U.S Consulate Hyderabad is discontinuing the advance submission of documents for all BEP cases and regular petition based (H &L) cases with effect from August 6. The last interview date for advance submission will be this Friday, August 3. Anyone with appointments from August 6 onwards is required to carry their documents directly to the consulate on the day of their interview.

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GRE test fees revised to US$ "175" w.e.f 1st July, 2012

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By Alejandro Mayorkas, Director, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on 3rd of Jul, 2012

Every day, USCIS receives thousands of paper applications for immigration benefits - more than 6 million each year. For generations, we have received, reviewed, shipped, and stored paper applications and files throughout our agency. This paper-based process consumes a great deal of resources and employee time.

USCIS, the world's largest immigration benefits agency, reached a significant milestone on May 22, 2012 with the launch of our new electronic immigration system, USCIS ELIS. USCIS ELIS allows applicants and their attorneys and accredited representatives to create an online account and submit and track their immigration benefit requests 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Currently, individuals applying to change or extend their nonimmigrant status, Form I-539, can use the system. We will roll out additional form types and functions over time until all USCIS applications and petitions can be processed through the system. USCIS ELIS also has enhanced tools to combat fraud and safeguard national security.

Not long ago, we received our 1,000th electronically-filed application through USCIS ELIS. We have also seen a commensurate drop in the number of paper Form I-539 applications submitted since the system's launch. USCIS ELIS has already delivered for our early users the timeliness, convenience, and added security of a more modern immigration system.

While its use is not mandatory, I encourage all individuals who are eligible to file Form I-539 to use USCIS ELIS. We continue to build this system for our customers, our dedicated workforce, and our federal partners. Your feedback is important as we prepare future releases of USCIS ELIS to meet your needs today and into the future. Please visit the USCIS ELIS Web page to learn more about USCIS ELIS and its benefits, and please share your user story with us here in our comments section or by emailing us at uscis-elis-feedback@uscis.dhs.gov. I look forward to your comments as we continue to modernize our agency.

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In an election-year move hailed by South Asian, Latino and other immigrant organisations, President Barack Obama announced that his administration will stop deporting talented young illegal immigrants if they pose no criminal or security threat.

The changes caused by his executive order will make immigration policy "more fair, more efficient and more just," he said in a White House address Friday afternoon to praise from Latino leaders but outrage from opposition Republicans.

"This is not amnesty. This is not immunity. This is not a path to citizenship. It's not a permanent fix," Obama said answering his critics. "This is a temporary stopgap measure."

Noting children of illegal immigrants "study in our schools, play in our neighbourhoods, befriend our kids, pledge allegiance to our flag," Obama said, "It makes no sense to expel talented young people who are, for all intents and purposes, Americans."

Under the new policy, people younger than 30 who came to the United States before the age of 16, pose no criminal or security threat, and were successful students or served in the military, can get a two-year deferral from deportation.

It also will allow those meeting the requirements to apply for work permits, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said.

The change is part of a department effort to target resources at illegal immigrants who pose a greater threat, such as criminals and those trying to enter the country now, she said.

Republicans who have blocked Democratic efforts on immigration reform immediately condemned the move with Obama's likely Republican presidential opponent Mitt Romney saying the issue needs more substantive action than an executive order, which can be replaced by a subsequent president.
But members of the National Coalition of South Asian Organizations (NCSO), a network of 42 organizations, applauded Obama's announcement.

"South Asian youth and families stand to benefit from this change in policy, given that individuals from South Asian countries are among the one million undocumented students in the United States," it said.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), America's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization, also welcomed Obama's decision.

The move addresses a major concern of the Hispanic community which has been upset over an overall increase in deportations under Obama with some 400,000 illegal immigrants removed last year, the largest in US history.

News by Deccan Herald

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that it has received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap of 65,000 for fiscal year (FY) 2013. Yesterday, June 11, 2012, was the final receipt date for new H-1B specialty occupation petitions requesting an employment start date in FY 2013.

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Due to the high number of recently filed I-129 petitions with USCIS, customers may experience a longer than usual period of time to receive a receipt notice from USCIS. Usually, customers can expect to receive their receipt notice within 30 days of delivery confirmation. However, due to an unexpectedly high volume of I-129 petitions, it may be an additional two to four weeks before customers receive a receipt notice.

Customers who do not receive notification of receipt of an I-129 petition within 60 days of their delivery confirmation date may contact the appropriate Service Center via the email addresses listed on our Contact Us Web page. This is a temporary situation and we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

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Children under 7 years of age are not required to appear for a nonimmigrant visa interview at any Post in India. Such applicants may submit their visa applications through VFS. All other rules, requirements and fees for those under 7 years of age remain in effect. All applicants must include the following documents when submitting their applications:

• The applicant's valid passport
• A completed DS-160 application barcode
• One 2" x 2" photograph that meets specifications; and
• An HDFC visa fee receipt (with both pink and blue copies) for the current visa application fee

Note: Parents/guardians may also consider submitting the following documents: the parents� U.S. visa numbers, information about the purpose of the visit and those to be visited in the U.S., and evidence of the applicant's ties to India. Visa issuance for those not appearing in person is not guaranteed. The Embassy/Consulate may in some cases, after reviewing an application, require the child to appear in person.

