Curran & Berger LLP

The USCIS' new fee schedule goes into effect Nov. 23, 2010.  Applications or petitions postmarked or otherwise filed on or after this date must include the new fee, or they will be rejected.

USCIS published the new fee schedule in the Federal Register on Sept. 24, following a comprehensive review of public comments received after publication of the proposed rule this summer. 

The new fee schedule increases application and petition fees by an average of about 10 percent but does not increase the naturalization application fee.

Please click here to see the new fee schedule.

The Department of State has released the latest visa bulletin for December 2010.

Please visit the Department of State website for more details.

The Arrival-Departure Record, CBP Form I-94W (green form), must be completed by all nonimmigrant visitors seeking entry to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) unless traveling by air or sea and admitted via new automated procedures. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has recently begun a transition to paperless processing for VWP travelers arriving by air or sea who have obtained a travel authorization via the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA). VWP travelers arriving by air or sea have been required to obtain travel authorization via ESTA before boarding carriers en route to the United States since January 12, 2009. Applicants applying for admission to the United States under the VWP are exempt from having a Visa. Contact your travel agent, airline, or CBP for more specific instructions regarding U.S. visa requirements and requirements for traveling under the VWP. It is important to note that the CBP Form I-94W will continue to be required at land borders, in the case of system outages, and at ports of entry that have not completed the transition to automated processing.

Please see here for more information and instructions regarding the I-94W.