News Bytes

Daniel Kowalski, editor of Bender's Immigration Bulletin, has found that the Department of Homeland Security's three immigration bureaus will be undergoing another name change. According to Kowalski, "Dan Kane, press officer with DHS, says all three immigration entities are undergoing a gradual evolution in name change, dropping the "Bureau" and adding "United States" to their respective titles." Thus, the BCIS will become USCIS, BCBP will become USCBP, and BICE will become USICE.

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United States Citizenship and Immigration Services has revised eight immigration forms recently and will require their use beginning October 1. The newly revised forms include the I-102, Application for Replacement / Initial Nonimmigrant Arrival / Departure Record; I-129S, Nonimmigrant Petition Based on Blanket L Petition; I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker; I-526, Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur; I-824, Application for Action on an Approved Application or Petition; I-829, Petition by Entrepreneur to Remove Conditions; N-336, Request for a Hearing on a Decision in Naturalization Proceedings under Section 336 of the Act; and N-470, Application to Preserve Residence for Naturalization Purposes.

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A memo from USCIS Acting Associate Director for Operations William Yates to Regional Directors, Regional Counsels and Service Center Directors has recently been made available that extends the validity of civil surgeon endorsements on Form I-693 for certain adjustment of status applicants. The policy memorandum allows for an extension on the validity period of the civil surgeon endorsement until the adjustment of status application can be adjudicated because some adjustment of status applications are pending for more than the one-year validity period. A similar memo last year authorized the policy through January 1 of this year; the new memorandum is in effect until January 1, 2004.

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USCIS has released three new Employer Information Bulletins recently, and each is available online on the bureau's website:

Temporary Religious Workers (R-1) - http://www.bcis.gov/graphics/services/employerinfo/EIB18.pdf

Aliens with Extraordinary Ability (O-1) and Accompanying/Assisting Aliens (O-2) - http://www.bcis.gov/graphics/services/employerinfo/EIB15.pdf

U.S. Employment of Canadian and Mexican Professionals under NAFTA - http://www.bcis.gov/graphics/services/employerinfo/EIB11.pdf

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The Department of Homeland Security has decided to open the work of Immigration Information Officers and Contact Representatives to competition under the FAIR Act, according to an email USCIS Director Eduardo Aguirre recently sent an email to field officers. The process will begin after the agency makes a formal announcement, but the DHS has scheduled the award date to be June 30, 2004.

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According to a DHS news release circulated last week, USCIS has announced that it has approved 56,986 H-1B petitions during the first three quarters of FY 2003 that will be counted against the annual cap of 195,000 workers. USCIS also approved 84,534 H-1B petitions for persons exempt from the congressionally mandated cap. Petitions pending adjudication total 47,813, and one-third of those would count against the cap if approved. Petitions filed were up three percent over last year, and up 15 percent in the third quarter over the same period in FY 2002.

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Last week the DHS published a final rule in the Federal Register (Vol 68, No. 167) concerning the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection. The rule revises the title and structure of title 19 of the Code of Federal Regulations to reflect changes caused by the creation of the DHS and the governmental reorganization. It also adds a chapter under which USICE may issue regulations. With the rule, the Department of Treasury officially delegates some Customs authority to the Department of Homeland Security. The rule became effective August 28.

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The Department of State published a public notice in the Federal Register (Vol 68, No. 166) providing information on how to apply for the DV 2005 Program. Entries for the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program for 2005 must be submitted electronically during the 60-day registration period between Saturday, November 1, 2003, and Tuesday, December 30, 2003. Natives of countries that have sent a total of more than 50,000 immigrants to the U.S. in the previous five years are not eligible to apply. This year, those countries include Canada, China, Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, South Korea, United Kingdom and Vietnam. For the first time, the Department of State will accept only entry forms submitted electronically and will require a digital photo to be submitted online with the EDV Entry Form.

More details about the Green Card Lottery are available on our website at http://www.visalaw.com/lottery_page.html.