Visa Lawyer Blog

Mr. Charles Oppenheim of the Department of State Visa Office has advised AILA of the following predictions for the movement of priority dates for the remainder of FY2009 and future years. He estimates that all 140,000 employment-based immigrant visa numbers will be used this fiscal year (October 1, 2008 through September 30, 2009). Mr. Oppenheim notes that the estimates provided on visa availability for the remainder of FY2009 were based on USCIS processing during the first 7 ½ months of the fiscal year, and any changes to USCIS processing patterns would impact availability. Mr. Oppenheim reported:
* The employment-based fourth preference, which includes religious workers and other special immigrants, has experienced a surge in usage of immigrant visa numbers this year. While this preference is current for June 2009, continued heavy demand for numbers could require the establishment of a cut-off date later in the fiscal year.

* The employment-based fifth preference (immigrant investors) has also experienced a surge in usage of immigrant visa numbers this year.

* The surge in usage of the employment-based fourth and fifth preference numbers is significant beyond those specific categories themselves because, historically, there have been substantial unused numbers in these categories which have been used to meet demand for visas in the employment-based first and second preference categories, allowing the China and India cut-off dates to advance further than would be possible if those categories are limited to only their annual limits. This means EB2 immigrants from China and India could have an even longer wait to obtain green cards.

* The EB1 category worldwide will remain current the rest of the fiscal year but demand is high.

* The EB1 categories for India and China will be current during the month of July 2009, but could require the establishment of a cut-off date in August or September should EB1 demand remain heavy. As noted above, China and India have previously benefited from the excess EB1 numbers for all other countries because excess visa numbers from other countries “fall across” the EB1 category to India and China. The high demand from other countries this year means there are fewer numbers to “fall across” to India and China.

* EB2 India. The prognosis is grim. For July 2009, the cut-off date is January 1, 2000, and the category may become unavailable in August or September of 2009. There are currently approximately 25,000 EB2 India cases which have been reviewed by USCIS and queued up at the Department of State awaiting visa numbers for the “green cards” to be approved. Like all other countries, India has a limit of 2,800 EB2 numbers available per year plus any “fall across” and “fall down” numbers from EB4, EB5 and EB1 visa numbers. Therefore, without legislative relief, the waiting time for Indian EB2 applicants may be measured in years, even decades.

* EB2 China. The prognosis is equally grim. As of July 2009, the cut-off date will be January 1, 2000 and the category may become unavailable in August or September of 2009. There are a significant amount of EB2 China cases which have been reviewed by USCIS and queued up at the Department of State awaiting visa numbers for approval of the adjustment of status. Like all other countries, China has a limit of 2,800 EB2 numbers available per year plus any “fall across” and “fall down” from EB4, EB5 and EB1 visa numbers. Therefore, without legislative relief, the waiting time for China born EB2 applicants may also be many years.

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The July 2009 Visa Bulletin was released. As we anticipated, the only change is the EB-2 China category which changed and retrogressed 5 years. All other categories remain unchanged. Here is a summary of the July 2009 Visa Bulletin:

* EB-1 remains current across the board.

* EB-2 remains unchanged for all categories except as noted above for EB-2 China: EB-2 (Rest of World) is current, EB-2 China and EB-2 India are January 1, 2000.

I’m at the annual meeting of the American Immigration Lawyers Association here in Las Vegas. More than 10, 000 lawyers gathered here in Las Vegas to learn about the most recent updates from the Government directly.

We just finished a session with the Department of Labor. Some of the key news is that more company audits are on the way. In fact, currently there are 200 cases pending in the audit line. They promised more audits as the icert system will become a standard in filing PERM, LCA and Prevailing wage requests.

Also H2B cases now must prevailing wage requests directly with the Chicago DOL center. There is a slight delay in processing. They are currenlty working on PWD’s filed on May 8th or before. Wea ll need to be patient.

USCIS is announcing that applicants may experience up to an eight week delay in the delivery of their permanent resident card while we are in the process of upgrading our card production equipment. USCIS Field Offices will be issuing temporary evidence of permanent residence in the form of an I-551 stamp to applicants approved for permanent residence at the time of their interview. You will need to take your passport to your appointment. If you do not have a passport, you must bring a passport style photo and government issued photo identification to receive temporary evidence of permanent residence.

If the application is approved subsequent to your interview or by a Service Center or the National Benefit Center, the applicant should bring the above documents to an INFOPASS appointment to be issued temporary evidence of permanent residence in the form of an I-551 stamp.

Recent procedures obtained from USCIS for identifying and handling Diversity Visa (“DV,” also known as “lottery”) Form I-485s. These procedures are designed to increase the likelihood that these applications will be adjudicated by the September 30 deadline.

The National Benefits role is very limited. Each Form I-485 is reviewed at the Lockbox against an initial evidence review checklist. Once a Form I-485 is identified as a DV application, which usually occurs at the Lockbox, but if not, should be identified promptly at NBC by reviewing the checklist, NBC stops processing the Form I-485 and sends it to the Field Office with jurisdiction over the applicant.

The ASC appointment notice for biometrics will still be generated as part of the NBC process. The Field Office has to manually schedule an interview for the DV applicant. This should result in faster processing, and avoid any delays. As you may know, applicants must complete the process by September 30 of the year they are selected for the DV. Otherwise, the visa will be lost.

They say that America is the land of opportunity, and therefore, so many people desire to Immigrate to this country.

Amid the news of an upcoming General Motors bankruptcy, the recession is not showing any signs of retreat. During these tough economic times, many institutions are trying to do their share to ease up the pain. US Citizenship and Immigration Services is not one of them. For USCIS this is business as usual.

When one applies for a US visa, whether it is for a Temporary work visa or for Permanent Residency, there is a fee charged for the processing of the application. These fees paid to the government range between $300 and $1365, depending on the type of application. While this is expensive, it is acceptable so long as it represents the actual costs of the service provided. Yet, there is a growing school of thought that USCIS currently charging fees way out of line with the actual costs.