splif0clock

Link .... !! 200K approvals so far... and I am still waiting. :\

A bipartisan deal on immigration is at risk of stalling because of a worsening dispute over a new guest-worker program, exposing fault lines between crucial interest groups and threatening to delay the unveiling of a Senate bill early next month. The impasse has prompted a bitter round of name-calling between labor and business groups, both of whom accuse the other of imperiling comprehensive immigration reform. The Obama administration has remained on the sidelines as the standoff has deteriorated, calculating that the president would risk alienating Republican senators crucial to the process. Obama said this week that the issue is “resolvable.” The dispute has emerged as perhaps the most serious obstacle to a final deal from a bipartisan group of eight senators, who are attempting to fashion model legislation for broad immigration reform. The same issue helped derail the last serious attempt at reform in 2007 with assistance from Obama, then a U.S. senator from Illinois. The current talks center on rules governing the “future flow” of migrants who come to the United States for low-paying, menial jobs. Republicans, citing business interests, want to give temporary work visas to up to 400,000 foreign workers a year, mostly at minimum wages. But unions and many Democrats, fearing the impact on American workers, want fewer workers and higher pay under the program. Senators involved in the immigration talks insist they remain on schedule to complete a bill, including a path to citizenship for 11 million illegal immigrants, in early April. Obama also expressed confidence this week that the guest-workers disagreement could be solved. “I don’t agree that it’s threatening to doom the legislation,” Obama said in an interview Wednesday with Telemundo, the Spanish-language TV network. “Labor and businesses may not always agree exactly on how to do this, but this is a resolvable issue.” But behind the scenes, negotiations over the guest-worker program — and the White House’s refusal to take a position — have soured relations between the AFL-CIO and U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which only a month ago joined hands to publicly proclaim agreement on an overall plan. .... READ MORE ....

The Washington House of Representatives has approved a measure giving young illegal immigrants eligibility to state college financial aid. The House approved the so-called "Washington Dream Act" on a bipartisan 77-20 vote. They amended the bill on the floor to open college aid to all young illegal immigrants. The bill's previous version made only young immigrants who had qualified for the Obama Administration's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program eligible for the State Needs Grant. That federal program provides young immigrants who arrived in the United States as children a legal way to live in the country on renewable two-year stays, if they meet certain age and non-criminal history criteria. Opponents say the bill promises financial aid while the state struggles to give help to current students. Supporters say the measure gives a better future to immigrants who came here without a choice. Link :- http://www.kplu.org/...ngton-dream-act Other links : http://blogs.seattletimes.com/politicsnorthwest/2013/03/13/state-house-passes-washington-dream-act/ http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2020552668_dreamactxml.html

Ombudsman - Case Assistance from DHS more info about it here Finding the Help You Need with a Pending Application or Petition If you have a problem with your USCIS application or petition, the Ombudsman may be able to help. The Ombudsman provides an impartial and independent perspective to USCIS in an attempt to resolve problems. Before contacting the Ombudsman for help, first try to resolve your problem by using the USCIS customer service options available to you: Call the USCIS National Customer Service Center at 1-800-375-5283 Check My Case Status Online Make an INFOPASS Appointment with USCIS ​ What Types of Problems Can the Ombudsman Help Me With? The Ombudsman may be able to help if: You are facing an emergency or hardship caused by a mistake, error, or delay by USCIS You are experiencing a problem with your application or petition that you have not been able to resolve with USCIS. Your application or petition is pending beyond USCIS processing times. ​The Ombudsman is not able to help if: You are seeking legal advice. The Ombudsman does not provide legal advice. You are seeking assistance with an issue that does not involve USCIS. The Ombudsman’s authority is limited to assisting with problems that relate to USCIS applications, petitions, or services. ​NOTE: While the Ombudsman’s Office provides impartial and independent recommendations to USCIS on how to resolve problems, the Ombudsman’s Office does not have the statutory authority to make or change USCIS decisions. Submitting a Request for Help to the Ombudsman If you have tried the USCIS customer service options but still need help resolving a problem with an application or petition, you can ask the Ombudsman’s Office for help by taking the following steps: Submit an electronic Form DHS 7001 through Ombudsman Case Assistance Online, which provides a direct, paperless submission of requests for assistance to the Ombudsman’s Office. If you have questions or experience any problems, please review our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) (PDF, 2 pages - 134.39 KB) ​OR ​You may also Download and complete Form DHS-7001 (PDF, 3 pages - 846 KB), Case Assistance Form, to allow the Ombudsman’s Office to share your confidential information with USCIS. Please read the Instructions for Form DHS-7001 (PDF, 2 pages - 670 KB) carefully if you have any questions. ​Make sure to include all USCIS receipt numbers on forms related to your application or petition on the Form DHS-7001, and include copies of important information and documentation. Please do not send original documents. Submit your request online or send the signed Form DHS-7001 and any additional information to the Ombudsman’s Office to our mailing address or fax number. Please note that due to security measures with the government mail system, cases mailed (even those sent by express mail) may be significantly delayed. What Happens After I Submit a Request to the Ombudsman? Once we receive a request for help, we will: Review the information to make sure that we are able to help with your situation; Research the status of the matter; and If we can assist, contact USCIS on your behalf with independent recommendations on how to resolve the problem.

