No H or L Visa interviews to be scheduled in U.S. Consulate in Mumbai, India

March 3, 2011


U.S. Consulate General in Mumbai announces that, effective immediately, no new H or L visa appointments are available at post due to forced reduction in number of interview windows. 



If you have already scheduled an H or L visa interview appointment at the Mumbai 
Consulate, you may keep that interview time.  No new H or L visa appointments 
will be made at the Mumbai Consulate.  New H and L interviews may be 
scheduled at the other U.S. Consulates in India or the Embassy in New Delhi.


Appointments will be scheduled via VFS at https://www.vfsusa.co.in/USIndia/Index.html.  Appointment times can be found on the VFS 
website.



 http://mumbai.usconsulate.gov/media/pdf-visas/partial-reduction-in-visa-operations-.pdf

New filing location for USCIS Change of Address, AR-11, starting from March 15, 2011

Beginning March 15, 2011 all Change of Address, (Form AR-11) and Alien’s Change of
Address, (Form AR-11 SR) will change filing locations.  Now, you must file all change of
address forms at the following address:

DHS/USCIS
Harrisonburg File Storage Facility
Attn:  AR-11
1344 Pleasants Drive
Harrisonburg, VA 22801

Change of address forms mailed to the old location will be forwarded to the new filing location
for 45 days beginning March 15, 2011 until April 28, 2011.

You also have the option of notifying USCIS of a change of address online at www.uscis.gov

Chicago manager sentenced to 18 months in prison for hiring illegal immigrants

FEBRUARY 25, 2011

CHICAGO, IL

Manager of 2 Chicago-area staffing companies sentenced for hiring illegal aliens

CHICAGO - The president of two Chicago-area staffing companies that supplied temporary workers to suburban warehouses has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for hiring illegal aliens to form his labor pool. The sentence resulted from a worksite enforcement investigation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Clinton Roy Perkins, 66, was sentenced Feb. 16 to 18 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, for knowingly hiring illegal aliens at the staffing companies. He pleaded guilty in September 2010. On Feb. 25, U.S. District Judge Joan B. Gottschall also ordered the forfeiture of $465,178 in proceeds obtained as a result of the criminal activity.

Perkins, of Wayne, Ill., was the president of Anna II Inc., and Can Do It Inc., staffing companies located at 801 Golf Lane in Bensenville, Ill. Anna II/Can Do It provided both skilled and unskilled labor to clients operating warehouses in various suburbs. The workers performed janitorial services, loaded and unloaded freight packages and merchandise, and installed and removed structures inside warehouses.

In his plea agreement, Perkins admitted to knowingly hiring more than 10 illegal aliens from Mexico as temporary workers between October 2006 and October 2007. The illegal workers hired by Perkins were not required to provide documents establishing their immigration status or lawful right to work in the United States.

Perkins and his son-in-law, Chrispher Reindl, paid the illegal workers' wages in cash and failed to deduct payroll taxes or other withholdings. Perkins and Reindl directed low-level supervisory employees to transport illegal workers back and forth between locations near the aliens' residences in Chicago and work sites in the suburbs. Both also provided bogus six-digit numbers - purporting to be the last six digits of the aliens' Social Security numbers - to a company, knowing that their workers were in the country illegally and did not possess valid Social Security numbers.

Reindl pleaded guilty in November to hiring illegal workers and is scheduled for sentencing in March.

"We will hold employers accountable for their actions," said Gary Hartwig, special agent in charge of ICE HSI in Chicago. "Mr. Perkins knowingly hired an illegal workforce and circumvented our nation's immigration laws for financial gain. The goal of our enforcement efforts is two-fold - reduce the demand for illegal employment and protect job opportunities for the nation's lawful workforce."

Read at http://www.ice.gov/news/releases/1102/110225chicago.htm

Texas Attorney General charged 6 Notaries with immigration fraud. Only attorneys can offer immigration legal services in U.S.A.

Feb 23, 2011

MCALLEN, Texas — Attorney General Greg Abbott says six individuals and their
businesses have been shut down over alleged immigration-related fraud in South
Texas.

Abbott on Wednesday announced six so-called "notaries" are accused of violating
the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, the state Notary Public Act and the
State Bar Act.
The lawsuits, filed in Hidalgo and Cameron counties, led to temporary
restraining orders and injunctions.

The six are: Anna Trejo; Dora Maria Resendez; Josefina Fonseca, doing business
as Fonseca Services; Maria Alvarado, doing business as Mary's Bookkeeping &
Income Tax; Maria Yolanda Solis; and Emilio Zabala, doing business as Azteca
Immigration.

** State investigators say all six are commissioned Texas notaries public, but
falsely claimed to be able to handle immigration cases.

The state seeks civil penalties of up to $20,000 per violation.

Read more at: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/7442527.html

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