I-601 Provisional Waivers will be adjudicated in USA before a foreign individual's departure abroad for consular processing of his visa and waiver.

"Provisional I-601 waivers" will be a big and welcome change from current practice of filing I-601 waivers abroad at the consulate and waiting for approval for many months or even years if denied.

USCIS proposes to allow the immigrants to obtain a "provisional waiver" in the United States, before they leave for their countries to pick up their visas. Having the waiver in hand will allow them to depart knowing that they will almost certainly be able to return, officials said. The agency is also seeking to sharply streamline the process to cut down the wait times for visas to a few weeks at most.

“The goal is to substantially reduce the time that the U.S. citizen is separated from the spouse or child when that separation would yield an extreme hardship,” said Alejandro Mayorkas, the director of the immigration agency.

On Friday January 6, 2012, the agency will publish a formal notice in the Federal Register that it is preparing a new regulation governing the waivers. But agency officials, speaking on condition of anonymity on Thursday before the proposal was formally announced, stressed that this was only the beginning of a long regulatory process that they hoped to complete by issuing a new rule before the end of this year (2012).

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/07/us/path-to-green-card-for-illegal-immigrant-family-members-of-americans.html?_r=1&smid=fb-share

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"U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) intends to change its current process for filing and adjudication of certain applications for waivers of inadmissibility filed in connection with an immediate relative immigrant visa application. Specifically, USCIS is considering regulatory changes that will allow certain immediate relatives of U.S. citizens to request provisional waivers under section 212(a)(9)(B)(v) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, as amended (INA or Act), 8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(9)(B)(v), PRIOR TO DEPARTING the United States FOR CONSULAR PROCESSING of their immigrant visa applications." - FR Doc. 2012-140 Filed 01/06/2012 at 8:45 am; Publication Date: 01/09/2012. 

Immigrant Visa processing in India is centralized to two consulates: Mumbai and New Delhi.

Mission India has centralized immigrant visa processing in two locations, Mumbai and New Delhi. As of this week Consulate General Chennai will no longer process IV petitions.


Read more at http://chennai.usconsulate.gov/immigrantstous.html

SCAM Alert: telephone scam targeting refugees from Bhutan.

From: Office of Refugee Resettlement (ACF)
Sent: Tuesday, January 03, 2012 2:09 PM
Subject: FYI: Warning of telephone grant scam targeting refugees
Importance: High

Dear friends,

The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) has been alerted to a new telephone scam apparently targeting Bhutanese refugees.  A man identifying himself as a representative of the “Federal Grants Department” calls from a Washington, DC-based telephone number, (202) 436-9601, informing recently resettled refugees that they are eligible to receive $10,000 because they are refugees from Bhutan .  To claim the money, they are instructed to produce a money order for $650, and call the telephone number for further instructions on where to send the money.  

Be advised that this is NOT a legitimate solicitation.

At least one refugee has been coerced into making multiple payments as “processing fees”, totaling more than $5,000.
So far, reports are localized in Texas , but ORR advises everyone to be aware of this scam and avoid giving any personal information or payments to unknown callers.

Please note that the federal government does not demand processing fees or security deposits from grant recipients.  If you are the target of a suspicious request, please contact your local police or resettlement agency for further assistance.

Please share widely within your own networks.

Thank you,
ORR

Creative solution: Canadian man was allowed to travel to U.S. using a copy of his passport on iPad.

A Canadian man who forgot his passport at home found a new way to gain entry to
USA — using a scanned copy of his Canadian passport on his iPad. And he was
allowed to enter the U.S. (after only 5-6 minutes wait) and to re-enter Canada
the same day.

"I see the future as 100 percent being able to cross with your identity on a
digital device — it's just a matter of time," he said.

http://www.usatoday.com

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In official statement released on Jan 4, 2012, the CBP denied that a Canadian citizen was allowed to enter the USA using a scanned copy of his passport on an iPad.

"The assertion that a traveler was admitted into the U.S. using solely a scanned image of his passport on an iPad is categorically false. In this case, the individual had both a driver's license and birth certificate, which the CBP officer used to determine identity and citizenship in order to admit the traveler into the country.

Since June 1, 2009, U.S. and Canadian citizens entering the U.S. by land or sea from within the Western Hemisphere are required to present a valid, WHTI-compliant document, which includes a passport, U.S. Passport card, Trusted Traveler card (NEXUS, SENTRI, FAST/EXPRES, or Global Entry), or enhanced driver's license/enhanced identification card. Scanned or digital images of WHTI-compliant documents are not accepted forms of identification. If a traveler does not present WHTI-compliant documents, CBP officers must determine identity and citizenship using a variety of other means, or deny entry."

http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/newsroom/news_releases/national/01042012_2.xml

U.S. citizen 14-year old girl from Dallas, TX, mistakenly deported to Colombia.

Dallas 14-year old African-American teen missing since fall 2010 was
"mistakenly" deported by ICE to Colombia in April 2011. Another U.S. citizen
mistakenly deported.

Read more at
http://www.wfaa.com/news/texas-news/Dallas-Teen-Is--Mistakenly-Deported--1366265\
33.html