IssueNet Archive - August 2008
IssueNet submissions fall into two categories - Report an Issue and Get Liaison Help.
Report an Issue submissions are forwarded to Policy and Practice Committee point people, who send monthly reports with their analyses and recommendations to the Policy and Practice Committee for prioritization and follow up. Submissions to Get Liaison Help go directly to Regulatory Ombuds who follow up with USCIS liaisons at the Service Centers to assist you. To read case submissions from the past month, click on the type of case below.
Your IssueNet submissions are used for:
- Agendas for liaison calls and meetings with agency personnel
- Prioritizing NAFSA's practice advocacy agenda
- Anecdotal support for policy advocacy
- Identifying areas for development of training and resources
See What Happened to Your Input!
Visit the Policy & Practice Committee Monthly Update and the SEVIS Liaison Call Summaries.
Total Issues Submitted This Month: 105
Get Liaison Help
| Type of Case |
Submissions
|
| I-765 |
37 |
| I-539 |
10 |
| I-129 |
10 |
| SEVIS |
2 |
| DOS Waiver Case (212e) |
1 |
| Total this Month |
64 |
Education Abroad
|
Submissions |
| Student (US citizen) applied for the biometric student visa for the UK in early July and does not know the status of her visa application. On 7/2/08 she went for biometrics processing. Shortly after she sent her supporting documentation via UPS to the British Consulate. UPS record indicates her documentation was received by the Consulate on 7/8/08. Despite messages to the program website and three phone calls (@ $12 each) the student hasn’t heard anything. She has a ticket for the group flight departing for London on 9/3/08. The program begins on 9/4/08. Adviser and student understood the visa process to take about 2 weeks; 7 weeks have passed. |
1 |
Student submitted her visa application (she forgot to actually send her actual passport the first time) and resent her documents with her passport. Student is departing on Sept. 4th and her confirmation email from Consulate of the UK said it would take 10 days. Adviser has been looking for a number or contact to assist her with following up on this and cannot get hold of anyone.
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1 |
| Student who was to leave for London on 8/26 and has not yet received her visa. She called the program’s service line and was told processing could take up to 15 business days, while the UK website indicated it would take 5 days. She has rescheduled her flight once and has no way to know if she will need to reschedule it again or how many times she may need to reschedule her flight--obviously paying the airlines each time. |
1 |
Student sent in his student visa application via US Postal Service’s priority mail to the British Consulate on August 18, 2008. Included in that packet was a pre-paid return envelope. Student plans to depart for the UK on Tuesday, 2 September 2008, for semester long study abroad program. He has not yet received his passport and visa. How can student and adviser find out if he will receive these before his departure date?
NAFSA Note: To inquire about a UK visas issue:
1) Report it to NAFSA on IssueNet’s Report an Issue at www.nafsa.org/issuenet
2) Fax a letter directly to your particular consulate outlining the issue and contact details for your office.
3) Call the Worldbridge Service Line: This either costs $12.00 flat rate or $3.00 per minute depending on where you are calling from.
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1 |
| Students studying in Mexico have always had to pay a nominal fee to change from a tourist to student visa after their arrival in Mexico; however, this year the fee has increased dramatically. This fall, adviser sent three semester and one academic year student. Upon arrival, the students were informed that they are required to pay approximately $300 US in order to obtain a student visa to study in Mexico. The academic year student knew that she would have to pay a substantial fee to obtain a student visa -- adviser had told her that this fee would be approximately $186 US. The three semester students are very upset because they were not informed of the $300 fee prior to their departure. The university was not informed, so was not able to inform the students. Upon contacting a colleague in Mexico, adviser learned that the $300 fee was instituted in July 2008 prior to our students' leaving to study in Mexico. Adviser contacted the Mexican Consulate and was told that students studying for 6 months or less in Mexico do not need a student visa to study in Mexico. Have the Mexican visa requirements for US students studying in Mexico changed and is the fee now approx. $300 US per student? |
1 |
F Student Issues
|
Submissions |
Advisers would like to clarify a specific directive given by ICE (reported below) regarding eligibility for on-campus employment for F-1 students while on OPT or CPT. ICE’s answers on its web site (http://www.ice.gov/sevis/employment/faq_f_on1.htm#_1_13) to the following question is: 1.13. Can F 1 students work on-campus if they are participating in practical training (OPT or CPT)? Yes, but only if it is pre-completion OPT or CPT and their total work hours for all work do not exceed 20 hours while school is in session. They may work full-time during those periods when school is not in session or during the student’s annual break.