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NEW DELHI - Effective Monday 23, 2012 all United States Consular Sections in India will adjust the consular exchange rate from INR 51 to the dollar to INR 54 to the dollar.

This rate of change is effective for all rupee-denominated costs of applying for visas and passports, including the nonimmigrant visa application fee paid at HDFC bank branches prior to the scheduling of visa appointments. The new application fee for nonimmigrant visas is INR 8640 (equivalent to USD $160 for non-petition based visa categories) and INR 10260 (equivalent to USD $190 for petition based visa categories). Receipts issued by HDFC Bank prior to April 23, 2012 and are still not more than a year old, will be honored.

USCIS is considering changes that would allow certain immediate relatives (the spouse, children or parents of a U.S. citizen) who can demonstrate extreme hardship to a U.S. citizen spouse or parent to receive a provisional waiver of the unlawful presence bars before leaving the United States.

These procedures are not in effect and will not be available to potential applicants until USCIS publishes a final rule in the Federal Register specifying the effective date. USCIS plans to publish a notice of proposed rulemaking in the coming months and will consider all comments received as part of that process before publishing a final rule.

• Do not send an application requesting a provisional waiver at this time. USCIS will reject any application requesting this new process and we will return the application package and any related fees to the applicant. USCIS cannot accept applications until a final rule is issued and the process change becomes effective.
• Be aware that some unauthorized practitioners of immigration law may wrongly claim they can currently file a provisional waiver application (Form I-601) for you. These same individuals may ask you to pay them to file such forms although the process is not yet in place. Please avoid such scams. USCIS wants you to learn the facts about protecting yourself and your family against scammers by visiting uscis.gov/avoid scams.

If you already have an immigrant visa interview with the U.S. Department of State, we strongly encourage you to attend. The Department of State may cancel your immigrant visa registration if you fail to appear at this interview.

America is almost closed for Indian students, aspiring to go for MS in various fields of engineering, if the present visa success rate is any indication.

With students spending almost one year preparing for competitive exams like GRE TOEFL & investing some Rs. 1,00,000/- , it all goes to drain within one second, when the counselorsays smilingly Sorry, Try again !!!

Students from north India already started looking to other options, like Canada, Scandinavians, & exploring the options of free education in Germany. Other factor that is making Indian students drift away from USA is non-availability of Jobs after completion of studies, making it just impossible to settle down even after many years.

Worst is advertisements still appearing in the news papers for beter options in USA, which is only going to make the scenario worse for these innocent students falling prey to these fake ads of renowned companies, who just wash their hands after charging non-refundable deposits for getting the I-20's released.

The US would start accepting applications for H-1B visa, for the financial year 2012 from 1st April. the most sought after work visa by Indian IT professionals,

Fiscal year cap on H-1B petitions for 2012, beginning 1st October is 65,000. The first 20,000 H-1B petitions filed on behalf of individuals with US masters degrees or higher are exempt from this cap, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said in a statement on Tuesday.

USCIS will monitor the number of petitions received and will notify the public of the date on which numerical limit of the H-1B cap has been met, the statement said. If USCIS receives more petitions than it can accept, it may on the final receipt date randomly select the number of petitions that will be considered for final inclusion within the cap, it said.

A federal attorney who took nearly $500,000 in bribes from immigrants seeking to remain in the United States has been jailed for almost 18 years, authorities said on Monday.

United States District Judge Terry J. Hatter Jr sentenced Immigration and Customs Enforcement Assistant Chief Counsel Constantine Peter Kallas, 40, to 212 months in federal prison, the U.S. Attorney's office for the Central District of California, said in a news release.

USCIS is publishing a proposed rule that could save U.S. businesses more than $23 million over the next 10 years by establishing an advance registration process for U.S. employers seeking to file H-1B petitions for foreign workers in specialty occupations.

The proposed electronic system would minimize administrative burdens and expenses related to the H-1B petition process?including reducing the need for employers to submit petitions for which visas would not be available under the statutory visa cap

In November 2010, USCIS published a revised Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, which became effective on Dec. 23, 2010. Due to a number of inquiries regarding Part 6 of the Form I-129, "Certification Regarding the Release of Controlled Technology or Technical Data to Foreign Persons in the United States", USCIS advised petitioners that they would not be required to complete this section until Feb. 20, 2011. Petitions postmarked on or after Feb. 20, 2011, must complete Part 6 of the Form I-129.

General Public and non immigrant visa seekers can contact at the address of VFS to get their inquiries addressed, as US consulate Geeral will no longer respond to their quarries at the previous address wef 15th of Feb. 2011. !!!

USA Funds? will award $1,500 individual scholarships to students with economic need through USA Funds Access to Education Scholarships?.
USA Funds is a nonprofit organization that works to enhance postsecondary education preparedness, access and success by providing and supporting financial and other valued services.
Please review the eligibility criteria and other information, then use the link to Apply in English under Scholarship Links on the right to access the online scholarship application.
Application deadline: Feb. 15, 2011.