2007

Consular Processing FeeRaise(posted 12/20/07):

In a public notice issued dated December 19, 2007, the Department of State issued an interim final rule raising the fee for non-immigrant visa and the Border Crossing Card (BCC) from the current$100 to $131 and the immigrant visa fee to $355.00. The fee increaseis toprovide funds to meet therising processing costof the visasbecause of the hightened security measures. The Departmentseeks public commentupto 2/29/08, and therules become effective on 1/1/08. To view the public notice and post your comments click here.

Older green cards with no expiration date still valid (reposted 12/14/07):

On 12/13/07 USCISreleased a statement that it is currently reviewing the 298 public comments aboutthe proposed regulationrequiring lawful permanent residents to replace their permanent resident cardsbearing no expiration dates with a new card. After reviewing and considering the public commentsthe final rules would be published in the Federal Register.

Untilpublication of the final rules the older permanent resident cards with no expiration dates hold valid. The statement notifies that the lawful permanent residents may choose to replace the cards now if desired; however, the rules do not require them to do so at this time. The rules when published would describe the application process and the time during which such applications would be accepted.

Earlier,USCIS clarified by its statement dt. 12/11/07thatpermanent resident cards (I-551) with no expiration dates are still valid and lawful permanent residents carrying these cards would continue to receive the benefits. The status quo is maintained until a final rule on the topic is implemented.

Overly restrictive Immimgration laws hurt U.S. economy and businesses (posted 12/12/07):

Microsoft decides to open an office in Vancouver, Canada. In a study conducted by the National Foundation for American Policy, an organizationof National acclaimdevoted to Immigration, trade and similar issues it is suggested that overly restrictive immigration laws and the arbitrary limits it imposes on the number of foreign workers permitted to enter U.S. work force every year is adversely affecting the U.S. economy andbusinesses of all sizes. Contributory factors may be lack of qualified U.S. workers, inability to bring in sufficient foreign skilled workers under the present immigration laws as opposed to Canadian laws that are friendly towards businesses.

The study links Microsoft's decision to establish an office outside U.S. as a probable outcome of the restrictive Immigration lawsand suggests that other businesses may follow suit.

No-Match Rule: USCIS appeals the order against(posted on 12/8/07) :

In a statement released on 12/5/07, the Department of Homeland Security, announced that the U.S. Govt appealedthedecision injuncting implementation of the 'No-Match Rule'.Earlier, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Department had announced a rule proposing that the employersfollow a specific procedure in the event they receive a "No-Match letter" from the Social Security Administration (SSA). A No-Match letterbasically notifies the employer that his employee's name and social security number are not in conformity with SSA's records.

A law suit was filed, in August 2007, in the Federal District Court in San Fransisco against the enforcement of the "No-Match Rule" alleging thatthe Rule imposes burdensome obligations onemployers;thatthe SSA records are flawed because of which the rulewould cause U.S citizens and other authorized workers to lose their jobs and would subject the employees with foreign originto discrimination . It is alleged that the discrepancies between the employees' Social security numbers and SSA records could be due to several innocent reasons e.g. clerical mistakes, change of names due to marriage or divorce or use of multiple surnames. The Court had granted injunction against enforcement of the Ruleand stoppedthe Government from mailing the letters to the employers.

The DHS later abandoned enforcement of the Ruleplanning to revise it. However, on December 5, 2007,DHSannounced its decision to appeal the San Franciscodistrict court's ruling to the 9th Circuit.

Interim Rules on Intercountry Adoption (posted on 12/3/2007):

Infurtherance of implementation of the U.S. ratification of the Hague Convention on "Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Inter Country Adoption" the USCIS proposes to amend the immigration procedurerelating to adoption of children habitually residing in the Convention countries and makes other amendments necessary to adopt the Convention. 72 Fed.Reg.56831(2007). The interim ruleswent in to force November 5, 2007 andpublic comments are sought through December 3, 2007. The text of the Convention and the list of countries that are part of the Convention may be found at http://www.hcch.net.

Among other things the amendment requires new forms (I-800A: application for determination of suitability as adoptive parent and I-800: petition to classify Convention adoptee as immediate relative) to be filed.

The proposed amendment seeks to change the procedure in case of only those adoptions where the adoptive child habitually resides in a Convention country and has immigrated or would immigrate to U.S. as a result ofbeing adoptedby a United States Citizen parent. Cases where the child's immigration is not the immediate consequence of adoption remain unaffected by the amendment. E.g. where a United States Citizen parent adopts a child from a Convention country while habitually residing in that country with no present intent to bring the child to U.S. It remains to be seen whether thesameprocedure would be followed if the citizen parentbrings the child to U.S. at a subsequent date.