Daily Archives: May 24, 2020

The family immigration process often takes many years waiting in line and then finally, once an immigrantvisa becomes available, the National Visa Center (NVC) and U.S. Consulate begin final processing for your relative, ending in the immigrant visa consular interview appointment and thereafter immigrating to the U.S.

However, even after waiting all those years, the final processing steps themselves can be very intimidating and stressful.

This quickoverview of the process, along with a few tips to keep in mind, should help youproperly provide the required documentation so as not to delay your relatives consular interview.

To initiate final consular processing, most sponsors receive a notification email from the NVC called a Notice of Immigrant Visa Case Creation which gives the case number, ID and link to login to the Consular Electronic Application Center (CEAC) to initiate the process.

Here are the basic steps in the process:

1) Pay NVC Bills: The first step is to pay the consular fees to begin the process. Fees are currently $445 per person or $325 per person and $120 for family.

2) Submit Affidavit of Support and supporting documents: Once the fees are paid, the next step is for the sponsor to immediately submit the completed, signed form I-864 Affidavit of Support, current tax return. W-2, pay stubsand proof of residency or citizenship through the CEAC system. Failure to quickly provide the required financial documents will result in delay of the case.

3) Complete the DS260 Immigrant Visa Application: At this stage, the immigrating family members must complete the DS260 form for each person and submit.

4) Civil Documents: All immigrants are required to submit certain civil documents, including birth and marriage certificates, divorce decrees, passport biographic page, police certificate, passport photos, criminal records, etc. These documents must be carefully scanned and uploaded through the CEAC system for each immigrating family member.

5) NVC Review: Once the documents are submitted, it can take up to 60 days for the NVC to review the documents. If documents submitted are not clear or scanned improperly, they are rejected, and the sponsor/immigrant will receive an email notification to log in and replace such documents with properly scanned versions.

6) Consular Interview: Once the NVC finds all the documentation is acceptable, the NVC will email notification that the case is complete. The next step is to wait for notification from the consulate. Within about 30 days the U.S. Consulate will send a notification email with date and time of the interview, along with instructions on scheduling the required medical examination and listing documentation to bring to the medical exam and consular interview.

Its important to understand the NVC process can be completed in as little as 60 days if the case is properly prepared and submitted. If not, the process can be delayed for many months causing immigrating family members to remain in limbo for no good reason. In some cases, I have had new clients come to me over six months into the process exasperated and ready to give up after having previously repeatedly tried to do the case themselves. In addition to sponsors being unsure of which documents are required and unfamiliar with the CEAC system, the main delays are usually caused by documents being uploaded which do not meet the requirements.

Heres a few document tips:

Rule #1, never use your cell phone to take a picture of a document, all documents must be scanned at a clear resolution using a scanner and saved as a pdf. Pics taken with cell phones will be rejected.

Rule #2, always make sure the document you are scanning is upright on the page, since documents scanned sideways or upside-down will be rejected.

Rule #3, make sure to scan the entire document so that all sides are fully showing. Scans of documents which are cut off will be rejected. For instance, if a birth certificate has stamps, but the scanned page cuts a portion of the stamp off, the document will be rejected. Similarly, if a document is on oversized paper and the scan cuts off the bottom of the document, it will be rejected. The best approach is to take oversized documents to Office Depot or asimilar store and have them reduced to letter size.

Rule #4, reduce the size of the PDF before uploading. The maximum size is 2 mb. Many documents with multiple pages scanned on copiers and printers will easily go over 2 mb, so youll need to use a PDF program which allows you to reduce the PDF size.

Rule #5, documents which are in the same language as the country from which the family members are immigrating do not need English translations. For instance, if an immigrant is from Colombia and all his/her documents are in Spanish, no English translations are required to be submitted.

Finally, remember every time you submit or resubmit documents, it can take the NVC up to 30-60 days to review them. This can cause frequent delays. The best approach is to carefully prepare the documents, review the scans to make sure they meet each and every specification before uploading and submitting, then check your emails frequently in case the NVC issues a request for resubmission on one or more documents, so that you can take care of it immediately.

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Tips On Successfully Surviving The National Visa Center Process - caribbeannationalweekly.com

The Chief Executive of the Health Service Executive has said onemetresocial distancing would give the health service greater capacity, but it will be guided by the National Public Health Emergency Team's advice.

Paul Reid said NPHET guidance is for two-metresocial distancing and that is what the HSE is planning in terms of framework for new services to work through.

He said thisdoes have implicationsin terms of capacity in emergency departments, outpatient clinics and waiting rooms for example.

At a briefing this morning, he said there is "no doubt" one-metre distancing would give significant extra capacity in managing services, but the executive will be guided by the current NPHET guidance.

