MO

[Drello]

Do you have any more info about the Backlog Reduction Plan??? My I-485 is through Asylum and is taking for ever.
By law the INS can only adjust 10.000 asylees a year, do you know if this plan is going to affect us???

[Drello]

Do you have any more info about the Backlog Reduction Plan??? My I-485 is through Asylum and is taking for ever.
By law the INS can only adjust 10.000 asylees a year, do you know if this plan is going to affect us???

[Mo]

Drello

Dozens of stories through Immigration sites indicate this month will be a month USCIS will come forward about their Backlog Redution Plan. They will have to explain many things interms of their commitment of improving the AOS service.

It's foolish to think whatever they mention will take effect immediately, the magnitude of having things into effect will probably take many months.

I heard many good news about things improving in the USCIS, it was a tough period for them for the past 3-4 years - just like it was for this nation (US). Everyone was personally effected by the events of 911, especially the immigration.

I will post any updates on this issue if I find them.

Good Luck

[Mo]

Here is something that most immigrants are dreaming about... I hope it becomes TRUE for them.

Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill Introduced in House and Senate

Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Representatives Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Luis Gutierrez
(D-IL) and others on May 4 introduced a comprehensive immigration reform bill, the Safe,
Orderly Legal Visas and Enforcement (SOLVE) Act of 2004. The SOLVE Act (S. 2381/H.R.
4262), which AILA strongly supports, includes the measures necessary for reform: earned
adjustment for eligible people already living and working in the U.S; family reunification through backlog reduction; and a new temporary worker program.

Earned Adjustment: The bill includes an earned adjustment for immigrants who have been in the
U.S. for five or more years on the date of enactment and can demonstrate 24 months in the
aggregate of employment (including self-employment) in the U.S. and payment of taxes. The principal applicant's spouse and unmarried children under 21 also would be eligible. Applicants would undergo criminal background checks and a medical examination, register with the Selective Services, and demonstrate an understanding of English and civics or be pursuing a course of study to achieve such understanding. Applicants would be able to travel and work with authorization while their application is pending. The bill also provides for administrative and judicial review for application denials. Applicants residing in the U.S. less than five years, but who are physically present on the date of the bill's introduction, also would be eligible, after a background check, for transitional status of three years, during which they would be able to work with authorization and travel abroad. After 24 months of work in the aggregate, they would be eligible to adjust their status.

Family Backlog Reductions: The bill deals with the need to reduce the backlog in family-based
immigration by, among other provisions: exempting immediate relatives from counting towards
the 480,000 ceiling on family-based immigrant visas and including immediate relatives of
permanent residents; allocating a visa outside of the per-country caps to immigrants waiting more 3 than five years; recapturing unused family-based visas in any given year and applying those visas
to future years without per-country limitations; reducing the income test for the affidavit of
support from 125% to 100% of the poverty level; and repealing the bars to re-entry.

New "Break-the-Mold" Worker Programs: The bill focuses on future immigration by reforming
the current H-2B program and creating a new H-1D program. Both programs target workers with
low- and semi-skilled positions. 250,000 visas would be available for H-1D workers for a twoyear
program that is renewable for two additional terms (6 years total). 100,000 visas would be
available for H-2B workers for a nine-month program renewable for up to 40 months. These
programs would not sunset. Immediate family members would be able to accompany the H-2B
and H-1D workers, but would be eligible to work only if they themselves qualify for an H-2B or
H-1D or other work visa. In addition, these workers would be able to move to another H-2B or
H-1D job after three months. These programs would also include a path to permanent residency
so that an employer could immediately petition for a worker upon initial employment or a worker
could self-petition after two years of work.

[Drello]

Thank you very much for your replies. I Appreciated.

[Mo]

Update :

Homeland Security clears up books, but hiring still frozen

By David McGlinchey - dmcglinchey@govexec.com

The Homeland Security Department has successfully reconciled the budget issues that prompted a hiring freeze earlier this year, but agency officials will not resume recruitment because they already have reached their fiscal 2004 personnel goals, a DHS spokesman said Friday.

In March, DHS officials put a hold on hiring agents at the bureaus of Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Citizenship and Immigration Services. At the time, the agency said an accounting review showed ICE and CPB might be on track to exceed their budgets by more than $1 billion, and the hiring freeze was intended to prevent a larger financial problem.


Agency auditors have determined the projected deficit was a result of officials reconciling various accounting systems, according to DHS spokesman Dennis Murphy.


"We sorted out all the differences in budgeting between the agencies. Our budgets are tight, but we're not going to run any huge deficits," Murphy said. "We know where the issues were, we've moved money to the right places."


While Murphy disputed the term "hiring freeze" -- he described it as a slowdown -- he said DHS would not restart its recruiting campaign this year. Many people who had applied to work at ICE, CPB or CIS and believed they were on track to be hired have been kept in limbo by the personnel move. Some potential employees complained that they were being kept in the dark by federal personnel officials.


According to Murphy, recruitment is no longer necessary because so many current DHS employees have stayed longer than expected. DHS had assumed "attrition rates that were equal to the historic attrition rates," Murphy said. "It's an important mission and people were staying longer to carry that out. We've had to slow down and put the brakes on the massive recruiting."


When the budget confusion was first revealed earlier this year, Democrats said the issue was compromising domestic security.


"All these entities perform front-line missions critical to securing our nation," said Rep. Jim Turner, D-Texas, ranking member on the Select Committee on Homeland Security, in a letter to DHS Secretary Tom Ridge. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., sharply criticized Friday's revelation.


"I don't know whether we should be more concerned that they can't balance their checkbooks, or that they're not adding any more border guards this year. Either way, there seems to be a certain level of confusion over there at DHS," Maloney said.


According to Murphy, the agencies in question are fully staffed. The bottom line for applicants at the affected agencies is that new hires will not be brought in until next year.


"We're not seeking to bring hundreds of people on board because we have reached our goals for the year," he said.