Advisers found that the answer given above by ICE has unclear reference to the actual regulation, 214.2(f)(9)(i) – On-campus employment of which advisers cite a partial relevant passage: “Employment authorized under this paragraph must not exceed 20 hours a week while school is in session” Advisers consider OPT and CPT as a type of off-campus training granted/recommended exclusively for academic reasons/requirements. OPT and CPT are qualitatively different from on-campus employment. They respectively follow different and specific regulatory guidelines and eligibility criteria and do not appear to hold much in common with generic on-campus employment. Advisers would like to request a re-evaluation of the question above with a clear rationale so that – based on the answer – advisers would be able to correctly advise our international students.
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1 |
| US Consular Affairs and Visas |
Submissions |
Our office has received information regarding an issue an Exchange Visitor has encountered when applying for a J Visa in Copenhagen. According to the Non-Immigrant Visa Unit/JB at the U.S. Embassy in Denmark: "9 FAM 41 62 N8.3 (included below) prohibits issuing J visas to applicants who are expected to arrive after the start date listed on the DS-2019. Unless the EV has previously been issued a J visa and is seeking a visa to continue participation in an Exchange Visitor Program, this office will need her to change her start date. Per 9 FAM 41.62 N8.4, the EV in question is allowed to enter the US up to 30 days before the visa start date. Per 9 FAM 41.62 N8.6, the EV in question is allowed to stay in the US up to 30 days after the expiration date of the visa."
The representative at the U.S. Embassy cites:
9 FAM 41.62 N8.3 Suspension of Cases Involving Unrealizable Reporting Dates (CT: VISA-987; 07-31-2008)
a. Action on the application must be suspended if the program start date specified in the applicant's Form DS-2019, Certificate of Eligibility for Exchange Visitor (J-1) Status, is already past or the consular officer believes that the applicant will be unable to meet that date. The officer should review the Consolidated Consular Database (CCD) to determine whether the sponsor has amended the SEVIS record to change the program start date. If this has not already been done, the applicant must request the sponsor enter a new program begin date in SEVIS that the applicant can meet.
Based on this, the US representative would not issue a visa for a scholar whose program was supposed to start on 09/01/2008 and that is actually coming to the US on 09/06/2008. This is the first time we have encountered this problem. In fact, we have operated on the assumption that, as long as the EV can enter the US within 30 days after the program start date, and as long as their record is validated within the same window of time, normally the EV is not going to experience problems. Is this a new regulation that is being implemented? If so, is NAFSA going to do anything about it? In our experience, a great number of the exchange visitors arrive to the US after the program Start Date.
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1 |
| An applicant for F visa reports that he went to the Embassy for interview and was rejected because he did not speak enough English. The applicant reports that the consular official (described as "looking mean and angry") spoke in a very condescending manner when the applicant asked if he could speak in his native language, saying words to the effect of "what, you can't speak enough English to answer me? Then you shouldn't be getting a visa to study in English." The adviser’s institution has an intensive ESL program and offers admission to students without demonstrated English proficiency since they can join the ESL program; this is clearly stated in the materials. The applicant had to reappear the next day with transcripts and the officer again said "if you don't speak English today you won't get a visa," so the student tried his best. Finally the officer said "you can learn English here so study here and learn English then apply again." The student and adviser complain both of the violation of policy (English proficiency should not be a cause for denial if a student is coming to study English) and the poor attitude of the official. |
1 |
Adviser submits an update to submission about case on 7/7/08. New scholar applied for his J-1 visa on 5/26/08 in Jordan. As of 8/17/08, security check is still pending. The scholar's appointment at our institution was to begin on 7/1/08 and his arrival has been delayed.
