USA Green Card Immigration Blog

It has been announced by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) that it has determined to certify U visa applications in favor of victims of certain crimes. Previously, only the traditional law enforcement offices were authorized to certify U visas for immigrant victims. Thus this transition can be termed as a major change.

The foreign nationals who are victims of certain crimes are encouraged to volunteer themselves and coordinate with the law enforcement forces through U visa. Individuals who are beneficiaries of the U visa are allowed to stay in the Unites States for up to four years. Further, the visa allows the individual to bring some of their family members into the U.S. and also grants automatic work authorization along with possibilities of obtaining the green card.

The immigrant victim is obliged to file USCIS Form I-918 along with the U visa application. A foreign national is eligible to apply for the U visa only if a law enforcement agency approves that the individual has been a victim of a crime and is cooperative while investigating or prosecuting those suspected of committing the crime. The applicant should be victim of physical or mental abuse in any of the criminal activities, including rape, sexual assault, female genital mutilation, witness tampering, blackmail, kidnapping, murder, slave trade, perjury, and other associated crimes.

Prior to applying for U visas, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Form I-918 Supplement B should be filled by a law enforcement agency with all the documents about the victim. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has authorized the U.S. DOL as one of the law enforcement agencies.

Foreign nationals who have been traded to work illegally in the United States or ill-treated by the employers will be given U visa protection by the DOL. If the employer threatens an employee of the consequences that he/she would face after cooperating with a government investigation, it would be recognized as witness tampering thus qualifying the individual for U visa certification.

The form filing location for naturalization of qualifying family of deceased service members has been centralized by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS.) The applications are now being accepted by the USCIS at the Nebraska Service Center (NSC.)

A foreign citizen is granted the U.S. citizenship by the process of naturalization, if the foreign citizen complies with all the requirements put forth by Congress in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA.) For naturalization, applicants are required to file USCIS Form N-400. Naturalization requires a foreign citizen to be a continuous resident in the United States for a period, to be able to read, write, and speak English, have good moral character, and adhere to the principles of the U.S. constitution.

To process the eligible applications for naturalization for the members of the U.S. armed forces and their families received at NSC, a specialized team has been constituted. Regardless of the geographic location, the spouse, child, or parent of deceased serviceman who was a citizen of the Unites States and was serving actively in the U.S. armed forces at the time of death, may file USCIS Form N-400 for their naturalization at the Nebraska Service Center under section 319(d) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA.)

The service members, their spouses, and children who are requesting for naturalization are required to submit their USCIS Form N-400 applications to the NSC. While rest of the applicants filing Form N-400 should do so at the facility allocated on the basis of their residence.

To make known the change of form filing location, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has revised the instructions for Form N-400. The new filing location has been brought into effect soon after the form instructions were updated. Filing the application for naturalization at the incorrect location may lead to delayed processing of the application. The incorrectly filed applications will then be sent to the NSC by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Immigration Reform Dead in 2010? – The Gaggle Blog – Newsweek.com.

This is an important article/blog post to read by Arian Campo-Flores.

The author claims that with the election of Republican Scott Brown in the Massachusetts special election, the odds of getting immigration reform passed in 2010 have diminished significantly.  President Obama only mentioned the issue once–briefly–during his last State of the Union speech in January 2010–without saying anything more other than we need to continue “fixing our broken immigration system.”  With the American public still more interested what Congress plans to do about jobs and the economy, and with the continuing intransigence of lawmakers in trying to get health reform passed, immigration as a priority for Obama and Congress has fallen way down on the list.  If the economy improves, a more realistic expectation is to possibly see some kind of effort materialize in the 2011 session.

For those who cannot wait until 2011 for immigration reform, you might qualify to participate in the annual US visa lottery.  Requirements are strict and only a lucky few get their visa by this method.  But, you can’t win if you don’t play.  It’s worth checking out here.

The deadline for submission of entries to the 2009 US Visa Lottery was November 30, 2009.  If you did not register in time for 2009, you can now register for the 2010 program!  Read more information and complete the application here:  http://www.usa-green-card.com

President Barrack Obama had initiated an immigration policy to legalize an estimated 12 million of USA’s illegal immigrants earlier this year. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS,) the federal agency that supervises immigration issues and grants visas, is getting ready to deal with the enormous increase in applications once this immigration policy becomes a law.

