Special Registration for Nonimmigrants from Designated Countries As a result of September 11, 2001, the United States government has developed a Special Registration system that will let the government keep track of nonimmigrants that come to the U.S. every year. Some of the approximately 35 million nonimmigrants who enter the U.S. each year - and some nonimmigrants already in the U.S. -- will be required to register with the Bureau of Citizenship & Immigration Services (formerly the INS) either at a port of entry or at a designated BCIS office in accordance with the special registration procedures. These special procedures also require additional in-person interviews at an BCIS office and notifications to USCIS of changes of address, employment, or school. Nonimmigrants who must follow these special procedures will also have to use specially designated ports when they leave the country and report in person to an BCIS officer at the port on their departure date. To date, the BCIS (INS) has designated males, age 16 or older, who last entered the United States as nonimmigrants on or before September 30, 2002 from the following countries to report for special registration at local INS district offices and at designated airports and ports of entry: Bangladesh; Egypt; Indonesia; Jordan; Kuwait; Afghanistan; Algeria; Bahrain; Eritrea; Iran; Iraq; Lebanon; Libya; Morocco; North Korea; Oman; Pakistan; Qatar; Saudi Arabia; Somalia; Sudan; Syria; Tunisia; United Arab Emirates; and Yemen. The special registration rules and procedures are constantly in flux and change frequently upon BCIS notice. It is crucial for individuals who believe they may be subject to special registration and have questions about the requirements to consult with Immigration Counsel. See also the USCIS website for updates concerning special registration at: www.uscis.gov Changes of Address Notification to the BCIS on Form AR-11 The BCIS has re-activated a provision long on the books requiring foreign visitors to the United States to inform the BCIS (INS) of changes of address during their stay. All non-U.S. citizens (aliens) who are required to be registered are also required to keep the BCIS informed of their current address. This is particularly important when you have filed an application or petition for a benefit under the Immigration and Nationality Act and expect notification of a decision on that application. In addition, BCIS may need to contact you to provide other issued documents or return original copies of evidence you submitted. It is also mandatory for any alien who has been designated as a "special registrant" to inform the BCIS whenever he or she has a change of address, employment or school. The special registrant rule is effective as of September 11, 2002. In the past, INS required every alien in the United States to report his or her address annually, in January. INS eliminated this requirement in 1980 and no longer requires annual reporting. However, the BCIS still requires reporting of any address change within 10 days of the change. The only aliens exempt from this requirement are diplomats (visa status A), official government representatives to an international organization (visa status G), and certain nonimmigrants who do not possess a visa and who are in the U.S. for fewer than 30 days. All aliens changing their address must file Form AR-11 with the address listed on the form. For more information about Form AR-11 and the procedures for filing visit the INS website at: http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/ar-11.pdf Homeland Security Act Abolishes the INS As a result of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks President Bush and Congress have created a new federal agency: the Homeland Security Department. Signed into law on November 25, 2002, the Homeland Security Act created a new department which will impact every aspect of immigration, from the adjudication of visas, the enforcement of immigration law, and the implementation of regulations that affect employers and the daily lives of foreign national workers. On the surface the most striking change is the formal abolishment of the INS and in its place the creation of two bureaus to enforce and implement the United States' immigration laws. The two new bureaus are: The Bureau of Border Security which will include the Border Patrol, Detention and Removal, Immigration Inspections, Investigations and Intelligence and the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services which will be responsible for all adjudications and naturalization. Since the passage of the law, the daily procedures and faces at the INS have not changed significantly and it will be many years until the Homeland Security Department is fully integrated within the federal government. For now look for constant changes in the immigration laws and even more than usual confusion and processing delays at the INS (now USCIS) Service Centers and local district offices. Stay abreast of major changes and information to help you navigate these changes on this website and on the INS' website at www.uscis.gov 7th Year H-1B extensions for individuals who have labor certification applications pending for a year or more. In the past H-1B nonimmigrants could only stay for a maximum of 6 years in H status and then they had to leave the US for a year to be able to come back in H-1B status. Now H-1B nonimmigrants can extend their stay past the 6th year limit under certain circumstances. On November 2, 2002, President Bush signed the 21st Century Department of Justice Appropriations Authentication Act, Public Law 102-273, that amended the American Competitiveness in the 21st Century Act (AC 21) to provide for extensions of stay for H-1B nonimmigrants past their sixth year of eligibility on the basis of long pending labor certification applications. Specifically, the new law permits aliens who have labor certification applications caught in lengthy Department of Labor delays to extend H-1B status beyond the 6th year of eligibility as long as 365 days have elapsed since the filing of a labor certification application filed on behalf of or used by the beneficiary or an immigrant visa petition filed on their behalf. H-1B status can be extended in one-year increments even if the beneficiary has since changed status to another category or left the country. If the labor certification application ultimately is denied, H-1B status will end. Immigration Counsel will best help you decide if this new provision applies to you. Child Status Protection Act of 2002: Relief for Children turning 21 Until recently turning 21 under the immigration laws could cause children to lose eligibility for certain immigration benefits and added significant time to already excessively long waiting periods. As of August 6, 2002, under the Child Status Protection Act of 2002 (CSPA) child status may now be preserved