How To Calculate NVC Case Number

The NVC is a facility that is responsible for processing immigrant visa applications after they have been approved by the USCIS. Each case received by the National Visa Center is assigned its case number.

1. After your I-130/I-140 petition has been approved, you can get your NVC case number from the NVC. Do this by calling the NVC at (603) 334-0700. First provide your USCIS receipt number, which is in your I-797 Notice of Action 1 (NOA1).

If your visa package has been received by the facility, either the automated voice recording or a human operator can give you your NVC case number.

 2. Write down your case number. It is a series of three letters and 10 numbers with no dashes or spaces. An example NVC case number looks like this: MNL2013524001.

3. Split the figures as follows: LLL NNNN NNN NNN, where "L" is a letter and "N" is a number.

4. Read the three letters from the left. This is the code for the U.S. consulate that has jurisdiction over the visa applicant's location. It is where you will get a visa interview. For example, "MNL" refers to the U.S. consulate in Manila.

5. Read the first four numbers following the letters. In this example it is "2013." This is the year that the NVC received the visa application.

USCIS US Citizen I-129F, I-130 & I-485 Processing Statistics As Of 08/31/13

Please see below latest US Citizen Beneficiary Statistics released by USCIS:

USCIS I-130 - Immediate Relative Category Processing Statistics:

	CSC	VSC	National
All Other Pending	3,170	12,139	338,607
Customer action waiting	1,936	1,070	3,006
Completed	1,981	906	29,089
New receipts	72	61	44,521

CSC = California Service Center 
VSC = Vermont Service Center 
    
USCIS I-129F Processing Statistics:

	CSC	VSC	National
All Other Pending	4,333	4,297	18,399
Customer action waiting	2,588	1,504	4,092
Completed	3,324	1,398	6,809
New receipts	1,585	19	4,050

USCIS I-485 Processing Statistics: 

USCIS FB I-485 & I-130 Processing Statistics As Of 08/31/13

Please see below latest FB (family based) statistics released by USCIS:

USCIS I-130 - Preference Category Processing Statistics

	CSC	VSC	National
All Other Pending	16,910	26,275	64,333
Pending but adjudication deferred	332,448	114,185	452,030
Customer action waiting	11,941	5,438	17,793
Completed	24,188	6,052	33,682
New receipts	14,454	10,991	28,143

CSC = California Service Center
VSC = Vermont Service Center 
 
USCIS FB I-485 Processing Statistics

USCIS EB I-485 & I-140 Processing Statistics As Of 08/31/13

We have updated the December 2013 Visa Bulletin predictions. Most of the changes are in EB category. Please see this link: http://blog.mygcvisa.com/2013/10/december-2013-visa-bulletin-predictions.html

USCIS EB I-140 Processing Statistics

	TSC	NSC	National
Pending	6,195	1,131	7,373
Customer action waiting	1,239	3,208	4,447
Completed	4,096	2,056	6,156
New receipts	2,942	1,761	4,703

The number of completed cases was higher at TSC and lower at NSC in the last one month. Customer action (RFE) waiting decreased at TSC.

USCIS EB I-485 Processing Statistics

Many Cases Transferred from National Benefits Center to Service Centers

USCIS recently began transferring some cases from the National Benefits Center to the Nebraska, Texas and California Service Centers to balance overall operational workload. The affected casework includes the following form:

• I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, filed by U.S. citizens for their eligible immediate relative (spouse, child, or parent).

 Effect on Customers

If your case was transferred, USCIS will send you a notice listing the transfer date and where your case will be processed. Your original receipt number will not change and this will not further delay the processing of your case.

How to Track the Status of Your Case

We have recently updated the USCIS website at www.uscis.gov with processing times for Form I-130 cases filed by U.S. citizens for their eligible immediate relatives. Please check the processing times for your petition before inquiring about your case. Please also note that, if your case is transferred to another USCIS office, you should refer to the processing times for the office that has received your case.

You can check the status of your case at www.uscis.gov by entering your receipt number in the “Check Status” field. Additionally, you can sign up to receive automatic case status updates by email as your case is processed.

If you have not received a decision on your case within the published processing time, you may submit an inquiry using e-Request or contact the National Customer Service Center (NCSC) at 1-800-375-5283. For TDD hearing impaired assistance, please call 1-800-767-1833. When making any case status inquiries, you should reference your original receipt number and indicate that your case was transferred to a new location.

