U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) reminds its customers that authorization for the non-minister special immigrant religious worker program will expire on Oct. 1, 2008.   Individuals applying to serve in the two non-minister categories of the program must either adjust status to permanent residence or apply for, and be admitted with, an immigrant visa before Oct. 1, 2008.

The two expiring categories are special immigrant religious workers in professional or non-professional capacities within a religious vocation or occupation.   The expiration date also applies to the accompanying spouses and children of these workers.  Special immigrant religious workers entering the United States solely to carry on the vocation of a minister of a religious denomination are not impacted by the expiration date.

USCIS continues to receive and process Petitions for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant (Form I-360) for those immigrant religious workers affected by the upcoming expiration date.   USCIS is also, to the extent that it can, expeditiously processing Applications to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status (Form I-485), based on approved Form I-360 petitions for special immigrant religious workers in the expiring categories.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation on April 14, 2008, extending the expiration date; the Senate is currently considering similar legislation.   If congressional action results in the extension of the expiration date, affected special immigrant religious workers with an approved Form I-360 may be eligible to file Form I-485.

Absent a congressional extension of the expiration date, USCIS will, beginning on Oct. 1, 2008, hold in abeyance any pending Form I-360 and Form I-485 affected by the expiration date until further notice.   Also, unless or until Congress extends the expiration date, USCIS will reject Form I-360 petitions and Form I-485 applications filed on or after Oct. 1, 2008 which are based on the expired provisions.

Source: USCIS Update 09/19/08

The Diversity Visa-2010 Lottery online entry begins at Noon EDT on October 2, 2008, and ends at Noon EST on December 1, 2008.  Information and instructions for the DV-2009 lottery will appear here, as soon as available.  Please check this web page at a later time for Diversity Visa information updates. Thank you for your interest in the Diversity Visa Program.

See the list of complete countries that qualify to apply for the diversity visa and instructions, refer to DV-2009 Lottery Instructions.

Diversity Visa Program:

Each year, the Diversity Lottery (DV) Program makes 55,000 immigrant visas available through a lottery to people who come from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. The State Department (DOS) holds the lottery every year, and randomly selects approximately 110,000 applicants from all qualified entries. The DOS selects the approximately 110,000 applications since many will not complete the visa process. However once 55,000 are issued or the fiscal year ends, the DV program is closed. If you receive a visa through the Diversity Visa Lottery Program you will be authorized to live and work permanently in the United States. You will also be allowed to bring your spouse and any unmarried children under the age of 21 to the United States.

You are eligible for the Diversity Visa Program if:

·         You or your spouse must be a native of a country that is eligible to participate in the Diversity Visa Lottery. You may also be eligible to apply if your parent was born in a country that is eligible to participate. (The State Department will publish the names of countries that are eligible to participate before each year's lottery.)

·         You must have a high school diploma or the equivalent, defined in the United States as successful completion of a 12-year course of elementary and secondary education; OR you must have two years of work experience within the last five years in an occupation that requires at least two years of training or experience to perform.

·         Before each year's lottery drawing, the Department of State will publish explicit instructions on how to apply in press releases and the Federal Register. Please follow all directions exactly. Millions of applicants are rejected each year for failure to follow the directions. Instructions are usually posted in August, and the registration period is usually held in October each year.

You may also call the State Department's Visa Lottery Information Center at 1-900-884-8840 for more information.

Source: US Department of State, Diversity Visa.

Compared to September 2008, the visa numbers do not show much progress – and in some cases shows the visa numbers are retrogressing again.  Specifically important to note the following comparison:

Category	September 2008	October 2008
EB2 India	01-Aug-06	01-April-03
EB2 China	01-Aug-06	01-April-04
EB3: Skilled Workers	Unavailable	01-Jan-05 Worldwide, Philippines 01-Oct-01 China (mainland) O1-Jul-01 India 01-Jult-02 Mexico
EB3: Unskilled	Unavailable	01-Jan-03

This bulletin summarizes the availability of immigrant numbers during October 2008. Consular officers are required to report to the Department of State documentarily qualified applicants for numerically limited visas; the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services in the Department of Homeland Security reports applicants for adjustment of status.  Allocations were made, to the extent possible under the numerical limitations, for the demand received by September 9th in the chronological order of the reported priority dates. If the demand could not be satisfied within the statutory or regulatory limits, the category or foreign state in which demand was excessive was deemed oversubscribed.  The cut-off date for an oversubscribed category is the priority date of the first applicant who could not be reached within the numerical limits.  Only applicants who have a priority date earlier than the cut-off date may be allotted a number.  Immediately that it becomes necessary during the monthly allocation process to retrogress a cut-off date, supplemental requests for numbers will be honored only if the priority date falls within the new cut-off date.

