The Department of State released the August 2008 Visa Bulletin on June 14, 2008 and the notable changes are – Unskilled Workers are all Unavailable and the Priority Dates for EB-2 China and India have moved forward to June 01, 2006. 

Employment Based Visa Bulletin

Family Based Visa Bulletin

WASHINGTON—In an effort to provide better customer service to refugees, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently announced that it would extend the validity of initial work authorization documents for refugees to two years after arrival in the United States.  Previous policy required renewal of the Employment Authorization Document (EAD) after one year.

The new policy will reduce the financial burden on refugees by eliminating the need for many refugees to apply for renewal of work documents before they are able to adjust status to permanent residency.    While there is no fee for the initial application for a refugee EAD, applicants incur a $340 fee for renewals.

USCIS estimated that a refugee would request, at minimum, one EAD renewal prior to adjustment of status if the EAD validity period was not extended to two years. 

By extending the work authorization validity period, USCIS can increase Agency efficiency by reallocating resources from adjudication of refugee EAD renewals to other immigration benefit services.   Finally, the policy change ensures consistency in the validity periods for initial EADs issued to both refugees and asylees (USCIS began issuing two-year initial EADs to asylees in 2006).

For more information on EADs, please contact the USCIS National Customer Service Center at (800) 375-5283.  Source: USCIS Update

WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that the suspension of premium processing service for religious worker (R-1) nonimmigrant visa petitions will continue at least until January 7, 2009.  A previous six-month suspension was announced on January 4, 2008.  Source: USCIS Continues Suspension of Premium Processing Service

WASHINGTON – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced guidelines for a new special immigrant visa for certain Iraqi nationals who worked for, or were contractors of the United States government in Iraq for at least one year after March 20, 2003. 

Section 1244 of the Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 authorizes 5,000 special immigrant visas for Iraqi employees and contractors each year for fiscal years (FY) 2008 through 2012, as well as their spouses and children. There are no filing or biometric fees associated with this petition. 

If the numerical limitation is not reached during a given fiscal year, the unused numbers will roll-over into the 5,000 authorized for the following fiscal year. If the numerical limitation for FY 2012 is not reached, any unused numbers from that year may be used in FY 2013. Numbers will not carry forward into FY 2014. 

This new program is not the same as the Section 1059 special immigrant visa program for Afghan and Iraqi translators. However, eligible translators who file or who have filed under that program before Oct. 1, 2008, and who are unable to adjust status or receive an immigrant visa because we have reached the current year’s cap of 500, will automatically become eligible to receive a visa number under the new Section 1244 program.

Those translators do not need to provide any additional documents or meet any other eligibility requirements under the new program as long as they meet the requirements under the Section 1059 translator program. However, individuals who file under Section 1059 after Sept. 30, 2008 will be subject to an annual cap of 50 for FY 2009.  

A complete description of the new special immigrant visa program to include eligibility and filing requirements is available at the Related LInks in the upper right-hand section of this page.

Form I-360 and instructions are available for download from the USCIS website. All petitions and supporting documents must be filed, by either regular mail or overnight delivery, with the Nebraska Service Center at:

If you have an approved I-360 petition, and have questions regarding your status, please see the Department of State’s Frequently Asked Questions on the Special Immigrant Visa Process or contact the National Visa Center at NVCSIV@state.gov.   All inquiries on refugee resettlement benefits should be made directly with the State Department’s Refugee Processing Center at, SIV@wrapsnet.org.   Frequently asked questions about Resettlement Benefits for Iraqi nationals with U.S. Government affiliations are also available from the Worldwide Refugee Application Processing System (WRAPS) website.  Additional benefits may also be available through The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement website. This additional information is available through the Related Links section of this page.   Source: USCIS Update

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has issued revised instructions for USCIS Form I-131, Application for Travel Document. The instructions include changes effective March 5, 2008 that require applicants for re-entry permits and refugee travel documents to provide biometrics (e.g., fingerprints and photographs) at a USCIS Application Support Center (ASC) for background and security checks and to meet requirements for secure travel and entry documents containing biometric identifiers.  Source: SCIS Biometric Changes for Re-entry Permits and Refugee Travel Documents

WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently launched the online FOIA Request Status Check service providing customers a quick and secure way to check the status of requests they have made under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Source: USCIS Launches Online Service to Check Status of FOIA Requests