Law Offices of Eugene Goldstein & Associates
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HIV Entry Bar Removed from Definition of "Communicable Disease"
November 2, 2009
On Friday, October 30, 2009 President Obama signed off on a regulatory change which eliminates HIV from the definition of "communicable disease of public health significance" and removes HIV from the scope of excludable grounds for arriving aliens.
December 2, 2009
A "Memorandum" to Service Center Directors from Donald Neufeld, Acting Associate Director, Domestic Operations dated November 20, 2009 has changed the O/P policy directive regarding the role of managing agents which was issued several months ago.
The "Memorandum" effectively restores prior Service procedure which permitted managing agents to act, in the actual employer's place, for the limited purpose of filing O and P petitions, provided that the relationship, authority and particulars of the duties and responsibilities are set forth. Memorandum via AILA doc. 09113064.
December 2, 2009
On October 20, 2009 USCIS released a fact sheet on the public charge ground of inadmissibility and deportation. It provides helpful pointers on benefits that are subject to public charge consideration and those that are not. USCIS Fact Sheet via AILA doc. 09102970
H-1B Statutory Cap for Fiscal Year 2012 Reached
December 2, 2011
On November 22, 2011, USCIS received a sufficient number of petitions to reach the statutory cap for Fiscal Year 2012. USCIS will reject cap-subject petitions for new H-1B specialty occupation workers seeking an employment start date in Fiscal Year 2012. USCIS will begin accepting H-1B cap subject petitions on April 1, 2012 for Fiscal Year 2013.
December 31, 2009
On August 12, 2009 the adjudications branch of the Vermont Service Center released a publication entitled "VSC Helpful Filing Tips" that was posted by AILA in November. [] The Filing Tips regard what to file with many USCIS forms including I-130, I-140, I-129, I-539 and I-765. You should annotate your copy of the pages regarding F-1 reinstatement, as well as change to F-1/J-1 to add the SEVIS fee receipt, which appears to have been omitted. The publication is a good overview and can be very useful, especially with unfamiliar types of applications.
December 11, 2009
On December 10, 2009 AILA posted SEVP responses to questions submitted at the 2009 NAFSA Regional Conferences.
The response is seventeen pages long and addresses many ongoing issues - although the non-response at item 12, regarding SEVIS II rollout dates, appears to have been overtaken by the SEVP announcement of December 4, 2009 that SEVIS II is on hold.
New Workplace Audits for Employers
December 2, 2009
USCIS H-1B Compliance Review:
- USCIS H-1B Compliance Review Report Site Visit Worksheet via AILA November 20, 2009 - Official worksheet used by USCIS for H-1B Site Visits
November 2, 2009 
September 1, 2011
January 9, 2012
February 2, 2010
On January 13, 2010 USCIS issued a Memorandum regarding "...Establishing 'Employee-Employer Relationship' in H-1B Petitions." The Memorandum creates new issues regarding corporate employment by redefining the terms "employer" and "employee." This change modifies fifty years of Service precedent and has been strongly questioned as being contrary to law because of failure to follow procedures for making new regulations under the Administrative Procedure Act, among other reasons.
DREAM ACT: Administration Spares Students Subject to Deportation
August 9, 2010
On Monday, August 9, 2010, the New York Times reports on its front page a case-by-case end to deportion of DREAM Act students. The article discusses a leaked draft internal memorandum which addresses alternative policies to comprehensive immigration reform and how the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is sparing those students who came to the United States illegally as a child. For a link to the full article, please click here.
H-1B Cap-Subject Petitions for Fiscal Year 2013 As of June 1, 2012
June 4, 2012
As of June 1, USCIS has received 55,600 cap eligible petiions toward the 65,000 H-1B Regular Cap, and 18,700 cap eligible petitions toward the H-1B Master's Degree Exemption Cap for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 season. For more detailed information, please check the USCIS website at www.uscis.gov.
CBP Announces Proposal to Expand Filing of Joint Customs Declarations
March 30, 2012
On March 24, 2012, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) published a notice of proposed rulemaking proposing to revise its regulations concerning when members of a family residing in one household and traveling together on their return to the United States may make a joint declaration for all members of the family.
CBP is proposing to expand the definition of the term "members of a family residing in one household" to include domestic relationships, which would allow more U.S. returning residents to file a joint customs declaration for articles acquired abroad.
For more detailed information on this proposal, please check the CBP website here.
Our very own Michael J. Goldstein and Eugene Goldstein published an article about the launch of USCIS Transformation in the leading immigration publication "Bender's Immigration Bulletin." In the article, the Goldsteins compare the USCIS Transformation launch with INS's system-wide modernization improvements of the 1980s.
