Alan Lee, Attorney at Law - Notes on I-485 Changes, Uses of the I-824, New Warnings on I-129 Approvals, Expiring Labor Certifications, and Reasons for Interviewing Employment Based Cases.

News Update - March 12, 2010

By Alan Lee, Esq.^†^‡

Notes on I-485 Changes, Uses of the I-824, New Warnings on I-129 Approvals, Expiring Labor Certifications, and Reasons for Interviewing Employment Based Cases.

The below are in our opinion some of the more interesting items from our recent office staff meetings:

Form I-485 adjustment of status to permanent residence is changing, and after March 29, 2010, only the new version (12/3/09) can be used. The addresses for many filings have also changed, and after March 29th, applications which are sent to old addresses will be rejected and returned. (More on this in an upcoming article).

Form I-824 is not to be used to verify the status of the green card holder for purposes of dependent follow to join cases unless the green card holder adjusted status in the U.S. If the green card holder entered with an immigrant visa, he/she should interface with the Department of State (DOS). Although DOS indicates that an interface is possible with the consular post if the green card holder received the immigrant visa at the same post where his or her dependent(s) will interview, it should be noted that many consul posts are reluctant to begin the process without official word from either U.S.C.I.S. or the Department of State.

All new I-129 petition approvals have warnings that U.S.C.I.S. may conduct further verifications and possible rescissions, revocations, and even place the beneficiaries in removal proceedings. U.S.C.I.S. is conducting stricter scrutiny of H-1B petitions including promising to perform 25,000 site inspections in fiscal year 2010 (10/1/09-9/30/10).

Where labor certifications expire on Saturday/Sunday/or a legal holiday (I-140 petitions must be filed within 180 days of labor certification approval), petitions will be accepted on the next business day.

The Nebraska Service Center of U.S.C.I.S. says that employment based case interviews at local offices are not done on a random basis, but for entry without inspection, criminal identification hits, and fingerprints rejected twice as unclassifiable. Applications where the marriage was entered into within two years of the application date are also selected, but a request for further evidence will generally be sent on recent marriage cases prior to relocation for interview.

Hopefully these items are helpful to some of our readership.

† The author is a 26+ year practitioner of immigration law based in New York City. He was awarded the Sidney A. Levine prize for best legal writing at the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in 1977 and has written extensively on immigration over the past years for the ethnic newspapers, World Journal, Sing Tao, Pakistan Calling, Muhasha and OCS. He has testified as an expert on immigration in civil court proceedings and was recognized by the Taiwan government in 1985 for his work protecting human rights. His article, "The Bush Temporary Worker Proposal and Comparative Pending Legislation: an Analysis" was Interpreter Releases' cover display article at the American Immigration Lawyers Association annual conference in 2004, and his victory in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in a case of first impression nationwide, Firstland International v. INS, successfully challenged INS' policy of over 40 years of revoking approved immigrant visa petitions under a nebulous standard of proof. Its value as precedent, however, was short-lived as it was specifically targeted by the Administration in the Intelligence Reform Act of 2004.

Copyright © 2003-2012 Alan Lee, Esq.
The information provided here is of a general nature and may not apply to any particular set of facts or circumstances. It should not be construed as legal advice and does not constitute an engagement of the Law Office of Alan Lee or establish an attorney-client relationship.