On October 1, 2009, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced that it had published a revised Notice of Entry of Appearance as Attorney or Accredited Representative (“Form G-28″) and a new Notice of Entry of Appearance as Attorney in Matters Outside the Geographical Confines of the United States (“Form G-28I”). This is significant because it now makes a clear distinction between U.S.-licensed lawyers and foreign lawyers who are not licensed in the United States.

As explained in our article on How to Choose a U.S. Immigration Lawyer, this distinction already existed under the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) regulations. However, both USCIS and United States Customs & Border Protection (“USCBP”) did not strictly enforce the regulation in the past.

According to 8 CFR 292.1(a)(6), an attorney who is not licensed in the United States but who is licensed to practice law and is in good standing in in the country in which he or she resides may act as a representative only in matters outside the geographical confines of the United States (i.e. the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands) and the official before whom he or she wishes to appear must allow the representation as a matter of discretion.

Since the issuance of the revised Form G-28/G-28I, it would appear that both USCBP and USCIS (both part of DHS) will now begin to restrict the ability of foreign lawyers to act as legal representatives in U.S. immigration matters. In light of this change, applicants should ensure that they retain only U.S.-licensed lawyers to represent them in U.S. immigration matters.

The Department of State has announced the opening of the registration period for the DV-2011 Diversity Visa lottery. Entries for the DV-2011 Diversity Visa lottery may be submitted electronically between noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4), Friday, October 2, 2009, and noon, Eastern Standard Time (EST) (GMT-5), Monday, November 30, 2009.

Applicants may access the electronic Diversity Visa entry form (E-DV) at www.dvlottery.state.gov during the registration period. Paper entries will not be accepted. Applicants are strongly encouraged not to wait until the last week of the registration period to enter. Heavy demand may result in website delays. No entries will be accepted after noon EST on November 30, 2009.

For DV-2011, natives of the following countries are not eligible to apply because the countries sent a total of more than 50,000 immigrants to the United States in the previous five years: BRAZIL, CANADA, CHINA (mainland-born), COLOMBIA, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, ECUADOR, EL SALVADOR, GUATEMALA, HAITI, INDIA, JAMAICA, MEXICO, PAKISTAN, PERU, PHILIPPINES, POLAND, SOUTH KOREA, UNITED KINGDOM (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and VIETNAM. Persons born in Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR, and Taiwan are eligible.

On 10/01/09, President Obama signed a continuing resolution to fund continued federal government operations through October 31, 2009. Included in the legislation were provisions to extend the E-Verify, Religious Worker, Conrad 30 and EB-5 programs. The continuing resolution was attached to the FY10 Legislative Branch Appropriations bill (H.R. 2918), and was passed by the House of Representatives on 9/25/09 and the Senate on 9/30/09.