New USCIS Office Tampa Grand Opening

Attorney Chris Jaensch attended the grand opening of the new USCIS Office in Tampa today.  The building houses the Tampa Field Office (which handles infopass appointments, green card interviews, naturalization issues and other immigration business); and it houses the Application Support Center (which handles biometrics and fingerprints).

The office will conduct naturalization oath ceremonies every day in the building.  About 80 people can be naturalized per ceremony.  If they get busier, they will add a second or third ceremony per day.  The ceremony will not be the same day as the interview (but that may change in the future).  The new citizen can register to vote but cannot apply for a passport at the ceremony.

The USCIS is working a national solution to the issue of whether a condition resident can re-adjust based on marriage to a new person.

The Application Support Center officially does not take walk-ins.  If someone cannot make a biometrics appointment, they need to follow the instructions to reschedule.

There is an Immigration Support Officer at the Ft. Myers Application Support Center and clients can make an infopass appointment there.

The new USCIS phone number and address are:

(800) 375-5283

5629 Hoover Blvd

Tampa, FL 33634

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Important: The Tampa Immigration Office is Moving

The new address will be:

5629 Hoover Boulevard

Tampa, FL  33634

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ALSO, please note the following schedule changes:

Friday, April 12 through Tuesday, April 17th – No INFOPASS appointments are scheduled. The Tampa Field Office will be open for walk-in emergencies only.

Wednesday, April 18th – the Tampa Field Office will resume its normal INFOPASS schedule.

No interviews will take place between April 16th through April 18th. A normal interview schedule resumes on Thursday, April 19th.

Important note: Customers should report to the new building on Hoover Boulevard as of Monday, April 16th – even if an appointment notice or INFOPASS appointment indicates our old address on West Cypress.

In order to visit this office or to speak with an Immigration Information Officer, you must have an appointment scheduled by USCIS, or you must schedule an INFOPASS appointment, on the USCIS website.

If you have an inquiry and you live near Ft. Myers, you may schedule an INFOPASS appointment online to speak to an Immigration Information Officer at the USCIS Application Support Center (ASC) in Ft. Myers. No mail is accepted at the Ft. Myers ASC.

For more information go to the USCIS Website.

USCIS INITIATIVES FOR ENREPRENEURS (AND SOME BIG PREMIUM PROCESSING NEWS)

The USCIS issued the following press release about its new initiatives for entrepreneurs:  http://www.dhs.gov/ynews/releases/20110802-napolitano-startup-job-creation-initiatives.shtm

The USCIS issued a Q&A addressing how an entrepreneur can qualify for an EB-2 green card as an advanced degreed professional or alien with exceptional ability in the arts, sciences or business and explains how PERM Labor Certification can be avoided if the applicant qualifies for a National Interest Waiver: http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/template.PRINT/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=93da6b814ba81310VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=6abe6d26d17df110VgnVCM1000004718190aRCRD

The USCIS issued a Q&A about an earlier issued Memorandum on Establishing the “Employee-Employer Relationship” in H-1B Petitions: http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/template.PRINT/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=3d015869c9326210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=6abe6d26d17df110VgnVCM1000004718190aRCRD

At this point, the released documents do not reveal much new policy, but they may be a sign of a new willingness by USCIS to consider employment creators and others who benefit the economy in a newer, more favorable light in immigration applications.

Some highlights of the released documents are:

1.      The press releases indicates that USCIS will complement these FAQs with internal training on the unique characteristics of entrepreneurial enterprises and startup companies and incorporate input from the upcoming stakeholder engagements

2.      The Q&A on employee-employer relationships indicates that such a relationship may be established even of the sponsored worker owns the employer “if the facts show that there is a right to control by the petitioner over the employment of the beneficiary, then a valid employer-employee relationship may be established. For example, if the petitioner provides evidence that there is a separate Board of Directors which has the ability to hire, fire, pay, supervise or otherwise control the beneficiary, the petitioner may be able to establish an employer-employee relationship with the beneficiary.”

3.      The press release indicates that USCIS is developing a phased plan to roll out the EB-5 enhancements proposed in May (including Premium Processing) and is poised to begin implementing the first of these enhancements within 30 days.

4.      The press release indicates that USCIS has announced the expansion of its Premium Processing Service to immigrant petitions for multinational executives and managers (often referred to as “E13”). The Premium Processing Service allows employers to expedite processing of their petitions, absent evidentiary deficiencies, fraud or national security concerns.