Visa Lawyer Blog

Articles Posted in Embassies

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interview-6956089_1280-1In this blog post, we discuss the release of the Department of State’s October 2024 Immigrant Visa Backlog report.

This is a monthly publication that provides data and statistics regarding the number of immigrant visa cases currently at the National Visa Center waiting for interviews, documentarily complete cases that have been scheduled for visa interviews, and those that are still awaiting visa interviews.

We also compare the increase in the backlog from September to October 2024.

According to the National Visa Center’s Immigrant Visa Backlog Report for the month of October 2024, there has been a modest decrease in the immigrant visa (IV) backlog from 385,800 pending cases in September to 363,242 cases in October — nearly a 5.8% decrease in the backlog.  

Additionally, when comparing the September and October Immigrant Visa backlogs, we can see that the number of immigrant visa applicants whose cases were declared documentarily complete and ready to be scheduled for interviews decreased by 17,846 cases, from 431,110 (in September) to 413,264 (in October).

Additionally, 50,022 applicants whose cases were documentarily complete were scheduled for interviews in the month of October (in comparison to just 45,310 in September).

  • A case is considered documentarily complete by the National Visa Center, when the applicant has paid all necessary fees and submits all necessary documents to meet the formal visa application requirements, such that the case is ready to be scheduled for a visa interview. When a case becomes documentarily complete, the NVC sends applicants an email to notify them that their case is complete and pending scheduling at the local Consulate or Embassy.

September 2024 Immigrant Visa Backlog Report

Number of IV applicants whose cases are documentarily complete at NVC and ready for interview as of August 31 431,110
Number of documentarily complete IV applicants scheduled for September 2024 interview appointments 45,310
Number of eligible IV applicants still pending the scheduling of an interview after September 2024 appointment scheduling was completed 385,800

October 2024 Immigrant Visa Backlog Report

Number of IV applicants whose cases are documentarily complete at NVC and ready for interview as of September 30 413,264
Number of documentarily complete IV applicants scheduled for October 2024 interview appointments 50,022
Number of eligible IV applicants still pending the scheduling of an interview after October 2024 appointment scheduling was completed 363,242

 Note: In Calendar Year 2019 on average, 60,866 applicants were pending the scheduling of an interview each month.

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super-6698001_1280In the complex landscape of U.S. immigration, the O-1A visa stands out as a great option for individuals with extraordinary abilities in fields such as business, sciences, athletics, or education. This visa offers a pathway for highly talented professionals to work in the United States while showcasing their exceptional expertise.

An O-1A visa petition must be supported by documentation showing receipt of a major internationally recognized award, like a Nobel Prize. However, if the applicant has not received such an award, they may still apply if they meet at least three of the following criteria:

  • Evidence of receipt of nationally or internationally recognized prizes or awards for excellence in the field.
  • Evidence of membership in associations in the field that require outstanding achievements of their members, as judged by recognized experts in the field.
  • Evidence of authorship of scholarly articles in the field, in professional journals, or other major media.
  • Evidence of published material in professional or major trade publications or major media about applicant’s work.
  • Evidence of participation on a panel, or individually, as the judge of the work of others in the field.
  • Evidence of employment in a critical or essential capacity for organizations and establishments that have a distinguished reputation.
  • Evidence of commanding a high salary or other compensation for services in relation to others in the field.
  • Evidence of original contributions of major significance in the field (scientific, scholarly, or business-related).
  • Or any comparable evidence to support the beneficiary’s eligibility, if the above criteria are not readily applicable to the occupation.

“Sophia’s” O-1A Journey

In our client’s case, “Sophia” was a Marketing Development professional with over 13 years of experience, creating innovative campaigns for well-known businesses throughout the world.

In support of her O-1A visa, “Sophia,” provided ample evidence to meet more than three of the criteria, including evidence of her leading roles as a marketing professional throughout her career, memberships in prestigious organizations, judging positions in her profession, evidence of high compensation as a marketing professional, recognition in the major media, authorship of scholarly articles, and the exhibition of her work.

While “Sophia’s” immigration journey seemed to go smoothly at first, she ran into some challenges which prompted her to seek representation from our law office. In this blog post, you will learn how “Sophia” was able to bounce back and achieve success after experiencing a few hiccups along the way.

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globe-2091853_1280Great news! Online registration for the Diversity Visa Lottery Program for fiscal year 2026 (DV-2026) is now open and will remain open until November 5, 2024.

What you need to know

Deadline for Registration

The State Department is accepting online registrations for the Diversity Visa Lottery program for Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 from now until Tuesday, November 5, 2024, at 12:00 noon, Eastern Standard Time (EST).

It is completely free to submit an online registration.

Foreign nationals who want to have a chance of being selected must register for the lottery by this deadline.

Submission of more than one entry for a person will disqualify all entries for that person.

