USA Green Card Immigration Blog

The U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services(USCIS) have made an announcement stating that the revised version of the Medical Certification for Disability Exceptions, Form N-648 would be available for public comment. A Federal Register notice that will announce the changes to the Form-N648 has been published by the USCIS. The notice also states that starting February 1, 2010 the revised form will be available for review and public comment for a period of 60-days, ending on April 2, 2010. The requirements for the exception and the basis for preparing a medical certification for applicants and medical professionals are clarified in this revision.

According to the law, applicants for naturalization must demonstrate the ability to communicate in basic English and also understand the United States history and government. Nevertheless, if an applicant due to medically determinable physical or developmental disability or mental impairment cannot comply with one or both of these requirements, then he may request an exception from either or both of the requirements.

In such cases, the Form N-648 certification, completed by a licensed medical doctor or a licensed clinical psychologist must be submitted by the applicants who claim this exception. This form must be submitted along with the completed Form N-400, application for naturalization to the USCIS. The form will be deciding factor for the USCIS to decide whether the applicants for naturalization are permitted for an exception to the requirements. Part I of the Form N-648 can be completed by the applicant or the applicant’s authorized representative. On the other hand, part II of this form needs to be completed by a medical professional.

The revised Form N-648 and the table of changes can be viewed by logging on to the website www.regulations.gov, selecting “Notices” as the document type, and entering “Form N-648” as the keyword and then clicking on “Search.” After retrieving the February 1, 2010 document, clicking on the docket ID link will provide you with the revised form and table of changes. To get more information on USCIS programs or to download a copy of the current version of a USCIS Form, one can visit www.uscis.gov.

The U. S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that the Advance Parole Documents (Form I-512) will be reissued to the applicants who have received the forms with an incorrect issue date of January 5, 1990. The USCIS has identified all the incorrect documents. All the individuals who received an incorrect document will automatically be reissued with correct documents.The applicants with pending applications need not worry or call the USCIS as the documents with correct expiration date will remain accurate. If the applications have not been processed within the normal processing time of 90 days, then the applicants can contact the USCIS for the processing of their pending applications.

Travel documents are important for non-USA citizens, giving them the permission to return to USA after travelling abroad. Advance parole documents give the foreign nationals permission to enter the U.S. even if they do not have a valid immigrant visa. The Advance Parole Documents must be approved before you make travel plans to allow you to re-enter U.S.A. Advance Parole documents should be obtained before you travel if you are on an adjustment of status application, waiting to receive a decision from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services; holding refugee’s or asylee’s status departing temporarily to apply for a US visa; or having a valid reason to travel abroad temporarily. You need to fill Form I-131 in order to receive the Advance Parole Documents and Form I-512 for the renewal of Advance Parole documents.

If the applicants need to travel urgently, the Advance Parole Documents with the incorrect issue date can be used to travel. The applicants will be enquired by the U. S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), so it is safer to print the re-issue information to communicate with them.

On October 28, 2009, President Barack Obama signed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Appropriations Act of 2010. This bill extended certain USCIS programs until September 30, 2012. The programs extended include the E-Verify program, the Immigrant Investor Pilot Program, and the special immigrant visa category for non-minister religious workers. In addition, the law also extended the availability of the “Conrad-30” program for J-1 non-immigrant exchange visitors.

E-Verify program is an online system operated by the DHS together with the Social Security Administration (SSA.) This voluntary, government-based program allows participating employers to electronically verify the work eligibility of their newly-hired employees in the United States. The program does not charge employers who want to use E-Verify to certify their new hires as legally authorized to work in the US. Over 169,000 employers use E-Verify to run queries.

Under the Immigrant Investor Pilot Program, USCIS will now continue to receive and process Immigrant petitions by Alien Entrepreneurs and Applications to Permanent Residence or Adjust Status. At present, there are more than 70 regional centers throughout the US, which deal with this EB-5 Pilot Program.

Special immigration status applies for non-minister religious employees, who work in a religious vocation or occupation. This special immigrant visa category also applies to accompanying spouses and children of non-ministers. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will continue to accept and process the Form 1-360, Petition for Amerasian, Special Immigrant, Widow(er), Form 1-485, and Application to register for permanent residence or adjust status based on Form 1-360 petitions.

The “Conrad 30” program allows each state health department to submit requests directly to the Department of State to obtain a waiver on the two-year foreign residence period for foreign medical graduates. Prior to this extension, it was required that foreign medical students should acquire J-1 status before September 30, 2009. Now, the program has been extended up to September 30, 2012.