Malta to be Designated a Visa Waiver Country

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will designate Malta as a Visa Waiver Program (VWP) country on Dec. 30, 2008*. Maltese nationals will be able to travel visa-free to the United States effective Dec. 30th.
The VWP will enable citizens of Malta to travel to the United States, beginning on Dec. 30, 2009, for 90 [...]

Happy Holidays from CILG

DHS Releases List of 2008 Accomplishments

If DHS was a Wall Street entity, I would be sure to chalk this press release, dated December 18, 2008, on the holiday bonus performance review.
In any case, DHS has released a report listing its 2008 end-of-year accomplishments.  Although not all of the accomplishments are related to immigration, many are.  This is not the most [...]

A New Source for Naturalization Delays

The Washington Post has a nice expose of a new source of delays for the naturalization proceedings for thousands of legal permanent residents.  The Post article quotes the report by the USCIS Ombudsman, dated December 16, 2008, which finds that while USCIS naturalized more than 1,000,000 new citizens in Fiscal Year 2008 and while there [...]

US-VISIT Biometric Requirements to Include Legal Permanent Residents

The Department of Homeland Security has released a final rule, with targeted effective date of January 18, 2009, which would dramatically expand the number of aliens who are subject to the US-VISIT program biometric requirements.
About the US-VISIT Program.  The US-VISIT program was established in 2003 to verify the identities and travel documents of visitors. US-VISIT [...]

Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification Revised

USCIS has announced that is has submitted for publication in the Federal Register an Interim Final Rule which modifies the Employment Eligibility Verification process.
The Interim Final Rule narrows the list of identity documents which are acceptable and specifies that expired documents are not considered acceptable forms of identification.   The changes included in the Interim Final [...]

H-2B Cap Update

USCIS released an update, dated December 15, 2008, of the number of H-2B petitions received and counted towards the H-2B cap for the second half of FY 2009.  As of November 12, 2008, 18,367 petitions have been counted towards the 33,000 cap for the second half of Fiscal Year 2009.

Changes to the H-2A Program

USCIS announced last week changes to the H-2A program which changes would streamline the hiring process for temporary and seasonal agricultural workers.  The final rule is intended to facilitate the H-2A process for employers by removing certain limitations and to encourage lawful employment.
About the H-2A Program
The H-2A visa allows a foreign national entry into the [...]

January 2009 Visa Bulletin – Slow Movement Forward

The January 2009 Visa Bulletin is out.  As expected and unfortunately, the forward movement in the employment-based category is very small.
EB-2 India has moved a month forward from June 2001 to July 2001.  EB-2 China has moved from June 2004 to July 2003.
EB-3 India has moved by only 15 days – from October 1, 2001 [...]

Immigration Benefits via U.S. Military Service

A new Department of Defense pilot program will allow non-U.S. citizens to enlist in the U.S. army and be able to obtain expedited U.S. citizenship.  The program
will temporarily permit enlistment into military service of certain legal aliens (who have lived in the United States for at least two years) and who hold skills that are [...]