Originally Posted by Arizona Republic

Green-card decision reversed
Agency flip-flops again, clearing way for thousands of applications
Daniel Gonzalez
The Arizona Republic
Jul. 18, 2007 12:00 AM

Citizenship and Immigration Services announced Tuesday that it had reversed an earlier decision and would accept and process the green-card applications of tens of thousands of foreign professionals working legally in the United States.

It also extended the application deadline for those seeking green cards, or permanent residency.

The decision was a victory for those who had rushed to meet a July 2 deadline only to have the government say it would not offer the visas it had promised in mid-June.

"It means basically we won," said Ira Azulay, a Chicago immigration lawyer. He filed a lawsuit in federal court in Chicago on behalf of a Polish woman who claimed the government violated federal laws when it decided not to accept any new applications for employment-based green cards.

On June 13 the State Department issued its monthly visa bulletin listing the deadlines for foreign nationals waiting to complete the final step to apply for employment-based green cards. Instead of the usual cutoff dates, the June bulletin made the extraordinary announcement that virtually all foreign nationals already deemed eligible for green cards could apply, even those whose eligibility dates were still years away.

The news set off a mad rush as foreign professionals upended their lives to get their paperwork ready by July 2. Foreigners must be in the country when they apply, and applications are processed on a first-come, first-served basis.

But when July 2 rolled around, the State Department announced that it would not be able to offer the visas. The department said "sudden backlog reductions efforts" at CIS, the agency that processes green-card applications, had caused 60,000 green-card numbers to be used up.

"The public reaction to the July 2 announcement made it clear that the federal government's management of this process needs further review," said Emilio Gonzalez, CIS director. "I am committed to working with Congress and the State Department to implement a more efficient system in line with public expectations."

Applications that were filed by the July 2 deadline will be accepted, though there is no guarantee they will be approved. The government also extended the application deadline to Aug. 17.

"This is good news," said Phoenix resident Kola Akinwande, 48, a data processing administrator from Nigeria who was caught up in the reversal. "Basically they reopened the window."