Articles Posted in Top Immigration Stories

Elvira Sosa left Mexico for the United States more than 30 years ago, but last year was the first time she’d been counted as part of the U.S. Census.

Sosa was among thousands of illegal immigrants in Los Angeles who filled out a census form last year, and city officials said the response, especially among Latinos, might have saved the area money and congressional representation.

The increased count was purposeful: A Census Bureau outreach program urged undocumented workers to fill out the census and assured them that nothing on the form could be used against them.

The program included Spanish call centers that would field questions about the census, plus billboards, bus advertisements and fliers with information. Celebrities publicized the census, too.

The response: The 2010 census showed that the numbers of Latinos living in this country increased by 43%, from 35 million to more than 50 million, during the past 10 years.

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The principality of Liechtenstein got the green light Monday from the European Union for its long-sought admission into the world of relaxed borders of Europe’s Schengen zone. The European Council ratified the final agreement in the official acceptance process, the council said late Monday.

But the process won’t be finished until the tiny Alpine country, with its population of 36,000, shows evidence that it meets Schengen standards for data protection and police cooperation.

“The admission of Liechtenstein to the Schengen region could finally take place in the second half of 2011, when Poland has the EU presidency,” said Liechtenstein’s Interior Minister Hugo Quaderer. Entry into the Schengen agreement means not only that systematic passport controls at the border are done away with, but also that Liechtenstein commits to working more closely with police and justice officials of other member states.

The tiny country, bordered by Switzerland to the west and south and Austria to the east, is not a member of the European Union. After successive expansions, the Schengen agreement now includes 25 countries, including the 22 members of the EU as well as the associate members Norway, Iceland and Switzerland.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Catholic Charities, Santa Rosa and Petaluma Adult School will host a free information session at the Catholic Charities Immigration Services Office on March 19. The objective is to help immigrants better understand the naturalization process, including the content of the naturalization test, and to become familiar with free educational resources and materials available from the agency. Those who attend will also learn how to avoid being victimized by people not authorized to practice immigration law.

The public is invited, and USCIS personnel will be on hand to discuss the naturalization process step-by-step, and provide information about eligibility and residency requirements, application forms, fees, the background security check and processing times. Participants will also see sample questions from the new test, and will receive an overview of U.S. history and civic principles. Free educational materials will be handed out while supplies last.

To reach out to the vast Indian community, which has one of the highest penetrations of Internet users among all ethnic communities in the States, Indian embassy in U.S. launched its Facebook page recently.

It’s a part of the efforts of its Ambassador Meera Shankar to reach out to the ever-increasing and vibrant Indian-American community. “We are happy to announce the launch of the Facebook account of the Embassy. The address is http://www.facebook.com/pages/Embassy-of-India-Washington-DC/164730746912290,” Embassy spokesman Virander Paul said in a statement. “Please join the group and also invite other ‘friends of India’ to join,” he said.

The ‘Maximum India’ festival being launched by the Kennedy Center from March 1 is one of the few first messages on the page.

“Join and enjoy the splendour of ‘Maximum India’ – a mega festival hosted by the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in cooperation with the Indian Council for Cultural Relations and the Embassy of India, Washington DC from March 1-20, 2011,” the Embassy said.

Visa-free travel with the occupied regions of Georgia will be established by Russia soon. In March Moscow will ratify relevant agreements with puppet regimes in Sukhumi and Tskhinvali. The Duma committee for foreign affairs was instructed to prepare papers for consideration.

In particular, a special regime for stay of Russian militaries in Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region was also determined. Soldiers-contractors and members of their families will be able to travel to the occupied territory with just their service passports. And recruits will need passports of Russian citizens and their military cards.

As to civilians, residents of Russia and the occupied territories will be able to pass through a checkpoint on the Psou and Roki with their internal documents. Thus, in fact, Moscow brings regulatory framework in line with the existing order of things.

The Philippine Embassy in Washington D.C. will conduct a consular outreach service in Atlanta, Georgia on 27 March 2011, Sunday, from 9:00 am to 12:00 noon and 1:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

The Embassy’s consular team will accept and process applications for electronic passport (ePassport), notarization of documents, and registration of births and marriages. Passport applicants are no longer required to bring photographs since they will have their pictures taken using ePassport data capturing machines at the outreach site. However, they still need to bring other necessary requirements, such as their current passport, the passport application form which may be downloaded from www.philippineembassy-usa.org, an application fee of $60.00 (cash or money order payable to the Philippine Embassy) and a self-addressed stamped (Express Mail with tracking number) envelope, or a prepaid courier envelope, with their application.

