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Changes of Address Notification to the USCIS.GOV on Form AR-11
The USCIS.GOV has re-activated a provision long on the books requiring
foreign visitors to the United States to inform the USCIS
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 USCIS 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, USCIS 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 USCIS 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
USCIS 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
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 USCIS) 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.
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 USCIS 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 USCIS 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.
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