Articles Posted in Immigrant Visas

Aliens who married or had children before the date of obtaining permanent residency can possibly confer “following-to-join” benefits to their family members. Due to this process, spouses and children will be able to receive green cards quickly. “Following-to join” is not family based immigration, but is similar to a child/spouse receiving derivative benefits based on a primary LPR’s immigration petition.

Here are the following requirements to be met in order for a spouse or child to qualify under “following-to-join”:

1. The LPR must have adjusted status or obtained an immigrant visa through a preference category (family or employment based) or diversity lottery. A LPR’s visa number must also be current in order for a family member to receive “following-to-join”.

The U.S. Department of State released the new visa bulletin for July 2010 on June 10, 2010.

For the month of July, the EB-1 category remained current for both Chinese and Indian nationals. In the EB-2 category, cut-off dates stayed the same for Chinese nationals (November 22, 2005), but moved forward eight months for Indian nationals from February 1, 2005 to October 1, 2005. In the EB-3 category, dates moved forward from June 22, 2003 to August 15, 2003 and from October 22, 2001 to November 22, 2001 for Chinese and Indian nationals respectively
For the month of June, the EB-1 category was current. In the EB-2 category, dates moved forward for mainland Chinese nationals from September 22, 2005 to November 22, 2005 and remain unchanged for Indian nationals (February 1, 2005). In the EB-3 category, dates moved forward for both mainland Chinese nationals from April 22, 2003 to June 22, 2003 and Indian nationals from October 1, 2001 to October 22, 2001.

This is a summary from AILA. The following immigration-related bills were introduced into the House of Representatives and the Senate in March and April:

E-Verify Loan Origination Act of 2010 (H.R. 4744)

Introduced by Rep. Marchant (R-TX) on 3/3/10

The Kentucky Consular Center in Williamsburg, Kentucky has registered and notified the winners of the DV-2010 diversity lottery. The diversity lottery was conducted under the terms of section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act and makes available *50,000 permanent resident visas annually to persons from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States.

Winners should start finding out very soon. Notifications to the randomly-selected diversity visa or “green card lottery” winners are being sent between May and July 2010.

How does it all work?

A United States Permanent Resident Card, known informally as a green card (due to the color of some earlier variants), is an identification card attesting to the permanent resident status of an alien in the United States of America. Green card also refers to an immigration process of becoming a permanent resident.

The green card serves as proof that its holder, a Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR), has been officially granted immigration benefits, which include permission to reside and take employment in the USA. The holder must maintain permanent resident status, and can be removed from the United States if certain conditions of this status are not met.

The DHS Office of Immigration Statistics issued its Annual Flow Report on U.S. Legal Permanent Residents (LPRs) for FY 2009. In 2009, a total of 1,130,818 persons became LPRs of the U.S and obtained Green Cards. The majority of new LPRs (59 percent) already lived in the United States when they were granted lawful permanent residence. Nearly two-thirds were granted permanent resident status based on a family relationship with a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident of the United States. The leading countries of birth of new LPRs were Mexico (15 percent), China (6 percent), and the Philippines (5 percent).

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) issued report on legislative developments in visa policy over the past 20 years and analysis of statistical trends in visa issuances and grounds for exclusion.

The conventional wisdom is that the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, prompted a substantive change in U.S. immigration policy on visa issuances and the grounds for excluding foreign nationals from the United States. A series of laws enacted in the 1990s, however, may have done as much or more to set current U.S. visa policy and the legal grounds for exclusion.

Foreign nationals not already legally residing in the United States who wish to come to the United States generally must obtain a visa to be admitted. Those admitted on a permanent basis are known as immigrants or legal permanent residents (LPRs), while those admitted on a temporary basis are known as nonimmigrants (such as tourists, foreign students, diplomats,temporary agricultural workers, and exchange visitors). They must first meet a set of criteria specified in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) that determine whether they are eligible for admission.

The Department of State just released the new visa bulletin for April 2010 on March 12, 2010.

EB-1 category is current for the month of April 2010. For mainland Chinese nationals, the cut-off date progressed from July 8, 2005 to August 22, 2005 in the EB-2 category. For Indian nationals, the cut-off date in the EB-2 category remains unchanged from March (February 1, 2005). In the EB-3 category, dates progressed for mainland Chinese nationals from December 15, 2002 to February 1, 2003 and for Indian nationals from July 1, 2001 to September 8, 2001.

In the month of March, the EB-1 category remained current from February. In the EB-2 category, cutoff dates for Chinese and Indian nationals both moved forward. For mainland Chinese nationals, dates progressed 47 days from May 22, 2005 to July 8, 2005. For Indian nationals, dates progressed 10 days from January 22, 2005 to February 1, 2005. In the EB-3 category, dates progressed for mainland Chinese nationals from September 22, 2002 to December 15, 2002 and for Indian nationals from June 22, 2001 to July 1, 2001.

Consular processing has undergone rapid and systemic changes during the past five years, and the rate and scope of change does not appear to be slowing. Enhanced security checks and inter-agency data sharing—among a massive wave of other changes—makes consular processing a daunting task that ensnare many unsuspecting visa applicants in problems and delays.

While many of the security measures were expected after 9/11, the effects were devastating to many U.S. visa applicants, who routinely encountered completely unpredictable surprises that caused unexpected and lengthy delays in visa issuance. These initial difficulties, delays and the resulting uncertainty for visa applicants and employers adversely impacted critical U.S. economic sectors including trade, tourism, scientific research, academia, and entertainment and business generally.

Newsweek recently published a story about an applicant’s experience with coming to America and the frustrations with this process.

What a great initiative introduced recently. Senators John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today introduced legislation to drive job creation and increase America’s global competiveness by helping immigrant entrepreneurs secure visas to the United States.

The StartUp Visa Act of 2010 will allow an immigrant entrepreneur to receive a two year visa if he or she can show that a qualified U.S. investor is willing to dedicate a significant sum – a minimum of $250,000 – to the immigrant’s startup venture.

The StartUp Visa Act of 2010 would amend immigration law to create a new EB-6 category for immigrant entrepreneurs, drawing from existing visas under the EB-5 category, which permits foreign nationals who invest at least $1 million into the U.S., and thereby create ten jobs, to obtain a green card. After proving that he or she has secured initial investment capital and if, after two years, the immigrant entrepreneur can show that he or she has generated at least five full-time jobs in the United States, attracted $1 million in additional investment capital or achieved $1 million in revenue, then he or she would receive permanent legal resident status.

The Department of State has released the new visa bulletin for February 2010 on January 8, 2010.

USCIS has reported last month that the EB-1 category was still current for all countries. In the EB-2 category, cutoff dates for mainland Chinese nationals progressed one month from April 1, 2005 to May 1, 2005, but remained the same for Indian nationals. In the EB-3 category, the cutoff dates for mainland Chinese nationals progressed 2 months from June 1, 2002 to August 1, 2002 and progressed 53 days for Indian nationals from May 1, 2001 to June 22, 2001.

This month in the EB-2 category, cutoff dates for mainland Chinese nationals moved forward 21 days from May 1, 2005 to May 22, 2005; for Indian nationals, the cutoff date remained unchanged (January 22, 2005). In the EB-3 category, cutoff dates for mainland Chinese nationals moved forward from August 1, 2002 to September 22, 2002. For Indian nationals applying in the EB-3 category, cutoff dates remained unchanged from last month (June 22, 2001). Once again, the EB-1 category is still current.