USWorkVisa.com News Archive
for October 5th, 2007

In late September, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ E-Verify (formerly Basic Pilot) work authorization verification system added access to photographs. The photo tool will be available when a new employee presents an Employment Authorization Document (EAD) or Permanent Resident Card (green card) to complete the Employment Eligibility Verification Form (I-9). It allows an employer to compare identical photos: the individual’s photograph on the EAD or green card against the image stored in USCIS’s databases. The tool is intended to help an employer determine whether the document presented “reasonably relates to the individual presenting it” and contains a valid photo. Employers currently participating in E-Verify will be trained on the system enhancement through a mandatory refresher tutorial that launched automatically on September 17, 2007. New employers who registered after that date are learning how to use the photo tool through an updated E-Verify manual, tutorial, and memorandum of understanding. Read the rest of this entry »

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has released the 100 questions and answers that comprise the civics component of the new naturalization test. USCIS will administer the new test to citizenship applicants beginning in October 2008. The revised naturalization test emphasizes fundamental concepts of American democracy, basic U.S. history, and the rights and responsibilities of citizenship, and “promote[s] patriotism among prospective citizens,” USCIS said. Read the rest of this entry »

Entries for the DV-2009 diversity visa lottery must be submitted electronically between noon EDT, Wednesday, October 3, 2007, and noon EST, Sunday, December 2, 2007. Applicants must use the electronic entry form at http://www.dvlottery.state.gov 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 Web site delays. There is no fee to enter the DV lottery. Read the rest of this entry »

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has reminded air carriers and the traveling public that the temporary Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) accommodation allowing U.S. citizens to travel by air within the Western Hemisphere using a Department of State (DOS) official proof of passport application receipt has ended as scheduled at midnight on September 30, 2007. U.S. citizens who departed the country under this travel accommodation before October 1 with an official proof of passport application receipt and government-issued identification will be readmitted with these same documents if returning to the U.S. after September 30. Effective October 1, U.S. citizens traveling by air to Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda must present a passport or other WHTI-compliant documentation to enter or depart from the U.S. Read the rest of this entry »

Immigration attorneys have reported that immigration judges, adjudicators, and border agents sometimes google (perform an Internet search) applicants’ names, even printing out items from sites like MySpace, published articles, or letters to the editor and questioning petitioners about them. Some have been detained at the border or denied entry as a result. Read the rest of this entry »