Chief Clinical Officer for the HSEDr Colm Henrysaidon 27 March we were facing the "spectreof uncontrolled communitytransmission" of the virus, but the stringent measures introduced, including the two-metresocial distance rule, have allowed us to bring the 'R'figure (effective reproduction)down to 0.5.

He said that bearing in mind this is a droplet spread illness, the guidance was based on theprojected length a droplet can spread.

He saidinitiallywe thought the virus was spread primarily through coughing and sneezing,but as we learn moreabout it,we are more aware of how less obviously it can spread from people who are asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic.

Dr Henry said the two-metrerule is governed by the decisions of NPHET "and how they're advised based on best international advice" and alsofrom those countries who are emergingout of the initialstage of thepandemic

Read more:Latest coronavirus stories

Meanwhile, LabourleaderAlan Kelly has called onMinister for Health Simon Harris to carry out an audit on the impact of changing the social distancing rules to one metre would have on the health service.

In a statement, hesaid there was now a clear divergence between the World Health Organization and the Government.

An expert in infectious disease at the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland said the two-metresocial distancing rule is likely to remain in place, as it is the best advice from the European Centre for Disease Control.

Speaking on RT's This Week, Professor Sam McConkey said the distance between people is one of a number of key measures taken to reduce the spread of the virus.

He said that the Irish authorities are following the ECDC advice, which is specific to European countries and that there is "a lot of wisdom in pooling our knowledge across countries".

He said World Health Organization advice, which calls for a one-metre minimum, is based on a global picture.

Prof McConkey said that until there is zero emergence of cases that are unexplained in the community, restrictions, including social distancing, would continue.

He said we have fewer and fewer deaths and cases each day and most of these are in "known chains of transmissions" such as in meat factories or households.

He said there are a range of other measures that could be changed to make the restrictions easier on people, such as re-opening schools and creches.

He also said a scheme in New Zealand whereby a number of groups or families can form a mini-bubble or cocoon and socialise together, while remaining apart from others could be considered.

He said this would allow both children and parents in those groups to interact and allow a merging of family groups.

Govt asked to explain social distance stance

On the same programme, the Restaurants Association of Ireland called for the Government to explain why it has "changed" in moving away from WHO advice on social distancing guidelines.

RAI CEO Adrian Cummins said with 34 days to go until they re-open, restaurant owners want guidelines on social distancing to be reissued.

He said the difference between one and two metres of social distance would see many restaurants unable to reopen as they could only operate at 20-25% per cent capacity and would be loss making.

Mr Cummins said "we went into the crisis along WHO guidelines and somewhere along the journey we have changed to Irish guidelines".

He said countries including Austria, Finland and Norway have moved to a one-metre rule and "if we don't have this conversation" there will be thousands of jobs at risk.

David Fitzsimons from Retail Excellence Ireland said the social distancing guidelines are "inferior to every other country" and his sector is concerned that it will make retail operations difficult once "pent-up demand" is seen on shop floors.

HSE to complete non-Covid treatment framework

The Health Service Executive has said a framework will befinalisedin the coming weeks to see how to safely resume non-Covidhealthcare services in the current environment.

Mr Reid said there are more than900 vacant beds in hospitals, down from 2,500, which shows an increase in non-Covid activity.

There are 51 people in ICU being treated for Covid-19, which is down 68% from the peak in early April.

He said the speed of testing has increased with 98% of tests returning with a negative result and results are returning in less than two days.

310,000 tests have been completed and 35,000 swab tests were completed.

MrReid said mass testing of nursing homes in now complete and is nearing completion in mental disability settings and the automatic testing of close contacts of confirmed cases is also under way.

The briefing was told that the HSE planned to carry out antibody testing in June to try to measure the level of the disease in the population.

It was expected most people who had the disease would develop an antibody response, which would provide some level of protection but results in other countries had shown low levels in communities.

He said a report into the Mater Hospital has concluded and found it did meet all its obligations on reporting of cases and all testing and tracing was completed properly.

The report makes recommendations about the validation of data and assurances have been given by all hospitals about correct uploading of data.

Increase in emergency department activity

Anne O'Connor, the chief operations officer of the HSE, said activity at emergency departments has risen, with more over 75s being admitted through emergency departments in the last week.

She said a total of 20,177 people attended emergency departments last week, up 2% attendance on last week but still lower than this time last year.

MsO'Connor said an "attend anywhere" teleservice is being looked at, continuing virtual consultations as these clinics are being used more andvirtual consultations for outpatients will be built on over the coming months as people are very keen to engage in this way.