The Fiscal Year 2026 DV lottery program will have up to 55,000 green cards up for grabs that will be selected through a randomized computer-generated process.

Winners for FY 2026 are expected to be announced starting May 3, 2025, through September 30, 2026, on the Website by selecting DV Entrant Status Check.

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Why should I apply?

Foreign nationals selected in the FY 2026 lottery are eligible to file their green card applications starting October 1, 2025.

Please note that all who are selected in the DV 2026 lottery must apply for their immigrant visas during fiscal year 2026 (October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2026).

Once all 55,000 diversity visas have been issued, the program will end. That is why it is so important for applicants to apply for an immigrant visa as early as possible.

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learn-6874566_1280Today the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs published the October Visa Bulletin. In this blog post, we breakdown the movement of the employment-based and family-sponsored categories in the coming month.

USCIS Adjustment of Status

For employment-based preference categories, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has confirmed it will use the Dates for Filing chart to determine filing eligibility for adjustment of status to permanent residence in the month of October.

For family-sponsored preference categories, USCIS will continue to use the Dates for Filing chart to determine filing eligibility for adjustment of status to permanent residence in the month of October.

Highlights of the October 2024 Visa Bulletin

At a Glance

What can we expect to see in the month of October?

Employment-Based Categories

  • The Final Action date for China EB-3 Professionals and Skilled Workers will retrogress by five months, to April 1, 2020. The Date for Filing will retrogress by almost 8 months, to November 15, 2020.
  • The Final Action date for EB-3 Professionals and Skilled Workers Worldwide will advance by almost two years, to November 15, 2022. The Date for Filing will advance by one month, to March 1, 2023.
  • The Final Action date for China EB-5 Unreserved will advance by seven months, to July 15, 2016. The Date for Filing will retrogress by three months, to October 1, 2016.
  • The India EB-5 Unreserved Final Action date will advance by more than one year, to January 1, 2022. The Date for Filing will remain at April 1, 2022.

Family-Sponsored Categories

Final Action

  • F1 Mexico will advance by 7.8 months to January 1, 2003
  • F2A Mexico will advance by 1.1 months to March 8, 2021
  • F2A All other countries will advance by 1 week to November 22, 2021
  • F2B Mexico will advance by 6 months to January 15, 2005
  • F3 Mexico will advance by 5.7 months to August 22, 2000
  • F4 Mexico will advance by 2 weeks to February 22, 2001
  • F4 India will advance by 1.2 months to March 1, 2006

Dates for Filing

  • F1 Mexico will advance by 6 months to October 1, 2005
  • F2B Mexico will advance by 3 months to August 1, 2005
  • F3 Philippines will advance by 6 months to May 8, 2004
  • F3 All other countries will advance by 5.9 months to July 1, 2011
  • F4 Philippines will advance by 4 months to August 1, 2006

Now let’s dive into our analysis of the October 2024 Visa bulletin. 

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portugal-1355102_1280As of April 23, 2024, Portugal has joined the coveted list of countries eligible to participate in the E-2 Treaty Investor program via the passage of the Advancing Mutual Interests and Growing Our Success (AMIGOS) Act.

E-2 nonimmigrant visas are reserved for investors who are nationals of a treaty country. To qualify, an investment must be made into a U.S. company, the investor must hold at least 50% of the ownership interests, and the company must meet the E-2 visa requirements.

The E-2 visa is a very popular visa because there is no limit to the number of times the visa can be renewed, and it allows the company to sponsor other nationals of the treaty country as employees.

The addition of Portugal to the E-2 visa program presents a unique opportunity for Portuguese entrepreneurs to establish and grow their own businesses in the United States, while giving spousal dependents the opportunity to work for any employer in the United States.

It also presents an exciting opportunity for Brazilians who hold dual nationality with Portugal to participate in the program, as well as those who can obtain Portuguese citizenship through ancestry, legal residence, or by other lawful means.

Key Benefits of the E-2 visa program for Portuguese nationals

  • By law, the E-2 visa does not require any minimum investment amount and instead focuses on whether the investment is proportional based on the nature of the business. In most cases, entrepreneurs invest anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000 in their businesses.
  • E-2 treaty investor visas for Portuguese nationals are valid for five years and can be renewed indefinitely so long as the E-2 eligibility criteria are met.
  • Spouses and unmarried children under the age of 21 can apply for E-2 dependent visas to accompany the E-2 principal investor in the United States. Spouses are eligible for work authorization and can work for any employer in the United States.
  • Processing times for an E-2 visa interview at the U.S. Embassy in Lisbon can vary, but applicants can generally expect to be called for an interview approximately three months after submitting their application.  Upon approval, visas are typically issued within three to five business days.
  • Brazilians who hold dual nationality with Portugal can apply for the E-2 visa at the U.S. Consulate in Sao Paulo, the designated adjudicating post in Brazil for E-2 Treaty Country nationals.