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1 |
A U.S. Consulate Mexico has begun to issue F-3 border commuter visas to all Mexican national students (full and part-time) who live in Mexico and commute to class. This creates a problem for a student who wishes to study full-time and work on campus while living at home and commuting to school since the F-3 visa only permits part-time study for Border Commuter Students. The consulate states that if a student lives in Mexico they must be on an F-3 visa but they can still study full-time and work on campus. This is not in agreement with regulations which govern the F-3 visa. Adviser currently has several new students who have enrolled for full-time study but their F-3 visa only authorizes them for part-time.
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1 |
| Adviser has now had two students who have had SAOs pending for more than 45 days at this point. One had his visa appointment on June 23rd and one had her visa appointment on June 26th. Anecdotal discussions on the ISTA network indicate that a number of schools are experiencing similar problems with visa applications particularly from this country. |
1 |
| Adviser reports that Georgian students are not being able to apply for their visa renewals at the US Consulate. Though it's a small number on our campus (a total of about 8 and currently approximately 3 Georgian graduate students are having to travel to Turkey to apply for visas), it's still a heavy burden to bear for these students. This situation has seriously delayed their return and has been costly to the students. Adviser tried working through our congressional representative to seek an exception; the Consulate was still unwilling to provide a visa interview for a J1 doctoral student. |
1 |
A Chinese citizen had first interview at US Consulate July 22, 2008. Supplementary documents were required to submit to them after this date. The second interview was on July 24, 2008. Supplementary documents were submitted and application was complete by this date. A notice of suspension was given to the student, saying that his application would be under administrative review and he needed to wait for further notice of the result. The student needed to attend an oral exam on Aug 25th and a written exam by the Maths Dept on Aug 26th.
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1 |
Adviser submits update to submission about this same case on 7/29/08. Postodoctoral Associate in Chemical Engineering applied for H-1B visa on 6/19/08. As of 8/12/08 security clearance is still pending. The faculty supervisor is very concerned. Not only has the scholar's research been delayed but two research contracts are in jeopardy.
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1 |
| Adviser reports that the administrative review delay for Mantis case seems to be exceeding 6-8 weeks. Adviser has had one case pending in Moscow since June 5th, a case pending in Beijing since June 10 and three in China since end of June and early July, (not to mention the Iranian case that has been pending since April 29th). The Visa Office is always very kind and willing to check on these cases, but are in general these reviews are taking longer this summer than in the previous past summer or two. |
1 |
A graduate student wanting to complete a Master's applied for an F-1 visa in June, July and will apply again on 08/21/08. Adviser called local Congressman's office to intervene. The student stated she was given a standardized letter stating that she was denied because she either did not convincingly prove that she would return to her home country or that she did not show adequate finances. Adviser asked Congressman's office to get more clarification and intervene. In a phone call of 8.15.08 from the Congressman's office adviser learned that the Congressman's office staff member had a phone conversation with a US Embassy official, not one that had met with the student, but works with F-1 visas. The congressional staff reports that the embassy official stated that the student needed to "Articulate the goal of how her studies would help her pursue employment in her home country," that "she needs to have a compelling case to be successful in the interview," and that “the student was not to be submissive or vague even if it was not her cultural norm." Then the officer stated that "he makes decisions about the student when applying for the visa in the time it takes to walk from the entry/waiting area to the time it takes to get to his office/desk, about 100 yards." In this time he decides if the student will "fit in" and if "their language ability is adequate."
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1 |
H-1B researcher in chemistry (who had been in H-1B status for several years already) had visa interview in home country 7/22/2008 and was told that it was approved and he should expect his passport via courier service in 3 weeks (which is more than the posted time on their website). After more than 4 weeks he had not received his passport nor any other notification from Embassy. H-1B researcher called the Embassy (had very difficult time getting through) and was told that it was in administrative processing and could take from 1 week to 1 year - adviser assumed this meant a clearance or advisory opinion was needed. Adviser believed that he should have been notified (either at the interview or shortly thereafter) that the case had been sent for administrative processing and not 1 month later when the scholar contacted them. Adviser has tried to contact the Embassy (without success) to find out when the case was sent for a clearance/SAO. The NIV section does not provide an e-mail address; adviser has sent faxes (and an email to an address received from the DOS Country Desk Officer) but has not received a response. The individual that the adviser was told to contact does not have voicemail (and hasn't picked up the phone during business hours) so adviser cannot contact anyone or leave a message.