Even though the official estimate of the number of illegal immigrants who will apply for legal documents is not available, two research groups based in Washington, namely the Pew Hispanic Center and the Center for Immigration Studies, estimate that a minimum of 10.8 million illegal immigrants live in the country.

Alejandro Mayorkas, who took over as the director of USCIS in August this year, says that USCIS is equipped to process only around 6 million USA immigration applications a year. But, once President Obama’s immigration policy is passed, it may have to process that many USA immigration applications in just a few weeks. The processing of applications also involves tedious steps, such as collection of fingerprints and other biometric identity information.

USCIS is gearing up to cope up with the tremendous increase in the visa applications under Obama’s comprehensive immigration reform plan. Several measures are being implemented by the agency director Alejandro Mayorkas to process the applications faster. For instance, the agency is planning to use lockboxes to receive applications instead of local offices.

Allowing illegal immigrants to use a simple mail-in registration to set the legalization process in motion is another step that is to be taken.

The agency is also exploring ways to reduce backlogs and delays to ensure a better performance. Further, Mr. Mayorkas, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, and other officials have also been holding meetings across the United States to garner ideas from the public on how to deal with the situation.

Entries for the DV-2011 DV Lottery must be submitted electronically between October 2, 2009 and November 30, 2009. Applicants may access the electronic DV Entry Form at http://www.usa-green-card.com/GC_FormApplication.asp during the registration period. Paper entries will not be accepted. Applicants are strongly encouraged not to wait until the last week of the registration period to enter. Heavy demand may result in website delays.

The Kentucky Consular Center in Williamsburg, Kentucky has registered and notified the winners of the DV-2010 diversity lottery. The diversity lottery was conducted under the terms of section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act and makes available *50,000 permanent resident visas annually to persons from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. Approximately 102,800 applicants have been registered and notified and may now make an application for an immigrant visa. Since it is likely that some of the first *50,000 persons registered will not pursue their cases to visa issuance, this larger figure should insure that all DV-2010 numbers will be used during fiscal year 2010 (October 1, 2009 until September 30, 2010).

Applicants registered for the DV-2010 program were selected at random from over 13.6 million qualified entries received during the 60 day application period that ran from noon on October 2, 2008, until noon, December 1, 2008. 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 2010 will end. Selected applicants who do not receive visas by September 30, 2010 will derive no further benefit from their DV-2010 registration. Similarly, spouses and children accompanying or following to join DV-2010 principal applicants are only entitled to derivative diversity visa status until September 30, 2010.

Only participants in the DV-2010 program who were selected for further processing have been notified. Those who have not received notification were not selected. They may try for the upcoming DV-2011 lottery if they wish. The dates for the registration period for the DV-2011 lottery program will be widely publicized during August 2009.

* The Nicaraguan and Central American Relief Act (NACARA) passed by Congress in November 1997 stipulated that up to 5,000 of the 55,000 annually-allocated diversity visas be made available for use under the NACARA program. The reduction of the limit of available visas to 50,000 began with DV-2000.

New registrations can be completed online here: http://www.usa-green-card.com/GC_FormApplication.asp

The US Government has announced the official dates for the 2009 Diversity Visa Lottery (Green Card Lottery) program. This year, the lottery is open to submissions from October 2 through November 30. These are the dates during which your registration will be filed with the US Government, but DO NOT WAIT to register! Be sure to submit your electronic DV entry form here: http://www.usa-green-card.com/GC_FormApplication.asp

Be sure to register immediately so that you have sufficient time to send/upload the required photos and to allow our team to review your application. We will contact you if any information is missing or needs to be corrected.

Detailed information about the 2009 US visa lottery is available here: http://www.usa-green-card.com

Good luck!

When is the annual deadline for the Green Card Lottery and why should I consider registering early?