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interview-7695015_1280Recently, the Department of State’s National Visa Center (NVC) released the August 2024 Immigrant Visa Backlog report, which provides data and statistics of the number of documentarily complete immigrant visa cases currently at the National Visa Center waiting for interviews, documentarily complete cases that have been scheduled for visa interviews, and those that are still awaiting visa interviews.

In this post, we compare the increase in the backlog from July to August.

According to the National Visa Center’s Immigrant Visa Backlog Report for the month of August 2024, there has been a substantial increase in the immigrant visa (IV) backlog rising from 394,835 pending cases in July to 408,937 cases in August — nearly a 3.5% increase amounting to 14,102 additional cases added to the backlog in just a one-month period. 

Additionally, when comparing the July and August Immigrant Visa backlogs, we can see that the number of immigrant visa applicants whose cases were documentarily complete and therefore ready to be scheduled for interviews decreased by 23,519 cases, from 488,285 (in July) to 464,766 (in August).

  • A case is considered documentarily complete by the National Visa Center, when the applicant has paid all necessary fees and submits all necessary documents to meet the formal visa application requirements, such that the case is ready to be scheduled for a visa interview. When a case becomes documentarily complete, the NVC sends applicants an email to notify them that their case is complete and pending scheduling at the local Consulate or Embassy.

August 2024 Immigrant Visa Backlog Report

Number of IV applicants whose cases are documentarily complete at NVC and ready for interview as of July 31 464,766
Number of documentarily complete IV applicants scheduled for August 2024 interview appointments 55,829
Number of eligible IV applicants still pending the scheduling of an interview after August 2024 appointment scheduling was completed 408,937

July 2024 Immigrant Visa Backlog Report

Number of IV applicants whose cases are documentarily complete at NVC and ready for interview as of June 30 488,285
Number of documentarily complete IV applicants scheduled for July 2023 interview appointments 53,450
Number of eligible IV applicants still pending the scheduling of an interview after July 2023 appointment scheduling was completed 394,825

Note: In Calendar Year 2019 on average, 60,866 applicants were pending the scheduling of an interview each month.

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september-5459588_1280The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs recently published the September Visa Bulletin. In this blog post, we breakdown the movement of the employment-based and family-sponsored categories in the coming month.

USCIS Adjustment of Status

For employment-based preference categories, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has confirmed it will continue to use the Final Action Dates chart to determine filing eligibility for adjustment of status to permanent residence in the month of September.

For family-sponsored preference categories, USCIS will continue to use the Dates for Filing chart to determine filing eligibility for adjustment of status to permanent residence in the month of September.

Highlights of the September 2024 Visa Bulletin

Employment-Based Categories

EB-3 Final Action Dates

  • The Final Action date for EB-3 Professionals and Skilled Workers will retrogress by one year, to December 1, 2020, for all countries, except for China and India
  • The Final Action date for EB-3 Other Workers will retrogress by one month, to December 1, 2020, for all countries except China, India, and Philippines

Other Categories

  • The Final Action dates and Dates for Filing for the remaining employment-based categories remain unchanged from the August Visa Bulletin

Employment Based Demand Will Reach FY 2024 Limits in September  

  • The State Department warns applicants that there has been in an increase in demand for employment-based visas during the fiscal year. Due to this, the employment-based categories will reach the numerical limits during September, or even sooner.

Family-Sponsored Categories

  • The Final Action dates and Dates for Filing for the family-sponsored categories remain unchanged from the August Visa Bulletin

Now let’s dive into our analysis.

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design-5467034_1280We are pleased to inform our readers that yesterday July 9th, the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs released the August Visa Bulletin. In this blog post we breakdown the projected movement of the employment-based and family-sponsored categories in the month of August.

USCIS Adjustment of Status

For employment-based preference categories, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has confirmed that in August it will continue to use the Final Action Dates chart to determine filing eligibility for adjustment of status to permanent residence.

For family-sponsored preference categories, USCIS will continue to use the Dates for Filing chart to determine filing eligibility for adjustment of status to permanent residence.