Immigration News Updates

Government Shutdown: As many of you know government shutdown ended on October 17. Congress decided to push out the issues about government budget and debt ceiling till Jan 2014 and Feb 2014. Republican leader said that they would not longer decide to shutdown the government to remove funding from the health care law which was passed few years ago.

All government agencies are now currently open and functioning as usual (though there could be a delay due to backlog). Many agencies including USCIS has provided relief to applicants who may have been affected by the government shutdown.

USCIS: If an H-1B, H-2A, or H-2B petitioner submits evidence establishing that the primary reason for failing to timely file an extension of stay or change of status request was due to the government shutdown, USCIS will consider the government shutdown as an extraordinary circumstance and excuse the late filing, if the petitioner meets all other applicable requirements.

Processing Time: USCIS has updated their monthly processing times for all applications currently pending at USCIS as of 08/31/2013. For I-485 application, the average processing time is 4 months. However each individual case can be faster or slower (due to many factors involved).

Updates to GC Calculator

Hey everyone, we have updated the GC Calculator with November data.

In addition, you  can now check your case status at USCIS/NVC as well as check the latest processing time from the same page.

Link: http://www.mygcvisa.com/calculator/

PS: We have also updated the GC Tracker (including follow/comment feature).

Let us know if there is anything else you would like to add to the site.

Filing a Complaint against an Immigration Lawyer

Filing a Complaint against an Immigration Lawyer

If you believe your immigration lawyer has failed to properly represent you, then you may file a complaint with the state bar where your lawyer is licensed. You may also file with the disciplinary counsel for EOIR or DHS depending on where your immigration matter was pending:

Department of Homeland Security:

Catherine M. O’Connell
Disciplinary Counsel
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
111 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W.
Mail Stop 2121
Washington, D.C. 20529-2121
Telephone: (202) 272-1873
E-mail: DisciplinaryCounsel@uscis.dhs.gov

Executive Office for Immigration Review:

Jennifer Barnes
Disciplinary Counsel
Executive Office for Immigration Review
U.S. Department of Justice
5107 Leesburg Pike, Suite 2600
Falls Church, VA 22041
Direct dial: (703) 305-1020
E-mail: EOIR.Attorney.Discipline@usdoj.gov

Department of State Transitions to DS-160 for K Visa Applications

Effective October 7, the DS-160 Nonimmigrant Visa Electronic Application will replace the DS-156 Electronic Visa Application form (EVAF), the DS-156K (Nonimmigrant Fiance Visa Application), and the paper-based DS-230 Application for Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration (parts I and II) for processing K-1 and K-2 nonimmigrant visa (NIV) applications.

This post describes the timeline for deployment and provides guidance to posts during the transition.

For K visa cases already in process at a U.S. embassy or consulate, the DS-160 is not required when, prior to October 7, 2013, one of the following situations exist:

• The K visa applicant is already scheduled for an interview.
• The K visa applicant has already been interviewed and has been requested to submit additional documentation or is pending administrative processing.
• The K visa applicant has already submitted a valid, signed, unexpired DS-156, DS-156K and/or DS-230 or received instructions to do so.

Predictions: December 2013 Visa Bulletin

For October 2013 Visa Bulletin, please click here: http://blog.mygcvisa.com/2013/09/visa-bulletin-october-2013.html

For November 2013 Visa Bulletin, please click here: http://blog.mygcvisa.com/2013/10/visa-bulletin-november-2013.html

Please see December 2013 Visa Bulletin Predictions below (for both Family Based and Employment Based):

Quick Summary:

• EB1, EB4, EB 5: Current
• EB2 Rest Of World: Current
  EB2 China: 4 weeks (still behind EB3 China)
  EB2 India: It is likely to retrogress from June 2008 to around Feb 2005. Please see article
• EB3 (ROW, Mexico): 8-12 months. Please see article.
  EB3 China: 2 weeks
  EB3 India: 0 day
  EB3 Philippines: 2 weeks
• FB categories: 1-4 weeks. Please see article.
• F2A: 0 day. It is likely to remain at this date for next few months.

