USCIS to stop issuing I-551 stamps routinely

USCIS has announced that is is rescinding the May 2009 policy that asked CIS district offices to issue I-551 stamps as a matter of course. The I-551 is a stamp in a passport that confirms that permanent residence has been approved. It is temporary evidence of permanent residence until the "green card" is produced.

In recent years, green cards have been created and mailed withing a couple of weeks of permanent residence approval, so CIS did not issue the I-551 stamps unless there was an emergency. However, in May 2009, card production was delayed while they upgraded equipment, so CIS started issuing the I-551 stamps again.

Hopefully card production is back to normal, and approved permanent residents won't have problems because of having no evidence of permanent residence approval. CIS will still issue I-551 stamps, but only in emergency cases.

FAQ on immigration for military personnel

USCIS recently published immigration information aimed at members of the US armed forces and their families. The information covers naturalization for members of the military, what happens if to interviews and filings when a person is deployed overseas, expediting spousal petitions for military personnel, and more.

See here for details.

For more details about the MAVNI (Military Accessions Vital to National Interest) program generally, see here.

FAQs on E-Verify

The National Conference of State Legislatures has published a document with frequently-asked questions about e-verify: http://www.ncsl.org/?tabid=13127.

The FAQs answer the following questions

• What is Basic Pilot/E-Verify?
• When and how was it created?
• When will E-Verify expire?
• How does E-Verify work?
• What is the current usage and capacity?
• How well does E-Verify work?
• How is it enforced?
• What is required of federal contractors?
• What states currently address the use of E-Verify?

Although the document purports to have been updated on June 30, 2009, some information is out-of-date, so be careful using it. For example, the FAQs say that the requirement for federal contractors to use e-verify has been "delayed until February 20." In fact, that delay is now September 8, 2009, as noted here and here.