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1 |
| Entry and Travel |
Submissions |
Is there a regulatory requirement that advisers must have a written or electronic departure notice from F-1/J-1 students or scholars? If so, where is the citation?
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1 |
| Social Security |
Submissions |
The student applied for social security card and has been pending since January. Her initial date of application was January 18th 2008. She received a letter from the Social Security Administration on February 20, 2008, but there is no word of the process nor is there any request for further evidence.
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1 |
| SEVIS issues |
Submissions |
Adviser reports receiving several calls from former students that returned home prior to completing a program and now have a flag in the system due to a “terminate-authorized early withdrawal. It seems Embassies and USCBP can only see terminate, or if there is the word “terminate” it creates a flag. It would be great if this could be addressed so there is either another way to list an early departure or the Authorized Early Withdrawal not be flagged.
NAFSA Note: See #10 of the July 2007 SEVIS monthly teleconference for guidance on removing flags for non-adverse terminations. In addition, SEVP is considering a different status in a future SEVIS release for these types of “benign” terminations, e.g. making the SEVIS record “Inactive” in cases where a non-prejudicial termination reason was used, and providing more information in the records so that POE officers can see additional details during their decision-making process.
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1 |
After consulting the usual documents for the answer and consulting with knowledgeable colleagues and not getting a consistent answer, the adviser emailed policy.sevis[at]dhs.gov for advice. The adviser sent the email on 7/7/08 and resent the message on 7/22/08. As of 8/14/08 the adviser has not received any response from SEVIS policy. The issue is that an F-1 student is separated from her F-2 husband. She has filed for divorce. She wants to remove him as a dependent now, prior to the divorce being final. Does the divorce have to be final before the dependent is removed? What documentation is necessary to remove a dependent? Is the adviser using the wrong email?
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1 |
A student who needs one more class to graduate has been expecting to take it on-line. SEVP now will not allow it. Immigration is suggesting that someone who has been studying for a degree and is on the verge of completing is going to be a security threat if permitted to take an on-line course during their final semester. It’s in the SEVIS Technical and Policy Conference Call of March 26, 2008, Item #7: Distance education during final semester of study. Under 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(f)(6)(i)(G), “No more than the equivalent of one on-line/distance education class or 3 credits per session may count towards the "full course of study" requirement.” Could SEVP clarify how the restriction on distance education courses impacts students who are in their final semester? If a student has only one more class to take in their final semester of study, may that class be a distance education class? SEVP Response: If a student needs only one course to finish his or her program of study, it cannot be taken through on-line/distance education. There must be a physical presence requirement for the course. If a student remains in the United States without reporting to any class, it becomes a security issue and cannot be allowed.
Adviser has three questions: first, do these SEVP Conference Call answers have the force of law, i.e., regulations? Perhaps they can just be taken as "guidance." Second, would a student be violating their F-1 status if they just took one on-line course (and nothing else) in their final semester? Finally, what is NAFSA doing to get SEVP to retract this position?
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1 |
Two students who requested Cap Gap I-20s with the requested evidence of properly filed H-1B petitions had their records automatically completed on 8/2/2008. Ticket was opened on 5/16/2008 and resolved on 6/24/2008. Other ticket was opened on 5/13/2008 and resolved on 6/17/2008. Resolutions from SEVIS Help Desk were both after the 6/2/2008 date listed in SEVP Policy Guidance 9.1.1 for a properly filed H-1B petition. Both I-20s stated on pg 1 "F-1 status and employment authorization for this student have been automatically extended to September 30, 2008. The student is authorized to remain ..." These were among the first Cap Gap data fixes to be received by our institution. Adviser printed the I-20s from SEVIS and a copy of the Student Information Screens in SEVIS on the day of resolution. Pg3 of the I-20 was completely blank (no OPT information). Student A contacted ISSSO requesting to start a new degree level and found the student's record had been automatically completed. The only written documentation seen/received by the DSO and student regarding the Cap Gap extension was the I-20 which stated in writing that employment was extended until 9/30/2008. SEVIS Help Desk says student is beyond 60 days, when nothing in SEVIS showed 6/2 or 8/2. It appears SEVIS Help Desk and DSO are looking at different screens.
