This means that EB-2 Applicants from China-mainland and India with an approved PERM/I-140 and having a priority date on or before 5/1/2010, must file their I-485 applications to reach USCIS on or before April 30, 2012.   Any I-485s, for these applicants, received on or after May 1, 2012 will be rejected and returned.   Remember that if your EB-2 PERM Labor is approved and the I-140 is yet to be filed, it is recommended that the applicant, who is subject to retrogression, file both the I-140 and I-485 concurrently.   Getting a chance to file I-485 is a rare opportunity for applicants from China-mainland and India. Therefore, EB-2 applicants must utilize this opportunity to a maximum extent possible.   Starting May 1, 2012, the I-485 can only be filed by EB-2 applicants, from China-mainland and India, who have a priority date of August 15, 2007 and earlier.  Those with EB-2 priority dates after 8/16/2007 cannot file for their I-485s.

In the meanwhile, USCIS has confirmed that they will continue to “preadjudicate” I-485 applications received through April 30, 2012.   The “pre-adjudicated” cases will be held by the U.S. State Department in the “pending” demand file.   That way, the I-485 cases will be ready for adjudication (i.e., approval) if visa demand changes and more numbers will be available come  October 2012 (when the new fiscal year starts) or perhaps earlier.

Resubmitting a Rejected petition or application: These cases should always be resubmitted to the filing address listed on the USCIS website. Supervisory review should only be requested if the case has been rejected in error. Requesting CRU supervisory review actually slows down the receipt and data entry of the petition and could have implications for timely filing.

Premium Processing filers: VSC reminds that in order to expeditiously mail approval notices for cases filed under the
premium processing service, VSC recommends customers to submit prepaid, self -addressed mailers.

Form I-612 Waiver of Foreign Residency Requirement: Certain J visa holders are required to spend 2 years outside US before they can be granted change of status to some other nonimmigrant visas or for grant of permanent residency. A I-612 waiver involves requesting the government to waive this condition. A waiver can be filed 2 ways:

Procedure 1: “No Objection”, “IGA” or “Conrad 30” Waiver: This waiver request if initially submitted to Department of State (DOS) and later the waiver recommendation is processed at the VSC. Waiver should be submitted to DOS via Form DS-3035. DOS Waiver Review Division issues a recommendation letter to USCIS directly that is transmitted electronically to VSC and record is created in the USCIS case management system. Later a receipt notice is issued and the application is adjudicated at the VSC based on the DOS recommendation. VSC has also established communication avenues with the California Service Center (CSC) to assure that any questions related to “No Objection”, “IGA”, and/or “Conrad 30” waiver recommendations processed by the VSC are addressed timely.

Procedure 2: Exceptional Hardship Waiver: This waiver is  filed directly with USCIS and adjudicated solely at the California Service Center. The VSC does not adjudicate these types of waivers.

VSC Divison 5: Division 5 is managed by Lisa Laroe, Assistant Center Director, and includes 7 Supervisory Immigration Services Officers, and approximately 55 Immigration Services Officers. They process Form I-129 for L, O, P, and Q visas, I-539s, I-131s and I-765 STUDENT filings.

Interesting Facts:

• India is a priority country for the President’s National Export Initiative.
• India is the twelfth- largest trading partner of the United States.
• Bilateral goods and services trade exceeds $60 billion and is growing at double-digit rates.
• U.S. foreign direct investment in India surpasses $16 billion.
• Mission India has one of the four largest consular operations in the world, with a staff of 320 employees;
• Other largest consular operations are in Mexico, China, and Brazil.
• India is not a signatory to the Hague Convention on International Parental Child Abduction but is considering joining the convention. Over the past 5 years, Mission India has seen a 500 percent increase in the number of child abduction cases. Fortunately, in no situation the welfare of the child appeared to be at risk due to presence in India.
• Approximately 72,000 U.S. citizens are registered as residents in India
• Approximately 802,000 Americans visited India in 2009.
• At any one time, almost 234,000 Americans are in India as residents or as visitors.
• The noise in the consular work area in Hyderabad is cacophonous. It was the worst they had ever heard. The consular managers ordered headphones for employees, but they received handsets instead.

