WASHINGTON—Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano has re-designated Somalia for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and has extended the existing TPS designation for Somalia from Sept. 18, 2012 through March 17, 2014, allowing eligible nationals of Somalia to register or re-register for TPS in accordance with the Federal Register notice.
Somali nationals with TPS who are seeking to re-register for TPS must file their application packages during the 60-day re-registration period that runs from May 1, 2012, through July 2, 2012. Somalis (or persons without nationality who last habitually resided in Somalia) in the United States who do not currently have TPS may apply under the re-designation during the six-month period that runs from May 1, 2012 through Oct. 29, 2012. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) encourages eligible individuals to register as soon as possible.
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Posted on May 2, 2012 | Category: Immigration News
USCIS Reminds the Public to Avoid Scams and Unauthorized Practitioners of Immigration Law
WASHINGTON—On March 30, 2012, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) posted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in the Federal Register outlining its plan to reduce the time U.S. citizens are separated from their immediate relatives (spouses, children, parents) while those family members are in the process of obtaining an immigrant visa to become lawful permanent residents of the United States.
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Posted on May 2, 2012 | Category: Immigration News
Changes at the U.S. Consulate in Saigon
Over the past years, the U.S. Consulate in Saigon has made significant strides to streamline the process of immigrant visa processing. The U.S. Consulate in Saigon is still considered to be a relative young post compare to other countries. The Consulate has only been processing immigrant and nonimmigrant visa about 10 years ago. Prior to this time period, the immigrant visa processing was conducted through the auspices of the U.S. Orderly Departure Program based in Bangkok, Thailand, and the nonimmigrant visa processing was not possible until the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi began the limited processing of student visa in 1996 and the tourist visa sometime in 2000. Now, the U.S. Consulate in Saigon has become a full service post and is the fifth largest post for immigrant visa processing in the world. The changes and the technological progress that the Consulate has made have led the U.S. Consulate in Saigon to be a competitive post for visa progressing as in any other countries.
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Posted on April 15, 2012 | Category: Newsletters
WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced it continues to accept H-1B nonimmigrant petitions that are subject to the fiscal year (FY) 2013 cap. The agency began accepting these petitions on April 2, 2012.
USCIS has received approximately 17,400 H-1B petitions counting toward the 65,000 cap, and approximately 8,200 petitions toward the 20,000 cap exemption for individuals with advanced degrees.
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Posted on April 11, 2012 | Category: Immigration News
Starting Monday, April 9, the information window will be closed permanently. If your request is about your specific case you should use their Immigrant Visa or Nonimmigrant Visa online inquiry form on their website.
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Posted on April 11, 2012 | Category: Immigration News
