Articles Posted in Nonimmigrant Visas

Birth Tourism is a hot topic right now. How do I know? Reporters keep calling me asking about this topic with great interest.

The latest story was covered by the daily. The Daily is new type of media exclusively created for the ipad and provides cutting edge news with amazing content delivery. You have to try it to appreciate.

The latest story that I was part of is about Mothers coming to America to give birth. Millions of foreign tourists visit the United States every year, and a growing number return home with a brand new U.S. citizen in tow. Every year millions of foreign tourists visit the United States, and a growing number return home, after having given birth to a new baby.

U nonimmigrant derivatives may apply to extend status with the VSC when the status was initially granted for less than the three years required for adjustment of status under INA §245(m).

Although the regulations at 8 CFR §214.14(g)(2) contemplate extensions of U derivative status in cases where the derivative is outside the United States and is unable to enter in a timely manner due to consular processing delays, the regulations are silent about extensions of status for U derivatives in other situations.

USCIS has clarified that extensions of status are also warranted where the derivative’s U nonimmigrant adjudication was delayed, resulting in an initial grant of status for less than three years. Because adjustment of status under INA §245(m) requires that the applicant have U status for at least three years, this resulted in some derivatives being ineligible to adjust. The policy memorandum clarifies that VSC can consider delays other than those related to consular processing as a basis for extending U derivative status.

We all know by now about the Pleasanton university that catered to mostly online students is being called a sham by federal prosecutors who say the university was a front to illegally provide immigration status to foreign nationals.

The complaint, filed by the U.S. District Attorney’s Office, claims Ms. Su the founder, was part of an elaborate scheme to defraud, using false statements and misrepresentations to the Department of Homeland Security.

According to the complaint, Su and Tri-Valley University have made millions of dollars in tuition fees for issuing the visa-related documents, enabling foreign nationals to obtain illegal student immigration status.

When it comes to the Visa Waiver program, clients often ask me, what happens when a Visa Waiver traveler who is in the U.S. visits a third, non-adjacent country, and then seeks to return to the U.S.? Do they receive a new 90-day period upon re-entering the United States? What if they go to Mexico or Canada or another adjacent country?

According to the CBP, An alien admitted into the United States under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) who departs to visit a third country other than contiguous territory or an adjacent island and then returns to the United States to apply for admission as a temporary visitor for business or pleasure under the VWP, would receive a new 90-period of admission if he is found to be admissible.

If the same alien traveled only to foreign contiguous territory or an adjacent island, he would generally be readmitted for the balance of his original period of admission if found to be admissible. An alien is this situation may request to be admitted for a new 90-day period and be admitted for that new period if slbe is found to be admissible.

Beginning January 10, 2011, the U.S. Embassy and Consulates in Mexico will process visas differently. Under the new procedures, most applicants will go to Applicant Service Centers (ASCs) prior to their consular section interview. The ASC staff will collect the applicant’s biometric information that will be reviewed by the consular section prior to the applicant’s interview. ASCs will be located in buildings separate from the U.S. Embassy and Consulates.

The new process will provide several advantages to applicants:
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Total visa application costs will go down. Applicants will no longer pay one fee to obtain information and schedule the appointment, another fee for the visa application, and a third fee for courier service. Instead, they will pay only one application fee that will cover the appointment, application, and courier fees. The current application fee will stay the same: USD140 for a tourist application, USD150 for petition-based cases (including temporary worker visas), and USD390 for treaty-trader and investor visas.

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Many applicants who are renewing their visas will no longer require an interview with a consular officer. These applicants can simply visit the nearest ASC in order to submit application documents and provide fingerprints. See the links below for more information on the Interview Waiver Program.

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Because the collection of biometric information will take place at the ASC, applicants who are required to visit both the ASC and the consular section should spend less time at the consular section than they have had to in the past.

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Applicants at the U.S. Consulates in Ciudad Juarez, Monterrey, and Nuevo Laredo will no longer pay a USD26 surcharge.

What is the new process for applying for a nonimmigrant visa to the United States?

Before applicants can schedule an appointment, they will be required to complete the DS-160 online application and pay the visa application fee (MRV fee). If the applicant chooses to pay the MRV fee at Banamex or Scotiabank, each applicant will print a deposit slip with the correct amount of the MRV fee and the applicant’s receipt number.

