February 2012 ★ This Month in Immigration News

On January 24, 2012, the Department of State’s Office of Passport Services launched a 90-day pilot program allowing adult U.S. citizens living in the United States and Canada to apply for a passport card online. Those applying online are not required to mail in their current passport book. The wallet-sized U.S. passport card costs $30 for current passport book holders, and is valid for land and sea travel to and from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda. It is not valid for international air travel.

To participate in the program, applicants must currently possess a valid 10-year U.S. passport book with at least 12 months of validity remaining, upload an acceptable digital photograph, and make an online payment in U.S. dollars via Pay.gov. Applications accepted through the program will be subject to the same adjudication standards as in-person or mail-in applications.

The Department of State began producing the passport card in 2008 in response to travel document requirements imposed by the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative. Since then, more than 4.5 million cards have been issued.

See also:

• The notice
• Online passport card application

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently published an Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) decision affirming denial of a proposal for a regional center designation. The AAO found that the applicant’s proposal was a “marketing strategy to attract buyers for vacation suites rather than investors of capital in a new commercial enterprise.”

Specifically, the AAO said that the evidence incontrovertibly established that the applicant proposed that “investors” would purchase a vacation suite as either a “primary residence,” “second home,” or “investment property.” The AAO affirmed the California Service Center director’s determination that such a real estate purchase of a private residence, even if still under construction, “is not an at-risk investment of capital that can be credited with direct or indirect job creation.” The purchase of individual residential suites by alien “investors,” even if concentrated in one resort complex, is also not the type of “pooled investment” concept Congress envisioned for the regional center program, the AAO noted. In summary, the AAO said:

[T]he applicant has proposed an investment plan whereby alien investors would make independent, passive, personal real estate investments that garner them no equity ownership in a new commercial enterprise. Instead of presenting a plan for a pooled equity investment of capital into a new commercial enterprise, the applicant has merely put forth a marketing strategy to attract sufficient buyers to fund later phases of development. This plan does not meet the letter or spirit of [the law and regulations] designed to encourage pooled investments in a new commercial enterprise benefitting a geographic region.

More info at: April 26, 20122 Decision

The Department of State’s Visa Bulletin for February 2012 shows that the China and India cut-off dates continue to move forward, in some cases at a rapid rate.

For February, the China employment-based second preference cut-off date has advanced a year to January 1, 2010. Also for February, the China employment-based third preference cut-off date is December 1, 2004, advancing a month and a half from January’s cut-off date, when it was October 15, 2004. The third preference “Other Workers” category remains unchanged at April 22, 2003.

For February, the India employment-based second preference cut-off date is January 1, 2010, also advancing a year. Also for February, the India employment-based third preference cut-off date is August 15, 2002, advancing a week from January’s cut-off date. The third preference “Other Workers” category for India in February is August 15, 2002, a two-week advance from January. The Visa Office explained in the February bulletin:

China and India: Reports from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) indicate that the rate of new filings for adjustment of status in recent months has been extremely low. This fact has required the continued rapid forward movement of the cut-off date, in an attempt to generate demand and maximize number use under the annual limit.  Once the level of new filings or USCIS processing increases significantly, it will be necessary to slow or stop the movement of the cut-off.  Readers are once again advised that an eventual need to retrogress the cut-off date is also a distinct possibility.

Also, in the January bulletin, the Visa Office noted:

The China and India Employment Second preference cut-off date has been advanced at a rapid rate in recent months. As previously noted, this action was intended to generate significant levels of new filings for adjustment of status at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) offices. USCIS has reported that the rate of new filings is currently far below that which they had anticipated, prompting an even more aggressive movement of the cut-off date for January and possibly beyond. While this action greatly increases the potential for an eventual retrogression of the cut-off at some point during the year, it also provides the best opportunity to utilize all numbers available under the annual limit.

The February 2012 bulletin notes that those categories with a “Current” projection will remain so for the foreseeable future. The Visa Office estimates that other employment-based categories not discussed above could also advance by up to one month per month in the near future, including the Worldwide, Mexico, and Philippines categories, depending on demand.

As of January 1, 2012, the U.S. Consulate General in Chennai, India, is no longer processing immigrant visa petitions. The U.S. embassy in New Delhi and U.S. consulate in Mumbai are now the only acceptance centers in India for immigrant visa applications. Applicants currently in the process of petitioning for an immigrant visa may e-mail ChennaiIVU@state.gov for clarification of their status.

The Department of Justice reached an agreement on January 4, 2012, with the University of California San Diego Medical Center, resolving a complaint filed on December 6, 2011, alleging that the medical center failed to comply with proper employment eligibility verification processes for noncitizens authorized to work in the United States.

Specifically, the Department’s complaint alleged that the medical center subjected newly hired non-U.S. citizens to excessive demands for documents to verify their employment eligibility but did not require the same of U.S. citizens.

Under the terms of the settlement agreement, the medical center agreed to implement new employment eligibility verification policies and procedures that treat all employees equally regardless of citizenship status. In addition, the medical center agreed to pay a civil penalty of $115,000, conduct supplemental training of its human resources personnel on their responsibilities to avoid discrimination in the employment eligibility verification process, and work with the Department to ensure compliance with proper employment eligibility verification processes across all University of California campuses, medical centers, and facilities.

See also, The Department’s announcement.