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1 |
| Adviser helped a current student in F status contact a previous private high school he attended to get a replacement copy of an I-20. The student wrote a letter of release and signed it. Institution faxed it to the school and requested the school fax a copy of the previous I-20 to institution for the student's use. The fax was simply a means to facilitate the student getting the copy quickly. The school refused to send the student a copy of the I-20 stating they were advised by SEVIS never to release any information containing the SEVIS ID number. The school even refused to mail a copy of the I-20 directly to the student. It would be great if there was more outreach by SEVP and NAFSA to provide training and practice resources to the high schools and prep schools. |
1 |
Service Center Issues
Region I
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Submissions |
| Adviser reports an increase in the number of RFEs for student who are in post-baccalaureate programs (either second bachelor degrees or certificate programs) requesting such information as "copies of courses along with explanation as to what the particular course is engaged in [sic]; an explanation as to what you hope to gain if you are to receive OPT in this field of study; what type of degree or certificate you will actually be receiving and what experience you will gain from receiving whatever type of degree your course of study provides." This seems excessive; especially when advisers have indicated on the I-20 and in SEVIS that the "other" program is a post- baccalaureate program and what is the student's major field of study. |
1 |
| Region II |
Submissions |
Adviser reports two new situations - 2 students having been denied OPT because of H1B approval - with 2 months gap:
1. One student was on CPT – until 08/08 – got denied OPT because of H1B. However, when she contacted the company lawyer, he said she was fine to go on working at the company without OPT even before H1B takes over on October 1st. Apparently the H1B will cover the gap…Do adviser need to keep her active as an F-1 during that time or is she already in H1B Status?
NAFSA note: The current regulations only extend duration of status and post-completion OPT work authorization, not CPT work authorization (the regulations only extend “employment authorization granted under 8 CFR 274a12(c)(3)(i)(B) and (C),” which includes post-completion Optional and Practical Training and 17-month STEM post-completion OPT extension). If the student is a beneficiary of a cap-subject H-1B, the benefit start date will be 10/1/08, on which date the SEVIS record should be auto-completed/terminated due to the change of status.
2. The other student’s SEVIS file was “TERMINATED”. Because of COS, adviser received a RFE, asking to contact SEVP and indicate when the H1B was starting (which is strange since date is standard), but the odd part was that in SEVIS, the OPT is showing as “approved.”
Why deny OPT when there are still 2 months to cover? Students had paid their OPT fee, they had all the rights to be granted this EAD card even for a short period of time.
NAFSA Note: If a student’s record was terminated due to a change of status, contact the SEVIS HelpDesk to request a data fix.
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1 |
Region III
|
Submissions |
| H-1B/H-4 extension submitted December 31, H-4s received approved April 8, 2008. The H-1B Approval Notice has never been received. |
1 |
Region IV
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Submissions |
| Student left the USA to return home while his STEM Extension OPT is requested. Student thought that because he was permitted to continue working while the request was pending that it would not be a problem. He was denied his visa but they are willing to work with him if he can get a letter/notice that his STEM Extension is approved. He applied for the STEM extension and has a receipt notice date of July 7, 2008. Is there any way to expedite his application? If approved can they fax the receipt notice to the embassy? And to the student? |
1 |
Adviser reports experiencing problems with processing I-765 OPT applications. Adviser has students being told it will take 5 mos. Is there an expedite procedure for DSO's? If so what are the criteria? Adviser has received conflicting information from the SC. Is the cap-gap process working? Advisers are experiencing waits of 4-6 weeks which is unacceptable; students are losing jobs, drivers’ licenses, and the ability to travel. Should advisers tell students that cap-gap I-20's are unavailable since Oct. 1, is 5 weeks away? What happened to Upgrade 5.10? The slides are available but no functionality.
