News Bytes

According to the Connecticut chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), the Hartford BICE is revoking bonds of respondents who do not win at their merits hearings. BICE employees in some districts have said this is a pilot program that the DHS hopes to expand nationwide.

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There is still no designated consular district at which Iraqi nationals may apply for nonimmigrant and immigrant visas, according to the State Department’s Visa Office and AILA’s State Department liaison committee. Some Iraqis have begun applying for visas at US consulates in surrounding countries, as Iraqi nationals can apply for visas in any consular district in which they are physically present. The Visa Office also warns that many Iraqi passports have either expired or are no longer considered valid. More information about Iraqi passport issues is available online at:
http://www.cpa-iraq.org/regulations/passport_update10JULY03.html.

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The Congressional Research Service has issued a report to Congress titled "Visa Issuances: Policy, Issues and Legislation," summarizing changes in the Government's visa issuance policy since the Sept 11 terrorist attacks. The report reexamines the legislative path which led to the current division of authority between the new Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State and offers a preview of related issues that are likely to be addressed in the 108th Congress as it oversees the implementation of the new policies which appeared under the Homeland Security Act of 2002. Issues on the horizon include the extent to which the various immigration service agencies will be allowed to share screening and background data, a proposal that would maintain that a foreign national should be immediately removed if the visa that enabled his or her entry has been revoked, and the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between DOS and DHS on how DHS agents will be assigned to consular posts abroad, as necessitated by the Homeland Security Act of 2002.

To view this report in pdf format, click here: http://www.visalaw.com/03aug3/crsreport.pdf

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The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) has issued a "backgrounder" report to address certain "myths... in the immigration debate," including: Immigrants take jobs away from Americans, Most immigrants are a drain on the U.S. economy or treasury, America is being overrun by immigrants, Immigrants aren't really interested in becoming part of American society, and Immigrants contribute little to American society. "[Immigrants] are an integral part of our society, its goals and its values," the report reads, "they set us apart from every nation in this world."

To view this report pdf format, click here: http://www.visalaw.com/03aug3/ailabackgrounder.pdf

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The Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services has approved the I-526 Petition for Alien Entrepreneur for the California Consortium for Agricultural Export's first immigrant investor applicant, according to a recent CCAE news release, online at http://www.ccax.com/approval.php

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The Service Centers' Premium Processing Units have new e-mail addresses that petitioners should use to send their inquiries:
Vermont - vsc-premium.processing@dhs.gov
Texas - tsc-premium.processing@dhs.gov
California - csc-premium.processing@dhs.gov
Nebraska - nsc-premium.processing@dhs.gov

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The American Immigration Law Foundation (AILF) announced this week that the BCIS has begun approving a larger number of asylee adjustment applications than in prior years, in response to the class action lawsuit Ngwanyia v. Ashcroft. After an all-time low of 2,532 asylee adjustments in 1999, the immigration agency adjusted 9,713 asylees in 2002 and has shifted additional resources to asylee adjustment cases for the remainder of this fiscal year. The Ngwanyia Plaintiffs demanded that the BCIS use all 10,000 adjustment slots set aside by the President for FY 2003.

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According to a recent Department of State cable, the DOS's proposal to eliminate the crew list visa and require all crewmen to obtain individual visas is in the final stages of the interagency clearance process. The Department said it will grant a temporary exception to the policy on waiver of personal appearance to accommodate crew list applicants, and encouraged consular posts to facilitate applications from individual seamen, including those who are unable to apply in their countries of residence.

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A Washington state inspector has confirmed reports of a new processing procedure that requires L-1 visa holders to display the tear off portion of the I-797 approval notice at their point of entry.