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The Washington Post reports that last week, the State Department announced that 60,000 application slots for employment visa numbers were no longer available because of "the sudden backlog reduction efforts by Citizenship and Immigration Services offices during the past month."  The department called the backlog reduction an "unexpected action" and said employment visa numbers would be available again Oct. 1.  

Tens of thousands of people who work in the United States under employment visas and their families were greatly affected by the change, said Crystal Williams, associate director at the American Immigration Lawyers Association.  "There are people who flew to the United States so they could apply and had their families fly back.  They paid attorney fees," Williams said.  

NOTE: We have been covering this issue extensively at Greg Siskind’s Blog at blogs.ilw.com/gregsiskind. Please review that blog for the latest information.  

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The number of legal immigrants seeking to become U.S. citizens is surging, officials say, prompted by imminent increases in fees to process naturalization applications, citizenship drives across the country and new feelings of insecurity among immigrants.  The New York Times reports that the failure of last week’s immigration bill has prompted many legal immigrants who have put down roots here to seek the security of citizenship, as well as its voting power.  

The numbers of new naturalized citizens have steadily grown, to 702,589 last year from 463,204 in 2003.  A big jump occurred this year, with the number of applications increasing every month, to 115,175 in May compared with 65,782 last December.  

For many legal immigrants, worry about their futures in the United States turned into action after an announcement on Jan. 31 by Citizenship and Immigration Services that it would increase application fees by 69 percent, to $675.  

To become citizens, immigrants have to be legal permanent residents who have lived continuously in the United States for five years.  They cannot have a criminal record and must pass tests to show proficiency in English and a basic knowledge of American history and government.

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