Immigration News Briefs
Obama delays executive action
Many immigrants were hopeful when, earlier this year, President Obama originally said that he would be announcing executive actions on immigration by the end of the summer. In September, however, with the midterm elections looming, Obama decided to delay executive action until November. The administration is now saying that the President will be making major changes to immigration policy before the end of 2014.
EB2 India retrogression
The Department of State (DOS) released the November Visa Bulletin, with expected but unfortunate news of severe retrogression in the employment-based, second preference (EB2) category for people born in India. Still, there were a few developments that should benefit some foreign nationals applying to become U.S. permanent residents. The level of demand for visa numbers in this EB2 category forced the DOS to retrogress the cutoff date in order to keep the overall EB2 India visa number usage within the fiscal year 2015 annual limits. Unfortunately, the DOS does not expect to be able to move the cutoff date for EB2 India forward before June 2015.
Duplicate biometrics notices confuse applicants
Several months ago, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced having mistakenly scheduled some applicants for more than one biometric appointment (fingerprinting appointment, which is standard in many types of immigration cases). On October 3, 2014, the USCIS issued instructions on the steps individuals should take upon being scheduled for a second appointment.
For people who have received a second appointment notice prior to the original appointment date, the USCIS recommends attending just one appointment, but bringing both ASC notices to that appointment. Alternatively, if the second notice arrives after one has already attended the biometrics appointment, the USCIS directs applicants to call the National Customer Service Center at 1.800.375.5283. The purpose of the call is to confirm that the second notice is a mistake, and that it is not necessary to undergo the biometric process again.
E-Verify service for employees
USCIS Director León Rodríguez announced the launch of myE-Verify—a new website designed for employees. It’s a one-stop shop for employees to create and maintain secure personal accounts and access new features for identity protection. It gives workers a free and secure way to participate in the E-Verify process by accessing features dedicated for employees, including Self Check and the Employee Rights Toolkit. For added security, individuals will have their identities verified through Self Check, in order to create a myE-Verify account. More details appear below.
myE-Verify account: Allows employees and job seekers to set up free and secure personal accounts to manage the use of their information in E-Verify and Self Check through the available myE-Verify features.
Self Lock: Allows individuals to lock their social security numbers to prevent unauthorized or fraudulent use within E-Verify. Users can proactively protect their identities from being used by others to illegally gain employment. Self Lock is available only to myE-Verify account holders.
myResources: A section of the myE-Verify site that contains information in multimedia formats to educate employees about their rights as well as responsibilities of employers in the employment eligibility verification process. For more information on E-Verify, visit www.dhs.gov/E-Verify.
VISA PREFERENCE NUMBERS FOR November 2014
|
FAMILY |
India |
Pakistan/Bangladesh |
|
1st |
08Jun07 |
08Jun07 |
|
2A |
01Mar13 |
01Mar13 |
|
2B |
01Jan08 |
01Jan08 |
|
3rd |
08Dec03 |
08Dec03 |
|
4th |
08Feb02 |
08Feb02 |
|
EMPLOYMENT |
India |
Pakistan/Bangladesh |
|
1st |
Current |
Current |
|
2nd |
15Feb05 |
Current |
|
3rd |
22Nov03 |
01Jun12 |
|
Other |
22Nov03 |
01Jun12 |
|
4th |
Current |
Current |
|
5th |
Current |
Current1B |
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