Challenges on H/L Visa Processing

• Some of the most complicated NIV cases involve L (intracompany transferee) and H (temporary worker) visas.
• Consular section in Chennai processes the largest number of such cases
• The greatest future growth in NIVs is anticipated to be in southern India, primarily in the consular districts of Hyderabad and Chennai.
• Mission India processes more such cases than any other mission in the world.
• Many involve applicants who work in the information technology sector.
• Because the law is complex, consular officers need more time to adjudicate such cases and need to exchange ideas with their colleagues who are working on similar cases.
• Officers must refuse applicants who do not meet the qualifications under the law.
• Because the applicants apply based on petitions that were approved by the Department of Homeland Security, consular officers must request that department to revoke the petitions.
• The biggest challenges consular managers in India face is ensuring consistency in the standards of adjudication on H and L visas. The inconsistencies arise from the complexity of these visa categories and create public relations problems, as large companies note different decisions for employees in similar circumstances.

OIG Recommendation 22: Embassy New Delhi should centralize writing requests for revocation of H and L visa petitions for all posts in India at the embassy, using eligible family members for this work. The consular officers who adjudicate the individual cases should provide their case notes and files to the eligible family members and clear the completed revocation requests.

OIG Recommendation 23: Embassy New Delhi should designate a mid-level consular manager in Consulate General Chennai as the countrywide coordinator for the mission to establish, monitor, and train officers in adjudication standards for H and L visas.

Centralization of Blanket L Visas Processing

• Blanket L visas are an even greater challenge for consular officers.
• One officer estimated that, because of the complexity of these cases, adjudicating blanket L visa applications takes 5 or 6 times longer than it takes to adjudicate a tourist visa.
• Centralizing blanket L visa applications at one post in India would provide for greater efficiencies, adjudication consistency, and development of expertise.
• Consulate General Chennai processes the most L visas in India and therefore should be designated as the post in India for processing all blanket L visa applications.

OIG Recommendation 24: Embassy New Delhi should request that the Bureau of Consular Affairs designate Consulate General Chennai as the only post in India authorized to adjudicate blanket L visa applications.

OIG Recommendation 25: Embassy New Delhi should create a special unit at Consulate General Chennai for adjudicating blanket L visa applications and create a program in which entry-level officers are assigned to that unit on a rotational basis.

Proposed Methods to Process Visas Faster:

• A more immediate solution would be to move as much visa processing as possible away from the windows.
• Mission India has three states that generate the largest number of NIV applicants apart from the five cities where the consulates general are located.
• These states are Gujarat in Mumbai’s consular district; Punjab in New Delhi’s consular district; and Karnataka in Chennai’s consular district.
• If Consulate establishes off-site processing centers in the vicinity of the capitals of those states (Ahmedabad, Gujarat; Chandigarh, Punjab; and Bangalore, Karnataka), visa applicants would do their initial processing close to home and then make one visit to the consulate general where they have an appointment.
• The embassy could use EFMs to make regular visits to monitor activities at the centers.

OIG Recommendation 31: The Bureau of Consular Affairs, in coordination with Embassy New Delhi, should establish off-site visa processing centers in the states of Gujarat, Punjab, and Karnataka under the Global Support Services contract and support Embassy New Delhi in hiring eligible family members to travel to these centers on a regular basis to monitor their activities.

Proposed Immigrant Visa (GC) Processing Centralization

• Three consulates general in India (New Delhi, Mumbai, and Chennai) together process more than 41,000 IVs annually.

Recommendation 32: Embassy New Delhi, in coordination with the Bureau of Consular Affairs, should consolidate all immigrant visa operations either in Embassy New Delhi or in the new facility at Consulate General Mumbai.

Innovative Practice: Barcoding Commonly Used Sentences for Officers’ Adjudication Notes

Consular officers write notes from their visa interviews into the nonimmigrant visa system. These notes can be read by authorized personnel, such as Customs and Border Patrol officers at U.S. ports of entry. As so many cases have similar issues, consular officers find that they often write the same sentences repeatedly. For example, officers are required to note whether they have handed a visa applicant who will be working in the United States the information on what their labor rights will be and that the applicant understands his or her rights under the law.

Consular managers in Hyderabad created a system in which commonly used sentences or phrases have been barcoded. Those barcodes, with the phrase written underneath the barcode, are on sheets of paper that the officers keep by their windows. When the officer needs to use such a sentence, the officer wands the barcode and the sentence is instantly transferred to the officer’s case notes in the computer system. This innovation not only saves considerable time for the officers, but it also allows them to keep their focus on the applicants and the applicants’ responses in the interviews.

Overall the recommendations seem reasonable especially having a countrywide coordinator to establish, monitor, and train officers in adjudication standards for H and L visas because many applicants unreasonably suffer severe consequence due to improper application of law and inconsistent adjudication standards.

Only exception is if the I-140 is being filed under premium processing, then the I-140 and I-485 with the PP request must be sent to Nebraska USCIS or Texas USCIS depending on the location of the petitioner’s office.