US Immigration News

Entry points across the US have begun 'biometric' security checks on business travellers and vacationers entering the country. This new security measure, in which the incoming traveler is photographed and electronically fingerprinted, covers visitors from 27 countries, including the UK, Japan and Germany.

Today has seen details of the Green Card Lottery DV 2006 being announced. The main points to note about the new program are as follows:

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that it had received 40,000 H-1B applications toward the FY2005 cap as of 4 August 2004. Approximately 21,000 applications have been approved and 19,000 are currently being processed. If this trend continues, it is likely that H-1B cap of 65,000 for fiscal year 2005 will be filled near the end of fiscal year 2004 on 1 October. It is unlikely that the US Government will increase this cap especially during the current election season.

US State Department announces a one-year extension for Biometric Passport Issuance by Visa Waiver Program Countries

On Aug. 09, United States President George Bush extended the deadline by one year, to Oct. 26, 2005, by which countries must begin issuing new passports that are biometrically enabled. This extension was necessary to avoid potential disruption of international travel and to provide the international community adequate time to develop viable programs for producing more secure, biometrically enabled passport, the US State Department said in a statement.

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration on Aug. 06 announced a 12-month extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for nationals of Somalia until Sept. 17, 2005. Under this extension, those who have already been granted TPS are eligible to live and work in the United States for an additional year and continue to maintain their status.

In an effort to improve customer support and save millions ofdollars, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)began on Aug. 4 authorizing examiners to issue Employment AuthorizationDocuments (EADs) for periods of more than one year.

EADs areused for a variety of purposes, but one of the major uses is to provideinterim work authorization for people waiting on permanent residencyadjustment of status applications, which can take several years tocomplete. It is not unusual for applicants to have to renew the oneyear document several times.