The MRV fee can also be paid by credit card through the appointment website or by telephone. The appointment website will be available soon. Whether the applicant schedules an appointment through the web site or through the call center, the DS-160 nonimmigrant visa application form bar code number and the MRV receipt number will be collected prior to the scheduling of the appropriate appointment for the ASC as well as the consular section appointment, if required.

During the scheduling process, applicants will have an opportunity to choose a convenient DHL location to pick up their passports with the approved visa.

How will the new process work?

* Before making an appointment online or contacting the Call Center to make an appointment, applicants will download a deposit slip and pay the visa application fee at any Banamex or Scotiabank location. The fee can also be paid online or by telephone using a credit card.

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Client just called and asked for a change of status from B2 visitor to F1 student. I said, great we can help, but when does your status expire. He said, no worries I am good for 10 years!!! Been here for 4 only.

I said: No you are not, the I-94 (little white card in the passport) is what controls your status, this only good for 6 months max. I heard a loud sound of falling and silence. For those who are in the U.S. temporarily as nonimmigrants, the most important date to track is perhaps the expiration date of their I-94 arrival / departure cards. The I-94 is a small card that is usually stapled into one’s passport. It is obtained in one of two ways. It can be issued by a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer at the port of entry upon arrival in the United States. It can also be issued by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) when one is granted an extension or change of nonimmigrant status from within the United States.

The I-94 card reflects how long one is permitted to stay in the United States, provided s/he complies with the terms of her/his status. Occasionally, the CBP or USCIS will issue an I-94 card with an erroneous date (either issuing an approval for a longer period than is permitted by law or granting an individual less time than appropriate.) In either case, one should immediately obtain competent legal advice on the proper steps to correct the error.

The number of Chinese students studying in the United States surged 30 percent in the 2009-10 academic year, making China, for the first time, the top country of origin for international students, according to “Open Doors,” the Institute of International Education’s annual report.

The report found that a record high of 690,923 international students came to the United States last year — nearly 128,000 of them, or more than 18 percent, from China. Over all, the number of international students at colleges and universities in the United States increased 3 percent for the 2009-10 academic year. India, which in recent years had been in the top spot, increased its numbers only slightly, to 104,897 last academic year.

But not all countries sent more students to the United States last year. The number coming from Japan declined 15 percent, and Mexico, Indonesia and Kenya each sent 7 percent to 9 percent fewer students than in the previous year.

The H-2B non-agricultural temporary worker program allows U.S. employers to bring foreign nationals to the United States to fill temporary non-agricultural jobs. As of 07/16/10, USCIS receipted 30,154 petitions, toward the 47,000 beneficiaries target for the second half of the fiscal year. This count includes 28,539 approved and 1,615 pending petitions.

There is a statutory numerical limit, or “cap,” on the total number aliens who may be issued a visa or otherwise provided H-2B status (including through a change of status) during a fiscal year. Currently, the H-2B cap set by Congress is 66,000 per fiscal year, with 33,000 to be allocated for employment beginning in the 1st half of the fiscal year (October 1 – March 31) and 33,000 to be allocated for employment beginning in the 2nd half of the fiscal year (April 1 – September 30). Any unused numbers from the first half of the fiscal year will be made available for use by employers seeking to hire H-2B workers during the second half of the fiscal year. There is no “carry over” of unused H-2B numbers from one fiscal year to the next.

The H2B visa is available to employers of foreign workers not working in the agricultural field. This visa is only available for work that is temporary in nature. For H2B purposes, that means:

In response to the query for slow down of iCert portal until July 1, 2010, OFLC has informed that they are aware about the same and working on it. Finally the iCert Portal was up and ready to work since July 2, 2010.

We like to take this opportunity to intimate our readers that July 1, 2010 onwards the OES wage survey is using the revised data. Now, one has to mention year 2010 instead of 2009 as the wage source. Your LCA will not be approved if correct source is not mentioned.

As many of our readers know, overstaying a visa can have a serious implications on ones ability to return to the US. The USCIS can record timely departure of a visitor by collecting the I-94 card upon exit.

An I-94 is a form denoting the Arrival-Departure Record of particular foreigners used by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) uses Form I-94 also. Form I-94 must be completed at the time of entry to the United States by foreign citizens that are being admitted into the United States in a non-immigrant visa status.

But what if you did not turn in I-94 when you left the U.S., what should you do? US Customs provided some useful tips: