The Visa Bulletin

Hi John,
NVC still have yet to inform me if i could now send my police certification to them. (my last remaining requirement ). Last year, I already submitted this but they sent it back sayin that there was no available visa # yet for me (retrogression ) and would just inform me
on when can i send back the said document.Im a little bit worried coz until now no notifications yet from them, i dont want this to cause a delay on my visa processing since my priority date ( dec2005 ) is fast approaching. What should i do? Please help. Thank you so much.

Hi John,

I’m EB3 Phils. filed my 1-40 & I-485 concurrently in July 2007. Also, I have a previously approved I-140 with incorrect priority date of Aug 2005, based on the Orig LC. My lawyer asked for correction of the PD which Sept. 2004. The correction was done in June 2007. My lawyer has advised me to file for a new I-140 to avoid confusion thus a new filing was done concurrently in July 2007. Will this affect my case, maybe slow the processing because of this issue? my PD is now current.

thanks for helping all of us …i (and i’m sure there’s a lot of us out there)greatly appreciate the effort that you’ve put into this website:)

@Jan: You might try resending a copy, but chances are you should just wait until they contact you. Make sure you always keep your address up-to-date.

@Ida: This is really a question for your lawyer. S/he probably knows all the facts and can give you specific advice. All I can tell you is that once your immigrant petition is approved, it is your priority date that determines whether a visa number is available.

@Josette: It’s really my pleasure. Thank you for coming and thanks for your feedback.

Hi John!

Only a few more days for my Priority Date to become current!
We have decided to wait until the immigration interview to go ahead with any lawyers. In essence we really wouldn’t be able to do anything, because it will all depend on the immigration officer here in Brazil. But I will keep you posted.

Thank you so much for all you help!
Tammy

hi john,

Its chas again.So how long should i wait after my case became current? Its been almost 3 wks since it became current this month. My PD july 2004. I’m just worried coz a colleague of mine had her interview last week with PD of feb 2006 & her visa was released. How come? Whats the use of priority date? I complied with all the requirements, interview & medical last nov 2006 but still haven’t receive any single notice/reply from them. Pls advice… Thnx John.

thank u thank u john… you’re doing the Lord’s work. I hope you’ll never get tired of answering our so many inquiries.

I am a married daughter of a citizen priority date of sept of 1995. Is there anyway that i can be able to have a working permit before my priority date?

thank you John..just one more thing, would it be fine/wise for me to get marry at this time? my PD dec2005 (EB3).of course i want her to be with me in U.S.
john please help.

Hi john,

A million thanks 4 providing me an info of how & where to check about my status for my eb3 (RN phils). FYI, i did receive all the necessary documents w/ the corresponding receipts before, since the start of my application until my packet 3 was sent to me. That was last september if i remember. Then d immigrant lawyer told me that my packet 4 will be coming very2x soon that time. but retrogression took place last july. Since that time i havent heard or receive anything from here anymore. I did try to asked her for a couple of more months after july, but all she said was that she doesnt have anything to update me coz its not anymore in her hands w/regards to the retrogression. And that my packet 3 was already @ the NVC. Is she right with that john? Anyway, one more query john, do u think my PD ( sept 01, 2005) will be included on May bulletin if this is how the VB goes on? And if so, do u think we will wait for the next month bulletin or we will just ignore that movement. You know i am planning to leave philippines for work & it will took me a year to come back again if ill accept the offer. I am confused if ill just wait for my visa instead. Pls enlighten me john. Your help is very much appreciated. Thank you so much!

Hello John, long time reader, first time post. Thanks for taking time to answer questions.
Here is a quick one hopefully.

Applied for GC thro emp, in CA in 2003 in EB3. Labor approved with PD of Oct-2003. (Do not know if I-140 was filed and or approved…)

Moved to MI for the same employer, different role. Re-apped in EB2; PD for this is Nov 2005. LC and I-140 approved. 485 filed.

My question is, can i re-use the Oct-2003 PD now? Does this depend on whether the I-140 was approved for the previous application?

Many thanks,
Sincerely, Minakshi

Hi John:

I am in the family-sponsored first preference category, rest of the world. My priority date is April 29, 2002. When do you think i will be granted an immigrant visa? Please give me your opinion no matter how harsh it is. I thank you in advance.

