Due to the recent surge of violence in Syria, the United States has closed the Embassy in Damascus. All American Embassy personnel have departed the country. The State Department has directed U.S. citizen petitioners who are resident in Syria to email USCIS.Amman@dhs.gov if they wish to make an appointment to file I-130 petitions in Amman for their Syrian relatives. All I-730 petitions Refugee/Asylee following to join cases have been transferred to the Embassy in Amman, Jordan. If your relative is unable to travel to Amman for his or her interview, you may be able to transfer the case file to another U.S. Embassy in the region.
As of January 27, 2012, USCIS receipted 29,301 petitions toward the 33,000 H-2B cap amount for the first half of the fiscal year. This count includes 21,689 approved and 7,612 pending petitions. This also includes 1,705 approved and 931 pending petitions for second half of FY2012. Once the H-2B cap is reached, USCIS will only accept petitions for H-2B workers who are exempt from the H-2B cap.
