Department of State (DOS) announced today that the Agreement between the United States of America and the Russian Federation Regarding Cooperation in Adoption of Children will enter into force on Nov. 1, 2012.

Both U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and DOS work to promote a safe, ethical, and transparent adoption process for prospective adoptive parents, birth families, and children involved in intercountry adoptions. This Agreement will enhance the safeguards and protections for all involved in adoptions between the United States and the Russian Federation.

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Posted on October 20, 2012 | Category: Immigration News

It will be a mess.

On September 26, 2012, the 9th Circuit of Court of Appeals in San Francisco, California in an en banc rehearing issued a 6 to 5 decision to reject Matter of Wang. The decision came in a class action lawsuit of De Osorio v. Napolitano. With this ruling, the 9th Circuit now joins the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, Khalid v. Holder, to allow children to retain the parents’ priority date when the parents immigrated to the United States and to petition for them. In effect, the children’s waiting period for an immigrant visa is significant reduced. More circuits court of appeal are expected to follow the 5th and 9th Circuit Courts. The inevitable outcome will be a huge mess on the family preference immigration system.

There are currently 226,000 immigrant visa allotted to the preference category of family immigration. The allotment of the 226,000 immigrant visa is as follow:

Family-Sponsored First (F1): Unmarried Sons and Daughters of Citizens, 23,400 plus any unused numbers from F4

Family-Sponsored Second (F2): Spouses and Children, and Unmarried Sons and Daughters of Permanent Residents, 114,200, plus the number (if any) by which the worldwide family preference level exceeds 226,000, and any unused first preference numbers. F2 is further divided into two subcategories:

F2A (Spouses and Children), 77% of the overall second preference limitation, of which 75% are exempt from the per-country limit;

F2B (Unmarried Sons and Daughters): 23% of the overall second preference limitation.

Family-Sponsored Third (F3): Married Sons and Daughters of Citizens, 23,400, plus any numbers not required by F1 and F2.

Family-Sponsored Fourth (F4): Brothers and Sisters of Adult Citizens, 65,000, plus any numbers not required by F1, F2 and F3.

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Posted on October 15, 2012 | Category: Newsletters

Last few weeks, we saw the Republican and Democratic parties outline their political platforms for the presidential election at the party’s perspective convention. The immigration platforms for both of these parties are vastly different. The Republican’s immigration platform emphasizes the importance of legal immigration, work site enforcement, and outright rejected the notion of amnesty and illegal immigration. The Democratic Party’s immigration platform emphasizes the needs for comprehensive immigration reform and the passage of the DREAM Act for the young men and women who are now eligible for deferred action. While these are only platform, the differences in the stand of immigration clearly show the growing gap of the public perception toward immigration, whether legal or unlawful. Immigration has now and more ever become a polarized political issue that we can expect neither party could be able to compromise to pass any legislation, i.e., the failure to pass the DREAM Act. For the forgoing reason, we do not foresee any future passage of immigration legislation pertaining to the benefit side of the immigration law for a few more years. Rather, we will see more of the changes in the policy of the administration toward the enforcement or adjudication of the immigration law, i.e., deferred action and in-state I-601 waiver processing. As outline below, we want to provide you with all of the updates toward these changes in the policy or court ruling.

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Posted on October 15, 2012 | Category: Newsletters

Posted on October 13, 2012 | Category: Visa Bulletin

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) advises the public that Public Law 112-176, signed by the President on Sept. 28, 2012, extends the following USCIS programs until Sept. 30, 2015:

E-Verify
Immigrant Investor (EB-5) Pilot Program
Special immigrant visa category for non-minister special immigrant religious workers
The date by which J-1 nonimmigrant exchange visitors must obtain that status in order to qualify for the Conrad 30 program.

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Posted on October 13, 2012 | Category: Immigration News