Tuesday, July 15, 2014 at 6:10PM in Immigration Law Beneficiaries of approved H-1B petitions with an October 1, 2014, start date may now begin filing their visa applications at U.S. consular posts. Please contact BIRG & MELTSER for further info at (847) 444-9000
Tuesday, July 15, 2014 at 6:09PM in Immigration Law Green Card lottery entry period is now open!
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USCIS has moved the online payment of the USCIS Immigrant Fee to its Electronic Immigration System (USCIS ELIS). Customers must now pay the $165 USCIS Immigrant Fee using USCIS ELIS after they receive their immigrant visa package from the Department of State and before they depart for the United States. USCIS ELIS is easy to use and provides direct access to case status updates. New immigrants will also use USCIS ELIS to file future applications and petitions when they become available in the system.
This fee has been in place since Feb. 1, 2013. Immigrants who receive their visas at U.S. Embassies and Consulates abroad must pay the fee online. The fee allows USCIS to recover the cost of processing the immigrant visa package and other information as well as producing and delivering the permanent resident card after immigrant visa holders are admitted to the United States. Immigrants will soon be directed to the USCIS ELIS website to create an online account and pay the immigrant fee.
The fee does not apply to certain special immigrants and those entering the United States through the inter-country adoption programs.
The American Immigration Council (AIC) and the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project (NWIRP) brought a class action lawsuit in December 2011 to challenge government delays in allowing employment authorization documents for asylum seekers. AIC and NWIRP reached agreement with the government last week, and have a hearing scheduled with a federal judge in September 2013 to finalize the settlement. The proposed settlement agreement is designed to address some of the unfair and unreasonable ways that USCIS and immigration courts are implementing the 180 day "clock" on employment authorization for asylum applicants. Once the agreement is approved and finalized by the federal judge, it will change the employment authorization process for some asylum seekers. The proposed changes include: better notice for rescheduling a missed asylum interview; starting the 180 day wait, or "clock," when the asylum application is filed at the immigration court rather than waiting until the hearing date; the hearing date offered on an expedited non-detained case must be at least 45 days in the future (rather than the current 14 days); the clock is "restarted" if the applicant wins on appeal; better information at immigration court hearings on what is happening on the clock; and a process to review improper denials of work permits for class members. The changes would be phased-in over time, starting in November 2013.