President Barack Obama placed a round of calls to Republican senators working on legislation to revamp the nation’s immigration system just days after some of the lawmakers panned the president’s own immigration overhaul. Mr. Obama called Republican Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida, John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina Tuesday to “to discuss their shared commitment to bipartisan, commonsense immigration reform and to commend the senators for the bipartisan progress that continues to be made,” the White House said in a written summary of the calls released to reporters. Mr. Obama didn’t speak to Sen. Jeff Flake (R., Ariz.) but plans to soon, the White House said. The four Republicans are half of a bipartisan group of eight senators that has crafted a plan to overhaul the nation’s immigration system. Their plan is similar to the president’s but differs in key aspects. Over the weekend, Mr. Rubio said Mr. Obama’s plan would be “dead on arrival” if proposed to Congress, calling it “half-baked and seriously flawed.” He was speaking in response to new details of the president’s plan reported by USA Today. The White House has said the new details weren’t released intentionally. Alex Conant, a spokesman for Mr. Rubio, who is traveling in Israel, said that “The senator told the president that he feels good about the ongoing negotiations in the Senate, and is hopeful the final product is something that can pass the Senate with strong bipartisan support.” Read More ...

President Obama can – and will – take steps on immigration reform in the event Congress doesn't reach a comprehensive deal this year, according to several House Democratic leaders. While the Democrats are hoping Congress will preclude any executive action by enacting reforms legislatively, they say the administration has the tools to move unilaterally if the bipartisan talks on Capitol Hill break down. Furthermore, they say, Obama stands poised to use them. "I don't think the president will be hands off on immigration for any moment in time," Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.), the head of the House Democratic Caucus, told reporters this week. "He's ready to move forward if we're not." Rep. Joseph Crowley (N.Y.), vice chairman of the Democratic Caucus, echoed that message, saying Obama is "not just beating the drum," for immigration reform, "he's actually the drum major." "There are limitations as to what he can do with executive order," Crowley said Wednesday, "but he did say that if Congress continued to fail to act that he would take steps and measures to enact common-sense executive orders to move this country forward." Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), who heads the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said there are "plenty" of executive steps Obama could take if Congress fails to pass a reform package. "The huge one," Grijalva said, is "the waiving of deportation" in order to keep families together. Read more ....

IDK how I missed this yest but eric the red neck of republicans is going all out about citizenship on meet the press. WASHINGTON, Feb 10 (Reuters) - A top U.S. Republican lawmaker said on Sunday he would support granting citizenship to children who are undocumented in the country in a sign that conservatives who oppose immigration amnesty will be playing defense as Congress takes on immigration reform in the coming months. Representative Eric Cantor, the No. 2 Republican in the House of Representatives, said Congress could make quick progress on immigration if lawmakers agreed to give citizenship to children - an idea he opposed when it came up for a vote in 2010 as the DREAM Act. "The best place to begin, I think, is with the children. Let's go ahead and get that under our belt, put a win on the board," Cantor said on NBC's "Meet the Press." Cantor is leading an effort to improve his party's image as many Republicans worry they will be consigned to irrelevancy in coming years if they do not reach out to the fast-growing Latino electorate, which strongly supports immigration reform. President Barack Obama has made immigration reform a top priority of his second term in office and a bipartisan group of senators is working to draft legislation that would tackle the issue in a comprehensive manner, rather than the piecemeal approach that Cantor suggested. Read more

