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NEWS  BYTES
Rep. Christopher Cox (R-CA) has introduced a private bill that would grant citizenship to Vijai Rajan, a 24-year-old Indian national whose physical and mental disabilities make her unable to understand the oath of allegiance.  Sen. Dianne Feinstein says she is planning on introducing similar legislation in the Senate.  According to a Feinstein spokesperson, she is also working with Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) on cosponsoring legislation that would help people in similar situations. 
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Last March an INS detainee escaped from a county jail in Louisiana.  After the incident, the INS began withdrawing detainees (about 100 overall).  According the parish officials, the loss is causing a great strain on the budget of the county police force.  The county is paid  a day to house the detainees, totally about .6 million a year.  The detainees normally help provide road cleaning and similar services.  Five facilities in the parish provide facilities in which INS detainees are housed. 
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A Chinese woman’s effort to view the body of her dead husband in the US faces a long battle.  The man, Jiang Dianbiao arrived in Seattle aboard a cargo ship in January.  The incident occurred during a weeklong period in which 63 Chinese men were discovered on four different ships.  The wife and some relatives of the other dead men, are afraid that the Chinese government will dispose of the bodies before contacting their families, leading them to request to see the bodies in the US.  Officials at the US Consulate in Guangzhou, China, have said that because the woman’s husband attempted to enter the US illegally, her visa application faces a strict investigation. 
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About 300 people were present at a rally outside the California State Capitol to urge legislators to ensure that legal immigrants continue to receive food stamps and other state government benefits.  These benefits are set to expire in August.  
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The Department of State has advised the American Immigration Lawyers Association that attorneys may provide the check for the J-1 waiver fee.  Also, recently many notices have included only handwritten notations of case numbers because the Department’s computers have been crashing a lot recently. 
The Department of State also recently had a liaison meeting with the American Immigration Lawyers Association. A few key developments from that meeting are the following:
- two additional data entry clerks have been hired for J waivers. DOS hopes this will help on processing times.
- DOS refused AILA’s request to add a “What’s New” section to its Visa Office web site. AILA complained that it is very difficult to identify important changes quickly without basic guidance from DOS. 
- The DOS’ fee reciprocity schedule is now on the web telling what the difference is in visa fees from consulate to consulate. 
- The advancement of cutoff dates in the Visa Bulletin is likely to remain sluggish for the rest of the year and could actually stop in the summer. Retrogression in certain categories are also a distinct possibility. 
- Visa revalidation applications are now being sent to the State Department’s St. Louis operation. Processing times are down from 10 weeks to six. 
- DOS reported that not all posts are accepting the new Form OF-156Y form and that this is being decided on a post-to-post basis. 
- The DOS confirmed that some consular officers are requiring corporate income tax returns in H-1B cases even when a company’s financial statements are provided. This is even in the case of Fortune 500 companies. Apparently, this is more frequently happening in Russian consulates. AILA complained about this, but DOS stated that this is in a consular officer’s discretion. 
- In following to join cases, when the principal alien adjusts status in the US to a green card, if the principal alien had indicated that he or she had family wishing to follow-to-join, then the INS should send Form I-181 to the consular officer in advance of the interview. The INS can also be requested to cable this information. 
- DOS indicated that they have a goal of answering advisory opinion requests within one month of receipt (excluding waiver opinions). 
- DOS seems to be backtracking on the long-established USIA policy that J-2s are no longer subject to the home residency requirement if the J-1 goes home for two years. They now are claiming this would not satisfy the home residency requirement for the spouse and that the spouse has his or her own home residency requirement. 
- AILA noted that the waiver review officers are sometimes ignoring G-28s and sending paperwork only to the client. 
- DOS reports that the old USIA Waiver Review Board continues to function along the same lines with DOS. Applicants can check on the status of their cases by calling the automated line at 202-663-1600. 
- AILA members are reporting a sudden increase in denials of hardship waiver applications since the move from USIA to State. DOS was not forthcoming in explaining what has changed. 
- AILA asked DOS whether it intended to continue the USIA’s past general practice of approving J-1 hardship cases where denying the waiver would mean sending a US citizen child to Iran, Iraq, or Libya. DOS would not comment specifically except to say “submit it and see”. 
- DOS indicated that it is their policy to place physician interested government agency cases on the fastest track for waiver approvals. 
DOS also provided AILA with a list of US consulates that accept inquiries by e-mail. The e-mail list is as follows: 
Almaty, Kazakhstan -- consalmat@state.gov 
Athens, Greece -- consul@ibm.net 
Bamako, Mali -- cons@us-embassy.malinet.ml 
Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei -- amembbsb@brunet.bn 
Bangkok, Thailand -- bkkcons@access.inet.co.th 
Brasilia, Brazil -- visaq@americanembassy.org.br 
Brussels, Belgium -- jas-cons@usinfo.be 
Budapest, Hungary -- cons.embbudapest@pronet.hu 
Buenos Aires, Argentina -- amconsulbsas@yahoo.com 
Cairo, Egypt -- cacairo@state.gov 
Colombo, Sri Lanka -- consular@eureka.lk 
Copenhagen, Denmark -- nivcpn@state.gov (NIV only) 
Helsinki, Finland -- consular@usembassy.fi 
Hermosillo, Mexico -- amconsul@hmo.megared.net.mx 
Jakarta, Indonesia -- jakconsul@state.gov 
Kathmandu, Nepal -- amemb@cons.col.com.np 
Lisbon, Portugal -- conslisbon@state.gov 
Majuro, Marshall Islands -- usembmaj@ntamar.com 
Milan, Italy -- usvisamilan@state.gov 
Moscow, Russia -- consulmo@moscowpoa.us-state.gov 
Mumbai, India -- mumbainiv@state.gov 
Muscat, Oman -- aemctcns@gto.net.om 
Panama City, Panama -- usemconsulate@cup.net.pa 
Perth, Australia -- usgperth@starwon.com.au 
Quito, Ecuador -- cons@mail.amembquito.org.ec 
St. Petersburg, Russia -- visa_stpete@state.gov 
San Jose, Costa Rica -- hdssjo@usia.gov 
Sydney, Australia -- amvisa@state.gov 
Taipei, Taiwan -- aitvisa@mail.ait.org.tw 
Tel Aviv, Israel -- amctelaviv@state.gov 
Vancouver, Canada -- visasvan@state.gov 
Vilnius, Lithuania -- consec@vilniwpoa.us-state.gov
Inquiries for the Visa Office can be e-mailed to legalnet@state.gov.