|  Nandini
P Nair informs that the Immigration Services have started accepting
e-filings for non-immigrant visa
Dear readers, here is the latest news from the
Immigration Services:
According to a USCIS (formerly Immigration and
Naturalisation Service) anno-uncement at the American Immigration
Lawyers Asso-ciation (AILA) National Convention, only 16,100 cap
subject cases had been filed against the fiscal year 2005 cap, as
of May 31, 2004. This means that there appear to be sufficient remaining
cap numbers of the 65,000 quota to last at least beyond the start
of the 2005 fiscal year on October 1, 2004.
Also, the USCIS announced on May 26, 2004 that
it has started accepting e-filings for Form I-129 (Petition for
a Non-immigrant Wo-rker), Form I-131 (Application for Tra-vel Document),
Form I-140 (Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker), Form I-539 (Application
to Extend/ Change Non-immigrant Sta-tus), Form I-821 (Application
for Temporary Protected Status), and Form I-907 (Request for Premium
Processing Service).
As an integral part of the inclusion of these
forms, the USCIS has added an enhanced feature that permits customers
who file online to establish an e-filing account that provides the
applicant with a user ID and password. The result is that a petitioner
or applicant for immigration benefits will no longer be required
to complete the petition or application at one sitting. Customers
are now also able to pay application fees via credit or debit card,
as well as the electronic transfer of funds from a checking or savings
account.
It does not appear at this time that applicants
will obtain faster processing simply by e-filing. The ultimate goal
of the USCIS is to make the process faster and more efficient. The
forms that now can be accepted electronically by USCIS account for
more than 50 percent of the applications and petitions that the
USCIS receives annually. So even though this is an improvement,
it is still highly suggested to file application manually, as to
reduce errors and loss of files.
In addition, many readers may be aware that the
Department of Homeland Security (DHS)/USCIS office in New Delhi,
India, may accept I-130 filings from US citizens (USCs) residing
in India. They had also been accepting I-130 filings (green card
petition for spouse or parent or child under 21), on a purely discretionary
basis, from some USCs who were simply temporarily present in India.
This allowed for case processing that was much faster than filing
within the United States at either a local office or at a USCIS
Service Centre.
Recently, the DHS office in New Delhi has indicated
that it will no longer accept I-130 filings unless the USC can show
that s/he was in India for at least 60 days prior to filing. The
New Delhi DHS office will accept an entry stamp in the passport
stamped by the Indian government immigration department as proof
of when the USC entered India.
Previously, many USCs would go to India for 30
days or less to file the I-130 petition at the USCIS or Legacy INS
Office in New Delhi to obtain a faster I-130 approval. Under the
new procedures at the DHS office in New Delhi, this is no longer
possible.
It is unclear why the office has changed its
policy on this issue. It may be in response to workload or security
concerns.
Those seeking to use the New Delhi office now
must plan more carefully to do so and remain in India for a minimum
of 60 days, plus another month or so for the
I-130 processing and visa interview scheduling.
Obviously, the USC should not jeopardize his or her job in the United
States to use the New Delhi office for the purpose of bringing over
a spouse more expeditiously. Otherwise, a question may arise regarding
whether the USC will have the ability to financially support the
I-130 beneficiary. For USCs seeking to bring spouses to the US,
the K-3 visa remains a reasonably prompt option. Persons seeking
to bring their parents to the US will have to wait for the I-130
processing from within the US in most cases.
And finally, the US Department of State (DOS)
has announced that it will soon cease to accept new applications
for visa revalidation (re-issuance) in the United States. The visa
revalidation programme permits certain foreign nationals in the
E, H, L, O and P nonimmigrant categories to obtain renewed visas
by mail from the State Department headquarters in Washington, DC,
rather than from a US consulate abroad. According to State Department
officials, the last day likely to file new revalidation cases will
fall between July 2 and July 6, 2004; cases filed prior to the cut-off
date should be processed to completion. A formal announcement of
the suspension of the revalidation service is expected to be published
soon in the Federal Register and will provide a specific application
deadline.
The visa revalidation programme is being suspended
because of the forthcoming requirement that visas issued after October
26, 2004 contain biometric identifiers (fingerprints and facial
scans). US consular posts have already begun to collect fingerprints
and photographs from visa applicants in order to comply with the
deadline. However,
the State Department’s Revalidation Unit
is not currently equipped to collect the required biometrics. At
the urging of several immigration advocacy groups, including the
American Counsel on International Personnel (ACIP), the Department
of State and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are in discussions
to explore the possibility of using DHS resources in the United
States to collect biometrics from visa revalidation applicants so
that the revalidation programme may continue, but no immediate action
is expected.
In order to qualify for visa revalidation, the
applicant must be in valid non-immigrant status in one of the non-immigrant
categories eligible for revalidation. He or she must have been previously
issued a visa at a US consulate abroad and admitted to the United
States in the status they are currently maintaining. Revalidation
is not available to foreign nationals whose status has been changed
to the E, H, L, O or P category after initial admission to the United
States. Current processing times for visa revalidation applications
are 10 to 12 weeks or more in some cases.
Nandini P Nair is a US Immigration Attorney
based in New York, US. E-mail: dininair@aol.com
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