According to an e-mail report by attorney Anna Marie Gallagher, the Department of State is currently updating the Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM), with completion of the projected expected in 2006. The Visa Office confirmed the report, and added that while it has finished its contribution to the new Manual, visa law changes so often that the Visa Office is ‘constantly making corresponding changes.’

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The Department of State issued a ruling amending the admissibility rules for aliens that vote unlawfully. Previously, any violation of Federal, State, or local voting laws would result in ineligibility for a visa. According to the amendment, which becomes effective July 21, 2005, voting unlawfully would not result in ineligibility provided each of the following three conditions are met: (1) that each natural or adoptive parent of the alien is or was a citizen, (2) the alien resided in the United States permanently before attaining the age of 16, and (3) that the alien believed at the time that he or she was a citizen.

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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in conjunction with its US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), has re-branded the Employment Eligibility Verification Form (I-9), according to a DHS press release issued last Tuesday. The new form includes no more references to the outdated Immigration and Naturalization Service or the Department of Justice, two government organizations restructured by the Homeland Security Act (Public Law 107-296). No other changes were made to the form, although the DHS reports that it is in the process of modifying the more pertinent areas of the form.

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In a recent press release, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it will no longer accept petitions from employers of H-1B Free Trade nonimmigrants from Chile or Singapore without the additional filing fee required by the H-1B Visa Reform Act of 2004. The new fee took effect Dec. 8, 2004, but USCIS has been receiving petitions without the fee. Effective July 20, 2005, all petitions without the fee would be rejected. The new fee is $750 for employers with fewer than 25 employees and $1500 for larger firms.