August 14, 2007 by Bradley Maged.

According to a Business Week article:  “Employers and immigrant rights groups are speaking out against rules announced Aug. 10 by the Bush Administration requiring employers to fire workers without valid Social Security numbers. Opponents argue that the regulations, effective in one month, will create a disastrous ripple effect in the U.S. economy and disrupt the lives of an estimated 12 million undocumented people in the U.S.”

I will post a summary of the new rule shortly.

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August 14, 2007 by Bradley Maged.

Latest Update from the USCIS on processing times:

“August 10, 2007

USCIS ISSUES SERVICE CENTER AND LOCKBOX RECEIPTING UPDATE

WASHINGTON - USCIS announced today that it has experienced a tremendous increase in the number of applications filed, which has resulted in a front log of cases awaiting data-entry. USCIS is making every effort to address the delay.

USCIS will prioritize data entry for specific form-types. Delay in data entry and fee receipting will not affect Change of Status or Extension of Stay eligibility, assuming all other eligibility
requirements are satisfied. USCIS would also like to assure its customers that requests for Premium Processing Service will continue to be processed within 15 days, consistent with existing policies and procedures.

The actual received date will be honored and recorded on the receipt notice. This date will appear in the “Received Date” box on Form I-797, Notice of Action. The received date on Form I-797 is different from the “Notice Date,” which also appears on the Notice and identifies the date the receipt notice was actually generated.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) will provide weekly updates to give our customers accurate information about current receipt times and service level commitments. As of the date of this notice, USCIS has completed data entry and has issued receipt notices for applications and petitions received on or before the following dates:

California Service Center

N-400 7/18/2007
All Other 8/2/2007

Nebraska Service Center

I-131 7/1/2007
I-140 7/1/2007
I-485
Employment
Based 7/1/2007
I-765 7/2/2007
N-400 7/24/2007
All Other 8/5/2007

Texas Service Center

I-131 6/28/2007
I-140 7/31/2007
I-485
Employment
Based 6/28/2007
I-765 6/28/2007
N-400 7/11/2007
All Other 7/30/2007

Vermont Service Center

I-129 7/26/2007
I-130 7/22/2007
I-539 7/26/2007
N-400 7/11/2007
All Other 7/26/2007

USCIS Lockbox

I-485 Family
Based 7/26/2007

USCIS would also like to remind the public to wait at least 14 days from the dates indicated above for their receipt notice to arrive in the mail before inquiring.”

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