IndiaPost.com - February 2008 immigration update

1. Naturalization Processing Times Increase Drastically

Because of a surge in applications over the summer and resulting massive backlogs, partly in anticipation of fee increases, the average processing time for naturalization applications has increased for applications filed after June 1, 2007, from the current average of seven months or less to approximately 18 months, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said.

Family-based adjustment of status applications increased from the current average of six months or less to 12 months. Specifically, USCIS noted that in July and August of 2007, the agency received nearly 2.5 million applications and petitions, which was double the number typically received in a two-month period.

In fiscal year (FY) 2007, USCIS received 1.4 million applications for naturalization, more than the totals from FYs 2006 and 2005 combined. Forty percent of those, or 562,000, were filed in the fourth quarter. Applications for employment- and family-based adjustment of status increased by 76 percent, from 497,000 in FY 2006 to 875,000 in FY 2007.

USCIS said it plans to reduce processing times to six months by the third quarter of fiscal year 2010. USCIS Director Emilio Gonzalez noted that up to several thousand new employees are being hired and trained to deal with the "deluge." This is in addition to about 700 retired federal government employees who are being hired back without having to sacrifice their pensions, under a plan proposed by Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.).

A sign-on letter expressing deep concern about the delays notes, among other things, that "[m]any of the undersigned organizations opposed fee increases of the magnitude that USCIS proposed and warned that if USCIS were to proceed with the fee increases, it must prepare for a surge in applications from immigrants wishing to avoid the fee increases.

In fact, USCIS did move forward with the fee increases, but did not adequately prepare to handle such a surge." The sign-on letter is available at http://www.aila.org/content/default.aspx?docid=24331 .

An announcement about processing times and case status is available on page 5 of USCIS's December 2007 newsletter at

http://www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments/USCIS_Monthly_Dec07.pdf. Related testimony from Mr. Gonzalez on January 17, 2008, before the House of Representatives' immigration subcommittee is available at http://www.uscis.gov/files/testimony/testimony_ETG_17jan08.pdf.

2. H-2B Cap Reached U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it has received a sufficient number of petitions to reach the congressionally mandated H-2B cap for the second half of fiscal year (FY) 2008.

USCIS stated that January 2, 2008, is the "final receipt date" for new H-2B worker petitions requesting employment start dates before October 1, 2008. The final receipt date is defined as the date on which USCIS determines that it has received enough cap-subject petitions to reach the limit of 33,000 H-2B workers for the second half of FY 2008. USCIS said it is rejecting any petitions for new H-2B workers seeking employment start dates before October 1, 2008, that arrive after January 2, 2008.

The agency will apply a computer-generated random selection process to all petitions subject to the cap that were received on January 2, 2008, to select the number of petitions needed to meet the cap. USCIS will reject, and return the fee, for all cap-subject petitions not randomly selected. Petitions for workers who are currently in H-2B status do not count toward the congressionally mandated biannual H-2B cap. USCIS will continue to process petitions filed to extend the stay of a current H-2B worker in the U.S.; change the terms of employment for current H-2B workers and extend their stay; or allow current H-2B workers to change or add employers and extend their stay.

Kathleen Campbell Walker, President of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), said, "This continuing failure to connect the dots between meeting valid labor needs and our immigration laws is inexcusable.

Placing America at a competitive disadvantage is unacceptable. Maxing out on a cap four months before the applicable period even begins shows how little relation there is between immigration policy and the needs of the economy." AILA said that service industries such as hospitality, including restaurants and hotels, landscaping, construction, and seafood processing are among those most damaged by Congress's inaction.

The USCIS announcement is available at http://www.uscis.gov/files/pressrelease/H-2B_3jan08.pdf . AILA's press release is available at http://www.aila.org/content/default.aspx?docid=24215 . 3. India Employment Second Preference Becomes Unavailable Despite two retrogressions of the India employment second preference cut-off date recently, demand for numbers by US Citizenship and Immigration Service offices for adjustment of status cases has remained extremely high in recent months, the Department of State reported in the February 2008 Visa Bulletin.

As a result, the annual limit for the India employment second preference category has been reached, and the category has become "unavailable."

The latest Visa Bulletin is available at http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/bulletin/bulletin_3925.html .

(To be continued)