The Embassy of the United States reports that the U.S. Mission is expanding the Interview Waiver Program (IWP), which allows qualified individuals to apply for additional classes of visas without being interviewed in person by a U.S. consular officer. Currently, under the IWP, Indian visa applicants who are renewing visas that are still valid or have expired within the past 48 months may submit their applications for consideration for streamlined processing, including waiver of personal interview, within the following categories: Business/Tourism (B-1 and/or B-2); Dependent (J-2, H-4, L-2); Transit (C) and/or Crew Member (D) including C1/D; children applying before their 7th birthday traveling on any visa class; and, applicants applying on or after their 80th birthday traveling on any visa class. Under the expanded IWP program, the following applicants may also be considered: children applying before their 14th birthday traveling on any visa class; students returning to attend the same school and same program; temporary workers on H1-B visas; and, temporary workers on individual L-1A or individual L-1B visas.

The renewal application must be within the same classification as the previous visa. Applicants may still need to make an appointment for biometrics and all applicants must submit required frees and the DS-160 application. For more information on how to submit a renewal application, visit http://www.ustraveldocs.com/in/in-niv-visarenew.asp.

http://newdelhi.usembassy.gov/pr111912.html

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The Associated Press reports that the Chicago City Council passed a resolution urging Illinois' General Assembly to enact legislation requiring immigrant drivers to be trained, tested, and insured. The resolution was approved with 28 votes. Alderman Danny Solis backed the resolution saying approximately 250,000 immigrant drivers in Illinois currently can't get a driver's license. In addition, 42 percent of all fatal car accidents in the state last year involved unlicensed drivers. New Mexico is among the states already requiring undocumented immigrants to get a license and, as a result, the state has seen its rate of uninsured motorists fall from 33 percent to 9 percent since the change in 2003.

In Michigan, Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano has joined advocates urging Secretary of State Ruth Johnson to issue driver's licenses and IDs to immigrants who qualify for President Obama's "deferred action" program. Secretary Johnson issued a policy denying licenses and IDs to those immigrants, saying her office was taking direction from the federal government about whether immigrants are legal.

http://www.nwherald.com/2012/11/16/chicago-aldermen-urge-licenses-for-immigrants/a5vjtyw/

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The New York Times reports that Afshin Noroozi, an Olympic table tennis player, was denied a work visa based on "extraordinary ability." While the United States has never won an Olympic medal in table tennis, immigrant talent has long been welcomed. The entire American team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics was born in China, a dominant power in the sport. However, when Afshin Noroozi of Iran sought an "extraordinary ability" work visa based on his table tennis skills, he was denied despite finishing 65th at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The immigration case involving the Iranian table tennis player has raised questions about exactly what status an international athlete must achieve before being granted preferential entry into the United States.

A Federal District Court judge in New York affirmed a decision by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to deny an "extraordinary ability" work visa to Afshin Noorozi, 27, the first table tennis Olympian from Iran. While Noroozi's proficiency was "impressive and commendable," Judge Paul A. Engelmayer of Federal District Court in Manhattan wrote, the immigration service was "well within its discretion to conclude that Noroozi's standing fell short of making him 'one of that small percentage who have risen to the very top of the field of endeavor.' John Assadi, Noroozi's New York-based lawyer who specializes in immigration cases, said he might appeal the decision and that he did not believe that the tense political situation between the United States and Iran influenced the immigration service's opposition to Noroozi's visa. In 2010, Noroozi applied for an "extraordinary ability" visa, and his petition was granted by the immigration service.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/16/sports/olympic-table-tennis-player-afshin-noroozi-falls-short-in-work-visa-case.html

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The Associated Press reports that Spanish-language media company Univision and one of its top advertisers, Proctor and Gamble, are encouraging Hispanics to share their stores about establishing new lives in the United States for an immigrant archive. Univision and its affiliated networks will help collect stores from celebrities and average citizens to be part of the Immigrant Archive Project, an independent effort to collect the stories and show snippets of them on TV. Univision Networks President Cesar Conde said the kickoff was intentionally timed for after Election Day so it wouldn't become a political issue. Thirty-two stories, in English and Spanish, have been collected so far. Hispanics are encouraged to share stories on the GeneracionAmerica.com website.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/nov/15/univision-working-to-create-immigration-archive/

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