Visa Lawyer Blog

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People applying for tourist visas for the United States in Qatar have greater chance of accessing them than in any other GCC country. Figures released by the US Administration suggest that only 3.2 percent requests for US tourist visas made to the US embassy in Doha were turned down in the FY 2010.

A US government website citing tourist visa (B-Visas) refusal details country-wise said the data were preliminary through September 30, 2010. As for Qatar, the data show this was the lowest percentage of tourist visa refusal in the entire GCC region. The next Gulf state with a lower percentage of rejection was Kuwait (3.6 percent). Bahrain ranked third with a 4.1 percent rejection rate while the percentage for the largest GCC state Saudi Arabia was six.

As for Oman and the UAE, the percentages were higher-8.7 and 9.7, respectively. The GCC states ranked much above their peers in the Arab world like Egypt, Yemen, Sudan and even Iraq. The rate of B-visa rejection in these countries was more than 30 percent.

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Department of State Visa Office provided explanation of its monthly determination of employment preference cut-of dates and data used in determining employment based cut-off dates for December 2010.

Each month, the State Department subdivides the annual preference and foreign state limitations specified by the Immigration and Nationality Act into monthly allotments based on totals of documentarily qualified Immigrant Visa applicants reported at consular posts and Immigration Offices, grouped by foreign state chargeability, preference category, and priority date.

If there are sufficient numbers in a category to satisfy all reported documentarily qualified demand, the category is considered “Current.” For example: If the monthly allocation target is 3,000 and there is only demand for 1,000, the category will be “Current”. Whenever the total of documentarily qualified applicants in a category exceeds the supply of numbers available for the particular month, the category is “oversubscribed” and a visa availability cut-off date is established. The cut-off date is the priority date of the first documentarily qualified applicant who could not be accommodated for a visa number.

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The number of American students studying in Zimbabwe increased by 200 percent in 2009-10 to a total of 27. During the same period, the number of Zimbabwean students enrolled in U.S. institutions of higher education decreased by 8.7 percent from 1,269 to 1,159, most likely due to economic challenges in Zimbabwe making it difficult for families to pay for fees and tuitions. Open Doors 2010, the annual report on international academic mobility published by the Institute of International Education (IIE) with support from the U.S. Department of State, released these statistics on Monday to mark the beginning of International Education Week.

The number of Zimbabwean students in the U.S. peaked in 2002-03 at 2,186. Today, Zimbabwe is among the top 10 sending countries in Africa, ranking seventh after Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Cameroon, South Africa, and Ethiopia. In 2009, the US Embassy in Harare issued 400 new F-1 student visas.

U.S. Embassy Educational Advisor Rebecca Zeigler Mano attributes the decline to the economic crisis and political instability in Zimbabwe, as well as teacher strikes, inconsistent examination results, election related violence and hyperinflation during the 2007-08 academic years. Parents who previously could fund part or all of their children’s US education through Reserve Bank educational forex allowances and local salaries, could no longer do so during those years. Despite the decline last year, the number of Zimbabweans studying in the U.S. remains high in large part due to the U.S. Embassy educational advising services in Harare and in Bulawayo, as well as a big increase over the last 5 years in the number of Zimbabweans receiving scholarships to study in the US.

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OK so we now have another chance at getting this Act passed. DREAM is back on the agenda in the lame duck session. While Comprehensive Immigration Reform remains the long-term goal of the Democratic leadership, their current goal is enacting the DREAM Act before the 111th Congress adjourns for the last time.

The North American Integration and Development Center at UCLA has released a new report highlighting the economic benefits of enacting the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act.

More specifically, the report concludes, “In the No DREAMers Left Behind scenario, 2.1 million undocumented immigrants would become legalized and generate approximately $3.6 trillion” over a 40-year period. Another positive effect of the DREAM Act would be that “[a] higher supply of skilled students would also advance the U.S. global competitive position in science, technology, medicine, education and many other endeavors.”

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Below is a summary of the December 2010 Visa Bulletin with respect to employment-based petitions:

* EB-1 remains current across the board.

* EB-2 Line ( World), Mexico and Philippines remain current, EB-2 China moves forward by one (1) week to June 8, 2006, while EB-2 India remains (again, for a number of consecutive months) unchanged at May 8, 2006.

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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.

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The Bulgarian Foreign Ministry proposes the closing of 7 diplomatic missions abroad, Minister Nikolay Mladenov announced. For the very first time, Mladenov mentioned the names of the countries, in which the Bulgarian embassies will be proposed for closing to the Bulgarian Council of Ministers. They are: Sudan, Angola, Zimbabwe, Cambodia, Thailand, Mexico and Tunisia.

In order for the closing process to go smoothly enough, the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry considers temporarily sending additional diplomats in the neighboring countries of those mentioned. The choice is based on a scrutinizing financial analysis and on the necessity to optimize the system, according to the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry.

“The closings should not be read as a negative evaluation about the mutual relations between Bulgaria and those nations.”, Minister Mladenov affirmed. “Some 15 employees will return”, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Vesela Cherneva, clarified.

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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants to push for a vote during the lame-duck session on a bill that would legalize young, undocumented immigrants if they attend college or serve in the military, according to Democratic sources familiar with a leadership conference call Wednesday.

A vote on the bill, known as the DREAM Act, could come as early as next week, the sources said. Pelosi asked Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) and Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.) to assess the mood of the caucus, according to one source.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) had previously announced that he plans to bring up the DREAM Act during the lame duck session. His spokesman said Wednesday that Reid still hopes to call a vote.

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According to a recent NPR story, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) wastes resources by targeting the wrong people for deportation. The study shows immigration judges are rejecting an increasing number if ICE’s deportation requests.

The study, by a clearinghouse called TRAC, at Syracuse University, says immigration judges turned down one in three of ICE’s deportation requests during a three month period this year.

That’s up from one in four compared to the same period the previous year, according to the study.

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Today is Veterans day, and I wanted to send warm wards of support to our Veterans and the active duty men and women fighting for our country day and night.

As it relates to immigration, On July 3, 2002, President George W. Bush signed an Executive Order allowing certain noncitizens to become Naturalized citizens of the United States if they served an in an active-duty status during the war on terrorism.

Additionally,as a Gulf War veteran, one may be eligible for expedited Naturalization under Immigration and Nationality Act section 329, Naturalization through Active-Duty Service in the Armed Forces during World War I, World War II, Korean Hostilities, Vietnam Hostilities, or in other Periods of Military Hostilities. For example, if one performed active duty military service during the Persian Gulf (August 2, 1990 – April 11, 1991) or on or after September 11, 2001, one may be eligible for expedited Naturalization.

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