Does USCIS even read its own information?
Many of you likely heard that 2 different immigration programs were scheduled to sunset on March 6, 2009. Someone in my office and I were busy debating what exactly does the term sunset mean. Is sunset the last day the program is valid or the first day the program expired? Well let’s look at the USCIS press releases on how they would be treating the programs to better understand.
The first program is the Non-Minister Special Immigrant Religious Worker Program. From the USCIS Press Release dated February 4, 2009:
Absent a Congressional extension of the expiration date, USCIS will, beginning on March 6, 2009, suspend further processing of any pending Form I-360, Form I-485, and Form I-824 affected by the expiration date until further notice. Also, unless or until Congress extends the expiration date, USCIS will reject Form I-360 petitions, Form I-485 and Form I-824 applications filed on or after March 6, 2009 that are based on the expired provisions.
So from the bold section, I can tell that Sunset means the first day a program is expired since beginning that day petitions and applications will be rejected. Just to confirm let’s look at the other program set to sunset today, the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Pilot Program. From the USCIS Press Release dated February 19, 2009:
USCIS will continue to receive, process and adjudicate as many Regional Center affiliated Forms I-526 and Forms I-485 as possible until the close of business on March 6, 2009, the scheduled sunset date.
Wait a minute!! How can sunset mean that they accept the EB-5 petitions and not the Religious Worker petitions? Its like someone likes one of these programs more then the other. This in fact may be the explanation, since the EB-5 program is in the continuing resolution (extending it until March 11, 2009) and appropriations bill (extending it until September). None the less, I continue to be amazed by just how inconsistent USCIS is in its interpretations. Good luck to all of us in figuring out what they mean.
