Elliot & Mayock LLP: visas made easier

E&M Visa Update for February 10, 2003

Volume Three, Number Two

Visa Spotlight: Transition of Immigration Functions to Dept. of Homeland Security Chaotic; Demise of Local Offices Imminent

Aguirre to Lead Immigration Services Branch of DHS; House and Senate Name New Immigration Subcommittee Chairs

CGFNS Rolls Out Online Application System

FBI and Police Linked to State Department's Visa Database

Rollout of Sophisticated Green Card De-Coder System Begins at Six US Points of Entry

Canadian Landed Immigrants Born in Commonwealth Countries Will Need Visas to Enter US

H-1Bs Down Sharply in Fiscal Year 2002, Only 79,000; Fiscal Year 2004 Limit of 65,000

New Lower INS Filing Fees Likely to Revert to Old Fees Soon

INS Extends SEVIS Compliance Deadline for US Schools Issuing I-20s

DOJ Arrests Three Employees at US Consulate in Nuevo Laredo; DOS Nabs Career Foreign Service Officer in Prague; Two "INS Shredders" Indicted

TX, NE and CA INS Service Centers Update Processing Time Reports

Visa Spotlight: Transition of Immigration Functions to Dept. of Homeland Security Chaotic; Demise of Local Offices Imminent
The transition of immigration services from the INS to the new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been chaotic. INS officials are unaware of transition plans and the DHS does not yet have staff to provide information.

At his first official briefing, Secretary Tom Ridge indicated that a Bureau of Customs and Border Patrol will take over border enforcement, a Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement would take over INS investigations (interior), and that a new Office of Citizenship and Immigration would handle services. Since this structure departs from the law setting up the DHS last fall, there is great concern over the transition's management. Immigration attorneys are particularly concerned that during the transition, the new agency will lose all time-honored interpretations and practices that are only codified in letters, memoranda, and liaison meeting notes.

Reports from Washington point toward the demise of the District Offices soon. There is news of staff being pulled from various local offices, with a corresponding loss of service. It is reported that many functions currently handled locally at the District Offices will be transferred to the Missouri Service Center.

top

Aguirre to Lead Immigration Services Branch of DHS; House and Senate Name New Immigration Subcommittee Chairs
On February 6, the White House announced that Eduardo Aguirre Jr., a Cuban immigrant and a top official at the US Export-Import Bank, will head the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services. The DHS absorbed most of the INS' responsibilities. Immigration functions are split in the new department, with one bureau to enforce immigration laws and another to provide immigration services. Aguirre will direct the bureau that is responsible for providing services such as petitions for temporary work visas, immigrant visas and applications for citizenship. Aguirre, a former Houston banker and University of Houston regent, is one of thousands of Cuban children who were sent to the US by their parents between 1960 and 1962 as part of Operation Pedro Pan.

On January 31, Rep. John Hostettler (R-IN) was named Chair the House Immigration Subcommittee and Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) was made Chair the Senate Immigration Subcommittee. Both are anti-245(i) [provision permitting aliens illegally in the country to pay a $1,000 "fine" and Adjust Status to Permanent Residence ("green card")]. Rep. Hostettler is anti-H-1B, a fact which may prove important when the H-1B cap ratchets downward later this year at the beginning of Fiscal Year 2003.

top

CGFNS Rolls Out Online Application System
The CGFNS (Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools) Qualifying Exam is offered three times a year at more than 40 locations worldwide. The Qualifying Exam measures an applicant's nursing knowledge and is based on what nurses must know and do when they practice nursing in the US. CGFNS now offers an online application system. You can use this online service to:

· Open an account to purchase CGFNS products or service(s);
· Submit your educational and professional information to CGFNS for certification and/or verification;
· Choose the location and date of your examination(s);
· Check the progress of your application(s); or
· Pay for CGFNS services with your credit card.

April 9, 2003 is the application deadline for the July 9, 2003 exam.

top

FBI and Police Linked to State Department's Visa Database
Beginning this month, federal, state and local law enforcement officials will have access to the State Department database that has 50 million US visa applications, including the 20 million photographs of applicants. It provides personal information like the applicant's home address, date of birth and passport number, and the names of relatives. The State Department's enormous visa database is seven terabytes, the equivalent of five million floppy disks. Until now, that database has only been shared with immigration officials.

top

Rollout of Sophisticated Green Card De-Coder System Begins at Six US Points of Entry
INS officials say they are beginning implementation of a sophisticated new identification system at the US' 100 most traveled entry points. For the past two months the INS has been testing 30 machines at border crossings in Texas, Arizona and California, and at three airports. The initial results have been promising. The machines have caught 150 violators, including a woman using her twin sister's ID card.

Since 1997, the INS and State Department have issued millions of ID cards encrypted with digital photos, signatures, biographical information and fingerprints. Already 15 million people in North America, 10 million American green-card holders, 5 million Mexican citizens with special cards allowing regular border crossings and hundreds of thousands of Canadians have cards. Each card is much like a driver's license, except it has a 1.4-inch metallic strip that holds digitized information much the way a CD holds data. The cards hold 10,000 times the information on a common credit card magnetic strip.