She said there is now 90% occupancy in acute hospitals and there were409 delayed discharges of patients to nursing homes.

MsOConnor said there is a significant numberof daycarecases in private hospitals, which are getting busier andmore use of in-patient beds in private hospitals, which are now at 50% occupancy - and at 80% occupancy for day cases.

She said Covid-19 is not going to disappear so we need to ensure we have capacity at our hospitals.

Sheadded thatthe community assessment hubs are being looked at to see how quieter hubs can best be used to support services.

Around 80% of cases of Covid-19 will be a mild to moderate illness, close to 14% have severe disease and around 6% are critical.

Generally, you need to be 15 minutes or more in the vicinity of an infected person and within 2 metres of them, to be considered at-risk, or a close contact.

People feeling vulnerable urged to seek help

The HSE's clinical advisor to the National Office for Suicide Prevention said the Covid-19 pandemic will see new groups of people having mental health challenges for the first time and he urged anyone feeling vulnerable to seek help.

Dr Philip Dodd, a consultant psychiatrist and clinical professor at UCD, said that people who are cocooning or those who are worried about their jobs or health may need some extra psychological supports.

He said the majority of thepopulation can and will adjust to the new Covid-19 environment andclinical research shows that people are becoming less worried and settling after the initial arrival of the virus in Ireland.

He said mental health services are still accessible despite being interrupted by Covid-19 demands and there are new tele-health options such as online, text and phone supports that have been used by many people for the first time.

Anyone with new concerns about their mental health is urged to contact their GP or in an emergency to attend their lcoal emergency departments.

There are details of mental health services on yourmentalhealth.ie or freephone 180111888.

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HSE will be guided by NPHET advice on 2m rule - Reid - RTE.ie

This Thursday marks the 25th anniversary of the late, great Seve Ballesteros final professional victory.

On May 21, 1995,the mercurial Spaniard won his national title, the Spanish Open, for the third time his 50th European Tour title.

Nobody knew it at the time, of course, but it would prove to be the final trophy the then 38-year-old would ever lift.

Here atbunkered, we have decided to mark the occasion by hosting Seve Week across all of our digital platforms.

Every day this week, we will be uploading brand new content to our website and social media platforms - all of it honouring the bold, brilliant Ballesteros.

Well be giving you a bit of everything: essays, interviews, video tributes from some of his contemporaries, fun stats, facts, quizzes and so much more.

Were encouraging you to get involved, too.

We want you to share your favourite Seve memories and pictures on social media using the hashtag #SeveWeek.

bunkered editor Bryce Ritchie explained: Somebody once said that you didnt need to love golf to love Seve. Thats absolutely true. The great man occupies a special place in the hearts, mind and memories of most golf fans.

"Even Americans, upon whom he inflicted so much misery in the Ryder Cup, admired him for the style and passion that he brought to the game.

He was a complete one-off. Thats why we decided to celebrate him with a one-off week full of celebrations.

"We wouldn't do this for just anybody - but Seve wasn't 'just anybody'. He was a maverick, a revolutionary, an incredible talent and, above all else, a hero."

To make sure you dont miss anything on the site this week, stick this page in your bookmarks and get involved on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #SeveWeek.

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Introducing 'Seve Week' - A celebration of Seor - bunkered

After picking Joakim Soria out of the Padres ranch system in the 2006 Rule 5 Draft, maybe suggested that the Royals are still in the playing with house money honeymoon stage of the Rule 5 procedure. After all, also landing a Rule 5 gamer that can stick on a Major League lineup for a whole period is a success, dont bother touchdown a two-time All-Star like Soria via his 2007-11 prime time as Kansas Citys closer.

Eleven years after composing Soria, it looks like the Royals once more advanced using the Rule 5 procedure. While Brad Keller has yet to get to All-Star degrees, the right-hander has actually currently delighted in sufficient success over his very first 2 MLB periods that he appears like a strong foundation for a young K.C. group.

Keller was an eighth-round choice for the Diamondbacks in the 2013 draft, as well as via 5 professional periods had actually assembled some suitable yet unimpressive numbers in the Arizona ranch system. Over 130 1/3 innings for Double- A Jackson in 2017, Keller published a 4.68 PERIOD, 7.6 K/9, as well as 1.95 K/BB price, which had not been fairly adequate for him to qualify among something of a 40- guy lineup problem for the DBacks

Coming off a 93- win period as well as a NLDS look in 2017, the Diamondbacks were concentrated on making use of much of their offered 40- guy rooms on gamers that can possibly offer prompt aid in 2018, as GM Mike Hazen discussed to the Arizona Republics Nick Piecoro 2 years earlier. Our precursors suched as[Keller] We liked him, Hazen stated. We made the aware choice not to include him as a result of where he remained in distance to the Major League group, where we remained in the cycle, what we wished to utilize our 40- guy areas for, we wished to be hostile in the offseason in declaring men that were closer to the major leagues in our mind.

