Many Americans wonder why undocumented immigrants do not come to the U.S. legally or simply “get in line” to get residency (a “green card”). In fact, the U.S. immigration system is grossly out of date and not keeping up with the demands of a growing and changing U.S. economy. Our laws have not been updated in nearly 20 years and there are only limited avenues for securing legal immigration status. The overly restrictive legal limits on green cards mean that virtually all undocumented immigrants have no alternative for legal entry to the U.S. Read More…..

By ANDRES OPPENHEIMER When I interviewed likely Republican candidate Sen. John McCain last week, I was left with the distinct impression that he is moving steadily backward from his once progressive stand on immigration.In a 15-minute telephone interview during his April 28 visit to Florida, I asked McCain whether, if elected, he would launch a new immigration reform plan providing for an earned path to legalization to many of the 12 million undocumented workers who could prove they have paid taxes and would be willing to learn English.McCain indicated he would propose that only at the end of a three-step process.”I would first of all make sure that our borders are secure,” he said. “That’s the lesson that we got from this last campaign, that Americans want secure borders. We can do that in a relatively short period of time.””I would have the border state governors certify that the borders are secure, and then I would move on with a temporary worker program that has biometric, tamper-proof documents,” McCain went on. “And then, I would address the issue of the 12 million people who are in this country illegally.” ……….Read More  

WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that it would allow F-1 students who are the beneficiaries of selected H-1B petitions for fiscal year (FY) 2009 to request a change of status in lieu of consular notification.

This short-term measure follows an April 8, 2008 interim final rule that, among other actions, automatically extends the F-1 status of qualifying students who are the beneficiaries of approved H-1B petitions to cover the gap between the expiration of a student’s F-1 status and the H-1B employment start date of October 1. To obtain the automatic extension, a student must be the beneficiary of an H-1B petition filed for the next fiscal year (with an October 1 employment start date) and have requested a change of status.  For F-1 student beneficiaries of petitions that USCIS subsequently rejects, denies, or revokes, or for those who violate their status, the automatic extension terminates at that time.    READ MORE……….http://www.uscis.gov/files/article/update_f1students_041808.pdf

Washington—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released today the projected times for local offices to complete processing of applications for citizenship from individuals who filed during the summer of 2007.

Last July, USCIS received 460,000 applications for naturalization. That was three times the record for any previous month. For the year, USCIS received 1.4 million naturalization applications, almost double the normal annual volume.

USCIS is hiring and training hundreds of additional immigration officers to adjudicate these cases. The agency is also conducting naturalization interviews on weekends, after normal business hours and in additional locations.

The processing times listed below provide a sense of how quickly a case may be processed if there are no complicating factors. Still, some cases will take longer to complete for such reasons as:

• an applicant has been asked to submit additional information and their case is pending until they comply, or
• an applicant fails the naturalization test and has 60 days to prepare before they are retested, or
• the FBI name check is still in progress.
• See PDF file by States……………………………………………………. http://www.uscis.gov/files/article/processing_update_042208.pdf