Family All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed CHINA-mainland born DOMINICAN REPUBLIC INDIA MEXICO PHILIPPINES
1st 01AUG05 01AUG05 01AUG05 01AUG05 15NOV92 01JAN96
2A 01MAR09 01MAR09 01MAR08 01MAR09 01MAR08 01MAR09
2B 01JAN04 01JAN04 01JAN04 01JAN04 15JUN92 01AUG01
3rd 01JAN02 01JAN02 01JAN02 01JAN02 01MAR92 01MAY94
4th 01JUN01 01JUN01 01JUN01 01JUN01 01JAN94 01APR90
*NOTE: For August, 2A numbers EXEMPT from per-country limit are available to applicants from all countries with priority dates earlier than 01MAR08. 2A numbers SUBJECT to per-country limit are available to applicants chargeable to all countries EXCEPT the DOMINICAN REPUBLIC and MEXICO with priority dates beginning 01MAR08 and earlier than 01MAR09. (All 2A numbers provided for the DOMINICAN REPUBLIC AND MEXICO are exempt from the per-country limit; there are no 2A numbers for the DOMINICAN REPUBLIC AND MEXICO subject to per-country limit.)
Archive for July, 2010
Good News – Great Leap on the Family Category Visa Bulletin August 2010
Posted in 
9 sentenced in Ohio marriage fraud scheme
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Nine people pleaded guilty to charges connected with their involvement in a scheme in central Ohio to arrange marriages between foreign nationals and U.S. citizens. The sentences were announced by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE).
Brian Moskowitz, ICE special agent in charge of the Office of Homeland Security Investigations in Ohio and Michigan, along with Carter M. Stewart, U. S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, announced the sentences by U.S. District Judge Algenon L. Marbley.
The sentences were imposed on the following individuals:
Hasan Salohutdinov of Dublin, Ohio, and an illegal alien from Uzbekistan, was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment followed by deportation. He pleaded guilty on April 5, 2010, to one count of conspiracy to commit marriage fraud and on count of presenting false statements to U.S. immigration authorities. Salohutdinov introduced other Uzbeks into the scheme in order that they might pay to engage in sham marriages.
Dmitry Pani also of Dublin, and an illegal alien from Estonia, was sentenced to one year imprisonment. Pani also pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit marriage fraud.
Sviatlana A. Piskunova of Columbus pleaded guilty to conspiracy and sentenced to time served.
Laura Elizabeth Grace Scott of Columbus pleaded guilty to conspiracy and was sentenced to two years probation which includes six months of home confinement.
Courtnie Susann Good of Columbus pleaded guilty to marriage fraud and was sentenced to two years probation which includes six months of home confinement with electronic monitoring.
Elbek A. Saidjanov of Philadelphia, Penn., pleaded guilty to marriage fraud and was sentenced to time served, about seven and one-half months.
Iskander Odilovich Tairov, of Galloway, Ohio, pleaded guilty to marriage fraud and was sentenced to two years probation.
Brent James Woods of Columbus pleaded guilty to marriage fraud and was sentenced to four years probation including four months in Alvis House.
Djafar B. Sobirov of Columbus pleaded guilty to marriage fraud and was sentenced to two years probation.
Pani established an informal “business” to find U.S. citizens who would accept money to enter into sham marriages with aliens for the purpose of evading a provision of the immigration laws of the United States, and to aid and abet in the making of false statements to immigration authorities with respect to those sham marriages in an effort to convince the immigration authorities that they were genuine marriages.
Salohutdinov, who had entered into a sham marriage in Illinois, moved to Ohio and came to know Pani. Salohutdinov and Piskunova joined the conspiracy with Pani and arranged sham marriages for certain other aliens that Salohudinov knew of.
The sham marriages typically occurred shortly after the alien and the U.S. citizen met each other, sometimes even the same day. Saidjanov, an alien, came to Columbus from Philadelphia, Penn., and paid Pani to arrange a sham marriage on Feb. 9, 2009, with Good. Saidjanov also paid his girlfriend, who is an alien, too, to enter into a sham marriage on the following day. These sham marriages took place at The Columbus Wedding Chapel, in Columbus. After the marriages, Sadijanov and his girlfriend returned to Philadelphia, and did not live with their new American spouses.
“Today’s sentences are a reminder that America’s legal immigration system is not for sale,” said Moskowitz. “ICE will aggressively investigate and bring to justice those who seek to compromise the integrity of that system for personal profit or to avoid immigration laws.”
Stewart commended the investigation conducted by ICE agents, and the assistance of the ICE Office of Enforcement and Removal, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and the Columbus Police Department, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Dan Brown, who prosecuted the case.
Arizona Judge Draws Line Between State and Federal Authority
For Immediate Release
Focus Must Now Return to Comprehensive Federal Solutions
Washington, D.C. – Today, Phoenix district court judge Susan Bolton enjoined key provisions of Arizona’s controversial immigration law, SB 1070. The judge recognized that the federal government has primary authority over making and enforcing immigration law, and that while states have limited authority in this arena, they cannot interfere with federal enforcement or undermine federal priorities. The decision acknowledges the complex nature of immigration law and the harmful consequences of local police attempting to make immigration determinations. The judge also recognized the serious strain that the Arizona law would place on federal resources, which would detract from the federal government’s ability to enforce immigration laws in other states and target resources toward serious criminals.
