog cases to overseas contractors by the Texas state labor certification office. It is unclear how far the overseas outsourcing of permanent labor certification applications will go in terms of the involved large states. Please stay tuned.
Click to expand...


Hmm .. even the government jobs are being outsourced!! :D :D :D
 
Equal Access to Justice Act

Curtesy of "www.visaus.com"
USCIS and the Equal Access to the Justice Act.

CIS fee increases under fire (see 'Immigration in the News' below)

American Immigration Lawyers Association

Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) of the Department of Homeland Security has announced proposed increases in fees for immigration applications of up to 55 percent each. These fees cover almost all of the agency's expenses. However, at a time when the quality of service is at an historic low, increases of this magnitude are difficult to justify. Processing backlogs have reached crisis proportions, while the agency wastes resources revisiting issues already resolved and harassing honest petitioners with
requests for paperwork unrelated to their immigration eligibility. Making matters worse, the public's only available avenue to resolve government errors and problems is a contractor-run 800 number that has proven to be useless to deal with these issues.
Adding insult to injury, the proposed fee increase would force applicants to pay for these failures. As CIS loses files, errs on more and more applications, and provides no viable avenue to resolve problems, lawsuits to force action have increased. The proposed budget for CIS factors the costs of these suits into the fees by proposing a surcharge to pay for them. The Equal Access to Justice Act mandates that government agencies pay certain costs when they take a substantially unjustified position in litigation. CIS
proposes to evade this law by forcing the very people who are harmed by its actions or inaction to pay the costs of the agency's unjustified positions.
The Department also has announced that it intends to outsource the immigration information officer (IIO) function and factors into the proposed fee increase the cost of conducting an expensive study of this problematic initiative. Despite numerous problems associated with contracting out the deeply flawed 800 number system, the CIS budget would mandate that applicants pay the costs of this study to expand this failed concept to cover all user assistance functions.
I urge you to write your senators and members of Congress and demand that Congress appropriate funds for CIS.
 
Immigration Databases

http://www.nilc.org/immlawpolicy/index.htm#data

Immigration Records and Databases
INS data accuracy (8/27/03)(PDF)

Official Crime Information Should Be Accurate
In her opinion editorial, published in The Miami Herald, April 28, 2003, NILC's policy
attorney Joan Friedland discusses the Justice Department's information problem (click to
open PDF file).
 
OMB

New regulation...three months in OMB....

PROPOSED REGULATION TO CHANGE EMPLOYMENT AUTHORIZATION
VALIDITY PERIOD DURING ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS APPLICATION
PROCESS

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has proposed an
interim regulation that would allow for the issuance of an Employment
Authorization Document (EAD) with an authorization period long enough to
cover the time it would take to complete the adjudication of an adjustment of
status application. EADs are currently issued for a one-year validity period
pursuant to a pending adjustment of status application. Given that many
adjustment of status applications are taking over two years to be completed,
an applicant for adjustment of status will most likely have to apply for more
than one EAD card before the approval of his/her adjustment of status
application. The proposed regulation would increase the authorized period of
employment on the EAD cards; however, specific information regarding the
exact amount of time that would be allotted for employment authorization
has not yet been provided.

The proposed regulation has been transferred to the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) on March 4, 2004, and the OMB has ninety (90) days to
review the regulation and either reject it or clear it for publication in the
Federal Register.
 
DOS / Congress

The Government CAN write to Congress and request.
In this case, DOS and DHS do it about the VISAS.

Delay sought in nation's passport
deadline
Rachel L. Swarns, New York Times


March 25, 2004
VISA0325


WASHINGTON, D.C.
-- Secretary of State
Colin L. Powell and
Homeland Security
Secretary Tom Ridge
are warning that a
deadline requiring 27
countries to issue their
citizens computer-coded
passports to travel to the
United States could
threaten the U.S. travel
industry. The countries
-- 22 European nations,
Japan, Brunei, Australia,
New Zealand and
Singapore -- have to begin providing passports with technology that
recognizes travelers' faces by Oct. 26. Congress imposed the deadline after
Sept. 11.

The State Department says nearly all the countries are expected to miss the
deadline, which would force millions of visitors to apply for visas. The
demand would probably surge to 12 million in the 2005 fiscal year from 7
million in 2003, creating a workload that could lead to significant backlogs.

In a letter to Congress last week, Powell and Ridge urged lawmakers to delay
the deadline to Oct. 26, 2006. Failing to do so, the officials said, would result
in "grave consequences."

"It is important to note that the U.S. economy would likely suffer gravely if
tourists 'vote with their feet' and go elsewhere, possibly resulting in
multibillion-dollar losses to our economy and reducing employment in one of
our economy's most dynamic sectors," Powell and Ridge wrote to Rep. F.
James Sensenbrenner Jr., R-Wis., who is chairman of the House Judiciary
Committee.

About 12 million of the 19 million overseas visitors to the United States in
2002 came from the 27 countries whose citizens can visit for 90 days without
visas.

Tourists from Britain, France, Germany and Japan alone spent $22.2 billion in
the United States in 2002, accounting for a third of spending by overseas
visitors, according to the Travel Industry Association of America.

In their letter, Powell and Ridge said none of the 27 countries would be able
to issue computer-coded passports "in sufficient numbers to meet the
legitimate needs of their traveling nationals" by October. They emphasized that
the delays resulted from technical problems, not lack of effort.
 
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