USCIS has released the numbers of citizenship applications filed for the first six months of 2008. For the period January-June 2008, on average, there were approximately 46,000 citizenship applications each month. As a comparison, the monthly average for the same period in 2007 was approximately 115,000 citizenship applications. This marks a decline in the average [...]
The Government Accountability Office has released its report on the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) and its implementation and operation by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The report seeks to assess the operation of the program and to analyze DHS’s efforts to expand it. The GAO report found, among other things that although the government is [...]
The October 2008 Visa Bulletin is out. Unfortunately, it does not bring much, if any, good news. The most important change in October 2008 is the retrogression of EB-2 India and EB-2 China. Based on predictions of the demand of these categories, the cutoff dates have been moved, effective October 1, 2008, as follows: for [...]
This week brought some good news from USCIS and FBI regarding the significant decline in the number of pending FBI name checks for individuals seeking immigration benefits in the U.S. We have a number of clients who are directly impacted of such FBI security delays and we have heard numerous stories about significant processing times. [...]
We at the Capitol Immigration Law Group have been following closely the Democratic and the Republican National Conventions, respectively last week and this week, and we were surprised to see that there was virtually zero attention paid to immigration in the speeches and debates on and off the convention floor. The Republican party was more likely [...]
The USCIS has revised the instructions on Form I-751 which is generally filed by green card holders who have conditions on their residency - often by marriage or investors. The revised instructions direct the form to be filed either to the California or to the Vermont Service Centers, depending on the state of residency. California Service Center. Petitioners [...]
It is election season and many non-U.S. citizens are interested in being involved in the election process. We receive a number of inquiries about what election-related activities are permitted by non-U.S. citizens and we republish an article we wrote in April 2008: Foreigners and the U.S. Political Process - Permitted Activities. In addition, voting unlawfully is [...]
After few weeks, the program entitled “Scheduled Departure” is about to end, according to the Associated Press. The program allowed illegal immigrants who are subject to judicial order to leave the United States and who do not have a criminal record to turn themselves in voluntarily and be allowed to wrap up their departure in [...]
We wrote in June about the lawsuit challenging the 17-month OPT extension for STEM students. The lawsuit was brought by the Immigration Reform Law Institute, joined by the Programmers Guild and other organizations. The lawsuit challenged the administration’s decision to extend the work period for students under the OPT program and argued that the OPT [...]
An AAO decision was released recently which commented on whether it is required for a petitioner who has filed a Form I-131, application for re-entry permit to be physically in the country when the application is filed. The answer, according to the AAO decision is that the petitioner must be physically located in the U.S. at the time the I-131 re-entry permit application is filed. While it is true that the AAO decision is based on the old rules which did not require biometrics to be taken for each re-entry permit application, it is important to understand that all re-entry permits should be filed when the petitioner is in the U.S. and that the petitioner must attend the biometric appointment or risk a denial of the application.