All posts in Uncategorized

USCIS was kind enough to publish a policy manual online for the first time.  I put a post on the forum about this here.

This is a great step in the right direction when it comes to consistency and clarity in USCIS decision making, but we’ll see how helpful it is when things are left to the discretion and interpretation of adjudicating officers.  I’m cautiously optimistic.

Either way, we have what looks like the makings of a comprehensive manual available online.  I’m anxious to see how they flesh it out.

I’ve opened up the site just in time for the exciting news coming out of Washington about immigration reform.  Let’s hope they get it right instead of a patchwork of minor fixes.

In the meantime, there are some big items that I’ll weigh in on as we go.  The big one is the preadjudicated I-601 waivers that will be accepted starting on March 4, 2013.  That’s tremendous news for all of those spouses of U.S. Citizens who have been gunshy about applying for consular processing.  This should allow for family unity during the trying process of waiting for a waiver to be approved.

In reading the final rule, there are some things you should be aware of though that aren’t exactly publicized:  Namely: NO APPEAL rights.  This puts added pressure to get the application right the first time.  As with many things USCIS, what seems like a simple, routine process, is actually a minefield of issues and problems.

See the announcement yourself here.

USCIS announced the extension of several very important programs.

Most notable are the EB5 Regional Center Pilot Program and the Special Immigrant Religious Worker.  This is great news for numerous projects that were seeking foreign investment capital and for scores of religious workers who were concerned that at the conclusion of their nonimmigrant stay in R status, they would have few to no options about obtaining permanent residence.

Leave it to USCIS to release the notice of extension for million dollar investors (EB5) concurrent with the extension of religious workers at nonprofit religious organizations.  Here is the link to the announcement.  USCIS Program Extension Alert

-pk

Peter here.  Welcome to my site.  I will be expanding this as we go, so bear with me as I load it up with content.  Hope you find what you’re looking for, and if not, please feel free to email me.  I’ll be creating a service page soon where you will have the option of requesting case specific answers via email or live chat.

In the meantime, please check out the REFORM page for my proposed plan to handle illegal immigration.

Here’s to the start of some real change.