My priority date is Aug 2004 and I had my I-140 in March 2007 and applied for I-485 in June 2007. I’m in the EB3 employment based category. I’m a british citizen working in the US for the past 7yrs on a H1B visa. I received my work authorization in Oct 2007 and based on Houston, Texas. I just noticed from the march 2008 bulletin that the employment based EB3 category for “all chargeability areas” has moved to Jan 2005.
When do you think I will receive my green card?

John,

Thank you for your responses.

Thanks for your time and effort in answering my question!

Will write you soon

Dear John,
Not many lawyers dedicate their time and effort to helping people at no cost. You are indeed a rare breed, committed too! Just wanted to extend kudos on behalf of all forum members for you candid and prompt replies.

John,
A big thank you and I’m in support of ONM’s comment. In your response please include a link of your website so readers here can refer you clients.

john,
sorry waasnt able to read your post for the reason why retrogression might not be lifted this year 2008. can you post again why you think so? if not 2008, when do you think it will be lifted based o your prediction. i know no one can really say exact. but what’s your speculation on this?
thanks in advance.

@Tammy: Hi. Glad to see movement in your category. Stop back soon and let us know what happens – good luck!

@Chas: Hi. Is your friend in the same category as you? You mentioned in your earlier comment that you are EB3 Philippines. But the priority date you mentioned for your friend (February 2006) is after the cutoff date for EB3 Philippines. Is your friend possibly in the EB2 category?

@Wuwu: Thanks for your comment!

@Hiba: The temporary work card (Employment Authorization Document or EAD) is applied for at the time of filing the I-485 (I’m assuming you are here in the US). If your priority date is not current, you cannot file the I-485.

@Jan: Now that’s a personal question! You’re on your own there.

@Jaycelle_06: Hi. It’s possible your priority date will fall before the cutoff date when the May visa bulletin comes out. But I really have no idea. Check back here to see what happens.

@Minakshi: Thanks for reading and commenting. You’ve asked a good question and you’re correct that the answer depends on whether the I-140 was approved on the prior application. You can only maintain the earlier priority date if the initial I-140 was approved. For anyone interested in the regulation governing the retention of priority dates, see 8 CFR 204.5(e). I’ve realized that there are actually quite a few immigration lawyers reading this blog, so I’ll try including citations in my answers when it makes sense.

@Carlos: Hi. The cutoff date in your category has only moved about 6 weeks since the December bulletin. Your priority date is still about 8 or 9 weeks after the cutoff date in the April bulletin. I hope that helps.

@Barbs Dee: It’s impossible to say. But I would definitely keep an eye out in the mail for correspondence from USCIS. Make sure you’ve kept your address up-to-date. Good luck, and please let us know when you hear anything because I’m sure others would be happy to hear about your experience.

@Al: It’s my pleasure.

@MMS: Looking forward to it!

@ONM: Thanks very much for your comment. Speaking of forums… I’m working on a forum section to add to this site. I love getting comments. But a lot of the comments aren’t necessarily related to the main content of the post (this is my fault as the moderator). But I’m going to try launching a forum section so that all questions/answers can be organized by subject matter. This should make it a much better experience for everyone involved. I’m hoping that I could get some other lawyers on board to help me moderate, but we’ll see what happens.

@Lostboy: Thank you for your comment as well. As crazy as this might sound, I’m not doing this for new clients. I’m very busy already! I started the site because I want to give away free and *trustworthy* information related to immigration law. So far, so good. The site got more than 20,000 pageviews last week and it’s only a few weeks old. I’m really enjoying it. And everyone’s comments are only improving the experience.

I get emails every day from people asking me to represent them. It’s always flattering and I always try to help one way or another. Most times I’ll refer them to another attorney if I think they can help. I might add an attorney directory to this site as well, and only include attorneys that I can personally recommend. If you have any ideas on this, feel free to send me your feedback (this offer is open to everyone). I need feedback because my only goal is to improve the user experience and distribute the best information to the most people. Thanks again.

@PVV: See my comment on retrogression here. Also, my hunch is that the folks at the State Department and USCIS are getting better at keeping track of the numbers. Communication (or lack therof) was a major reason the whole visa scandal happened last summer. I am sure they are improving this and using technology more effectively to boot. Let’s hope so!

Hi John, thank you for taking the time to answer us…few lawyers doest that and even fewer on a dalily basis…
For the NVC to assing me a visa numer (EB3 ROW PD current of december 2003) first I have to send the DS-230? I have that form here but I’m collecting some civil documentos I need to send with it and its taking time.
The question is since I havent send it yet, the case is frozen untill they have my documents? Or they might assing the number even tought the form is my hands?
Thank you…

Hi John

I have a question about the Automatic conversion clause of CSPA.

