Federal Agencies Response to Events of Sept. 11, 2001
Posted Sep 22, 2001

Many applicants were affected, directly or indirectly, by the horrendous attacks on the World Trade Center (WTC) and the Pentagon on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. Those directly affected included companies and attorneys who had offices at the WTC. As an indirect effect of the grounded air traffic and resulting delays in mail and courier deliveries, many other applicants may have also missed filing deadlines with INS, the Department of Labor (DOL) and immigration courts.

The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), on behalf of its member attorneys, has raised some of these issues with the relevant agencies, and the agencies have agreed to help out in various ways. For example, the INS Vermont Service Center is helping to identify petitions filed by companies and attorneys who were formerly tenants of the WTC and to have paperwork copied so these businesses can reconstruct their records. The other INS Service Centers will take similar action. Furthermore, VSC will expedite petitions from WTC companies, without their having to pay the premium fee.

Both INS and DOL will also be flexible with regard to deadlines being missed because of mail and other similar delays. We do not yet have specific instructions as to what type of proof or information will be required as to how a case was affected. Also, INS will expedite H2B petitions for workers needed in rescue, clean-up, or rebuilding efforts, again without the premium-processing fee.

We have a list of various INS offices that closed last week and others that have made arrangements to reschedule appointments from last week. When we have further information on this issue, either directly from the agencies or through AILA, we will post updates at MurthyDotCom.