DHS streamlines access to travel records for international students, visitors

From ice.gov, 05/20/2014

WASHINGTON — When international students and visitors travel to the United States, they receive a Form I-94, "Arrival/Departure Record," at their port of entry. The Form I-94 serves as evidence that they have been lawfully admitted to the United States. International students and visitors need this record to verify alien registration and immigration status and obtain employment authorization. New this month, these individuals can access their five year travel history on the Form I-94 website.

Previously, international students and visitors could only access their most recent I-94 arrival/departure record number online, and they had to file a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for previous years' information.

International students and visitors can obtain their Form I-94 record by visiting U.S. Custom and Border Protection's (CBP) Form I-94 Web page. They must agree to the terms listed on the page. From there, they will be directed to the Form I-94 information page. They must enter their name, date of birth and passport information to retrieve their Form I-94 information. The Web page gives you the option to "Get Most Recent I-94" or "Get Travel History."

If you select "Get Most Recent I-94," the Web page will display your I-94 number, most recent date of entry, class of admission and admit until date. If you select "Get Travel History," you can access your last five years of travel history on the Form I-94. Both pages are printer-friendly.

"International students and visitors have been able to access their most recent I-94 arrival/departure record number on the Form I-94 Web page since April 2013," said Lou Farrell, director of the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP). "This new option streamlines the process for obtaining previous years' travel records and eliminates the need for these individuals to file a FOIA request."

"CBP has seen a steady growth in trade and travel in recent years – including a nearly nine percent increase in non-immigrant arrivals since 2011," said CBP Commissioner R. Gil Kerlikowske. "We continue to work to manage these growing volumes by automating processes, going paperless, and employing mobile technology to maximize our resources and ease processing times for the traveling public."

SEVP monitors approximately one million international students pursuing academic or vocational studies (F and M visa holders) in the United States and their dependents. It also certifies schools and programs that enroll these students. The U.S. Department of State monitors exchange visitors (J visa holders) and their dependents, and oversees exchange visitor programs.

Both agencies use SEVIS to protect national security by ensuring that students, visitors and schools comply with U.S. laws. SEVP also collects and shares SEVIS information with government partners, including CBP and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, so only legitimate international students and exchange visitors gain entry into the United States.

HSI reviews potential SEVIS records for potential violations and refers cases with potential national security or public safety concerns to its field offices for further investigation. Additionally, SEVP's Analysis and Operations Center reviews student and school records for administrative compliance with federal regulations related to studying in the United States.

Learn more about SEVP at www.ICE.gov/SEVP.

Impact of Government Shutdown on Immigration Agencies

From the Council for Global Immigration, 10/01/2013

After months of negotiation between the administration and the two branches of Congress, no deal has been reached to keep the federal government open.  As such, federal immigration agencies are scrambling to implement a government shutdown.  While the situation is fluid and we have seen conflicting information from various sources, we have verified the following information through conversations and correspondence with government officials in order to ensure you have the most recent information.   Please let us know if your experience with the agencies differs from the information below and we will provide updates as the implementation of the shutdown continues to develop.

Department of Homeland Security

The DHS contingency plan for the shutdown can be found here.

USCIS Adjudications

USCIS is mostly fee funded, and therefore the impact on adjudications will be minimal compared to most immigration processes.  In fact, out of the 12,558 USCIS employees, all but about 300 will be reporting to work during a shutdown.

This means that processing at USCIS will be relatively normal, other than processes affected by other agencies (for instance, no new LCAs will be issued by Department of Labor for H-1Bs).

E- Verify

Unlike the rest of USCIS, E-Verify is not fee funded and will be inaccessible during a shutdown, including employment verification, resolution of Tentative Nonconfirmations (TNCs) and Self Check.   USCIS has provided the following guidance:

• The 'three-day rule' for E-Verify cases is suspended for cases affected by the shutdown. We’ll provide additional guidance once we reopen. This does NOT affect the Form I-9 requirement—employers must still complete the Form I-9 no later than the third business day after an employee starts work for pay.

• The time period during which employees may resolve TNCs will be extended. Days the federal government is closed will not count towards the eight federal government workdays the employee has to go to SSA or contact DHS. We will provide additional time once we reopen.

• For federal contractors complying with the federal contractor rule, please contact your contracting officer to inquire about extending deadlines.

• Employers may not take any adverse action against an employee because of an E-Verify interim case status, including while the employee’s case is in an extended interim case status due to a federal government shutdown (consult the E-Verify User Manual for more information on interim case statuses). 