NAFSA note: Expedite processes differ by Service Center. Most Service Centers (except Vermont Service Center) allow a DSO to request an expedite through the student liaison fax or email. Students and members of the public may only request expedited processing through the USCIS National Customer Service Center (1-800-375-5283). For more information, see Immigration Resources for International Student and Scholar Advisers and Expedite or Correction Requests.
NAFSA Note: NAFSA note: According to SEVP, SEVIS 5.10 went live 8/8/08. If you are experiencing difficulty, please contact the SEVIS HelpDesk.
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1 |
| Adviser writes in regards to OPT processing at the Service Center. It had been a very good year for OPT processing. Students were receiving cards in 45-60 days. However, processing has slowed significantly in the past 1-2 months. Adviser has four applications pending over 100 days. One in particular has been pending for 114 days even though an expedite was requested over three weeks ago. |
1 |
Region VI
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Submissions |
Adviser submitted an application for change of status from J-2 to F-1. On receipt notice from the Service Center, the student’s date of birth is listed incorrectly. Her Class on the receipt notice is also listed as "F1 Returning Worker". Student phoned the SC to ask about the date of birth error and the class type and SC said to contact them again if she does not hear from them within 45 days. They said the information on their side is correct and that she does not need to worry about the class type. Is there a way to fix her date of birth before the application is adjudicated? Is the class type a problem?
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1 |
| USCIS notified student who applied for OPT in March that they sent an RFE but it was never received. DHS has assured adviser that issue has been sent to this student's case manager for expedition. Initially the RFE was because the student's program end date was incorrect and it appeared that he was applying for pre-completion OPT. Adviser corrected that error in SEVIS and contacted DHS representative, who said that was all adviser needed to do. When adviser checked a few weeks later, DHS representative informed adviser that there was an RFE for the same issue, which was fixed. Again, adviser told representative that it was fixed and re-sent the confirmation e-mail, which was acknowledged. Adviser is checking on student's OPT and it is still not adjudicated. Adviser not getting help from USCIS. Student has a job lined up and needs to start on September 15th but can't do anything until the OPT is approved. |
1 |
Region VII
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Submissions |
| Starting from July 2008, SC has been sending RFEs stating that students have already used their 12 months of OPT, and requesting that the student prove his/her eligibility for current OPT application. All of these students have had OPT previously, at a lower educational level. All have properly indicated the previous employment authorization, approval date and service center info on the I-765 and provided a copy of the previous EAD with that application. Adviser has never received RFEs for this before. Why is this suddenly an issue? Why does USCIS not have access to the information that we input into SEVIS on a daily basis, or have a record of its own processes and previous approvals? |
1 |
Adviser reports two OPT I-765 cases this past semester in which the students' filing fee checks bounced. Institution received Notices of Action informing them that the USCIS Debt Management Center would send an invoice which must be paid within 14 days. In both cases, the invoice was never received. In both cases, the students contacted the Debt Management Center by phone and paid the filing fee and penalty - money was taken from their bank accounts. In both cases, their I-765 was denied for non-payment on the grounds that they had not paid within 14 days. When does the 14 days begin? In one case, the Notice of Action was dated 07/09/2008 and the student paid by phone on 07/10/2008. In the second case, the Case Status Online indicated that a notice was sent on 07/08/2008 giving 14 days to correct the problem. The money was taken from the student's bank account on 07/07/2008.
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| Adviser reports student I-765 for OPT has been pending for five months (since 03/07/2008.) Student was due to start OPT on 05/06/2008. Student was approved for H-1B to begin 10/01/2008 but company now wants to withdraw the job offer because OPT approval has taken so long. Adviser is working with NAFSA Liaison but would like it to be recorded that this situation has caused severe hardship to the student. He had to sell his car to buy food and is now preparing to go home because, even if his OPT is approved, he is uncertain whether or not he will be able to find another job within the 90 day unemployment window. Additionally, the likelihood of him "winning" the H-1B lottery a second time is slim. They were told by SC that they don't feel this case is urgent as they are currently working on I-765 cases filed in April. However, we have recently been receiving cards for cases filed as late as June. |
1 |
Region X
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Submissions |
Several students have called the DHS USCIS National Customer Service Center number (800-375-5283) to ask about receipts for OPT applications (applications submitted over months ago and no receipt ever received). They identified themselves, had the receipt number obtained from cancelled check and asked to verify their address, to make sure the notice was being sent to correct address, and give the correct address and request another receipt to be sent. The USCIS personnel told these students that they could not tell them [sic] address the receipt was sent to or let them give correct address, that all information was confidential. One said the student should assume they have the correct address, even though receipt was never received. Other students have called this same number with the same issue, and the USCIS personnel were able to help- told them the address the receipt was sent to, got the correct address and sent another copy of the receipt. So some of the employees seem to have had the correct training. The students have to keep calling, spending 15 to 30 minutes each time, until they get a properly trained USCIS person to help them.
