Members of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (http://www.aila.org) meet regularly with INS officials to clarify policies and to address concerns of AILA members. The following are important points addressed at several recent meetings:

- The INS is planning on expanding the Regional Service Center direct filing program to include family-based adjustment of status applications. These cases are currently filed at district offices. No specific date has yet been announced for the expansion. AILA members proposed that the Service Centers be given the authority to grant interview waivers in cases which fall within a low fraud profile, including marriage cases. The INS indicated they are considering implementing an interview waiver policy along the same lines as the current policy for employment-based adjustment applications. The decision on a waiver policy is still several months away.

- The Vermont Service Center has temporarily stopped production of green cards based on I-90 applications (that's the form submitted to replace lost or expired green cards). The problem is with the software and the INS is not saying when they expect the problem to be fixed. This is causing a nationwide freeze in issuing these types of green cards.

- AILA pointed out to the INS that the Service Centers have had inconsistent policies in cases where H-1B applications are submitted to the INS without a Labor Condition Application stamped by the US Department of Labor. This is often the case when an extension application must be submitted and the Department of Labor has failed to process the LCA during the statutory one-week limit. The Vermont Service Center normally issues a Request for Evidence and allows the applicant to submit the LCA later. The Texas Service Center, on the other hand, will issue a denial. INS headquarters noted that there is a headquarters guidance to Service Centers on the matter that recognizes the fact that the Department of Labor is unable to meet its processing time requirements. Service Centers have been directed to accept and fee in H-1B extensions filed without an LCA and to further issue a request for evidence requesting the LCA. If the LCA was filed before the I-129 Form was submitted to the INS, then the extension is approvable. If the LCA was filed afterwards, the extension should be denied.

- AILA suggested to the INS that it increase the validity period of Employment Authorization Cards beyond a year in order to reduce the INS workload and make life easier for EAD holders. INS is considering this, but a decision is not expected anytime soon.

- The INS is asking people to ignore the receipt date on I-797 receipts for petitions filed on or immediately before the January 14, 1998 245i filing deadline. The date on the form does not reflect the actual delivery date in the INS computer. The appropriate action is to have the attorney follow standard inquiry procedures in place at each Service Center which address any error in an I-797 approval form.

- Employment Authorization Documents are backlogged as follows at the four service centers:

Vermont Service Center - less than one week Texas Service Center - 7 weeks California Service Center - Asylum related - less than 30 days; others - 75 days Nebraska Service Center - Asylum related - one month; all others - 60 days.

- The four INS Service Centers have been granted overtime authorization and are prioritizing I-129s, I-130s, I-140s, I-765s and I-485s.

- The four INS Service Centers are having ongoing problems with their phone inquiry systems and people are being given incorrect information about their cases (often being told that their case numbers are invalid). Technicians are working on the problem at the Nebraska Service Center first and will get to the others after that.