The outreach program will also include an oath-taking ceremony for individuals who will reacquire their Filipino citizenship under the Dual Citizenship Law. The oath taking will be only for applicants who will send their applications to the Embassy not later than 18 March 2011. The consular services will be held at RV Industries, 1665 Heraeus Blvd., Buford, GA 30518.

In early 2010, the visa process to enter Iraq was both liberal and easily accessible taking only around 24 to 72 hours to go through the relevant procedures and paperwork. Officials were so flexible in fact that expats who went home for the holidays without first obtaining a re entry visa for their return were simply waived through, rather than being redirected all the way to Amman to obtain permission.

Mr Karoly Niklasz Move One’s Operations Coordinator in Iraq said that this easygoing attitude has since changed considerably. Now everything is different due to changes the Iraqi government has installed.

Instead of the original five forms, now eight separate documents need to be filled out, two of which are in Arabic. Moreover, the administration process has been prolonged to at least 14 days. As of February 2011, Iraqi authorities have extended the process even further to a total of 21 days which led to complaints by the US Embassy and has caused disagreements between the two countries.

Mr Karoly said that what makes the situation even more complicated is the fact that the Iraqi Government is demanding a billion dollars from the US for damages caused to Baghdad, claiming that everything is still surrounded by T walls and that army convoys use public parks as through routes, etc.

With seven offices located throughout Iraq, Move One employees have all the necessary documentation, work permits and visas needed to reside and operate legally within the country. Our extensive local knowledge of the region dates back to 2003 and has helped us build a successful track record in handling everything from small shipments to heavy, over sized cargo for a variety of customers in the oil and gas industry as well as civil reconstruction.

China has reached an agreement with Russia on mutual exemption of visa requirements for Heixiazi Island, vice governor of Heilongjiang Province Jiahao Du said on Tuesday. The Island, a 327 sq km sandbar in the middle of the confluence of the Heilongjiang and Wusuli Rivers, has long been a source of conflict between China and Russia and a major border irritant since it was seized by the Red Army in 1929.

China has restored sovereign control over half of Heixiazi Island from Russia since October 14, 2008 after the two countries jointly unveil a stone monument on the Island. Heilongjiang has unfurled plans to develop the Chinese side of Heixiazi as a tourist resort, including hotels and a free trade shopping area.

Anyone applying to visit the United States on a non-immigrant visa from March 1, 2011, will have to pay their visa fees at Guaranty Trust Bank, and no longer the United Bank for Africa (UBA). The U.S. Embassy in Nigeria announced that applicants who have already scheduled appointments for March or April with the embassy in Abuja or the U.S. Consulate General in Lagos must pay the $140 visa application fee at a UBA branch no later than February 28.

Visa fee collection services will no longer be available at UBA after February 28. According to the embassy, the shift to GTB is a result of an ongoing realignment of contracts between the U.S. Department of State and companies which provide visa appointment services.

The US Embassy in Accra on Wednesday announced new non-immigrant visa appointment service with effect from March 1, 2011. Under the new system, non-immigrant visa applicants in English Speaking West African countries would pay their application fees at Ecobank branches instead of Standard Chartered Bank and complete their application form (CEAC/DS-160) online.

Mr Michael Evans, Consular Chief at the US Embassy, said the new service system would require non-immigrant visa applicants to schedule appointments through the US Visa Information Service at www.ustraveldocs.com or by calling 233-263011685 which is a call center for further inquiries.

Briefing newsmen, he said the process and fee for US non-immigrant visa application remained the same except that the new system had included a life operator service which would allow applicants to call the US Service Center for more information. Mr Evans assured the public that the new service was now more user-friendly and had sophisticated inputs to prevent fraud or any form of manipulations to protect the integrity of the system. He said the new system had special visa categories which made it easier for the Consulate to know how many visas were given to a particular category daily.

Mr Evans explained that the change of bankers was due to the fact that the new operating contractors of the US Visa application system had an existing contract with Ecobank Ghana and therefore it was important that they honored their agreement with the bank. However, he explained that applicants who had Standard Chartered bank receipts and had already scheduled visa appointments through the current online system should proceed via the current process as they would not be affected by this change.

Mr Evans said applicants who had paid their MRV fee prior to March 1, but had not scheduled an appointment would be given up to April 30 to schedule an appointment or would forfeit it and would have to pay the MRV fee again if they had not scheduled an appointment before the set date. He said the new online visa application system had now become the standard product world-wide for all applicants and urged Ghanaians to educate themselves about the new application process to avoid being duped by middlemen.

Mr Evans said the US Embassy did not have any special contract or ties with anybody or persons, but dealt directly with clients as individuals.