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If you wish to take part in the U.S. immigration lottery program, then the Green Card Lottery application form should be submitted to the appropriate government filing office before the Green Card Lottery deadline. Normally, the window period for submitting these Green Card Lottery application forms is very brief, lasting about two months. The window usually opens in October and the official Green Card Lottery deadline is usually in early December. The U.S. Government can change the exact timing of the lottery at any time. Therefore, it is imperative that you submit your Green Card Lottery application form as early as possible to avoid being caught off guard and out of the program. Green Card Lottery applications submitted after the Green Card Lottery deadline will not be eligible to participate in the current U.S. immigration lottery program.

Another reason to submit your form early is that the number of people who will apply to the annual U.S. Visa Lottery is expected to grow exponentially as the actual deadline draws closer; hence you are encouraged to submit your U.S. immigration lottery application form well before the Green Card Lottery deadline to get a head start on the visa application process. An early registration allows sufficient time to thoroughly review your application information, correct any mistakes, and identify and address any potential issues with your Green Card Lottery application.

If you wish to apply for the Green Card Lottery program through the tested and true help of a professional, you can trust that USA Green Card will offer you the best service. It is suggested that you submit your forms as soon as possible—even today! USA Green Card posts periodic suggested “apply-by” dates to encourage you to submit your application to the Visa Lottery as early as possible. This greatly helps with devoting the proper time and care to the preparation and review of your visa lottery application, thereby increasing the possibility of submitting your form to the US Department of State before the official Green Card Lottery deadline. Early registration also makes your Green Card Lottery application experience hassle-free. Your eligibility is verified, your information is reviewed, and you are notified if any errors are found—with plenty of time to make any corrections. The advantages to applying early are numerous. Definitely consider submitting your visa lottery application today to avoid the many problems that are possible when you apply at the last minute.

America is known to many as the land of great opportunities, and many foreigners are flocking the country to make use of all the opportunities available. America, being a super power, is the hub for many sectors and foreign nationals believe that they can find a better livelihood in the United States of America than in their own country. This belief has resulted in the increase in the number of applications for different U.S. Visa programs. The most common of these U.S. Visa programs include the H-1B Visa program, Waiver Visa program, Green Card Lottery program, Spouse visa program, and more. Obtaining a visa is the only legal way to immigrate into the United States.

Among all the U.S. visa programs available, the most popular and the most beneficial is the Green Card Lottery program. This is technically known as the Diversity Visa program and is held annually by the U.S. Department of State. Every year, 50,000 foreigners from lesser developed nations are selected randomly as the Green Card Lottery winners and are offered a Green Card, also known as the Permanent Resident Card. The main reason for the popularity of the Green Card Lottery program is the fact that the Permanent Resident Card holder will be entitled to all the rights enjoyed by an American citizen, except the right to vote and to apply for federal jobs. Hence, the winner of the Diversity Visa Lottery can bring his family into the U.S. and settle down by making use of all the opportunities available.

The next popular US Visa program is the H-1B Visa program. The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that enables US employers to appoint foreign workers in specialty jobs on a temporary basis. The regulation of the H-1B Visa program is that if the foreign employee is dismissed or wishes to quit, he/she must find another US employer, or apply for a change of status to another non-immigrant status, or must leave the US. Unlike the Permanent Resident Card, an H-1B visa cannot be used to stay in the US indefinitely nor can it be used to find a job other than a specialty job. This makes the Green Card Lottery program more preferable than the H-1B Visa program.

There is another U.S. Visa program that allows foreign nationals from developed countries with high-income economies to enter the US without the need for a visa. This program is called the Waiver Visa program, which was introduced in 1986 with an intention to increase tourism and short-term business visits to the United States of America. However, the foreign nationals eligible for the Waiver Visa program can stay in the United States only for 90 days for business or tourism purposes. Considering these conditions, the Diversity Visa Lottery program seems to be the most beneficial of all programs, because it allows the holder of the Permanent Resident Card to live and work in the U.S. relatively unrestricted.

No matter which visa program you opt for, getting a visa is a complicated process that involves strict rules and regulations. This applies for the Diversity Visa Lottery as well. A single mistake in the application form or missing critical documents will lead to immediate rejection. To avoid rejection, you can seek the services of consultants like USA Green Card who help you in preparing your application form without any mistakes. USA Green Card provides valuable information and suggestions with respect to the Green Card Lottery registration.