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Current news for entering the US with children
KINDERREISEPAESSE (German children's passports) issued before October 26, 2006, may still be used for visa-free travel. KINDERREISEPAESSE issued on or after October 26, 2006, may not be used for visa-free travel, since those have been issued as electronic passports (e-Reisepaesse) with an integrated computer chip. Children holding such a passport will need a visa. You may apply, however, for a regular electronic passport for your children. KINDERAUSWEISE (German child IDs) are in general not acceptable for visa-free travel. In this case, you also need a visa. All passports issued or extended on or after October 26, 2006, have to be electronic passports (e-Reisepaesse) to qualify for travel under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP). Please note that German preliminary passports can never be used for visa-free travel, irrespective of the issuing date. For further information, please refer to www.us-botschaft.de/germany-ger/kinderreisepaesse_vwp.html.

US government again expands Premium Processing Service
US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) again expanded the Premium Processing Service to include three more categories of employment-based immigration categories. The Premium Processing Service guarantees a processing time of two weeks maximum once the application has been received in the US and costs $1,000. As of September 25, 2006, USCIS offers Premium Processing for form I-140 (Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker) that includes the following immigration visa categories: EB-1 (outstanding researcher and professor), EB-2 (members of professions with advanced degrees or persons with exceptional abilities not seeking the National Interest Waiver) and EB-3 (people who are not skilled workers or professional, i.e. people in professions that require less than two years of training or work experience).

New search function on our website
If you have visited our website these last few days, you may have already noticed - the Google Site Search can now be found on all pages and sub-pages of our website, allowing you to quickly find any of our articles on the entire website, even old articles from our newsletters (since 1999).