Filing petitions
with new agency

Where do you file visa petitions and applications now that the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) as closed its doors?

The INS died on Nov. 25, 2002, when President George W. Bush signed the new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) bill into law.

DHS came to life on Jan. 24 2003.

However, the tombstone of the INS proclaiming it officially dead, and the registered birth certificate of DHS comes into existence only on March 1, 2003, the date the new department officially became a bureaucracy and opened its doors on March 3, 2003, taking over the admission, enforcement and the services function of the INS.

From March 1, 2003 up until about a year after that, the INS and the DHS will both be in transition purgatory: Applicants and others seeking immigration services on the other hand, will -- if the track record of the new and old bureaucracy is to be the gauge -- experience procedural hell.

In fact, the abolition of the 112-year-old INS and the creation of the Department of Homeland Security (to which the three bureaus -- replacing the INS functions -- report) have created widespread rumors, and the new department is trying to calm a confused public. The panic stems from the fear of not knowing where to file petitions, who will be in charge of what and which function, what happens to currently filed or pending petitions and would there be any changes regarding addresses and fees?
Lower, higher

Like the noontime games on Philippine television, applicants had been subjected to lower and higher choices for their filing fees. On Jan. 24, 2003, the INS lowered the fees for certain petitions and applications. It announced in February that the fees will be restored to its pre-Jan. 24, 2003 levels.

Who's in charge of visas

Visa issuance still would the function of consuls (who are under the Department of State). However, the DHS will have exclusive authority on how visas are to be issued -- and could override the decision of a consul to grant visa. DHS agents will be assigned with consular posts monitoring how visa issuance by consuls -- given the skew on national security and homeland defense -- are being implemented.

Ports of entry

Instead of INS agents checking your US visas, I-94 arrival/departure documents and passports, agents from the new bureau under the DHS --Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (BCBP) will greet visitors, permanent residents and US citizens.

Monitoring of visitors

After being admitted as non-immigrants -- mostly the B-1/B-2 variety -- the legal stay and activities of visitors are under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (BICE). Agents of BICE could come knocking at doors of establishments -- such as restaurants, elderly care facilities, construction companies, and hotels -- to check on the legal and working status of employees.

Petitions, applications

A holder of B-1/B-2 visa who wishes to apply for an extension of stay in the US or change of status to another nonimmigrant category, say from B-2 to H-1B, would have to submit the applications to the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (BCIS). The same is true if a nonimmigrant would apply for adjustment of status to that of a lawful permanent resident -- once an immigrant visa petition becomes current. Green card holders who wish to become US citizens also would submit their N-400 Application for Naturalization with the BCIS.
UFORs (unidentified flying opinions and rumors)

To placate a confused and petition fee paying public, the Department of Homeland Security issued a notice on rumors that INS field offices will close. "This is totally false," the DHS said.

"INS as we know it today will transition into three bureaus in the Department of Homeland Security -- Immigration benefits will be handled by the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (BCIS); interior enforcement will be addressed by the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (BICE); and border enforcement will be handled by the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (BCBP).

"Customer service functions under the BCIS will include information, forms, benefits, asylum and refugee processing. Even though we have reorganized, the public will continue to find us in the same places: District Offices, Application Support Centers (ASCs), Service Centers and Asylum offices will remain in the same locations. In addition, the public in the United States could still call the National Customer Center Call Center at 1-800-375-5283 (1-800-767-1833 for the hearing impaired) and visit the web site at www.BCIS.gov for up-to-date forms and information.

"It is critical that the public understand that forms and documents issued by the former INS are still valid and there is no need to replace them at this time.

"Documents include, but are not limited to, Alien Registration Cards (green cards), Certificates of Citizenship, Employment Authorization Documents, travel and advance parole documents, Form I-94 Arrival and Departure Record and others. These documents will continue to be valid and accepted by the BCIS and other agencies as evidence of someone's immigration status in the United States."

Good luck.

You may reach Crispin R. Aranda at legal@visacenter.org , at the Immigrant Visa Center in Quezon City 411-0806; 414-2655; 373-6799 or in the United States at (415) 834-1052.