The U.S. Department of State has announced that annual visa limits for fiscal year (FY) 2024 have been reached for the following employment-based categories: EB-1, EB-2, EB-3, EW (other workers), EB-4, and EB-5 unreserved....more
Each month, federal immigration authorities publish a list of dates informing immigrant visa applicants when they should expect to be notified to assemble and submit required documentation to government officials. This...more
Information regarding priority date retrogression, CBP stampless entry and increased DOL processing times are included in this month’s edition of Immigration Insider....more
The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs’ May 2023 Visa Bulletin shows a trend of backlogs and slowdowns in the employment-based immigrant visa or green card process. The final action dates for multiple...more
The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs has released the Visa Bulletin for April 2023. The new Visa Bulletin reflects an ongoing trend of backlogs and slowdowns in the visa process, in stark contrast to the...more
With the recent retrogression of employment-based priority dates for the EB-2 and EB-3 India and mainland China categories, many families with dependents nearing the age of twenty-one may be concerned about the impact...more
October 1, 2023 marked the start of the federal government’s fiscal year 2023 (FY 2023), with the Department of State (DOS) October Visa Bulletin taking effect the same day. What is sure to be disappointing to many is the...more
In an announcement sure to be welcome news for employers, federal immigration officials recently released new instructions permitting certain employment-based green card applications to “change lanes” into another category,...more
Because Congress limits how many green cards can be issued annually, the Department of State (DOS) releases a visa bulletin every month establishing the cut-off dates per preference category and country for the upcoming...more
On September 13, 2021, the U.S. Department of State issued the Visa Bulletin for October 2021, which showed minor advancement on priority for backlogged filings of employment-based (EB) immigrant visa (green card)...more
The November Visa Bulletin has been published by the Department of State. The Bulletin dates for filing remain the same for most employment-based and other categories, with some advancement for final action dates. ...more
In our continuing series of reports, Charles (“Charlie”) Oppenheim, Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division, U.S. Department of State, shares his most recent analysis of current trends and future projections for the...more
Often times, the first question asked by employment-based Green Card beneficiaries during an initial strategy consultation is, “How long until I have my Green Card in hand?” While the answer varies depending on the particular...more
On September 9, 2015, the U.S. Government pleasantly surprised the immigration world by publishing a new type of monthly Visa Bulletin for October 2015 with USCIS announcement about a new approach to the timing of the ability...more
On September 9, 2015, the Department of State and Department of Homeland Security, acting through United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, announced that they were significantly revising Visa Bulletin procedures....more
A new category of “filing” cutoff dates has been introduced to allow for earlier filing of adjustment of status applications and immigrant visa applications. The US Department of State (DOS) has released its October 2015...more
The U.S. Department of State’s (DOS) Visa Bulletin sets out per country priority date cut-offs that regulate when an individual can begin the final phase of the lawful permanent residence (“green card”) process, either...more