LIST OF USEFUL LINKS: USCIS, Processing Times, Visa Bulletin, Priority Dates, Case Status, Case Inquiry.

USCIS or DHS where you can find USCIS contact number, webforms and download all applications and forms for free is here.

USCIS Case Status: you can check status of your pending case online here.

USCIS Processing Times: you can see how fast cases are being adjudicated or decided by different USCIS / DHS offices around the United States here.

USCIS Change of Address Form Online: you can submit your change of address form online here.

USCIS Case Inquiry Webforms: you can submit your questions or case inquiry directly to USCIS by using one of the webforms here.

US Department of State Monthly Visa Bulletin: you can find monthly visa bulletin and check how fast your priority date is progressing here.

You can find out current Visa Fees for various visas to USA here.

To schedule a consultation with an experienced immigration attorney who speaks English and Russian, please email to schedule.

USCIS Announces Revised Procedures for Determining Visa Availability for Applicants Filing for Adjustment of Status, I-485. Two Charts in Monthly DOS Visa Bulletin.

On September 09 2015, USCIS Announces Revised Procedures for Determining Visa Availability for Applicants Waiting to File for Adjustment of Status.

USCIS, in coordination with Department of State (DOS), is revising the procedures for determining visa availability for applicants waiting to file for employment-based or family-sponsored preference adjustment of status. The revised process will better connect USCIS procedures with the US Department of State (DOS) procedures, which are used for foreign nationals who seek to become U.S. permanent residents by applying for immigrant visas at U.S. consulates and embassies abroad.

The Visa Bulletin revisions implement November 2014 executive actions on immigration announced by President Obama and Secretary of Homeland Security Johnson, as detailed in the White House report, Modernizing and Streamlining Our Legal Immigration System for the 21st century, issued in July 2015. 

What is Changing.

Two charts per visa preference category will be posted in the DOS Visa Bulletin:

• Application Final Action Dates (dates when visas may finally be issued); and
• Dates for Filing Applications (earliest dates when applicants may be able to apply).

Each month, in coordination with DOS, USCIS will monitor visa numbers and post the relevant DOS Visa Bulletin chart. Applicants can use the charts to determine when to file their Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status.

To determine whether additional visas are available, USCIS will compare the number of visas available for the remainder of the fiscal year with:

• Documentarily qualified visa applicants reported by DOS;
• Pending adjustment of status applications reported by USCIS; and
• Historical drop off rate (for example, denials, withdrawals, abandonments).

DOS publishes current immigrant visa availability information in a monthly Visa Bulletin. 

See here. 

New L-1B Specialized Knowledge Intracompany Transferee Memo - August 17, 2015.

A new USCIS August 17 2015 L-1B policy memorandum issued by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), provides guidance on the adjudication of the L-1B classification, which permits multinational companies to transfer employees who possess "specialized knowledge" from their foreign operations to their operations in the United States. It provides consolidated and authoritative guidance on the L-1B program, superseding and rescinding certain prior L-1B memoranda. Some practitioners expressed concerns that the memo still gives adjudicators broad discretion to issue requests for evidence (RFEs) and denials.

The memo notes the following "non-exhaustive" list of factors USCIS may consider when determining whether a beneficiary’s knowledge is specialized:

• The beneficiary possesses knowledge of foreign operating conditions that is of significant value to the petitioning organization's U.S. operations.
• The beneficiary has been employed abroad in a capacity involving assignments that have significantly enhanced the employer's productivity, competitiveness, image, or financial position.
• The beneficiary's claimed specialized knowledge normally can be gained only through prior experience with the petitioning organization.
• The beneficiary possesses knowledge of a product or process that cannot be easily transferred or taught to another individual without significant economic cost or inconvenience (because, for example, such knowledge may require substantial training, work experience, or education).
• The beneficiary has knowledge of a process or a product that either is sophisticated or complex, or of a highly technical nature, although not necessarily unique to the petitioning organization.
• The beneficiary possesses knowledge that is particularly beneficial to the petitioning organization's competitiveness in the marketplace.

>>Specialized knowledge generally cannot be commonly held, lacking in complexity, or easily imparted to other individuals. 

>>Specialized knowledge need not be proprietary or unique to the petitioning organization. 

>>The L-1B classification does not involve a test of the U.S. labor market.

>>Specialized knowledge workers need not occupy managerial or similar positions or command higher compensation than their peers.

See August 17, 2015 memo at http://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Laws/Memoranda/2015/L-1B_Memorandum_8_14_15_draft_for_FINAL_4pmAPPROVED.pdf

Mexican Police Officer denied asylum in USA: this can set a precedent for other pending asylum claims from former police officers.

C.Juarez, Mexico, Police Officer denied asylum in USA: this decision can set a
precedent for many other pending asylum claims from former police officers.

Feb 08, 2011.

Jose Alarcon, 27, was a cop in one of the world's most lawless cities. Wounded
in a gun battle with drug gangs in Juarez in 2008, he survived only to see his
partner killed in another gunfight. When Alarcon refused bribes from the city's
drug lords, he knew it was a matter of days before they killed him, too.
Alarcon, his wife and two young children fled to El Paso to seek asylum in the
United States.

In early January, Alarcon's asylum case was denied by a Dallas federal
immigration judge. The case could set a precedent for other Mexican police
officers seeking asylum in the U.S. It's difficult to determine how many
officers have requested asylum because U.S. immigration officials do not collect
the data. One of Alarcon's Dallas attorneys, Will Humble, said Texas lawyers
with cases scheduled before asylum judges have been calling his office since the
denial. "They're very anxious and want to see how the decision applies to their
clients," he says.

In Alarcon's case, the judge ruled that the dangers he faced as a police officer
in Juarez were "the risks police officers have to take," Humble says. He
declined to release the judge's decision to the Observer because it contains
details that could endanger Alarcon's life.

The number of Mexicans fleeing because of drug cartel violence continues to
escalate. The most violent city is Juarez, with 6,347 deaths in the past four
years. Despite the growing list of victims, at least 85 percent of Mexicans who
apply for asylum are denied, according to U.S. immigration statistics.
Applicants must prove they are members of a social, political or other group
targeted for persecution—a difficult standard.

Humble says Alarcon will appeal his case, which could take another 18 months.
Until then, the 27-year-old former police officer and his young family remain in
limbo in the United States. "He's just going to wait and pray that his case is
approved," Humble says

Read at: http://www.texasobserver.org/lalinea/juarez-officer-denied-us-asylum