The U.S. Department of States has officially released its June 2012 Visa Bulletin. As projected, visa numbers in the EB2 category from India and Mainland China have become unavailable. The designation “unavailable” indicates that no visas will be issued to applicants holding EB2 priority dates until such time as new numbers become available. As previously [...]

The Department of State has confirmed with officials from the American Immigration Lawyers Association that the employment based second preference visa limit has been reached for the 2012 fiscal year for immigrants chargeable to India or Mainland China. This means that no further visa numbers are available and no visas will be issued to members [...]

The Department of State has confirmed with immigration law representatives that, due to high demand, Employment-Based Second Preference priority dates for India and mainland China have internally retrogressed to August 15, 2007. As of March 23, 2012, USCIS can no longer approve EB2 adjustment of status applications with priority dates on or after August 15, [...]

The Department of States’ Chief of Visa Control and Reporting, Charlie Oppenheim, has released an updated statement to the American Immigration Lawyers Association regarding Employment-Based Second Preference priority dates. Mr. Oppenheim has confirmed that the Department of State’s May 2012 Visa Bulletin will reflect retrogression of EB2 priority dates for India and mainland China to [...]

According to the Department of State’s Foreign Affairs Manual a lawful permanent resident that has remained outside the U.S. for more than one year may be eligible for returning resident status. To qualify for such status, the LPR must demonstrate to the consular officer that: (1) at the time of departure, the LPR intended to return to an unrelinquished residence in the States; and (2) his or her reasons for remaining abroad were beyond his or her control. See 9 FAM 42.22 N1.1.