Deferred Action: Childhood Arrivals Process (DREAM ACT LITE)
August 6, 2012
On Friday August 3rd USCIS released a publication "Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival Process." This process is all about the President's administrative substitute for the DREAM ACT. Calling the program a "Childhood Arrivals" process makes it sound quite user friendly and palatable for the opposition. The publication may be found here. There are several interesting developments regarding the genesis of the policy.
Affirmative applications are being administered by the benefits granting agency USCIS- not the enforcement oriented ICE. ICE will only handle cases for those applicants already under removal proceedings. Perhaps, this development results from the very low grant level by ICE under the "Prosecutorial Discretion" program which caused the need for the "Childhood Arrivals Process."
For more information on the Deferred Action: Childhood Arrival Process, please see our August Memorandum here.
USCIS Publishes New Policy Memo for B-2 Status and B-2 Extensions for Cohabitating Partners and Other Nonimmigrant Household Members
September 8, 2011
On August, 17, 2011, USCIS published a Policy Memorandum giving eligibility to cohabitating nonimmigrant partners and other household members of principal nonimmigrants, who otherwise would be ineligible to file for derivative status, to file, extend, or change status to B-2, to allow them to resdie with the principal nonimmigrant visa holder who is in the United States in another status. Click here for the full Memo.
2014 Diversity Visa Lottery (DV-2014): Immigration Lottery
September 19, 2012
The year 2014 Immigration Lottery has been announced for natives of all countries, except certain counties with already heavy immigration. There will be a maximum of 50,000 winners. Entries for the DV-2014 Diversity Visa Lottery must be submitted electronically using the DS-5501. For more information, see here.
Application for Provisional Unlawful Presence Waiver (I-601A) will be effective on March 4, 2013
February 19, 2013
Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano announced on January 2, 2013 the posting of a final rule in the Federal Register that reduces the time U.S. citizens are separated from their immediate relatives (spouse, children and parents), who are in the process of obtaining visas to become lawful permanent residents of the United States under certain circumstances. The final rule establishes a process that allows certain individuals to apply for a provisional unlawful presence waiver before they depart the United States to attend immigrant visa interviews in their countries of origin.
In order to obtain a provisional unlawful presence waiver, the applicant must be an immediate relative of a U.S. citizen, inadmissible only on account of unlawful presence, and demonstrate the denial of the waiver would result in extreme hardship to his or her U.S. citizen spouse or parent. USCIS will publish a new form, Form I-601A, for individuals to use when applying for this waiver. For more information, click here.
H-1B Statutory Cap for Fiscal Year 2014 Reached
April 5, 2013
On April 5, 2013, USCIS announced that it has received a sufficient number of petitions to reach the statutory cap for Fiscal Year 2014. USCIS has also received more than 20,000 H-1B petitions filed on behalf of persons exempt from the cap under the advanced degree exemption. After April 5, USCIS will not accept H-1B petitions subject to the FY 2014 cap or the advanced degree exemption. .
DHS and ICE Exercising Prosecutorial Discretion
August 9, 2010
On August 18, 2011, the Department of Homeland Security unveiled a new interagency policy to focus enforcement resources on the Administration's highest enforcement priorities - public safety. An interagency team has been created to identify low-priority removal cases that should be considered for exercise of discretion. Currently, no guidance has been published. The exercise of prosecutorial discretion will be conducted on a case-by-case basis. More information can be found on Senator Durbin's website.
DOMA Ruled Unconstitutional
June 26, 2013
On June 26, 2013 the Supreme Court of the United States overturned the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). In a 5-4 decision, the Court ruled that Section 3 of the 1996 law is unconstitutional. The decision reads: “DOMA violates basic due process and equal protection principles applicable to the Federal government. Under DOMA, same-sex married couples have their lives burdened, by reason of government decree, in visible and public ways.”
Although this is wonderful and exciting news which has been anxiously anticipated – we must remember that prior to DOMA’s enactment in 1996, USCIS never recognized same-sex marriages for immigration benefits. What this means is that USCIS will need to develop and announce policy (if not regulations) before petitions and applications can be filed.
Recent USCIS policy has been to hold any same-sex marriage petitions, pending instructions from USCIS Headquarters.
If you have questions about DOMA and/or the significance of the Supreme Court’s ruling, it is not too early to contact us.
Implementation of the Supreme Court Ruling on the Defense of Marriage Act - USCIS to Process Same-Sex Spouse Petitions Effective Immediately
July 2, 2013
On July 1, 2013, USCIS published information and FAQs regarding the implementation of the Supreme Court Ruling on the Defense of Marriage Act. For more information, click here.