Customs and Border Protection

Most CBP functions will continue, as most CBP staff are considered essential, but adjudication of TN and blanket L applications by Canadian citizens would stop during a government shutdown. 

Immigration and Customs Enforcement

ICE will retain most of its staff because they are considered essential.   We do not expect any major issues with enforcement.

CIS Ombudsman

The CIS Ombudsman’s office will be closed during a government shutdown.

Department of Labor

The Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) notice regarding the shutdown can be found here. 

OFLC will essentially shut its doors during a shutdown.  This means no processing of labor certifications, LCAs or prevailing wage determinations during a shutdown.  We also now know that employers and attorneys will not even be able to log into the PERM and iCERT websites during a shutdown.  We are pushing for grace periods in situations such as recruitment expiration while the agency is closed.

Department of State

In previous situations where a shutdown was looming, we were told that a shutdown would basically mean cessation of consular affairs, visa processing and passport issuance altogether, except for certain narrow exceptions such as humanitarian exceptions.

With this shutdown, however, the Department of State appears to have a temporary solution but the details are unclear.  The official statement from the Department of State is:

Consular operations domestically and overseas will remain 100% operational as long as there are sufficient fees to support operations. However, if a passport agency is located in a government building affected by a lapse in appropriations, the facility may become unsupported. The continuance of consular operations in such instances will be treated on a case-by-case basis by the Under Secretary for Management.

We were able to confirm yesterday with the Department of State's Bureau of Consular Affairs that visa issuance will continue at least temporarily.  We do not have confirmation at this time as to the alternative source of funding or how long it will last.

SEVIS is fee funded and we have not heard any indication that it will be affected by a shutdown.  We will keep you up to date if this news changes.

Department of State guidance on the shutdown can be found here.

Department of Justice

Office of the Special Counsel

The hotline for the Office of the Special Counsel will not be available to the public during a shutdown. Some attorneys working on litigation will work limited hours. 

Scam Alert: Individuals Misrepresenting Themselves as DHS Employees Calling Indian Nationals

There have been recent reports of Indian nationals in the U.S. receiving phone calls from people falsely representing themselves as DHS employees asking the foreign nationals to pay a penalty via money transfer to resolve discrepancies in their immigration cases.  The people making the phone calls have had access to personal information such as passport numbers and foreign addresses and have threatened adverse actions such as deportation. 

According to one source, phone calls have come from Ohio numbers with a 567 area code and Washington, DC number with a 202 area code.

The Department of State, USCIS and the CIS Ombudsman are aware of the situation. If you have been contacted by someone claiming to represent the Department of Homeland Security, please contact immigration@ohr.gatech.edu immediately. 

Sequestration Update: What Immigration Agencies Will Have Furloughs?

From ACIP, 04/10/2013

Department of State: The Department of State is not furloughing employees at this time, but has retained the option to furlough employees beginning June 30.

 

Customs and Border Protection:  On March 7, furlough notices were sent to all CBP employees.  This decision faced considerable opposition from Congress.  On April 1, CBP postponed furloughs until further notice.

 

Department of Labor: DOL has issued furlough notices to 4,700 employees.  Employees must take their furlough days between April 15 and September 21.  We are doing outreach with the Office of Foreign Labor Certification to determine the impact furloughs will have on the processing of prevailing wage determinations, PERM and LCAs.

 

Department of Homeland Security: DHS law enforcement personnel will be furloughed for up to 14 days.

 

USCIS: At this time, USCIS has not announced any furloughs.  While USCIS is a fee based agency, we have been informed that the fee account is subject to the sequester and furloughs are possible.

Impact of the Federal Budget Sequester on Immigration Processing

Fragomen.com, 03/01/2013

As has been widely reported in the media, across-the-board funding cuts are set to take effect today at U.S. government agencies unless Congress can reach a compromise on the federal budget. The Departments of Homeland Security, State and Labor are all subject to cuts, but have not yet specified how their immigration processing operations would be affected. If funding reductions take place, employers and foreign nationals could see delays in adjudications, border inspections and visa issuance. 

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is primarily funded by filing fees and may see the fewest effects if sequester takes place, though it is subject to budget cuts to some degree. Customs and Border Protection is expected to be among the hardest hit among DHS operations. Immigration and Customs Enforcement this week released some low-risk foreign nationals from detention facilities, citing looming budget cuts. 

At the State Department, officials have already warned that consular services like visa processing might be delayed. Labor Department functions – including PERM, labor condition application (LCA) and prevailing wage operations – are not funded by fees and could also face delays due to cuts.