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1 |
| Adviser reports issue involving how to file a concurrent O-1 for someone already in O-1(B) artist status who is coming to institution to teach in their area of expertise. School has had numerous cases approved which simply piggyback on the artist category and contain the same supporting documents as the case already approved. Advisers just add an advisory opinion and the case has always been approved. But on 8/6/08 they got an RFE from the premium center stating "You have not established that the beneficiary is among the few who has risen to the top of the field as a college professor." There are a couple issues here. 1) Is USCIS saying that because the person is coming to teach, school needs to make the case that the artist is actually extraordinary in the field of education? This will be a difficult case to make. Their credentials in the field of art will more logically fall under the evidence required for artists. Shouldn't they be choosing the Artist category, despite their coming to teach, since this is the individual's area of expertise? 2) Top notch research Universities generally hire faculty who are accomplished academics most notably for their scholarly work not for their teaching ability. |
1 |
Region XI
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Submissions |
Adviser mailed an H-1B petition to SC Premium Processing by regular mail on 07/29/2008. Received an e-mail confirmation from SC on 08/08/2008 listing the received date as 08/08/2008. It appears that there was a delay in logging this petition in as received. Even with regular mail, it should not take 10 days for mail to get to the Service Center.
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1 |
| This is to report an issue in general as advisers were informed that NAFSA leaders and liaisons will be meeting with the officials at service centers over next two months. Advisers find many mistakes on the approval notices, and they've been spending a lot of time to have those incorrect approval notices get corrected. However, the people who pick up the phones at NCSC don't seemed to be well trained, so it is difficult to make them understand the problem and get the referral number. Even if adviser gets a referral number and was told that the service center would contact them within 30 days, they don't necessarily contact the adviser. The service center should be more careful when they issue approvals, if they don't have time to correct their own mistakes. |
1 |
| Approval notice for the COS to J-1 adjudicated at SC had a wrong validity date. It should have written as valid through "Duration of Status", but had specific end date (7/31/2009). Adviser called the NCSC first, but was told that the "applicant" must call them. Next time, adviser called NCSC together with the scholar, but while they were talking, their system went down due to the thunder storm, and adviser was told to call them again. Third time, the scholar called and talked to someone but the scholar was told that because the appointment was through 7/31/2009, the J-1 is approved through 7/31/2009. The scholar insisted that it should be valid through the "Duration of Status" otherwise he'll have to leave the country by 7/31/09. However, the person still insisted that this issue depends on the DS-2019 and he needs to ask the RO to get it fixed. Therefore, the person did not give a reference number to the scholar. The scholar got confused and hung up the phone. Giving wrong immigration advice is not acceptable. |
1 |
Region XII
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Submissions |
On June 3rd, 2008 scholar submitted a Travel Document and Employment Authorization renewals based on the pending Adjustment of Status the receipt notice dated 06/0412008 [sic]. However, the Adjustment of Status was approved on 06/02/2008, which is two days before the applications were received at the USCIS. After receiving the receipt notices the scholar phoned the Customer Service center and was told by a manager (not the tier 1 operator but an actual manager that identified herself as that) that she should put a stop payment on the checks. She did this and has now been subjected to collections, fees and other penalties for the bounced checks. She has written to the UCSCIS noting that the application should have been rejected since the adjudication had already taken place but the officers have failed to acknowledge this fact and just state that since she submitted an application, she should pay the fees.
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