under the Immigration and Nationality Act for certain alien children beneficiaries who age-out (turn 21) prior to the approval of specific immigration benefits due to delays in processing. The passage of this law provides important protections to children of foreign nations who are in the process of obtaining their legal permanent residence. Under the old law, a child's eligibility to receive a visa or be part of his or her parent's application was based on the child's age at the time the foreign national relative's petition was approved. Under the CSPA, age-out benefits are extended to applicants under some of the family based categories and for all employment-based derivative beneficiaries. In addition, diversity lottery applicants and children of asylees and refugees may also now maintain immigration benefits past the age of 21. The CSPA created somewhat complicated formulas to determine eligibility under the new law and each situation must be analyzed on a case-by-case basis. Changes of Employer for Long-Pending Adjustment of Status Applicants: The 180-day rule Over the last ten years adjustment of status application backlogs at the four INS (now BCIS) Service Centers have skyrocketed to unheard-of proportions. Adjustment applicants may wait many years before their applications are ultimately approved and employment-based adjustment applicants are now routinely being scheduled for interviews at local district offices around the country. In an effort to relieve the pressure for long-pending adjustment applicants President Clinton signed into law the American Competitiveness in the 21st Century Act ("AC21"), Public Law 106-313 on October 17, 2000. Section 106 of AC21 permits employment-based adjustment of status applicants whose I-485 applications have been pending for 180 or more days to change jobs or employers without invalidating the underlying I-140 petition or labor certification, as long as the new employment is in the same or similar occupational classification as the one for which the original petition was filed. Long-delayed adjustment applicants may no longer be disadvantaged for changing employers or jobs while their 245 applications are pending for years and years as long as they have a current offer of employment in the same or similar occupational classification as listed in their original labor certification application and I-140 petition. The purpose of AC21 was to ameliorate this problem and give relief to adjustment applicants who had become frozen in their employment opportunities. Be careful - any contemplated changes in employment should be thoroughly discussed with Immigration Counsel to make sure you comply with the new law. Work Authorization for Spouses of L and E Visa Holders As of January 16, 2002, spouses of L-1A and L-1B intra-company transferees and E-1 treaty trader and E-2 treaty investor visa holders may work in the United States. Prior to the change in the law, these spouses were forced to remain idle or work without compensation during their time in the US. Now these spouses may apply to the USCIS for employment authorization documents. Employment Abroad Requirement Reduced to 6 months for L-1 Blanket Applicants Prior to January 16, 2002, L-1 intra-company transferees coming to the US on blanket L petitions were required to be employed by the foreign company for at least one year out of the three proceeding years to qualify for admission. The one year period of employment abroad has been reduced to 6 months if the importing employer has filed a blanket petition and meets other requirements for admission under the L category. This law facilitates the transfer of key personnel by international companies and greatly reduces the waiting time for employees to be stationed in the United States. Concurrent filing of I-140 Employment-Based Immigrant Visa Petitions with I-485 Applications for Adjustment of Status is Now a Reality As of July 31, 2002, the USCIS will accept the concurrent filing of an I-140 employment-based immigrant visa application with an I-485 application for adjustment of status application thereby reducing the time an applicant must wait for work authorization and advance parole (permission to travel.) For years, spouses of United States citizens could take advantage of concurrent filing procedures at local offices while employment-based immigrants had to suffer through the additional delays of a two- part processing system for their green cards. Hopefully, this new rule will improve the efficiency of the green card process and in some cases may alleviate the need for nonimmigrant extension petitions. Applicants may take advantage of the I-140 concurrent processing provisions at the time of initial filing of the I-140 or at any time thereafter as long as they include a copy of the I-140 receipt notice with the related I-485 filing. Look for the BCIS to tweak the procedures for I-140/I-485 concurrent filing over the next few years and hopefully make headway into the current backlog of processing at the four regional Service Centers. Premium Processing of Certain Nonimmigrant Petitions In June 2001, the INS rolled out the premium processing program, creating an expedited processing system for certain types of nonimmigrant petitions for an additional fee of $1,000 above and beyond current petition filing fees. Currently, premium processing is in place for I-129 Petitions for Nonimmigrant Workers including H-1B (Specialty Workers), H-2B (Temporary Workers), H-3 (Trainees) O (Aliens of Extraordinary Ability), P (Athletes and Entertainers) and Q-1 (International, Cultural Exchange Visitors), E-1 (Treaty Traders), E-2 (Treaty Investors), L (Intra-company Transferees), R (Religious Workers) and TN (NAFTA) Professionals. For the additional $1,000 per petition, the BCIS guarantees adjudication of eligible petitions including an approval, notice of intent to deny, request for additional evidence, or notice of an investigation for fraud or misrepresentation within 15 calendar days of receipt of the request for premium processing. Premium Processing can be requested at the time of initial filing of an eligible petition type OR a petition can be converted to premium processing while it waits in the regular adjudication line. If the BCIS does not issue a notice or request within 15 calendar days, Immigration will refund the fee automatically and is still required by law to handle the petition expeditiously. Premium Processing is available at the four regional Service Centers as part of special premium processing units with designated phone lines, and email correspondence regarding these cases is permitted and encouraged. Applications filed for derivative family members at the time of premium processing will also be adjudicated within the 15 calendar days and do not require any additional fees beyond the normal filing fees. back to top   ©2007 Barst & Mukamal LLP All Rights Reserved