“It is clear that Judge Bolton has a strong grasp on the complexity of immigration issues and the challenges facing the state. She blocked the most controversial and troubling parts of the law that not only intrude on the Federal government’s authority over immigration, but were also likely to violate the civil rights of legal immigrants and U.S. citizens. While it is important to acknowledge that there are serious problems in Arizona, if Arizonans truly want to target human trafficking, human smuggling, and other serious crimes, they must focus their efforts and resources on those criminal networks, and nothing in today’s decision prevents them from doing so.
Now the question is whether politicians at the state and federal level will stop playing politics and start solving problems. Arizona must start focusing on serious criminals and the federal government must assume its Constitutional duty of fixing the broken immigration system. America needs real solutions that make our communities safer, our border more secure, and finally fix our broken immigration system.”
For more information contact Wendy Sefsaf at 202-507-7524 or wsefsaf@immcouncil.org
This was posted on the Indian Consulate
LATEST NEWS: In supercession of previous rules, Government of India has decided the following:
- All naturalized US citizens of Indian descent, who have already acquired foreign citizenship voluntarily in the past shall cease to be Indian citizens upon their acquiring foreign citizenship. However, such persons are required to renounce their Indian citizenship and to obtain surrender certificate for their Indian passports, whether valid or expired, so that the passport is not misused. If you have a ‘passport cancelled on acquisition of US(foreign) nationality’ stamp on your passport, there is no requirement of acquiring “surrender certificate”.
- For those persons of Indian origin who have already acquired foreign citizenship till 31 May 2010, the fee is $ 20. For those, who acquire foreign citizenship on or after 1 June 2010, the fee is $175.
- Cases of renunciation / surrender of passport, received/processed up to 31 May, 2010 will not be re-opened and the amount of US$ 175/- will not be refunded. No email/phone queries will be entertained in this regard.
* * * * *
- All Power of Attorneys have to be appostilled.
- All Naturalized US citizen of Indian descent are advised to apply for entry visa only for all purposes except if visiting India for recreation. If visiting for recreation, visa application must be supported by documentary proof including firm receipts of payment made towards hotel, spa, travel bookings.
- Copies of documents like Green Card/EAD/I-130 and the last held Indian passport at the time of naturalization required in support of our applications can be obtained by request from USCIS under the freedom of Information ACT.
ICE announces launch of Online Detainee Locator System
WASHINGTON – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced today the launch of ICE’s Online Detainee Locator System (ODLS), a public, Internet-based tool designed to assist family members, attorneys and other interested parties in locating detained aliens in ICE custody. The creation and implementation of the ODLS is a concrete example of ICE’s commitment to detention reform.
The ODLS is located on ICE’s public website, http://www.ice.gov, and provides users with information on the location of the detention facility where a particular individual is being held, a phone number to the facility and contact information for the ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations office in the region where the facility is located. A brochure explaining how to use the ODLS is also available on the website in the following languages: English, Spanish, French, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Portuguese, Russian, Arabic and Somali.
“The ODLS is an easy, accessible tool that allows family members and counsel to locate an individual in ICE custody in a matter of minutes,” said Phyllis Coven, acting director of ICE’s Office of Detention Policy and Planning. “ICE is making great strides in our effort to translate the principles of reform into innovative, practical and timely solutions.”
ODLS users will be able to locate detained aliens by two different search methods. First, users can search by entering an individual’s alien registration number, also known as their “A” number, and their country of birth. Users can also search by entering an individual’s first name, last name, country of birth and date of birth.
Since the ODLS will be available for use on ICE’s public website, the agency is committed to ensuring detainee privacy while making ODLS a useful tool for family members, attorneys and other related parties. Therefore, responses to ODLS queries are only generated if the data entered is an exact match of data in the system.
ICE will properly notify detained aliens that the accuracy of biographical information they provide to the agency will be very important in allowing their family members and counsel to locate them using the ODLS. Likewise, ODLS users will need to ensure that the information they are entering into the system (e.g.: proper spelling of a detained alien’s first and last name) is correct.
The ODLS will not provide any additional biographical information about an individual detainee other than what the user has already entered into the system. For instance, if a user searches by first name, last name and country of birth, the system will not provide the detainee’s “A” number and vice versa. ICE intentionally limits the availability of this data within the ODLS to ensure that users cannot phish the system for information.
On Aug. 6, 2009, ICE Assistant Secretary John Morton announced that the agency was undertaking sweeping reforms of the immigration detention system to improve medical and mental healthcare, conditions of confinement, fiscal prudence and ICE’s critical oversight of the system. ICE’s Office of Detention Policy and Planning (ODPP) was also created to August 2009 to spearhead the agency’s detention reform efforts.
The creation and activation of the ODLS is one of many concrete steps ICE is taking to implement these reforms. To learn more about ICE’s detention reform, please visit: http://www.ice.gov/dro/detention-reform/. An ODLS brochure is available by visiting the following URL: http://www.ice.gov/news/library/factsheets/odls.htm
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