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Effective December 1, 2011, all E visas applications will be processed in Rome.  Therefore, all new E visa applications submitted after December 1, 2011 should be sent to the E Visa Section in Rome following the directions on the web. (http://italy.usembassy.gov./visa/vis/vis-6-en.html) All cases will be processed in the order received.  All pending cases sent to Milan prior to December 1, 2011, will be processed to conclusion in Milan, in the order they were received. 

On Oct. 19, 2011, a USCIS Update was issued announcing processing improvements for certain naturalization and citizenship forms.  USCIS has centralized intake of Forms N-336, N-600 and N-600K to the Phoenix Lockbox facility. The Dallas Lockbox facility will handle the Form N-300.

USCIS will conduct system maintenance from Friday, December 2nd at 7pm (EST) until Monday, December 5th at 9am (EST).

During this time, the following on-line tools will be unavailable:

• Check My Case Status
• Sign-Up for Case Status
• Check Processing Times
• Change of Address Online
• Civil Surgeon Locator
• e-Request
• Office Locator

On November 18, 2011, the President signed into law the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012, Public Law 112-55. The legislation contains language prohibiting the Department from implementing, administering, or enforcing, before January 1, 2012, the H-2B Wage Rule. Based on Congressional intent to continue to implement the current H-2B regulations, the Department has published a Final Rule extending the effective date of the Wage Rule to apply to work performed on and after January 1, 2012.

The Department has released its Foreign Labor Certification Annual Report. The 2010 Annual Report presents information on the Prevailing Wage Determination Process, Permanent Labor Certification and Temporary Nonimmigrant Labor Certification for FY 2010. In addition, this report contains valuable information on the State Employment-Based Immigration Profiles, Permanent Education Certification Statistics, H-1B Education Certification Statistics and Country Employment-Based Immigration Profiles.

Click the links below to view the Annual Report.

WASHINGTON - U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it has received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap of 65,000 for fiscal year (FY) 2012. USCIS is notifying the public that yesterday, Nov. 22, 2011, was the final receipt date for new H-1B specialty occupation petitions requesting an employment start date in FY 2012.

The Office of Foreign Labor Certification is providing this update to the public on issuing prevailing wage determinations.

PERM: Became current the week of October 23, 2011
H-1B: Became current the week of November 6, 2011
H-2B: Anticipated becoming current the week of November 27, 2011

Certain exchange visitors (J-1) are subject to a two-year home-country physical presence requirement which requires you to return to your home country for at least two years at the end of your exchange visitor program. This is also known as the foreign residence requirement under U.S. law, Immigration and Nationality Act, section 212(e).

The report describes the nature of the refugee situation, admission numbers, plans for resettlement, demographics, other countries' policies, impact on U.S. foreign policy, and more.

To read Report On "Proposed Refugee Admissions FY2012," please check the attachment below.

Media Note Office of the Spokesperson

Washington, DC
November 18, 2011

The Department of State is pleased to announce the release of the 2011 Annual Adoption Report to Congress, which coincides with National Adoption Month. This year, we welcomed Kazakhstan and Ireland as new parties to the Hague Adoption Convention. The Convention provides the best framework for ethical, transparent intercountry adoptions and ensures that adoptions are conducted in the best interest of children.