So, the DBacks left Keller unguarded in December 2017 draft, as well as it really did not take wish for another group to catch the right-hander. However, that group had not been really the Royals, whose place in the Rule 5 draft order really did not drop up until the #18 place that year. Instead it was the Reds that took Keller with the 5th choice, and after that without delay dealt him to Kansas City for money factors to consider. (The Royals turned a comparable relocation simply one choice later on, getting 6th choice Burch Smith for money from the Mets after New York picked Smith out of Tampa Bays ranch system.)

Smith additionally wound up investing the whole 2018 period on the K.C. lineup, though he was let go after uploading a 6.92 PERIOD over 78 innings. Keller, on the various other hand, was a lot more of a prompt success. After uploading a 2.01 PERIOD over his very first 22 1/3 structures of job out of Kansas Citys bullpen in 2018, Keller was advertised to the turning as well as remained to prosper. The righty had a 3.28 PERIOD over his 20 begins, starting out 83 batters (versus 43 strolls) over 118 innings.

Kellers student year had not been fairly as remarkable, though he still handled a rather decent 4.19 PERIOD, 1.74 K/BB, as well as 6.6 K/9 over 165 1/3 structures, all as a participant of the Royals turning. It can be suggested that Keller was possibly privileged to take care of that 4.19 mark, as some PERIOD forecasters (4.94 xFIP, 5.23 SIERA) were substantially greater, as well as batters made a lot more strong agreement off him in 2019 than in2018 The Statcast metrics additionally took a dark sight of Kellers 2019 efficiency, with a lot of blue as in, below-average numbers for Keller in contrast to various other bottles in leave speed, xwOBA, strikeout percent, as well as a number of various other classifications.

That stated, progressed metrics do not often tend to prefer low-strikeout hurlers like Keller that concentrate on maintaining the sphere on the ground. Among bottles with a minimum of 300 innings threw over the last 2 periods, Keller has the most affordable (8.4%) crowning achievement price in baseball, as well as the second-highest (52%) ground ball price. These impressive numbers are especially beneficial in this age of the vibrant sphere, as well as Keller can better gain from some boosted protection behind him, need to Maikel Franco offer any type of kind of upgrade at 3rd base.

All informed, 4.8 fWAR over 2 periods currently stands for a really wonderful return on the Royals first small money investment toCincinnati Keller does not transform 25 up until July, as well as he does not get to adjudication qualification up until this coming offseason, placing him under the Royals control via the 2023 project. Under regular conditions, Keller can be a gamer the Royals may have currently secured to an agreement expansion, as well as while all expansion talks are stopped under the present deals ice up, it would not be a shock if K.C. started some talks with Kellers reps when routine company comes back underway.

While really significant Rule 5 Draft success tales are reasonably rare nowadays, a group just requires to appeal one choice to make the business beneficial. Finding a major league ability for practically absolutely nothing is a win for any type of group, as well as if that ability is a mid-20s beginning bottle that appears like he can await a minimum of the center of a major league turning, the Royals obtained an useful increase to their newest restoring initiative.

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Have The Royals Found Another Rule 5 Gem? - The Union Journal

BRITAIN'S Got Talent has produced some of the most memorable performances on our screen.

Producing some of the biggest stars in the business, the ITV talent show has a knack for finding the most talented youngsters in the country.

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As there's no age restriction for BGT, the beloved series has become a launchpad for those looking for success at a young age.

Here we take a look at the show's most iconic younger stars and check out what they're up to now...

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Connie Talbot won over the nation's hearts when she appeared on the first series of Britains Got Talent back in 2007 - at the tender age of six.

She made it all the way to the final and sang Somewhere Over The Rainbow but missed out on the prize to Paul Potts.

A year after appearing on BGT, she released Connie Talbot's Christmas Album, which she recorded in her bedroom studio.

In 2012 she released her fourth album Beautiful World under Hong Kong based label Evosound - it reached number one in the Taiwan charts.

Two years later she opened a special concert to celebrate South Korea hosting the G20 summit.

Then in 2019, the 18-year-old took to the BGT: The Champions stage to sing an original song but despite getting rave comments from the judges, she didn't make it through to the finals.

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George Sampson, 26, is a street dancer who found fame and success after winning Britain's Got Talent in 2008.

Since his appearance on BGT, George has branched out into acting and also released his own single Get Up On The Dance Floor/Headz Up in 2008 with Syco.

