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 [...]

On March 16th, the Department of States’ Chief of Visa Control and Reporting, Charlie Oppenheim,  informed guests of the American Immigration Lawyers Association’s Midwest Regional Conference in Chicago that he expected Employment-Based Second Preference priority dates to retrogress for immigrants born in India and mainland China. The Department of State’s April 2012 Visa Bulletin lists [...]

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 US Department of State (DOS) recently announced it is going to introduce cut-off dates for status adjustment (I-485) applications that will come into effect on October 1. These changes are expected to impact employment-based visa applicants from China, India, Philippines, and Mexico in the immediate future. The DOS may also include other foreign nationals [...]

DOS has released the Visa Bulletin for August 2005. DOS release advises that due to high demand, “it might be necessary to establish an Employment Second preference cut-off date for September to keep visa issuances within the annual numerical limits set by law. If required, such a cut-off date is likely to be limited to [...]