Highlights of the August 2024 Visa Bulletin

Employment-Based Categories

Final Action and Dates for Filing EB-2 and EB-3 India Advancement 

  • The Final Action date for EB-2 India will advance to July 15, 2012 and the Date for Filing to July 22, 2012
  • The Final Action date for EB-3 India will advance to October 22, 2012 and the Date for Filing to November 1, 2012

Other Categories

  • The Final Action dates and Dates for Filing for the remaining employment-based categories remain the same as the July Visa Bulletin

EB-3 Retrogression in September

  • The State Department warns applicants that the EB-3 Final Action date will likely retrogress or become unavailable in the September Visa Bulletin

Family-Sponsored Categories

Dates for Filing Advancements

F-2A Spouses and Children of Permanent Residents

  • F2A All countries will advance by seven and a half months to June 15, 2024 (from November 1, 2023)

F3 Married Sons and Daughters of U.S. Citizens

  • Except for Mexico and the Philippines, all other countries will advance by three months to January 1, 2011 (from October 1, 2010)

F-4 Brothers and Sisters of Adult U.S. Citizens

  • F4 Mexico will advance by two days to April 30, 2001

Final Action Date Advancements

F-2B Unmarried Sons and Daughters (21 years of age or older) of Permanent Residents

  • F2B Mexico will advance by one week to July 15, 2004

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gavel-2492011_1280

A recent appellate court decision handed down on June 25th has reversed a lower court’s decision which previously allowed the State Department to adjudicate and approve diversity visa cases from the 2020 and 2021 fiscal years.

The case Goodluck v. Biden, No. 21-5263 (D.C. Cir. June 25, 2024) dealt with the COVID-era presidential proclamation 10014 signed by former President Trump in April 2020, which suspended the entry to the United States of certain immigrant visa applicants following the Coronavirus outbreak.

The suspension had a devastating impact on the Diversity Immigrant Visa program because the State Department refused to issue diversity visas while the presidential proclamation remained in effect. The Department took the position that because the presidential proclamation rendered certain aliens inadmissible to the U.S., it also made them ineligible for visas.

Later, the State Department suspended all routine visa services including the processing of applications for diversity visas due to COVID-19 shelter in place orders.

In response, a class of diversity visa applicants selected in the DV 2020 and 2021 diversity visa lotteries sued the government, arguing that the Department’s policies prevented them from receiving their immigrant visas before the mandated fiscal-year-end deadlines.

As the case moved through litigation, the district courts agreed with the DV selectees ordering the State Department to prioritize processing and issue diversity visas past the end of the fiscal year deadlines.

In subsequent court orders, DV selectees were granted equitable relief which ordered the State Department to reserve diversity visas for DV 2020 and 2021 selectees for processing and issuance after the end of the fiscal year.

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53598884922_4742d81a60_cLa semana pasada el mundo de inmigración vivió un evento sísmico. El Presidente anunció una acción ejecutiva histórica sobre inmigración que cambiará para siempre las vidas de los cónyuges indocumentados de ciudadanos estadounidenses y agilizará el proceso de visas de trabajo de no inmigrantes para los beneficiarios de DACA y otras personas indocumentadas.

En esta publicación, compartimos con ustedes todo lo que sabemos sobre cómo la orden ejecutiva beneficiará a los graduados universitarios estadounidenses que buscan visas de trabajo.

La acción ejecutiva del presidente Biden se anunció en el duodécimo aniversario del programa de Acción Diferida para los Llegados en la Infancia (DACA), promulgado por primera vez bajo la administración Obama. Además de brindar protección a las personas contra la deportación, la orden brinda alivio a potencialmente miles de beneficiarios de DACA y otros soñadores que han obtenido títulos académicos en los EE. UU. y están buscando oportunidades de empleo en campos relacionados con su curso de estudio.

Al hacerlo, el gobierno permitirá a los soñadores explorar opciones existentes de visas basadas en empleo, como las visas H-1B, TN, L, O, etc.

Detalles Claves

¿Qué hace la Orden Ejecutiva?

  • Visas de Trabajo: Los beneficiarios de DACA y otras personas indocumentadas pronto podrían solicitar exenciones aceleradas de inelegibilidad y recibir visas de trabajo temporales, otorgándoles estatus legal para vivir y trabajar en los Estados Unidos sin temor a la deportación.
  • Elegibilidad: Para ser elegible para visas de trabajo de no inmigrantes, las personas deben haber obtenido un título en una institución estadounidense de educación superior acreditada en los Estados Unidos y tener una oferta de empleo estadounidense en un campo relacionado con su curso de estudio.
  • Camino hacia la residencia: Existe la posibilidad de que estas visas de trabajo temporal creen un camino hacia la residencia permanente a través de opciones de patrocinio basadas en el empleo.

Importancia

Debido al polémico clima político, el Congreso de los Estados Unidos no ha logrado aprobar una reforma migratoria significativa que proporcione un camino legal para que los soñadores permanezcan en los Estados Unidos y contribuyan positivamente a la economía estadounidense, utilizando las habilidades y la educación que obtuvieron aquí en los Estados Unidos.

Por primera vez, el gobierno ordenará al Departamento de Estado (DOS) y al Departamento de Seguridad Nacional (DHS) que emitan una guía aclaratoria que haga posible que los beneficiarios de DACA y otras personas sin estatus legal soliciten exenciones aceleradas de inelegibilidad y visas de trabajo temporales.

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