LEESBURG, Va. – House Democratic leaders weren’t impressed with Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s (R-Va.) endorsement of citizenship for undocumented immigrant students, saying the country had “moved on” and now wants comprehensive immigration reform. “Been there, done that,” said Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.), the chairman of the House Democratic caucus and a top party leader on immigration. “We’ve moved on. I think the American people have moved on.” In a wide-ranging policy address on Tuesday, Cantor backed the principlesbehind the DREAM Act, which would grant legal status and a path to citizenship to young immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children by their parents. “One of the great founding principles of our country was that children would not be punished for the mistakes of their parents,” Cantor said in his speech. “It is time to provide an opportunity for legal residence and citizenship for those who were brought to this country as children and who know no other home.” The legislation was a top Democratic priority as recently as two years ago, but after President Obama offered protection from deportation for many so-called “dreamers” in 2012 through executive action, the party has shifted to a push for a comprehensive immigration overhaul. Read more

In a news conference Wednesday morning House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) did not rule out support for the tenets of the Dream Act, saying a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children is “worthy of consideration.” House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) embraced the philosophy of the Dream Act Tuesday, saying in a speech at the American Enterprise Institute, “It is time to provide an opportunity for legal residence and citizenship for those who were brought to this country as children and who know no other home.” Earlier that day Boehner told reporters that any path to citizenship is “a very difficult part” of the immigration debate and would not give an opinion on the issue. The House Judiciary Committee kicked off immigration hearings this week, with several Republicans hoping to find a middle ground between deportation of those here illegally and citizenship. Read more

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., today endorsed the basic principles of the "Dream Act," a long-sought after piece of immigration legislation that would create a pathway to citizenship for certain undocumented youth. Cantor's embrace of the idea is the latest demonstration of the GOP's renewed interest in pursuing bipartisan immigration reform. more

I came across an article on Washington post that states a group of senators have been working on an immigration reform bill and they would announce the proposed bill next Friday Lets hope, it will be a good one and it sails through congress to be signed by POTUS soon. Read more about it here

I am just wondering if USCIS updates the case on there site or not ... if you had received a letter, can you answer the question below. Was there any notification about RFE letter being issued when you checked your case status online ? if so, did it specify the date as well ?

I thought, I would share some links I regularly visit to see if I can find scholarships. And, I figured these links would benefit someone, I know DACA applicants don't qualify for financial aid but we can get a scholarship we qualify for. So, I am including some links for now and would be adding more when I come across one. The links also include posts for International Scholarships so the chose is yours. http://scholarshipsbank.com/ all types of Scholarships 2. http://ibdpartnership.blogspot.com/ all types of scholarships as well 3. http://morningbiznews.com/en all types of useful info and some scholarships These sites use RSS Feed which would allow you to subscribe to the site so you can easily read new posts without missing one. If you use gmail and don't normally use RSS reader, you can use http://reader.google.com that is associated with your gmail account for easy management and access.

The new data has been released by USCIS. It seems like case reviews that got approved has decreased significantly Actually, the January data is only from Jan 1 - Jan 17 . Lets all hope, it was because of holidays. You can access the data at the link below. http://www.uscis.gov...er II PDF.pdf��

No, bashing one another over team support, please! State the teams you support. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- England -Preimer Leag => Liverpool Spain - La Liga => Barcelona (**clears throat**) Italy - Serie A => Juventus

Hey friends, I finally decided to join this forum. I've been a frequent lurker to this site since the end of September 2012. I live in washington, dc and have resided here for the past ~ 14 years. I have a BSc from university of maryland school system, and the diploma is sitting somewhere in the house eating dust. I've not had a job for the past 2 years which is taking a major toll on me, but I know I am stronger than that and know it could be worst. My little sister, who applied 4 days before me had her case approved 22 days after taking her bio. Our case is the same, we came with our mom on a B2 visa which was converted to a political asylum in 1998 and got denied in 2000. I have some idea to why my application is stalling but I can't do much about it. I am here to keep in touch with fellow dreamers and help anyone in anyway I could. =)

One word "SAD". The story is still too fresh for discussion and most stories are opinions other than what actually took place at the moment of the bombing. Innocent people died and the story behind it is still to vague to me. SAD to see an innocent kid die over violence when he was actually supporting peace at such young age. FYI.... Expect the immigration bill to be stripped down to it's bone.

You can not appeal the decision but rather I think you could re-apply as others have said. It really saddens me to know you got denied even though you had an I-94 arrival card. It would be great if you can compile a list of all the documents you sent in and post it here including your denial letter.

I took it with a grain of salt so where is the patron ?

Lets hope they don't disappoint us this time around again.