Nonimmigrant visa fees will increase from $100 to $131 effective January 1, 2008 worldwide. 

US State Department Press Release -- Click Here

US Embassy of Mexico Press Release – Click Here

The Toronto Consulate advises that effective January 1, 2008, the application fee for a U.S. nonimmigrant visa will increase from $100 to $131. This increase allows the Department to recover the costs of security and other enhancements to the non-immigrant visa application process. This increase applies both to non-immigrant visas issued on machine-readable foils in passports and to border crossing cards issued to certain applicants in Mexico. Applicants who paid the prior $100  application fee before January 1 will be processed only if they are scheduled and appear for a visa interview before January 31. Applicants who paid the prior $100 application fee and appear for visa interviews after January 31, 2008 must pay the difference -- $31 -- before they will be interviewed.  Source "AILA InfoNet Doc. No. 07121369 (posted Dec. 13, 2007)"

USCIS released a statement advising that old green cards without expiration dates are still valid. 

EB2 Category for India has experienced a 2 year retrogression compared to the December 2007 Visa Bulletin.  January 2008 priority dates become effective on January 1, 2008.  Until then, December 2007 priority dates are still valid.

FAMILY CATEGORIES
Categories	Worldwide	China	India	Mexico	Philippines
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2A	Feb-22-03	Feb-22-03	Feb-22-03	May-01-02	Feb-22-03
2B	Nov-22-98	Nov-22-98	Nov-22-98	Mar-22-92	Jan-15-97
3rd	May-08-00	May-08-00	May-08-00	Jul-08-92	Apr-01-91
4th	Jul-08-97	Nov-01-96	Sept-15-96	Oct-01-94	Feb-01-86

Washington Dulles International Airport became the first port of entry to collect additional fingerprints from international visitors on November 29.  Nine other ports of entry will begin 10-fingerprint collection during the next few months, and the 278 remaining ports will begin this process by the end of 2008.  The next ports scheduled to collect 10 fingerprints from international visitors are: Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport; Boston Logan International Airport; Chicago O'Hare International Airport; San Francisco International Airport; George Bush Houston Intercontinental Airport; Miami International Airport; Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport; Orlando International Airport; and New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.

Full Press Release -- Click Here

AILA has learned that DOS is in the process of publishing in the Federal Register, probably early the week of 12/10/07, an increase of nonimmigrant visa fees to $131 from $100 and an increase of immigrant visa fees by $20. The increase is to take effect on January 1, 2008. There may be some pre-paid visa fees that are grandfathered, but we must await the Federal Register notice for details. Implementation of this rule on such short notice will require AILA members to react quickly. The increase and its suddenness result from the FBI's success in obtaining OMB approval to charge DOS almost $20 per fingerprint for records clearance. Other aspects of the $31 nonimmigrant increase include the costs of systems that have already been in place. Source: "AILA InfoNet Doc. No. 07120730 (posted Dec. 7, 2007)"

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the U.S. Department of State (DOS) remind the traveling public that as of Jan. 31, 2008, all adult travelers will be required to present proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate, and proof of identity, such as a driver’s license, when entering the United States through land and sea ports of entry. DHS will be issuing a notice in the Federal Register formally announcing the change.  Source: DHS Press Release

The Kentucky Consular Center in Williamsburg, Kentucky, has registered and notified the winners of the DV-2008 diversity lottery. Applicants registered for the DV-2008 program were selected at random from over 6.4 million qualified entries received during the 60-day application period that ran from 12:00 AM on October 4, 2006, until midnight, December 3, 2006.

The visas have been apportioned among six geographic regions with a maximum of seven percent available to persons born in any single country. During the visa interview, principal applicants must provide proof of a high school education or its equivalent, or show two years of work experience in an occupation that requires at least two years of training or experience within the past five years. Those selected will need to act on their immigrant visa applications quickly. Applicants should follow the instructions in their notification letter and must fully complete the information requested.

Registrants living legally in the United States who wish to apply for adjustment of their status must contact the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services for information on the requirements and procedures. Once the total *50,000 visa numbers have been used, the program for fiscal year 2008 will end. Selected applicants who do not receive visas by September 30, 2008 will derive no further benefit from their DV-2008 registration. Similarly, spouses and children accompanying or following to join DV-2008 principal applicants are only entitled to derivative diversity visa status until September 30, 2008.

The application period for the DV-2009 lottery ends at 12:00 pm Eastern time on December 2, 2007. Applicants must apply electronically through the form available at dvlottery.state.gov. Results will be announced in the fall of 2008.

Source: Department of State

The following is from an e-mail from USCIS:

"U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are working together to process name checks as quickly as possible without compromising security or public safety. To this end, we have examined the existing name check system and acted to address the problem through two strategies:

• First, USCIS and the FBI conducted a joint risk assessment which resulted in process improvements that permit us to focus on cases of concern.
• Second, USCIS and FBI have allocated additional resources to the process. Over the next year, USCIS is planning to commit a total of $15.5 million to address the backlog of FBI name checks.

Please note, however, USCIS continues to require FBI name checks for the same categories of applications and no case will be approved without a cleared name check. We will continue to work with the FBI to reduce waiting times; but, not at the expense of national security and public safety."

Source:  "AILA InfoNet Doc. No. 07120361 (posted Dec. 3, 2007)"

Secretary Chertoff Advises of Changes in FBI Name Check Clearance Process

Source "AILA InfoNet Doc. No. 07113061 (posted Nov. 30, 2007)"

In a meeting with AILA and other organizations, DHS Secretary Chertoff indicated that USCIS and the FBI are changing parts of the name check process, with the expected result that a large proportion of the backlog should be cleared within six months. The changes are consistent with Secretary Chertoff's risk management approach. The Secretary hopes that, in addition to clearing the backlog, a large percentage of the kinds of applications and situations that have previously been caught in name check delays will, in the future, be cleared quickly. However, he cautions that some checks still will be delayed by investigations, but that that number should represent a small proportion of the numbers previously delayed.

Department of Labor Issuing Audits for PERM

Recently the Department of Labor has started to issue more and more “Audits” for Permanent Employment Sponsored Labor Applications (ETA 9089).  The Audits are usually related to specific job requirements or job duties that are not the typical job requirements and/or job duties for that particular job.  However, more recently the Department of Labor are subjecting all PERM Labor Applications to strict scrutiny especially if the job requirements and/or job duties are not consistent with what is listed for that particular job by the Department of Labor’s Occupational Handbook. 

If you, a friend, or an employee, recently filed a PERM Labor Application and received an “Audit,” you should not attempt to respond to the Department of Labor without obtaining experienced legal advice.  Or if you are getting ready to file a PERM Labor Application, you should be aware of this increasing scrutiny by the Department of Labor and carefully prepare your application. 

Contact an experienced PERM Labor Application Immigration Attorney toll free at 800.993.9097 for a free initial consultation or email us at info@usimmhelp.com or visit us at www.usimmhelp.com.

For a Quick Overview of the PERM Labor Application Process, visit our website.

Effective December 3, 2007, applicants filing Form I-130 are instructed to file with the Chicago Service Center Lockbox.

http://www.uscis.gov/files/pressrelease/I130FilingUpdate113007.pdf