Adjustment Applications Accepted Through August 17

The USCIS has reversed its July 2 rejection of adjustment of status applications filed by skilled workers whose priority dates are current under the July 2007 Visa Bulletin, No, 107.

It will accept these applications for 31 days from July 18 to August 17, 2007. The applications that were already filed will now also be accepted. The current fee schedule will be applicable to these applications although the new fees which are drastically higher will take effect on July 30, 2007.

This latest announcement does not cover the applications of low-skilled workers who filed last June when their priority dates were current.

The USCIS apparently took the action in response to protests and threats of legal action from immigrant advocates, lawyers, workers and lawmakers.

Since July 2 when the refusal to accept the applications were announced, various protests in various forms have erupted in several parts of the country.

USCIS Director said that “the public reaction…made it clear that the federal government’s management of the process needs further review.”

On July 10, hundreds of applicants sent out flowers to the USCIS Director reminiscent of the non-violent protests of Mahatma Gandhi and called themselves Immigrant Voice.

This was followed by the march on the streets of Silicon Valley by computer workers of Sun Microsystems, Oracle, and Cisco. One of their placards read “We played by the rules, now its your turn.”

Employers such as IBM, Motorola, Hewlett-Packard, Texas Instruments and Intel also expressed their support.

Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, the Chair of the House Judiciary Sub-committee on Immigration, also sent a letter to the USCIS and the Department of State strongly criticizing the July 2 decision and requested from them “all correspondences, e-mails, memoranda, notes, field guidance or other documentations relating to the rejection announcement. Hearings intended to find out what happened were also scheduled in the House.

And the American Immigration Law Foundation was all set to file a class action lawsuit against the USCIS and the Department of State on behalf of the rejected applicants.

In light of this latest development, eligible applicants should now prepare their documents including their medical examination report. The benefits of a pending adjustment of status application include work authorization and travel permit. In some cases, applicants may also transfer to another employer without prejudicing their applications.