Family Based:

Family-Sponsored	All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed	CHINA- mainland born	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIPPINES
F1	22NOV06	22NOV06	22NOV06	01OCT93	01AUG01
F2A	08SEP13	08SEP13	08SEP13	01SEP13	08SEP13
F2B	22APR06	22APR06	22APR06	22APR94	01APR03
F3	01MAR03	01MAR03	01MAR03	08JUN93	22JAN93
F4	08SEP01	08SEP01	08SEP01	08NOV96	15MAY90

Employment Based: 

Analysis: November 2013 Visa Bulletin And Demand Data

For November 2013 Visa Bulletin, please click here: http://blog.mygcvisa.com/2013/10/visa-bulletin-november-2013.html

For November 2013 Demand Data, please click here: http://blog.mygcvisa.com/2013/10/november-2013-demand-data.html

As many of you know FY 2013 ended on Sept 30 and FY 2014 started on Oct 1. Spillovers are typically applied in last quarter of FY. Because of this there can be large forward  movement from July to Oct VB.

Many of these forward movements continues in the next fiscal year to build pipeline of new cases. This helps Department of State get a good understanding of (future) demands.

Department of State (DOS) publishes the monthly visa bulletin and demand data.

The analysis below include November 2013 Visa Bulletin and November 2013 demand data. The latest I-485 pending inventory should be out in few weeks.

Demand data overview: The total visa available for all EB applicants in FY 2014 is 148,000 (instead of the usual 140,000). The extra 8,000 could be due to unused visas from family based category in FY 2013. We had mentioned this would happen on July 12 (link see July 12 update).

Once the extra 8,000 spillovers from FB category is confirmed from independent sources, we will write a blog post on its distribution to all EB categories.

EB1: All EB1 categories are current and should continue to remain current atleast for next 6-8 months (if not more). Demand is increasing at rate of around 1000 every month.

EB2 ROW: This category continues to remain current. Surprisingly demand in EB2ROW is actually decreasing. This is good news for EB2 India and China, as they could get a higher spillovers in FY 2014 compared to FY 2013.

EB2 China: As expected, EB2 China has started moving forward. It moved forward by 3 weeks and should continue to move forward.

EB2 India: EB2 India did not move forward in this VB. As we had written earlier, DOS is holding the dates steady to get a good estimate of porting demand from EB3 India to EB2 India, as well as demand from original EB2 India applicants who are filing for the first time.

The latest EB2 India demand data does not have demand break down from year 2005 to 2008. It only says that the demand prior to Jan 2009 is 9,000. We will have  to wait for I-495 pending inventory to get a good estimate of demand by each year.

Please see this blog post for future updates in EB2 (India, ROW and China) category.

Visa Bulletin November 2013

For October 2013 Visa Bulletin, please click here: http://blog.mygcvisa.com/2013/09/visa-bulletin-october-2013.html

For November 2013 Demand Data, please click here: http://blog.mygcvisa.com/2013/10/november-2013-demand-data.html

November 2013 Visa bulletin has been released (valid from November 1 to November 30 only). Please see below for more details.

Family Based:

Family-Sponsored	All Charge -ability Areas Except Those Listed	CHINA- mainland born	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIPPINES
F1	22OCT06	22OCT06	22OCT06	22SEP93	01JUL01
F2A	08SEP13	08SEP13	08SEP13	01SEP13	08SEP13
F2B	22MAR06	22MAR06	22MAR06	01APR94	01MAR03
F3	08FEB03	08FEB03	08FEB03	01JUN93	08JAN93
F4	22AUG01	22AUG01	22AUG01	22OCT96	22APR90

Employment Based:

November 2013 Demand Data

Demand data is used by Department of State (DOS) to calculate the monthly visa bulletin dates. If you are not familiar with demand data, please see this article: What is Demand Data?

Demand Data for November 2013 Visa Bulletin has been released. Please see details below:

As most of you know, DOS did not publish the August 2013, September 2013 and October 2013 Demand Data.

U.S Government Shutdown And How It Affects You

As many of you know, Republicans and Democrats could not agree on budget by Sept 30. This means that US Government will officially shutdown on 12:01 AM ET on October 1. But no need to worry. The entire government will not shutdown immediately.

There are plans to keep core government running even after the shutdown occurs. You can read some of the plans in the link below:

1. Department of State: http://www.state.gov/m/rls/2013/214880.htm

2. Office of Management & Budget (OMB) Contingency Plans: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/contingency-plans

3. Office of Foreign Labor Certification: http://www.foreignlaborcert.doleta.gov/

4. CNN has a good article on how shutdown will affect life: http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/23/politics/government-shutdown-daily-life/index.html

Specific Groups: