Visa Lawyer Blog

Articles Posted in Permanent Residents

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On September 20, 2023, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a fact sheet unveiling new actions to cut down the processing time of work authorizations filed by certain asylum seekers.

Starting October 1, 2023, USCIS will speed up the processing of Form I-765 Applications for Employment Authorization, (also known as EADs) filed by parolees who schedule an inspection appointment through CBP One. Such individuals are eligible to apply for employment authorization immediately.

USCIS aims to decrease average processing times for EADs from 90 days to 30 days for such individuals and will allocate more personnel and resources to accomplish this objective.

Additionally, USCIS seeks to decrease average processing times to just 30 days for EADs filed in connection with the Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan parole programs.

Finally, to improve efficiency, USCIS will also be increasing the maximum validity period of initial and renewal EADs to five years for certain noncitizens, including:

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In this blog post, we summarize the movement of the family-sponsored and employment-based preference categories of the October Visa Bulletin.

This information will be helpful to those applying for an immigrant visa at a U.S. Consulate overseas, and those applying for adjustment of status to permanent residence in the United States.

Overview

What is the Visa Bulletin?

The Department of State releases the visa bulletin on a monthly basis, which summarizes the availability of immigrant visa numbers for that particular month in the employment and family preference categories. The purpose of the visa bulletin is to inform immigrants who are subject to the numerical quota system of when they are eligible to apply for an immigrant visa or adjustment of status application. Applicants can determine their place in line by looking at the priority date on their underlying immigrant petition. Applicants with a priority date that is “current” on the Visa Bulletin can move forward with the immigration process, because that means a visa number is available to them.

What are the preference categories that are subject to the numerical limitations?

The Family Sponsored Preference Categories and their annual limits are as follows:

First: (F1) Unmarried Sons and Daughters of U.S. Citizens:  23,400 plus any numbers not required for fourth preference.

Second: Spouses and Children, and Unmarried Sons and Daughters of Permanent Residents:  114,200, plus the number (if any) by which the worldwide family preference level exceeds 226,000, plus any unused first preference numbers:

  1. (F2A) Spouses and Children of Permanent Residents:  77% of the overall second preference limitation, of which 75% are exempt from the per-country limit;
  2. (F2B) Unmarried Sons and Daughters (21 years of age or older) of Permanent Residents:  23% of the overall second preference limitation.

Third: (F3) Married Sons and Daughters of U.S. Citizens:  23,400, plus any numbers not required by first and second preferences.

Fourth: (F4) Brothers and Sisters of Adult U.S. Citizens:  65,000, plus any numbers not required by first three preferences.

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 “If we learn nothing else from this tragedy, we learn that life is short and there is no time for hate.”

Sandy Dahl, wife of Flight 93 United Airlines Captain Jason Dahl

In remembrance of the lives lost on September 11, 2001 welcome-905562_1280

In this post, we would like to share with our readers that starting September 13th the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will require affirmative asylum applicants to bring interpreters to asylum interviews, if they are not fluent in the English language, or would like to have their interview conducted in a language other than English.

USCIS has said that affirmative asylum applicants who need an interpreter, but fail to bring one, or who bring an interpreter that is not fluent in English or a language they speak, in such case the immigration official may consider this a failure to appear if the applicant does not establish good cause.

Additionally, USCIS may dismiss the asylum application or refer the asylum application to an immigration judge.

Interpreter Requirements

The following requirements apply to interpreters present at USCIS interviews:

The interpreter must be fluent in English and a language you speak fluently and must be at least 18 years old. The interpreter cannot be:

  • Your attorney or accredited representative;
  • A witness testifying on your behalf;
  • A representative or employee of the government of your country of nationality (or, if you are stateless, your country of last habitual residence); or
  • An individual with a pending asylum application who has not yet been interviewed.

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If you have been waiting for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to reopen in-person appointments, then this topic may interest you.

Recently, USCIS announced the launch of a new procedure to request an in-person appointment at a local USCIS field office by completing an online form. This form may be used by individuals, attorneys, and accredited representatives without the need to call the USCIS Contact Center.

The online appointment request form is currently available for use on the USCIS webpage and allows for in-person appointment requests at local field offices, only for ADIT stamps, Emergency Advance Parole (EAP), Immigration Judge Grants, Afghan Special Immigrant CPR Status, Certified Copies of Naturalization Certificate, Deferred Action, T, U, and VAWA Inquiries, I-94 Cuban Paroles and Re-Paroles, Lost Immigration Visa Packets, and more.

For more information about ADIT stamps, Emergency Advance Parole, and Immigration Judge Grants, etc. click here.

The online request system does not support self-scheduling, but individuals are allowed to request a specific date and time for an in-person appointment when making an online request. However, please keep in mind that USCIS cannot guarantee that the requested appointment date will be scheduled.

