The US Consulate General in Belfast has issued a notice that during the month of September, and until at least the middle of October, the Consulate General in Belfast Consulate General Belfast can only accept visa applications from residents of Northern Ireland. All other residents of the United Kingdom will be required to apply at the US Embassy in London.

For more information, please contact Ortega-Medina & Associates. http://www.Ortega-Medina.com

On 25 August 2008, US Citizenship and Immigrations Services (USCIS) announced that, effective immediately, all petitioners filing a Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence, must file with the California or Vermont Service Center, depending on the state in which they reside. Additionally, beginning 24 September 2008, USCIS will only accept the revised form dated 25 August 2008, and will reject previous versions of the form as well as petitions filed with the incorrect Service Center.

For more information, please contact Ortega-Medina & Associates. http://www.Ortega-Medina.com

On 25 August 2008, US Citizenship and Immigrations Services (USCIS) announced that beginning on 25 September 2008, the Direct Mail Program will include Form I‑800, Petition to Classify Convention Adoptee as an Immediate Relative, and Form I‑800A, Application for Determination of Suitability to Adopt a Child from a Convention Country. At that time, applicants must submit Forms I‑800, I‑800A, and all related supplements and forms to the USCIS Chicago Lockbox for processing. After 27 October 2008, any application that is filed with a service center and not the Chicago Lockbox will be returned.

For more information, please contact Ortega-Medina & Associates. http://www.Ortega-Medina.com

On 18 August 2008, US Citizenship and Immigration Services issued a reminder to use the correct version of the Application for Employment Authorization (Form I-765) dated 05/27/08. Filing of prior editions may result in the rejection of the application.

For more information, please contact Ortega-Medina & Associates. http://www.Ortega-Medina.com

On 15 August 2008, US Citizenship and Immigrations Services (USCIS) announced proposed rule changes to streamline procedures for hiring workers under the H-2B program. These changes are part of a commitment to review and improve temporary worker programs after the failure of comprehensive immigration reform in Congress last August. USCIS will accept comments for 30 days on the proposed rule, which will:

* Reduce from six months to three months the time H-2B workers must wait outside the United States before they are eligible to re-obtain status under the H or L classification;
* Require employer attestations on the scope of the H-2B employment and the use of recruiters to locate H-2B workers;
* Crack down on employers and recruiters who impose fees on prospective H-2B workers in connection with or as a condition of an offer of H-2B employment;
* Require an approved temporary labor certification in connection with all H-2B petitions;
* Preclude, with limited exception, the change of the employment start date after the grant of the temporary labor certification;
* Require employers to notify DHS when H-2B workers fail to show up for work, are terminated, or abscond from the worksite;
* Change the definition of "temporary employment" to provide that a job is of a temporary nature when the worker will end in the near, definable future and to eliminate the requirement that employers show "extraordinary circumstances" to be eligible to hire H-2B workers where a one-time need for the workers is longer than one year but shorter than three years;
* Prohibit the approval of H-2B petitions for nationals of countries that are determined to be consistently refusing or unreasonably delaying repatriation of their nationals; and
* Establish a land-border exit system pilot program, which requires H-2B workers admitted through a port of entry participating in the pilot H-program to also depart through a participating port and to present designated biographic and/or biometric information upon departure.

For more information, please contact Ortega-Medina & Associates. http://www.Ortega-Medina.com

On 13 August 2008, US Citizenship and Immigration Services announced a new genealogy program that will be processed separately than Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for genealogists, historians and others seeking genealogical and historical records and reference services. These genealogical searches generally require no FOIA expertise and, as a result, USCIS will provide more timely responses to requests for records of deceased individuals. Individuals seeking genealogical records may submit a records requests by using the new forms, G-1041 -Genealogy Index Search Request, and G-1041A - Genealogy Records Request. The fees for the searches include:

* Genealogy Index Search - $20
* Copy of a File on Microfilm - $20
* Copy of a Textual File Copy - $35.

For more information, please contact Ortega-Medina & Associates. http://www.Ortega-Medina.com

On 12 August 2008, US Citizenship and Immigrations Services (USCIS) announced that the Zoster Vaccine, one of the new vaccination requirements effective 1 July 2008, is currently unavailable due to shipping delays by the manufacturer. Until further notice the Form I-693, Report of Medical Examination, may be accepted if it is only missing the zoster vaccine. Civil surgeons should note it on the form as "vaccine not available".

For more information, please contact Ortega-Medina & Associates. http://www.ortega-medina.com

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on 11 August 2008 that it anticipates the processing time for naturalization applications to average 10-12 months nationally by the end of September 2008. However, there are a few number of USCIS offices that may still have Fiscal Year 2007 cases pending at the end of Fiscal Year 2008, resulting in a processing time higher than the 12 month average. Processing times by USCIS office are available through the USCIS website.

For more information, please contact Ortega-Medina & Associates. http://www.ortega-medina.com

US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on 8 August 2008 that new US Passport Cards may be used in the Employment Eligibility Verification (Form I-9) process. The passport card fully attests to US Citizenship and identity. For purposes of the I-9, the passport card is considered a "List A" document that may be presented during the employment eligibility verification process to prove both identity and work authorization.

For more information, please contact Ortega-Medina & Associates. http://www.Ortega-Medina.com

An article published by CNN.com on August 6, 2008, discussed a pilot Scheduled Departure, or "self-deportation," program launched by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on August 5, 2008. The program would allow certain eligible people without status in the United States to turn in themselves to ICE, to have 3 months to get their affairs in order, and to then leave the United States without being detained. However, the program has received little response from the 457,000 people eligible - by the afternoon of the first day only one person had taken the offer.

For more information, please contact Ortega-Medina & Associates. http://www.ortega-medina.com

On July 28, 2008, the Washington Post published an article regarding a new Virginia law requiring jail officials to report all foreign-born inmates, regardless of their immigration status, to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Once the local authority has reported the foreign-born inmate to ICE, the local authorities do not participate in the investigation into the inmate's immigration status. ICE is unable to provide the exact number of deportations that these partnership programs lead to; however, ICE states that it would like to remove as many illegal immigrants as possible, but is limited by the $42 million budget for the partnership programs. Some local authorities are reluctant to participate in the program as they see extra work for their officials, but little result. Even in local authorities that are not participating in the new partnership program, officers typically have access to a separate ICE database that does not match fingerprints. These officers can follow up with ICE, which can investigate further.

For more information, please contact Ortega-Medina & Associates. http://www.ortega-medina.com

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on July 30, 2008 that July 29, 2008 is the "final receipt date" for new H-2B worker petitions requesting employment start dates prior to April 1, 2009, as the congressional mandated cap of 33,000 petitions has been reached. Petitions received after July 29 that request a start date before April 1, 2009 will be rejected.

For more information, please contact Ortega-Medina & Associates. http://www.ortega-medina.com

On July 29, 2008, USCIS announced a revised list of vaccines required for applicants seeking to adjust status to become legal permanent residents. The list now includes the following vaccinations, based on guidance from the Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):

- Rotavirus
- Hepatitis
- Meningococcal
- Human papillomavirus
- Zoster

These vaccinations, if deemed age appropriate, will be required for all adjustment of status medical examinations conducted after August 1, 2008.

For more information, please contact Ortega-Medina & Associates. http://www.ortega-medina.com