After performing in West End show Into The Hoods, he landed a role in Waterloo Road, as Kyle, in 2011, before joining Emmerdale in 2016 as Ryan.

He's also had minor roles in Mount Pleasant and Casualty, as well as presenting CBBC's Friday Download. Then in 2010 and 2012 he appeared in 3D movies Streetdance and Streetdance 2.

In April 2017, George had a 9,000 hair transplant procedure to get rid of a bald patch on his head, which was caused by all the spinning he does on his head during break-dancing routines.

George took his own mother to court in 2016 after she refused to leave the Warrington house he bought with his Britain's Got Talent winnings. In May 2017 he joined the cast of Madness musical Our House as Reecey.

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Ronan Parke tugged at the heartstrings when he sang his heart out to Feeling Good aged 12 in 2011's instalment of BGT.

At the time, he narrowly missed out on winning the competition, ending up in second place.

The fresh-faced singer was still snapped up by Simon Cowells label, but like many talent show acts before him, he was sadly dropped after a year.

Since leaving the show he released his debut album called Ronan Parke and went onto do a number of performances around the UK.

He left his record labels the following year, and later that year released a new single, We Are Shooting Stars.

He has also collaborated with fellow Britains Got Talent contestant Luciel Johns, and released a further few singles in 2014.

Now in 2020, Ronan has a YouTube channel, which he updates regularly with music covers and vlogs to his 187,000 followers.

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In 2009, Hollie Steel delivered an unforgettable performance on Britains Got Talent which saw her breaking down in floods of tears midway through her semi-final song.

Despite boasting plenty of vocal promise, it was the 10-year-olds onstage collapse on the show that will always stick in the mind.

Nerves got the better of her during her rendition of Edelweiss, causing her to flee the stage in pieces.

However, she bravely returned for a second attempt and the judges voted her through to the final, eventually finishing sixth in the competition.

Hollie capitalised on her BGT fame, Hollie and her family launched their own label, BB5 Records, and put out her debut self-titled album in 2010.

She followed that up with a Christmas album in 2011 and her second collection, Children On The Titanic, in 2012.

In 2011, she was also cast in the role of Louisa von Trapp in Andrew Lloyd Webber's UK tour of The Sound Of Music, performing in the show across the country from May to October.

Now today a 21-year-old Hollie continues to act and sing, uploading regular song covers to her channel.

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Comedian Jack Carroll competed in the seventh series of Britain's Got Talent at the age of 14, finishing as the runner-up.

In 2010, at the age of 12, Jack caught the eye of comedian Jason Manford when he saw a video of him performing at his parents' wedding anniversary and asked him to perform at one of his shows.

Two years later, the teen won a Pride of Britain award in 2012 before he wowed judges with his comedy act a year later.

Jack, who has cerebral palsy, has continued to do stand-up since being on BGT and also is enjoying a successful career as an actor.

The funnyman has appeared in two series of the CBBC Channel show Ministry of Curious Stuff and also Sky One series Trollied.

He took his show Jack Carroll And Friends to the Edinburgh Fringe 2019.

Last year, he competed in Britain's Got Talent: The Champions but was eliminated.

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Welsh native Shaheen Jafargholi left the BGT audience in awe after he delivered a powerful version of Michael Jackson's Who's Loving Yo during his audition in 2009.

The schoolboy was lauded with praise from around the world so much so that Shaheen was asked to perform at Michael Jackson's funeral when he was just 12.

Following his appearance on the show, Shaheen recorded an album, and turned his attention to acting with cameo in Torchwood and Grandpa in My Pocket.

In 2016, he joined the cast of EastEnders as Carmel Kazemi's (Bonnie Langford) son, Shakil, and in August 2018 it was announced he'd joined Casualty.

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Aidan Davis starred in the third series of the ITV talent show back in 2009.

Back then, aged just 11 and sporting a bright blue hoodie, he impressed judges with his fancy footwork to Flo Ridas Low.

While blonde Amanda Holden said he blew her away,, head honcho Simon Cowell added: I think youre better than any dancer on this show, you are super, super, super talented.

Yet the dance star who claimed he never had professional training was caught up in a highly talented bunch and battled it out in a series which included singing sensation Susan Boyle and fellow dancers Diversity, who went on to take the title.

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He then joined the lads on their Diversitoys tour as well as teaming up with the crew on the official BGT tour.

Since then Aiden continues to dances and has a fondness for sharing shirtless selfies on social media.

The new series of Britains Got Talent continues tonight at 8pm on ITV.

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Britains Got Talents biggest child stars from Connie Talbot to George Sampson where are they now? - The Sun