Until recently, the INS had not installed any of the machines (at a cost $8,500 each) to read the information on the cards. This agency failure was revealed during Congressional hearings on the September 11 terrorist attacks. The ID system is now in effect at Los Angeles Airport, Hartsfield Airport in Atlanta and San Antonio Airport and the land entry points of Falcon Dam, TX, Nogales, AZ and San Ysidro, CA.

In May 2002, President Bush signed the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act, which requires the government to define a biometric standard for people entering the country in 2003. By October 2004, the State Department and the INS may only issue machine-readable documents that include biometric identifiers and all ports of entry must have biometric machine equipment installed. The legislation also requires foreign governments to use biometric technology in passports.

top

Canadian Landed Immigrants Born in Commonwealth Countries Will Need Visas to Enter US
Canadian citizens are not required to present either a passport or a visa to enter the US. This special treatment has been extended to certain Canadian landed immigrants - those born in Commonwealth countries. On January 31, the INS and the Department of State published regulations that will eliminate the current passport waiver and visa waiver for residents of Canada (or Bermuda) who were born in Commonwealth countries. The rules take effect on March 17, 2003. After March 17, such persons will need a visa to enter the US.

top

H-1Bs Down Sharply in Fiscal Year 2002, Only 79,000; Fiscal Year 2004 Limit of 65,000
The INS approved 79,100 H-1B visa petitions last fiscal year ending September 30, 2002. This is a sharp decline from the previous year and far short of the 195,000 limit set by Congress. The dramatic decrease in H-1B visa petition approvals reflects the state of the US economy. By contrast, in fiscal year 2001, the INS issued 163,600 visas.

The INS will be able to issue 195,000 new visas this fiscal year, but the cap is set to decline to 65,000 in fiscal year 2004 which starts in less than eight months from now, on October 1, 2004. The H-1B visa is used to bring skilled workers into the US, many of whom are high tech workers. The visa is good for up to six years, although it has to be renewed after three years.

top

New Lower INS Filing Fees Likely to Revert to Old Fees Soon
On January 24, the INS implemented a new lower fee schedule. The Homeland Security Act includes a provision that required the INS to remove from its surcharge for asylum and refugee applications and fee waivers. E&M believes that the "new" fee schedule will only be in effect for a short time and upon passage of the omnibus budget bill, which is expected to eliminate the prohibition against the surcharge, the INS will change back to the old fee structure. In the interim, the five Service Centers continue to accept the old (higher) fees, and plan to send out refunds. Many local offices, however, will only accept the new (lower) fees.

top

INS Extends SEVIS Compliance Deadline for US Schools Issuing I-20s
The INS has extended the deadline until February 15 by which all authorized schools must use SEVIS to issue Forms I-20 to new foreign students and to current foreign students requiring a new I-20. After February 15, the INS will no longer accept non-SEVIS-issued forms.

Following the mail out of student visa approval notices to two of the September 11 terrorists in March 2002, the INS hurried up its implementation of SEVIS (Student and Exchange Visitor Information System), a nationwide system for tracking student visa holders. SEVIS connects thousands of US educational institutions, ports of entry and US State Department consulates around the world to a centralized database at INS headquarters in Washington.

top

DOJ Arrests Three Employees at US Consulate in Nuevo Laredo; DOS Nabs Career Foreign Service Officer in Prague; Two "INS Shredders" Indicted
On February 4, the Department of Justice announced that charges to commit visa fraud were filed with the federal court in Laredo, Texas. The charges were filed against three employees of the US Consulate in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. An investigation seven months ago and ultimately resulted in the temporary closure of the consulate on January 29. Sergio Genaro Ochoa-Alarcon, Benjamin Antonio Ayala-Morales, and Ramon Alberto Torres-Galvan, citizens of Mexico, are accused of being involved in a scheme to provide visas and border crossing cards in exchange for money.

On February 6, Alexander Meerovich, a career Foreign Service officer, pled guilty to one count of visa fraud in US Federal District Court in the District of Columbia. Meerovich pled guilty to issuing visas illegally while serving as a Consular Officer at the US Embassy in Prague from August 1999 to July 2002.

On January 30, the INS announced the indictment of two contract personnel of the INS California Service Center for shredding thousand of documents pertaining to immigration applications. The shredding occurred in April 2002.

top

TX, NE and CA INS Service Centers Update Processing Time Reports
The Texas Service Center Processing Time Report was updated on February 5 for the period ending January 30.

The Nebraska Service Center Processing Time Report was updated on February 4 for the period ending January 15.

The California Service Center Processing Time Report was updated on February 3 for the period ended January 15.

To view and print out the most recent INS service center processing time reports, please visit http://www.emvisa.com/svcctrprocesstimes.htm

top