Published
Not much movement........
http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/bulletin/bulletin_3925.html
What has happened in the past is that the nurse has come to the US on a tourist visa in most cases, and passed the NCLEX exam so their employer was able to start the petitioning process for them. The VSC was not required until later on, but visas were available then and they were able to get the EAD. But as time approached, they were contacted and asked to provide proof that they had the VSC or at least had passed the English exams and they were unable to do so.
They were given a letter that they would need to leave the US within a certain amount of time, but many did not and just started the process all over again with another employer in another area. And they were given another year with the EAD.
But now, this cannot be done, immigration has gotten much wiser and they are requiring the VSC/English exam passing in order to submit the I-485 and we are hearing that they now want to see it when the I-140 is submitted for the AOS. My feeling is that it should be available when the I-140 is submitted for the CP as well, not that the nurse is given a couple of years to get it passed while the processing is going on.
Expect to see it required as it has held up nurses from getting visas when they did not pass the English but then have a PD that is years old because of something that they did not have completed in the first place. With more nurses applying and no increase in the number of visas, expect the requirements to get tighter from the beginning, this is the way that it should be.
What has happened in the past is that the nurse has come to the US on a tourist visa in most cases, and passed the NCLEX exam so their employer was able to start the petitioning process for them. The VSC was not required until later on, but visas were available then and they were able to get the EAD. But as time approached, they were contacted and asked to provide proof that they had the VSC or at least had passed the English exams and they were unable to do so.They were given a letter that they would need to leave the US within a certain amount of time, but many did not and just started the process all over again with another employer in another area. And they were given another year with the EAD.
But now, this cannot be done, immigration has gotten much wiser and they are requiring the VSC/English exam passing in order to submit the I-485 and we are hearing that they now want to see it when the I-140 is submitted for the AOS. My feeling is that it should be available when the I-140 is submitted for the CP as well, not that the nurse is given a couple of years to get it passed while the processing is going on.
Expect to see it required as it has held up nurses from getting visas when they did not pass the English but then have a PD that is years old because of something that they did not have completed in the first place. With more nurses applying and no increase in the number of visas, expect the requirements to get tighter from the beginning, this is the way that it should be.
hope USCIS could correct this as amny nurses all over the world with complete requirements are still waiting for their Visas while those who are in the US on B1/B2 visas, passed nclex but with incomplete papers like VSC , were able to obtain EAD thru the July/August USCIS fiasco.
they are requiring the VSC/English exam passing in order to submit the I-485 and we are hearing that they now want to see it when the I-140 is submitted for the AOS. My feeling is that it should be available when the I-140 is submitted for the CP as well, not that the nurse is given a couple of years to get it passed while the processing is going on.
Actually, as far as I know, one can apply for adjustment of status without VisaScreen Certificate, but the Immigration will issue an RFE and will not approve the petition without it. Many July/August 2007 filers applied for AOS without Visascreen in hand.
Immigration came out this spring and stated that they were not going to sit on any petitions that were not complete when they were submitted as they have done before. Just because someone submitted a petition this summer definitely does not mean that they will get approval on it. With over 800,000 petitions submitted when there were not any visas available, we are expecting to see quite a few not get thru or approved. They are going to be looking for any reason to get someone denied, if you look at it this way.
And we are still seeing some denied from last year that got in just before the Oct 31, 2006 deadline. Not all of those have their green cards yet in hand. Just because someone got an EAD issued does not guarantee them anything at all, those can get cancelled or not be able to be renewed either.
For someone that wants to take a chance, that is their business, but definitely not the smart thing to do. And especially if they were on the tourist visa, they get denied, and then they are completely out of luck since they can no longer get another petiton filed thru another agency.
By the time that they actually get thru a pile of those petitions, expect to see a pile of denials as well.
http://www.cgfns.org/sections/about/news/news/2006/08-11-06_vs.shtml
Nothing changed since then, as far as I know. I could not find any information on the Web that it was changed either.PHILADELPHIA, PA-AUGUST 11, 2006-USCIS Continues to Require VisaScreen Certificate for Nurses Seeking Immigrant Visas to the U.S. or Adjustment of Status.There has recently been some confusion about when the U.S. Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will require nurses who are immigrating to the United States or seeking adjustment of status within the United States to present the CGFNS VisaScreen certificate.
In May, 2006, one office of USCIS, the Texas Service Center, announced that it planned to deny adjustment of status applications filed by foreign health care workers who did not submit with their application -- at the time of filing -- a copy of the CGFNS VisaScreen certificate.
Although this policy announcement caused considerable concern within the immigration community, it does not appear that the policy was ever implemented.
Instead, the Texas Service Center-and USCIS-announced in early June that it was dropping its plan and abandoning the policy that it had announced in May.
Today and for all of 2006, the previous USCIS policy continues and has continued to be in effect regarding adjustment of status applications by nurses and other covered health care workers. That policy is that if the VisaScreen certificate is not included with the adjustment of status application at the time of filing, USCIS will, in the course of adjudicating the application, issue a Request for Evidence (RFE).
The applicant will then have 12 weeks in which to provide the certificate.
In summary, USCIS has not changed its previous policy, which is that the VisaScreen certificate is required at the time the application for adjustment of status is adjudicated, not at the time the application is filed.
And most that do not provide it have not passed the required English exams to begin with. With the 90 days, most are not able to meet the requirements and they are getting their EAD cancelled.
The government here used to give them almost to the end of their EAD to provide it, but since there have been so many that did not obtain it, they have tightened up the requirement of only giving them 90 days once they receive the notice for the RFE.