Once an online appointment request has been made, the USCIS Contact Center will review submissions along with the availability of in-person appointments at a specific field office. USCIS will then confirm and schedule the individual for an available in-person appointment date and time.

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We start the week with great news for Cuban and Haitian nationals.

On August 10, 2023, the Department of Homeland Security announced new publications in the Federal Register introducing changes to the Cuban and Haitian Family Reunification Parole processes.

The FRP program allows eligible Cuban and Haitian nationals to seek parole into the United States for the purpose of reuniting with their family members while they wait for their immigrant visas to become available to apply for adjustment of status to lawful permanent residence.

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In this blog post, we summarize the movement of the family-sponsored and employment-based preference categories of the September Visa Bulletin.

This information will be helpful to those applying for an immigrant visa at a U.S. Consulate overseas, and those applying for adjustment of status to permanent residence in the United States.

Overview

What is the Visa Bulletin?

The Department of State releases the visa bulletin on a monthly basis, which summarizes the availability of immigrant visa numbers for that particular month in the employment and family preference categories. The purpose of the visa bulletin is to inform immigrants who are subject to the numerical quota system of when they are eligible to apply for an immigrant visa or adjustment of status application. Applicants can determine their place in line by looking at the priority date on their underlying immigrant petition. Applicants with a priority date that is “current” on the Visa Bulletin can move forward with the immigration process, because that means a visa number is available to them.

What are the preference categories that are subject to the numerical limitations?

The Family Sponsored Preference Categories and their annual limits are as follows:

First: (F1) Unmarried Sons and Daughters of U.S. Citizens:  23,400 plus any numbers not required for fourth preference.

Second: Spouses and Children, and Unmarried Sons and Daughters of Permanent Residents:  114,200, plus the number (if any) by which the worldwide family preference level exceeds 226,000, plus any unused first preference numbers:

  1. (F2A) Spouses and Children of Permanent Residents:  77% of the overall second preference limitation, of which 75% are exempt from the per-country limit;
  2. (F2B) Unmarried Sons and Daughters (21 years of age or older) of Permanent Residents:  23% of the overall second preference limitation.

Third: (F3) Married Sons and Daughters of U.S. Citizens:  23,400, plus any numbers not required by first and second preferences.

Fourth: (F4) Brothers and Sisters of Adult U.S. Citizens:  65,000, plus any numbers not required by first three preferences.

The Employment-Based Preference Categories and their annual limits are as follows:

First:  Priority Workers:  28.6% of the worldwide employment-based preference level, plus any numbers not required for fourth and fifth preferences.

Second:  Members of the Professions Holding Advanced Degrees or Persons of Exceptional Ability:  28.6% of the worldwide employment-based preference level, plus any numbers not required by first preference.

Third:  Skilled Workers, Professionals, and Other Workers:  28.6% of the worldwide level, plus any numbers not required by first and second preferences, not more than 10,000 of which to “*Other Workers”.

Fourth:  Certain Special Immigrants:  7.1% of the worldwide level.

Fifth:  Employment Creation:  7.1% of the worldwide level, of which 32% are reserved as follows: 20% reserved for qualified immigrants who invest in a rural area; 10% reserved for qualified immigrants who invest in a high unemployment area; and 2% reserved for qualified immigrants who invest in infrastructure projects. The remaining 68% are unreserved and are allotted for all other qualified immigrants.

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Did you know?

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services recently announced the expansion of the myProgress online tool (formerly known as personalized processing times) to include Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, and Form I-131, Application for Travel Document.

What is myProgress?

The myProgress online tool allows applicants to view personalized estimates for important milestones in their cases, including final decision-making on their cases, directly from their online USCIS accounts.

How do I use myProgress?

To take advantage of myProgress, you must sign up for an online USCIS account or log into an existing online account and select your pending application.

If you have electronically filed your application or linked one of the applicable forms to your online account using an online access code, you will see a myProgress tab for your application.

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In this blog post, we close out the week with some great news that may be of interest to EB-5 Immigrant Investors.

On Tuesday July 18th the U.S. Citizenship, and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced new changes to the processing of Form I-526, Immigrant Petition by Alien Investor, for EB-5 investment to improve processing times and create greater efficiency.

How Will USCIS Process I-526 Petitions?

The USCIS Immigrant Investor Program Office (IPO) manages Form I-526 petition inventory through workflow queues factoring in whether: a visa is available (or will be available soon) and the underlying project has been reviewed.

Workflow queues are generally managed in first-in, first-out (FIFO) order when a visa is available or will be available soon.

Effective July 18, 2023, IPO will update its approach by grouping petitions by new commercial enterprise (NCE) with filing dates on or before November 30, 2019, within the workflow queue of petitions where the project has been reviewed and there is a visa available or soon to be available, to gain greater processing efficiencies.