Based on the CSPA quote below:

Quote from Section 3 of CSPA law:
“Retention of Priority Date – If the age of an alien is determined under paragraph (1) to be 21 years of age or older for the purposes of subsections (a)(2)(A) and (d), the alien’s petition shall automatically be converted to the appropriate category and the alien shall retain the original priority date issued upon receipt of the original petition.”

The question is, in an F4 category case, how does USICS apply or interpret the automatic conversion aspect? When it says the “petition shall automatically be converted”, does that mean that the beneficiary will not need to file a new 1-130 for the derivitive who has aged out? Does that mean that the derivative who has aged out will be able to adjust status with the beneficiary (assuming the priority date of the appropriate category is current)? Or will the derivative have to wait until the beneficiary’s permanent resident application is approved, and then have a new 1-130 filed on his behalf and then ask to retain the original priority date? If the latter is the case, that doesn’t sound automatic to me.

Thanks in advance for your response!

Thats good news for EB2 professionals. Advancement of 3 yrs (from Jan 2000 to Dec 2003)Whats next? Do we think we guys will be lucky enough to have EB2 as current by October 2008?

Hi
I have a I 36O approved since Aug 2004, and have always maintained a deferred status till date. I am syill waiting for my priority date 14th June 2003 to be current, my category is F2A.
I had a H1B, which expired in Dec 2006.
Would I subject to be the 10 yr bar if i were to leave the country on an advance parole after I file I 485? Acc to memo I read from USCIS, I am not ‘out of status”? Can you please clarify

hi john ,
i would like to kno how long until the next bulletin comes out . thank you

Hello again John,

Nothing much more to ask right now. Just want to take this time to extend my deepest appreciation for answering my queries and enlightening my confusions by reading all the infos that you provided in here w/d other cases & similar to mine. Thank you very2x much John… Will surely hear from me here again by next month update. Crossing my fingers that my PD will be included! Thanks in advance John. More power to you! God Bless…

Hi John,
First of all, I would like to thank you for this great service you are providing to all of the US visa aspirants. God bless you. I am going to file for my immigration process thru my company in EB3 category. I am from Kuwait(Currently on H1B in US), My question is that after the labor approval , Is it possible for my company to file for I-140 and I-485/EAD concurrently or not….I understand, I will have to wait for my GC till the PD gets currrent but will I be able to file for an EAD earlier or I will have to wait for PD to get current….I assume that looking at the movements of the EB3(Rest of the world) it will atleast take 4 years or more for my PD(Feb 2008) to get current..What do you reckon ?

I know this may sound very ignorant but i just happened on your site while researching immigration news for a friend. I am su[rised to hear people post that they have priority dates of 2005 and earlier in the EB3. I came into the US sept 2006 under EB 3 category schedule A ( rest of the world) My peition was filed in june 2005 and approved januray 2006. i went for interview and got my visa as late as july only because there was a communication problem between the my agency and the attorney they use on payment of immigrant visa fees. So my question is how come my case was concluded before those that were filed earlier? when retrogression hit and i saw the dates went back to 2002 or so i wondered what happened that people from those years were yet to have their cases concluded. Now my friend has a case with immigration EB 3 schedule A (rest of the world) with same agency i used and her PD is january 2007. Using my case as an example, she is so worried that hers is taking too long. Does she have a chance of being called for interview this year?

Also one of my brothers a US citizen filed for his spouse in january 2007 and she arrived the US sept last year. I know someone else who filed for his wife and children in 2005 and they arrived the US in feb 2006.Yet again i read comments here about people under the family category who have filed years ago still waiting. What makes the difference in these cases? The knowledge may be helpful in future. May i also commend the work you do here and time spent.

Hey John – I have a question regarding the recently published FBI name check memo. I already had my finger prints taken back in August or September 2007, and my PD is in June 2007. I filed my I-140 and I-485 concurently back in July 2007. With this memo that states I-485 should be approved if pending more than 180 days (assuming the name and background check results are favorable), am I affected by this memo? How do I know if my background and name check results have cleared and are of favorable status?

Our visa petition was September 1986 (F4) and i already turned 22..? Am i still in the petition..?

