The LIFE Act of 2000 creates an opening for applicants looking to adjust status to that of lawful permanent resident that may otherwise be ineligible at this time. The applicant must be the beneficiary of a qualifying immigrant visa petition that was properly filed and approvable at the time of filing. The petition must have been filed prior to April 30, 2001. Through the LIFE Act, beneficiaries of such petitions could be eligible for adjustment of status regardless of the manner in which they entered the country, whether or not they worked in the United States without authorization, and whether or not they failed to continuously maintain lawful status since entering the country. The Act, however, should not be seen as blanket amnesty, as it does not waive all grounds of inadmissibility and does not guarantee forgiveness of the grounds listed above.
Summary: Immediate family members (spouses and children under the age of 21) of immigrant visa holders may follow to join the principal beneficiary of an approved immigrant visa petition in a derivative visa status. The form I-824, Application for Action on an Approved Application or Petition, should be used to notify the U.S. consulate in the beneficiary’s country of citizenship that his or her visa petition has been approved and that his or her family members are applying for derivative visas in order to follow to join.
The November 2008 Visa Bulletin, released by the U.S. Department of State (DOS), show slight forward movement in the employment-based second and third category cutoff dates, except for the religious workers category which has become unavailable. EB2 remains current for all countries, except for India and China, which have moved forward by about two [...]
The October 2008 Visa Bulletin, released by the U.S. Department of State (DOS), spells good news for all EB-3 Skilled and Unskilled Workers from around the world except for India and China. The EB-3 category has been labeled “unavailable” for a couple of moths. While we had earlier predicted that October will ease the [...]
The September 2008 Visa Bulletin, released by the U.S. Department of State (DOS), shows that the EB-2 Cutoff dates for Indian and Mexico, has moved another few months forward. The rest of the employment based categories remain the same as last month. Mexico’s F-2A numbers and EB-3 continue to be unavailable. The September Visa [...]