In practice this means that multiple petitions with the same new commercial enterprise (NCE) will be assigned to the same adjudicator(s) to help process them more quickly. This is because multiple petitions associated with the same NCE will have an overlap in project documents and issues presented.

This approach will help reduce current EB-5 backlogs, that are stretching to a 4 to 5 year waiting period from date of filing.

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We are happy to report that the August Visa Bulletin has been released!

As we do every month, we share what you can expect to see in the upcoming month’s visa bulletin for family-sponsored and employment-based preference categories to help you prepare for your immigrant visa filing at a U.S. Consulate overseas, or your green card filing for those residing in the United States.

Highlights of the August 2023 Visa Bulletin

Employment Based Categories

Final Action cutoff dates – Retrogressions in August:

  • EB-1 India will retrogress by more than 10 years to January 1, 2012, in August 2023. The State Department indicates that depending on usage in the category and on the FY 2024 annual numerical limit, it is likely that in October 2023 the cutoff date will return to at least February 1, 2022
  • EB-1 Worldwide, China: The State Department has imposed a final action cutoff date for EB-1A Worldwide for all countries except China, at August 1, 2023. The EB-1 China Final Action Date will remain at February 1, 2022.
  • EB-2 Worldwide, China:  EB-2 China will advance by one month, to July 8, 2019. The Final Action Date for EB-2 India will remain at January 1, 2011. The EB-2 Worldwide Final Action Date will advance by six weeks, to April 1, 2022 for all other countries.
  • EB-3: The Final Action Date for EB-3 China Professional/Skilled Worker will advance by two months, to June 1, 2019. EB-3 India Professional/Skilled Worker will remain at January 1, 2009. For all other countries, the EB-3 Professional/Skilled Worker Final Action Date will retrogress by almost two years, to May 1, 2020.

Family-sponsored categories

Dates for Filing cutoff dates – Advancements in August:

  • F-1 Mexico will advance by 2 years and 3 months to April 1, 2005 from January 1, 2003
  • F2A will remain current for all categories
  • F2B Mexico will advance by 2 years and 4 months to August 1, 2004 from April 1, 2002

What is the Visa Bulletin?

The Department of State releases the visa bulletin on a monthly basis, which summarizes the availability of immigrant visa numbers for that particular month in the employment and family preference categories.

Adjustment of Status Filing Chart August 2023

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has published guidance indicating that USCIS will accept employment-based adjustment of status applications from foreign nationals with a priority date that is earlier than the Final Action Dates listed in the State Department’s August 2023 Visa Bulletin.

For family-sponsored filings, USCIS will accept adjustment of status applications from foreign nationals with a priority date that is earlier than the Dates for Filing listed in the State Department’s August 2023 Visa Bulletin.

You may also find the Adjustment of Status USCIS Filing Charts here:

August 2023 Visa Bulletin Dates for Filing Cutoff Dates

 Employment-Based Categories

FINAL ACTION DATES FOR EMPLOYMENT-BASED PREFERENCE CASES

According to the Department of State’s August 2023 Visa Bulletin, the following Final Action cutoff dates will apply for employment-based categories, which will determine whether an adjustment of status application can be filed with USCIS in the month of August:

  • EB-1: China remains unchanged at February 1, 2022. India will retrogress by 10 years and 1 month, to January 1, 2012. All other countries will receive a final action cutoff date of August 1, 2023.
  • EB-2: India will remain at January 1, 2011. China will remain by 1 month to July 8, 2019. All other countries will advance by 6 weeks to April 1, 2022
  • EB-3 Professionals and Skilled Workers: India will remain at January 1, 2009. China will advance by 2 months to June 1, 2019. All other countries will retrogress by 1 year and 9 months to May 1, 2020.
  • EB-3 Other Workers: India will remain at January 1, 2009, China will remain at September 1, 2015. All other countries will remain at January 1, 2020.
  • EB-4: All countries will remain at September 1, 2018.
  • EB-5: For the EB-5 Unreserved categories (C5, T5, I5, and R5), India will remain at April 1, 2017, and China will remain at September 8, 2015. All other countries will remain current. The EB-5 “Set-Aside” categories (Rural, High Unemployment, and Infrastructure) will remain current.

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This past week, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced the implementation of a new Family Reunification Parole (FRP) program for foreign nationals of Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, that falls in line with previous governmental policies aimed at reducing unlawful migration.

The program will benefit nationals of such countries whose family members are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents and have received approval to join their family in the United States.

Nationals of these countries can be considered for parole on a case-by-case basis for a period of up to three years while they wait to apply to become a lawful permanent resident. This means that those who are eligible for parole will have the opportunity to lawfully reside inside of the United States while applying for lawful permanent residence for a period of up to three years.

The Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas, said that “These new processes promote family unity and provide lawful pathways consistent with our laws and our values,” and will allow for the expansion of safe, orderly, and lawful pathways to reduce “dangerous, irregular migration to the United States.”

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