Dear Readers:

Greg Siskind is taking a long-deserved vacation and this week and the next I will be joining you as a guest-editor.  This has been a very busy summer in the immigration front.  As the summer progresses, not a week passes without a major change or announcement.  This week we have news about changes in the EAD processing, the implementation of the SEVIS fee rule for students and exchange visitors in the F, J, and M statuses, and the new immigration photo requirements.  We also are publishing an updated version of our ABCs article on S visas.  S visas, also called snitch visas, are a true rarity and we sincerely hope that our readers will not need to utilize them.  They are issued to individuals who seek entry to the US to testify against criminal organizations, terrorist organizations, etc.

A new regulation was published, enabling examiners to issue EADs for periods longer than a year.  This should be a life-saver in many lengthy immigration applications.  Before this regulation, EADs were issued for a maximum period of one year.  As you know, many immigration applications may take several years to complete and therefore applicants had to go through the motions of renewing their EADs every year, until the completion of their applications.  This was not only an inconvenience for the applicants (and a major risk for falling out of status, if the EAD was not issued in a timely manner), but, also a huge administrative burden on the CIS.  Under the new regulation, CIS can issue EADs for longer periods than a year.  This should cut their work significantly and offer convenience to applicants.

Also, the SEVIS fee collection is now a reality.  Department of State issued a cable about the fee collection and clarified who is and who is not subject to the fee.  Initially the fee will be collected by the DHS, but the Department of State is also testing the feasibility of collecting the fee via the Consular posts at two pilot programs in China and India.  It is no surprise that China and India were chosen for the pilot program: those are the two countries with the highest number of student and exchange visitor visa applications.

DOJ and DHS are cracking down on websites “impersonating” official government immigration websites.  These websites try to create the impression that they are official US government websites and attempt to use this impression for financial gain.  Naturally they use lots of red, blue, and white, US flags and real links to official US government websites, but actually are fraudulent operations.  We advise our readers to keep in mind that most official US government sites end with “.gov”.    Websites ending with “.com”, “.us”, “.org”, “.net”, “.cc”, etc. are almost never official US government websites.  So,  please exercise caution and don’t be a victim of these impersonators. 

Additionally, we are printing interesting data on the decreasing number of nonimmigrant visas being issued.  In the last couple of years, the number of visas issued decreased significantly.  The major decrease was in B (business and tourism) visas.  Especially the decrease in tourism visas is bound to have a significant impact on the US economy.

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Finally, as always, we remind readers that we're lawyers who make our living representing immigration clients and employers seeking to comply with immigration laws. We would love to discuss becoming your law firm. Just go to http://www.visalaw.com/intake.html to request an appointment or call us at 800-748-3819 or 901-682-6455.

Regards,

Arda Beskardes