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
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
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has confirmed that it will accept employment-based I-485, adjustment of status applications, based on the U.S. Department of State’s monthly Visa Bulletin’s “Dates for Filing”...more
Attainment of an immigrant visa - colloquially known as a “Green Card” - is the ultimate goal for many foreign nationals temporarily residing in the U.S. Having a green card means finally doing away with frequent visa...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
he Visa Bulletin - What is it? The Visa Bulletin is a report published by the U.S. Department of State each month, and is essentially the road map through a foreign national’s green card journey. The primary purpose of...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
On September 24, 2020, the Department of State published the October Visa Bulletin, the first of the new government fiscal year (FY 2021). USCIS announced on the same day that it would utilize the "Dates for Filing of...more
Social networks are abuzz with news that the “green card” waiting line has moved ahead substantially. For some categories, the difference is years! What does the latest update from the Department of State (DOS) mean for...more
Yesterday, the USCIS announced that potentially thousands of immigrant workers could move forward with the last step in the green card process, effectively accelerating the waiting period for many individuals in the middle of...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
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has again revised its procedures for determining whether foreign national applicants waiting to file their employment-based or family-sponsored preference...more
In accordance with significant procedural revisions announced in September and implemented by the Department of State (DOS) with the publication of the revised October 2015 Visa Bulletin, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration...more
In a shocking move late Friday afternoon, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) issued a revised October 2015 Visa Bulletin that supersedes the Visa Bulletin originally published on September 9, 2015. The most dramatic changes...more
USCIS announced on September 24, 2015 that it will: “suspend final adjudication of employment-based Form I-485 applications… because the Department of State reports that the statutory cap has been reached for the...more
Implementing part of President Obama's November 2014 executive actions on immigration modernization, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services ("USCIS"), in coordination with the Department of State ("DOS"),...more
On September 9, 2015, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) and United States Citizenship and Immigration Services announced important changes impacting certain individuals in the permanent residence (“green card”) process. This...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
As part of President Obama’s planned executive action on immigration, which was announced on November 20, 2014, the U.S. Department of State (“DOS”) has unveiled a new process for determining immigrant visa availability. This...more
In accordance with President Obama’s Executive Actions on Immigration proposed in November 2014, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) is expected to announce a new system for determining immigrant visa availability,...more