D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 5 NEWSLETTER The Vermont Service Center is no longer accepting U visa cases The VAWA/U/T Unit at the VSC has notified us that they are not currently processing I- 918 cases as all of their resources are focused on updating the U visa cap numbers. New I-918 cases cannot be filed at this time. Scheduled Expiration of Two Employment Visas Employment Fourth Preference Certain Religious Workers (SR): The non-minister special immigrant program expires on December 11, 2015. No SR visas may be issued overseas, or final action taken on adjustment of status cases, after midnight December 10, 2015. Visas issued prior to this date will only be issued with a validity date of December 10, 2015, and all individuals seeking admission as a non-minister special immigrant must be admitted (repeat, admitted) into the U.S. no later than midnight December 10, 2015. Employment Fifth Preference Categories (I5 and R5): Section 133 of Public Law 114-53 extended this immigrant investor pilot program through December 11, 2015. The I5 and R5 visas may be issued until close of business on December 11, 2015, and may be issued for the full validity period. No I5 or R5 visas may be issued overseas, nor can final action taken on adjustment of status cases, after December 11, 2015. If there is no legislative action extending one or both of these categories, those cut-off dates would immediately become Unavailable effective December 12, 2015. Immigration Court in Boston, MA The backlog of removal proceedings cases might get even longer with the retirement of the Honorable Judge Leonard Shapiro at the end of December. As of December 8, most of the Judges were scheduling cases for the summer of 2017. Only Judge O Malley was scheduling for May and November 2016. Defensive Asylum cases for which expedited processing is requested are being scheduled within 2-4 months.
The deadline for Nepalese to file for Temporary Protected Status is December 21, 2015 All approved EB-5 Regional Centers with a designation letter dated on or before September 30, 2015, must file Form I-924A, Supplement to Form I-924, for fiscal year. USCIS Launches Virtual Assistant - Emma Gives Customers Another Option for Finding Answers 2
The Reason for Immigration Court Delays Nearly everyone agrees that the U.S. immigration system is broken, even as they disagree exactly what parts are broken and how they should be fixed. As children and mothers cross our borders seeking safety, the Obama Administration puts them in detention and presidential candidates compete to propose the biggest fences. The Obama Administration sets records for deportations, and Republicans demand that more immigrants be locked up and removed from the country. The H-1B cap is hit within days of filing, with the government unable to satisfy corporations demands for foreign worker visas. See USCIS Reaches H-1B Visa Cap For Fiscal Year 2016, http:// www.law360.com/articles/640395/uscisreaches-h-1b-vi- sa-cap-for- scal-year-2016. And, according to new House Speaker Paul Ryan, comprehensive immigration reform is off the table, at least until after the 2016 presidential election. All the while, the most broken part of the immigration system goes largely unnoticed and unchecked: immigration courts cannot come close to handling the burdens placed upon them. This is not simply justice delayed leading to justice denied. It is a crisis of conscience, a matter of humanity, and a moment of threatening consequence. More than 430,000 individual immigrants are awaiting hearings in immigration courts around the country. Many immigrants, some seeking asylum, others fighting deportation for minor criminal offenses, will wait an average of 14 months, but many will wait two, three or four years for their cases to be heard. Those Central American women and children who entered the U.S. in the summer of 2014 during the so-called surge and were promised a quick determination of their claims to asylum? Some have had their trials, but many have their initial immigration court dates scheduled for 2019. During fiscal year 2015 (ended September 30), immigration judges cleared more than 198,000 cases, up 12,500 from FY 2014 ( Immigration Courts Increase Case Closings by 7.3%, Law360, October 19, 2015). The rate at which cases piled up was even greater, going from 408,000 to more than 456,000. But over the last 15 years, the number of immigration court judges has declined dramatically, creating a chronic back-log that has resulted in these delays. The human costs of this backlog are serious Updates from our Office Mr. Ali Mernissi has joined Immigration Solutions Ali Mernissi received his LL.M in International Business Law from Boston University and a Certificate in Negotiation and Mediation from Harvard Law School. Ali also earned a Master s degree in European Business Law and a Master in Business Law from the University Paris X Nanterre and a Bachelor s degree in Private law. His immigration practice focus on business related immigration and EB 5 applications. Prior to joining the firm, Ali worked at Allen & Overy. A native of Morocco, Ali speaks English, French, Spanish and Arabic. 3
The human costs of this backlog are serious. Even if those in removal proceedings are given the right to work, they are often separated from their immediate families, who cannot immigrate until the case is decided. The fix is obvious and should be easy. Adequate funding of the immigration courts is desperately and quickly needed. Building fences and increasing our border patrol are complex and expensive. However, our immigration system can immediately start working better by hiring more judges, expanding pilot programs designed to enhance representation, growing the legal orientation program that provides much-needed information to newly-arrived immigrants, and creating an information desk pilot program for non-detained individuals in immigration court. First, the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), an agency within the Department of Justice, needs the resources to hire as many as 250 additional immigration judges. The backlogs will not go away without more judges to hear cases. Second, as EOIR hires more judges, it also should invest in programs that bolster pro bono resources. Augmenting the Justice AmeriCorps program, and promoting pro bono involvement throughout the private bar, will improve the level and quality of legal representation for vulnerable populations (including unaccompanied children), protect children from mistreatment, exploitation and trafficking, and make the entire process more just and efficient. Children who are without an attorney are wholly overwhelmed by a system they cannot understand. They are less likely to appear for their court dates, leading to great costs and inefficiencies in the operation of the court system. And the cost to due process, safety, fairness and respect for the law is incalculable. Funding these efforts will, in the end, save a great deal of money and will honor our system of justice. 4
Green Card Waiting Times Predictions INDIA: EB2: Advanced Degrees; and EB-3 Skilled Worker Category (BA or BS or equivalent work experience) The following charts show projections of Green Card Waiting Times for EB-2 and EB-3 categories for India. The data for actual waiting times was calculated from Visa Bulletin publications available at http://www.travel.state.gov. The horizontal axis is the processing date (Visa Bulletin date) and the vertical axis is the waiting time in months (If the waiting time for a certain date is zero, that means there was no waiting time). CHINA: EB-2: Advanced Degrees; and EB-3 Skilled Worker Category (BA or BS or equivalent work experience) The following charts show projections of Green Card Waiting Times for EB-2 and EB-3 categories for China. The data for actual waiting time was calculated from Visa Bulletin publications available at http://www.travel.state.gov. The horizontal axis is the processing date (Visa Bulletin date) and the vertical axis is the waiting time in months (If the waiting time for a certain date is zero, that means there was no waiting time). For example, the waiting time for China EB-2 on February 2010 was 56 months. So that means that if you had applied for the EB-2 in June 2005 or earlier, your application would have been processed by February 2010. The chart shows two trend lines: linear projection and an exponential projection. The trend lines can be used to estimate the waiting time for recent applicants or for those yet to apply. For example, based on linear trend projection, if you were to apply for EB-2 in December 2015 your application will be processed approximately by September 2021 (a waiting time of approximately 71 months). 5
For more information, or if you believe that you, a friend or colleague may be able to benefit from these recent announcements, please contact: Immigration Solutions at 617-536-0584 or by email at info@immsolutionsllc.com