Section 201 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) sets an annual minimum family-sponsored preference limit of 226,000.  The worldwide level for annual employment-based preference immigrants is at least 140,000.  Section 202 prescribes that the per-country limit for preference immigrants is set at 7% of the total annual family-sponsored and employment-based preference limits, i.e., 25,620.  The dependent area limit is set at 2%, or 7,320

OCTOBER 2008 VISA BULLETIN:

Employment Based Visa Bulletin

Family Based Visa Bulletin

Source: US Department of State, October 2008 Visa Bulletin.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigrations Services (USCIS) announces publication of a Federal Register Notice that expands the Direct Mail program to include Form N-400, Application for Naturalization.  The notice advises the public to file non-military N-400 applications with the appropriate Lockbox and provides a 30-day transition period whereby the Service Centers will forward any N-400 applications received at their facilities to the appropriate Lockbox.  Applicants should continue to file Military N-400 cases at the Nebraska Service Center (NSC). In addition, in order to assist military spouses, NSC will also accept and process N-400s filed by spouses of active members of the military. 

Beginning on October 14, 2008, applicants must submit Form N-400 and related supplements to one of two new USCIS Lockbox facilities for initial processing, using the following addresses:

If You Reside In: 

Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Territory of Guam, Northern Mariana Islands 

File N-400 with:

USCIS Lockbox Facility, USCIS,
P.O. Box 21251
Phoenix, AZ 85036

Private Courier (non-USPS)
USCIS, Attn: N400
1820 E Skyharbor Circle
S. Floor 1, Phoenix, AZ 85036

If You Reside In: 

Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, DC, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, U.S. Virgin Islands.

File N-400 with:

USCIS Lockbox Facility, USCIS,
P.O. Box 299026
Lewisville, TX 75029.

Private Courier (non-USPS)
USCIS, Attn: N400
2501 S. State Hwy 121, Bldg. 4
Lewisville, TX 75067.

Source: USCIS Frequently Asked Questions (09/15/08)

U.S.Refugee Admissions Program

The U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) is an inter-agency effort involving a number of governmental and non-governmental partners, both overseas and domestically, whose mission is to resettle refugees in the United States.   The U.S. Department of State’s (DOS) Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM) has overall management responsibility for the USRAP and has the lead in proposing admissions numbers and processing priorities.  Within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has responsibility for interviewing refugee applicants and adjudicating applications for refugee status.  Through its cooperative agreements with Overseas Processing Entities (OPE), PRM handles the intake of refugee referrals from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and U.S. embassies, certain non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the prescreening of cases and the out-processing of individuals for travel to the United States. 

Iraqi Refugee Processing

Part of the refugee program’s important humanitarian mission is to offer resettlement opportunities to especially vulnerable Iraqi refugees. Since large-scale Iraqi refugee processing was announced in February 2007, DHS and DOS have worked cooperatively to increase the number of Iraqi refugees admitted as part of the worldwide commitment.   DHS and DOS have been committed to streamlining the process for admitting Iraqi refugees to the U.S. while ensuring the highest level of security.  DHS and DOS share responsibility for initiating security checks for Iraqi refugee applicants.

As a result of this collaboration, the USRAP has surpassed its goal of resettling 12,000 Iraqi refugees during Fiscal Year 2008.  As of today, 12,118 Iraqis have been admitted to the United States as refugees.  This is a very significant increase over the 1,600 Iraqis admitted last year.  In order to meet the goal, DHS deployed over 150 staff in the Middle East; interviewing over 23,000 Iraqi refugee applicants.

Process for Resettlement

In identifying Iraqi cases for referral to the USRAP, UNHCR and DOS have been prioritizing eleven categories of especially vulnerable refugees, including individuals who are affiliated with the U.S. Government and religious minorities, among others. 

