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Building worldwide partnerships with our clients |
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Katona & Mir LLP |
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IMMIGRATIoN NEwSLETTER |
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In March 2006, the 1 year anniversary of the start of PERM, which began on March 28, 2005, DOL released key statistical figures on the program. DOL recorded 80,272 PERM cases filed; 36,687 approvals (a 45% approval rate); 23,205 denials (a 29% denial rate); and 24,960 audits initiated (31% of cases audited). |
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Millions of immigrants across the country have rallied in recent weeks in support of immigration reform. |
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DOL RELEASES STATISTICS ON PERM PROGRAM |
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April 2006 |
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Precendence builds for relief to Beneficiaries of long delayed citizenship applications |
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Immigration laws require USCIS to make a decision on a citizenship application within 120 days of interview. Despite this regulatory requirement, there are thousands of applicants who have been waiting well beyond this period without any decision from the government. Recently, applicants with long delayed applications and advocate groups have been more aggressive about seeking federal assistance in enforcing this timing requirement, and some federal courts are responding by ordering USCIS to issue a decision —failure to comply with such orders could in some cases result in automatic naturalization. The following options may be available to citizenship applicants who were interviewed over 120 days ago and have followed up with USCIS consistently with no results: · Filing a ‘Petition for Hearing on Naturalization Application’ with the US District Court that has jurisdiction over your place of residence; OR · Filing a mandamus complaint asking for a court order forcing CIS to issue a decision in your case. Please consult with a licensed attorney to assess if either of these options may benefit you. |
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Thousands wait for the day they will become US citizens |
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Under a new federal law that takes effect in July 2006, existing Medicaid recipients, and anyone applying for Medicaid coverage after the end of June 2006, will be required to document their US citizenship status. Those who cannot document such status will be stripped of their coverage, or denied coverage in the case of fist time applicants. Although the new law mandates that the federal and state governments begin educating the nation’s over 50 million Medicaid recipients of these new requirements, no education campaign has yet been initiated. |
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Thousands may soon lose Medicaid coverage |
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The Senate will reconvene on April 25th after Spring recess and has vowed to again take up debates on the immigration reform bill, which failed to pass during the last session because of procedural posturing by both parties. Pundits believe that the many protests around the country in recent weeks will force the Senate to take some action on this bill in this upcoming session. |
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