USWorkVisa.com News Archive
for January 8th, 2008

The Department of State has published an interim final rule (PDF, HTML version), effective January 1, 2008, that raises from $100 to $131 the fee charged to process an application for a nonimmigrant machine-readable visa (MRV) and Border Crossing Card (BCC). Applicants who paid the prior $100 application fee before January 1 will be processed only if they are scheduled and appear for a visa interview on or before January 31. Applicants who paid the prior $100 application fee and appear for visa interviews after January 31, 2008, must pay the difference ($31) before they will be interviewed. The rule also increases the immigrant visa fee by $20, to $355.

The Department said it is adjusting the fees “as an emergency measure to ensure that sufficient resources are available to meet the costs of processing nonimmigrant and immigrant visas in light of increased security measures put in place since 2004 and fee collection mandates on behalf of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.” The primary reason for increasing the fees, the Department noted, is that in January 2008, the Department “will begin paying fees to the FBI for checking the fingerprints against the FBI’s Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS) and for running visa applicant names through Security Advisory Opinion (SAO) processes.”

The estimated total increase in cost for nonimmigrant visa applicants is $310 million ($31 per applicant, with an estimated 10,000,000 applicants). The estimated total increase in cost for immigrant visa applicants is $14 million ($20 per applicant, with an estimated 700,000 applicants).

The appropriations bill (H.R. 2764) signed into law by President Bush on December 26, 2007, included what some observers are calling meager funding for advances in scientific research rather than the more substantial increases that had been expected. “[W]hat began as a year of soaring rhetoric in support of science seems likely to end with agency officials and research advocates shaking their heads and wondering what went wrong,” said the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Read the rest of this entry »

To be “responsive to the needs and concerns of the border communities and to facilitate the travel of border community residents,” the Department of State has finalized a proposed rule issued in October 2006 providing for a card-format passport as a less expensive and more portable alternative to the passport book.

The final rule (PDF) explains that the passport card does not need to be signed to be valid, whereas the passport book requires a signature to be valid. In addition, it makes clear that those requesting and eligible for a no-fee passport will receive a passport in book form only. Read the rest of this entry »

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) reminded employers that they should have transitioned to using the revised Employment Eligibility Verification Form (I-9) & Instructions. The revised I-9, which includes the revision date (Rev. 06/05/07)N printed on the lower right corner of the form, is now the only version valid for use. Effective December 26, 2007, employers who fail to use the revised form are subject to applicable penalties.

The revised formand accompanying instructions are available for download. The “Handbook for Employers, Instructions for Completing the Form I-9″ is also available (PDF). The reminder can be downloaded in PDF.

The Department of State has issued a final rule (PDF) on documentation of nonimmigrants entering the U.S. Specifically, the Department has begun performing fingerprint and name checks on all visa applicants except those falling within a narrow range of exceptions. Fingerprints are now required of all visa applicants except those under the age of 14 or over the age of 79 and certain diplomats and officials. Beginning on January 1, 2008, the cost of such checks is included in visa fees, including the fees for nonimmigrant visas.