1 October 2015

Recent Activity Surrounding the Revised October Visa Bulletin

***First off, please think about signing this White House Petition to restore the original visa bulletin, every bit helps! https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/uscis-and-dos-changed-priority-dates-categories-all-sudden-and-causing-financial-and-mental-loss ***

The Department of State (DOS), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have some explaining to do. For the thousands of upset and disappointed individuals out there who were negatively impacted by the abrupt change in the October 2015 visa bulletin, just know that there are people and organizations out there fighting for you!

The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) announced on September 28th that the organization submitted a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry, Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson, and Director of the Domestic Policy Council Cecilia Muñoz expressing disappointment in the September 25, 2015 changes to the October Visa Bulletin and asking that the dates published in the September 9, 2015 Visa Bulletin be restored.   Continue reading

Category: Green Card, I-485, Immigration News Updates | Comments Off on Recent Activity Surrounding the Revised October Visa Bulletin
25 September 2015

Revised October 2015 Visa Bulletin Released… Effects AOS Filing Eligibility

An October 2015 revised visa bulletin has unfortunately been released and will supersede the originally published October 2015 bulletin that contained Dates for Filing AOS Applications. The Department of State explains, “Following consultations with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Dates for Filing Applications for some categories in the Family-Sponsored and Employment-Based preferences have been adjusted to better reflect a timeframe justifying immediate action in the application process. The Dates for Filing Applications sections (sections 4.B. and 5.B.) which have been adjusted have been identified in Bold type.” (Please see link below)

For instance, prior to this revised bulletin, the cut-off Filing date for EB-2 India was July 01, 2011. Now, under the newly revised visa bulletin, the cut-off date for EB-2 India is July 01, 2009.

These are the employment based Filing date changes:

Category Sept 09, 2015 bulletin
Filing Date		 NEWLY REVISED BULLETIN (Sept 25, 2015)
Filing Date		 Difference 
EB-2 China 5/1/2014 1/1/2013 1 year, 5 months
EB-2 India 7/1/2011 7/1/2009 2 years
EB-3 Philippines 1/1/2015 1/1/2010 5 years

 

Again, DHS will rely on this revised bulletin, rather than the bulletin published on September 9, 2015, when considering whether an individual is eligible to file an application for adjustment of status.

http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/law-and-policy/bulletin/2016/visa-bulletin-for-october-2015.html

update

 

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10 September 2015

What You Need to Know to File Your I-485 on October 1st!

Now that the new Visa Bulletin is out for October 01, 2015, you may be wondering what the next steps will be if you have an approved I-140 and your Priority Date (PD) falls before the filing cut-off date.

First off, you will need a letter of support from the employer who sponsored your green card process. This should not pose a problem if you are currently working for that employer.

If you are not working for the sponsoring employer, you will still need a letter of support. You will need to be sure that the employer who sponsored you still intends to offer you the job listed on your PERM Labor Certification and that you intend to work for that employer after your green card is received. If this is the case, you will be able to file the I-485 application along with the EAD and Advance Parole applications if your PD falls before the filing cut-off date.  Continue reading

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12 December 2014

Say YES to PERM, Part Deux!

As you all may remember, my very first blog post included an explanation of the benefits of getting the PERM labor certification process started (kick-off to the employment-based green card process) once your employer offers a permanent position to you. Some of the benefits I mentioned are: Continue reading

Category: Green Card, I-140, I-485, Labor Certification | 9 Comments on Say YES to PERM, Part Deux!