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Archive for December, 2008

USCIS Revises Direct Mail Program for the Application for Naturalization (Form N-400)

Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008

WASHINGTON – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that it is revising the Direct Mail Program for the Application for Naturalization (Form N-400). The notice of this addition is effective on Jan. 22, 2009, and is published in today’s Federal Register. The notice advises the public to file non-military N-400s with the appropriate Lockbox facilities and provides a 30-day transition period after the effective date for USCIS service centers to forward N-400 applications received at their facilities to the appropriate Lockbox location.

Applicants should continue to file military N-400 cases with the Nebraska Service Center (NSC). In order to assist military spouses, NSC will also accept and process N-400s filed by spouses of military members.
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Report Finds Some Federal Judges Put Off Swearing-in New Citizens

Friday, December 19th, 2008

Federal judges in some parts of the United States are delaying the swearing-in of new citizens, apparently so that courts can keep millions of dollars in naturalization fees paid by immigrants, according to a new government report and immigration analysts.

In one of the nation’s busiest courts, a judge’s delay caused nearly 2,000 people to not receive the oath in time to register for November’s general election, according to the ombudsman for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Michael Dougherty, in a 13-page report posted on his office’s internet site yesterday.

The conclusion adds a new twist to longstanding complaints that applicants for citizenship face long waits, poor service and different treatment from U.S. immigration authorities depending on which office handles their application. While USCIS has made big gains in clearing massive backlogs since summer 2007, including working with the FBI to speed up security background checks, the new report cites a new bottleneck.

While generally “federal courts are very responsive” to USCIS requests for naturalization ceremonies, Dougherty reported “that court officials denied USCIS the opportunity to naturalize persons in time to vote in the recent general elections” and “otherwise engaged in conduct inconsistent with the letter or the spirit” of the nation’s immigration law.

read entire article at WashPost.com.

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Archive for December, 2008

USCIS Revises Direct Mail Program for the Application for Naturalization (Form N-400)

Report Finds Some Federal Judges Put Off Swearing-in New Citizens

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