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.
|