John – I am currently waiting for my Labor Certification to be approved which was audited and resubmitted in December 2007. My attorney indicated it generally takes 60 days for this process but they have not heard anything – what is your experience with this? PS: Love this site – extremely informative for us novices! Thanks!

Hi John:

The cutoff date for family based 1st preference visas will advance 2 weeks in the May 2008 Visa Bulletin. What do you think? Thanks!

Since EB2 moved by 3 years for India, can we expect another 3 years move in the next couple of months.I have another job offer in hand which if i take up, I would have to exercise AC21. Is that a wise decision??

John,

How do you think about EB2 for Chinese on May, it did not change at all in April. My case has been pending there for more than three years, still nothing happened so far. Could I get a good news very soon, you think?
Thank you for your time.

Hi John,
My friend i mentioned in my last post just had her approval notice sent two days ago!!!!
With current retrogression, what do you think are her chances for visa issuance this year?
She just got married too so plans to include her spouse how much will that slow her case?

Hi John,
My immigrant visa interview was held in 2006. My priority date was october 2005. Visa was not issued as i did not submit a job offer letter.
at that time after interview a letter was issued to me stating that, on submission of the job offer, i would be granted visa.
My case is still ative. If i submit a job offer now from the same company, would they grant me visa on that basis?
Thank you, Jessy.

Dear Mr. John C,

Thank you so much for this wonderful website! This is the best website on the subject I’ve found! To keep it short, why in your opinion did they slow down so much with the family 1st after the great run last year? 2nd question: What do you think about family 1st in all of 2008? 4 to 6 month progress similar to last year? Thank you so much and I appreciate your responses! All the best to everybody here, hope it works out for all of you!

Um…does anyone know where John is??

Hello John ,

First of all , thanks soooo much for your great site and patiently responding to our questions. This is my first post. I have a small question. My PD is July 2002 under EB2. I was stuck with name check. Now that name check does not matter because of new rule > 180 days and my PD becomes current on April 1 , how long does USCIS take to make a decision about my case ? Do I need to call them and open a case review or something to see something moving ? Kindly advice. Or is it just wait ?

Again thanks for your time.

Sincerely , MHK

Hi John,

I am new to this site, i found after serching the internet. I am in the FB2 category fom Mexico. I have been waiting for my priority date (June 03) for a long time. For the last couple of months the bulletin has not moved, its been in May02 for a long time. Why hasn’t it moved? Also, about how long more do you think I have to wait. Thanks for your help.

Hi John,

I am so happy that the April Visa Bulletin EB3 Philippines category moved 6 mos more. My PD is July 2006 and all of us in the same situation and PD really is praying so hard that the next VB will show 2006 until it reaches our PD. As I have seen in most of the websites of Immigrant lawyers, including Hammond, they are looking into the possibility that before the end of the fiscal year 2008, which will be on Sept. 30, all the EB3 category with 2006 PD will be issued a visa but retrogression will not be lifted this year.
Do you share this insight? What is your say on this? Thanks for all.

i am in F3 catagory. my recipt date is jan 2005. how lond time it will take ? can you give me the answer

hi…what can you say about the FB2 for the Philippines? how long will this take if my priority date is Nov ‘99?tnx

hi John
Do you plan to open a new thread for May VB.

Hi John,

Thanks for your efforts in maintaining this site and responding to the quieries.

My case-EB1 EA, India, I-485 filed on 25th June 07 NSC, transfered to TSC – Receipt Date 8 th Aug 07.

TSC processing dates for I-485 (employment based) is 30 th April 2007. My LUD for I-485 was in Sept. 07 soon after the FP, and no updates after that. In your opionion, how long it is going to take to get the approval for a case like this. Do I need to contact the CSC?

Thank you very much.

Hi John,

My priority date is June 2005 and im from the philippines. Does this mean that i can have my visa even retrogression is still in effect? i just want to clarify this issue because some of my co-workers here says that even your PD is already current, i still have to wait for the retrogression to be lifted to go to US.

Educative information

Question for John regarding Family based immigration:

In 2007 17,522 visas were issued under FB1 backlogged category with yearly limit of 23,4oo visas.
23,400 – 17,522 = 5,878 of unused visas or 25% for FB1 only just for 2007

Do you have any idea why almost 6,000 visas were not used in this backlogged category?

I appreciate your reply!

John, can you please open the May 2008 VB Thread and post your opinion on how the EB3 ROW will be doing during that time.
Thanks!

where is john?