But a few months ago, before the dates were posted about the open window of submitting the petitions for the I-485, they had come out with a memo that if the file was not complete when it was submitted, they were not going to ask for the RFE and given them additional time to submit it. It is one thing to ask for the RFE to see paystubs or something like that which cannot be submitted initially because of not receiving a paycheck without being able to work. But not submitting a required document when it is well known to be part of the petitioning process is not the proper thing to do. Many attorneys could care less if the petition gets approved or not, they get paid when the file is submitted right from the beginning.
We will not know anything definite for a few months until we see actuall processing being done on the I-485. But would be a shame to have to wait until then and not know if the person will be automatically denied.
Sorry to sound so mean about this, but when someone comes here and is wanting to work as an RN, they should have all requirements completed, not trying to sneak thru and then work on getting the other things done. My personal take would be to deny them right from the beginning. And getting the EAD does not means approval on anything and should not be considered as such. I tell everyone that they need to have a completed file when they are submitted, if they not wish to do that, then they live under the possibility of getting things cancelled and since there are no other ways for them to remain here, they are given a set number of days in a letter before they have to leave the US.
Their choice.
There was just a memo put out several months ago, think last May or June and it was even posted on this forum. It stated that they no longer were going to send RFEs for missing information that was supposed to be submitted at the time of the petition submission.
Essentially they were going to request things like pay stubs to verify that the nurse was getting paid the same as what was listed in their contract because there have been many issues with the rate being decreased significantly and stated that the money was used for something else.
At this point in time, when there are so many that submitted the petitions this summer, the government is going to look at any reason to be able to deny the petition and this just makes it an easy one. It becomes subject to the person that is evaluating the petition and they can deny it for not being complete. I would never tell anyone to chance that, especially even more so now.
There are memos coming out all of the time, but anytime that something is not complete when it is submitted leaves an extra avenue for it to be denied. And since we are under the retrogression, any denials and the person has to leave the US in most cases, especially if they came here on the tourist visa.
I agree that they should require visascreen at the time I140/I-485 is filed. But so far it's OK to submit I-485 without it. The Immigration will issue the RFE later. Were did you get the information that it's required at the time of initial filing?
There has been a memo that it has to be complete; what's USCIS' definition of what is complete - I do not know.
What Suzanne is trying to tell you is that being able to file for it doesn't mean anything yet. USCIS would not know if it is complete or not upon filing. The only thing they look at upon receiving it is if the fees were correct. Wrong fees - rejected as well. It is going to sit there on their desks until it is their time to be reviewed, w/c could be months or years from now. And if they are really going to implement what they have said then they should not issue RFEs anymore if it's not complete, otherwise they will be contradicting themselves.
There are some that filed their I-140s/I-485s from tourist visas who did not even have the 10 day job postings done and are able to file and some of them most likely only have less than 30-60 days residency when they filed their I-485. This will only be seen upon review of their I-140s and I-485s, months from now.
The 10 day job posting notice has nothing to do with the individual applicant. A hospital has to place it on the board for the position, not for the individual. At some hospitals such notice is posted all year round. I saw another memo which stated that even if the notice is not submitted with the application, they will issue an RFE.
Now, those who filed for AOS from B1/B2 visas right after they entered the country, are definitely looking for trouble. But again, a lot will depend on the officer assigned to the case.
I've never heard about the memo that requires to submit a copy of the visacreen at the time of filing. If VSC is not submitted at the time of initial filing they will issue a RFE about it. That's a standard practice and I've provided a link in my previous post. Can you provide a link, or at least a text of the Memo that you are talking about?
The 10 day job posting notice has nothing to do with the individual applicant. A hospital has to place it on the board for the position, not for the individual. At some hospitals such notice is posted all year round. I saw another memo which stated that even if the notice is not submitted with the application, they will issue an RFE.Now, those who filed for AOS from B1/B2 visas right after they entered the country, are definitely looking for trouble. But again, a lot will depend on the officer assigned to the case.
I've never heard about the memo that requires to submit a copy of the visacreen at the time of filing. If VSC is not submitted at the time of initial filing they will issue a RFE about it. That's a standard practice and I've provided a link in my previous post. Can you provide a link, or at least a text of the Memo that you are talking about?
That's what I'm driving at. Some did not even bother doing it and not posted it year round. I know some hospitals do that and that is a savvy way to do things but the case I disclosed did not even do the basics. Everything was done the last minute.
Yes, all depends on the adjudicator on how he sees it but they have one foot on the grave already.
And like I said, the memo I read only said complete - it was very vague. That is why I said from my previous post that what's USCIS' definition of "complete" is beyond me. I did not say anything about the VSC being on hand on any of my posts. That is why I said that the next time, that it should be if it wasn't already being done.
But if someone interprets it that way (VSC on hand) - who am I to say that it isn't? And who is someone to say that it isn't so? And I'm sure, different immigration lawyers will also have diff. interpretations of it. We just have to respect someone's opinion and interpretation of it.
This is much I know, not just because that was being done before means it has to be that way all the time? And whose interpretation is correct? No one will know for sure until the time comes when the case will be reviewed. Will it be given an RFE or not, no one really knows. We just have to wait. But at the time being, each and everyone will just have to respect everyone's opinions or interpretation of it. Not even the immigration lawyers know everything for sure. Like all professionals, some are good and some are not.
dranreb
30 Posts
Well said lawrence, Hope USCIS can read this thread...