General information

On January 31, 2007, USCIS released a press release, two fact sheets, and a proposed fee schedule to dramatically increase the filing fees it charges for a wide variety of applications. USCIS has stated in a press release that the new fees will allow the agency to cut down the average application processing time by 20% by the end of fiscal year 2009. Under the plan, the fee for an H-1B visa will rise from $190 to $320. The fee for an I-140 will rise from $195 to $475, and the I-485 fee will rise from $325 to $905. The fee to apply for citizenship will rise to $595.

The American Immigration Lawyers Association and other groups are protesting these fee hikes as being excessive. The rule has not yet been finalized.

In 2006, Stern Elkind & Curray’s annual auction for charity reached across the world to help children at the Sisters of Charity orphanage in Malawi, Africa.

The firm raised more than $3,000 to purchase formula, medicine, clothing, shoes and school supplies for the orphanage, discovered by paralegal, Mary Connin while on sabbatical. Read more about Mary’s adventure in the African countryside below.

My two month sabbatical was fast approaching and I wanted to make such a generous gift of time memorable. I decided to go visit my girlfriend and her family in Lilongwe, Malawi, Africa. My friend’s husband had been appointed U.S. Ambassador to Malawi, so even though it was a trip to Africa, I knew I would be traveling in style.

My friend and I went on safari, stayed in beautiful safari lodges, witnessed the spectacle of herds of hundreds of elephants in their natural habitat, visited the indescribable Victoria Falls in Zambia, actually contemplated bungee jumping off the bridge over the Zambezi River between Zambia and Zimbabwe (maturity prevailed), and maneuvered through the rather hands-on immigration processes of Malawi, Zambia, and Botswana.

The most interesting part of my trip, though, was to observe day-to-day life in Lilongwe. As part of her duties as the ambassador’s wife, my friend is on a committee that donates food, money and supplies to an orphanage in Lilongwe ran by the Missionaries of Charity, Mother Theresa’s Order. What a treat it was to visit the orphanage! I must say I was nervous, not knowing what to expect. But the children were delightful! Well behaved, sweet, playful, curious, and enthralled by the simplest things. The ice in our cooler was a huge, huge hit.

On the day we visited, the orphanage had about 35 children living there. My friend tells me the orphan population can be as high as 50 or 60 children, ranging in age from newborn to about 12. When I was there, there were cribs with 7 babies under the age of 6 months in a small room set aside for a nursery. The nuns are totally dependent on donations for everything, and my friend has at times received phone calls from the nuns simply desperate for supplies.

Since my sabbatical was indeed so memorable, shortly after my return to work I got to be the entertainment at one of our staff meetings. I showed my pictures and told my stories. The pictures of the children in the orphanage are compelling, that the staff voted to name the orphanage to be our 2006 charity. We have raised more than $3,000 to buy a lot of necessities. We have already sent two boxes of clothes to my friend, who will deliver them to the orphanage, and we are in the process of purchasing diapers (cloth diapers only in Africa!), rubber pants, diaper pins, formula, schools supplies, ointments and lotions, and toys.

These children live in extreme poverty, and I am extremely proud that the items we will send will have a direct and immediate impact on their day-to-day lives.

– Mary Connin

As of January 23, 2007, citizens of the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Bermuda are required to present a passport to enter the United States when arriving by air from any part of the Western Hemisphere.

The department expects a smooth transition to the new passport requirement based on the numbers of travelers arriving at U.S. airports with passports. Over 90 percent of U.S. citizens, 97 percent of Canadians, and virtually 100 percent of Mexicans and Bermudans flying to the United States immediately before the rule took arrived with passports.

The air requirement is part of the departments of State and Homeland Security’s Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative. This change in travel document requirements is the result of recommendations made by the 9/11 Commission, which Congress subsequently passed into law in the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004.

A separate proposed rule addressing land and sea travel will be published at a later date with specific requirements for travelers entering the United States through land and sea border crossings. As early as Jan.1, 2008, citizens traveling between the United States and Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda by land or sea may be required to present a valid passport or other documents as determined by the Department of Homeland Security to enter the United States.