Iraqi refugees may gain access to this program through referrals from UNHCR, a U.S. Embassy, or certain NGOs.  Iraqi applicants who worked for the U.S. government, a U.S. contractor, or a U.S.-based media organization or NGO, and their family members, can apply directly without a UNHCR referral in Jordan, Egypt and Iraq.  In addition, Iraqi applicants will be considered for resettlement if an eligible family member applies on their behalf in the United States.  The vast majority of cases processed so far by the USRAP have been referrals from UNHCR. 

USCIS officers are interviewing Iraqi refugee applicants primarily in Jordan, Syria, Egypt, Turkey, and Lebanon.  In addition, DOS and DHS have begun refugee processing in Iraq for certain Iraqis who are associated with the U.S., and their family members.

Determining Eligibility for Refugees

Eligibility for refugee status is decided on a case-by-case basis.   A USCIS officer conducts a personal interview of the applicant designed to elicit information about the applicant's admissibility and claim for refugee status.  During the interview, the officer confirms the basic biographical data of the applicant; verifies that the applicant was properly given access to the USRAP; determines whether the applicant has suffered past persecution or has a well-founded fear of future persecution on the basis of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion in his or her home country; determines whether the applicant is admissible to the United States and whether he or she has been firmly resettled in another country; and assesses the credibility of the applicant. 

Ensuring Security 

We are committed to conducting the most rigorous screening in order to ensure that those being admitted through the refugee program are not seeking to harm the United States.   On May 29, 2007, DHS announced and implemented an Administration-coordinated, enhanced background and security check process for Iraqi refugees applying for resettlement in the United States.  No case is finally approved until results from all security checks have been received and analyzed.  The enhanced security checks do not impede the flow of genuine refugees to the United States, since this process runs concurrently with other out-processing steps.  On average, the total processing time for Iraqi cases is significantly less than for any other refugee group worldwide. 

Procedures for Iraqi Citizens Currently in the U.S.
Iraqis currently in the United States who are not able to return to Iraq because they have been persecuted or fear that they will be persecuted on account of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion may apply for asylum with USCIS.  Information on the process of applying for asylum in the U.S. can be found on our website in the Related Links section of this page.

Procedures for Iraqi Citizens Living Outside of Iraq

Refugees and asylum seekers should seek to comply with all legal requirements of the country in which they are located, including registration with host governments if required.   In addition, all Iraqi asylum seekers located in third countries should register with the nearest UNHCR office. 

UNHCR has the international mandate to provide protection and assistance to refugees and may be able to provide a protection document and possibly other assistance if needed. For a small number of extremely vulnerable individuals, this could include referral to the USRAP or another country's resettlement program.   UNHCR will identify individuals for resettlement referral based on an assessment of their vulnerability at the time of registration.

In Jordan and Egypt, direct access to the USRAP is available to direct-hire employees of the U.S. Mission in Iraq and other Iraqis who worked for the U.S. Government or U.S. Government contractors, or for U.S.-based media organizations or NGOs and their family members.  Any Iraqi who has fled to Jordan or Egypt because of his/her association with the U.S. is encouraged to contact the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to receive guidance.  IOM can be reached in Jordan at AmmanInfoCenter@iom.int and Egypt at CairoInfoCenter@iom.int.  

Procedures for Iraqi Citizens Currently in Iraq

In Iraq, direct access to the USRAP is available to direct-hire employees of the U.S. Mission in Iraq and other Iraqis who worked for the U.S. Government or U.S. Government contractors, or for U.S.-based media organizations or NGOs, and their family members.  Any Iraqi who believes he/she is at risk or has experienced serious harm as a result of association with the U.S. is encouraged to contact the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to receive guidance.  IOM can be reached in Iraq at BaghdadInfoCenter@iom.int.

Please visit the DOS/PRM website: www.state.gov/g/prm/ for additional information.

Special Immigrant Visas for Iraqis

Iraqi nationals who supported the U.S. Armed Forces or Chief of Mission authority as translators or interpreters, or Iraqi nationals who were or are employed by or on behalf of the U.S. Government in Iraq on or after March 20, 2003, for a period of at least one year may be eligible for Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) processing.  The SIV program is separate and distinct from the USRAP.  However, certain Iraqi SIV recipients are eligible for the same resettlement assistance, entitlement programs, and other benefits as refugees admitted under the refugee program.  

Source: Fact Sheet Iraqi Refugee Processing (9/12/2008)