As you may be aware, the U.S. immigration authorities are implementing a new form and process for immigrant visa processing online.

Please take a gander at the screen shots presently pending at the OMB by following the link below:

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/49845403/DS-260-screen-shots

Please feel free to contact our law offices with regard to any assistance with visas, green cards, temporary work permits,naturalization and/or citizenship or issues of U.S. and/or Canadian immigration law.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Launches ‘The Beacon – The Official Blog of USCIS’

WASHINGTON, March 16 – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently unveiled The Beacon – the agency’s official blog and newest tool that provides immigration-related information and fosters an open dialogue with the public.

The Beacon provides an important resource for information about USCIS as well as a forum through which readers can engage USCIS staff and others who are interested in immigration and naturalization issues. Readers are encouraged to submit their comments, ideas, concerns and constructive criticisms to www.uscis.gov/blog.

USCIS will review all comments prior to posting. Detailed guidance is provided on the blog under the comment policy.

The Beacon can be accessed at www.uscis.gov/blog. For general information on USCIS and its programs, visit www.uscis.gov or call the National Customer Service Center at (800) 375-5283.

SOURCE U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE CIS OR IMMIGRATION LAW MATTERS, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CONTACT US AT:

David H. Nachman, Esq.
NACHMAN & ASSOCIATES, P.C.
Immigration and Nationality Attorneys
VISASERVE PLAZA
487 Goffle Road
Ridgewood, New Jersey 07450

Phone (201) 670-0006 (x100)
Facsimile (201) 670-0009

WE ALSO HAVE NEW YORK OFFICES LOCATED AT 7 WEST 36TH STREET, 14TH FLOOR, NEW YORK, N.Y. 10018 (NEAR FIFTH AVENUE).

FOR INFORMATION ABOUT OUR OFFICES IN MONTREAL AND TORONTO, CANADA AND OUTBOUND IMMIGRATION OPTIONS TO CANADA PLEASE E-MAIL US AT INFO@VISASERVE.COM.

YOU CAN ALSO VISIT US ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB AT WWW.VISASERVE.COM.

Almost on a daily basis we get calls from our clients about the process for allocating visas. I always tell a humerous anecdote about my discussions with Mr. Charles Oppenheim at the DOS who is the “knower of all things” about visa allocations.

In connection with the notification that all employment-based visas had been allocated for FY2009, Mr. Oppenheim, Chief, Immigrant Control and Reporting Division Visa Services Office, provided the following background explaining how the Department of State allocates visas through its Immigrant Visa Allocation Management System (IVAMS):

USCIS submits requests for visa authorizations if all required case processing has been completed (e.g., interview [if required], all clearances received, etc.). Therefore, once the authorization has been granted the case would be adjusted immediately, and could be forwarded to the “green card” processing facility. If the case is not within the established cut-off date the request goes into our “pending” demand file, which also contains the demand which has been received from our overseas posts. That demand is then used as the basis for the establishment of future cut-off dates.

When a USCIS authorization is made from the “pending” demand file an e-mail message is sent to a single address which each CIS Office has provided to the Immigrant Control and Reporting Division. The first page(s) of the message provides a summary listing of the A-numbers which have been authorized, and the following pages contain an individual authorization page for each A-number. That listing would be the same type as received if the case had been authorized when the USCIS Officer had originally submitted the request. Such authorizations are assumed to have been processed to conclusion during the month of authorization. If not, USCIS must notify VO that the case was not processed, the case record would then be deleted, and the case would be resubmitted to VO once the reasons for the deletion have been resolved.

If the Officer believes that a case should have been authorized, but has not received such notification, the program which is used to submit requests has a feature for checking on the status of individual A-numbers.

The authorizations from the “pending” demand file are sent to a central address to ensure that they are seen by someone should the officer who originally requested the case not be there (e.g., reassigned, on leave, etc.). If authorization is immediately available at the time of request the response would be send to the requesting officer, not the central address.