DHS Announces Temporary Protected Status Designations for Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone

Due to the outbreak of Ebola virus disease in West Africa, Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson has announced his decision to designate Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 18 months.

As a result, eligible nationals of Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone who are currently residing in the United States may apply for TPS with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The Federal Register notices provide details and procedures for applying for TPS and are available at www.uscis.gov/tps.

The TPS designations for the three countries are effective Nov. 21, 2014 and will be in effect for 18 months. The designations mean that eligible nationals of Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone (and people without nationality who last habitually resided in one of those three countries) will not be removed from the United States and are authorized to work and obtain an Employment Authorization Document (EAD). The 180-day TPS registration period begins Nov. 21, 2014 and runs through May 20, 2015.

To be eligible for TPS, applicants must demonstrate that they satisfy all eligibility criteria, including that they have been “continuously residing” in the United States since Nov. 20, 2014 and “continuously physically present in” the United States since Nov. 21, 2014.

National Visa Center No Longer Collecting Original Civil Documents

The National Visa Center (NVC) will cease collecting original civil documents in support of immigrant visa (IV) applications as of November 12, 2014.

Most applicants will be required to submit photocopies of supporting documents (such as birth, marriage, and police certificates) and will be instructed to take their original documents to their interviews for review.

This does not include Affidavit of Support forms, which petitioners will still submit to NVC for initial evaluation.

New Instructions to Applicants:

After applicants and petitioners collect the Affidavit of Support form(s), financial evidence, and supporting civil documents, they are instructed to submit all of the documents to NVC. As of November 12, 2014, applicants at non-electronic processing posts will be instructed to submit photocopies of their civil documents by mail.

Immigration Reform - Updated Changes

For the original blog post about Comprehensive Immigration Reform, please click here: http://blog.mygcvisa.com/2013/04/cir-bill-s744-border-security-economic.html

President Barack Obama announced his plan called Immigration Accountability Executive Action (IAEA) to fix the immigration system.



Here are the brief overview of these changes:

1. Deferred Action For Parents Of USC And LPR: Similar to DACA, allow parents of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents who have been in the country since January 1, 2010, to request deferred action and employment authorization for three years. They must submit biometric data, pass all the background checks, pay correct fees, and show that their child was born before the date of this announcement.

Temporary Protected Status Extended for Nicaragua

From USCIS: Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson will extend Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for eligible nationals of Nicaragua for an additional 18 months, effective Jan. 6, 2015, through July 5, 2016.

Current TPS Nicaragua beneficiaries seeking to extend their TPS must re-register during the 60-day re-registration period that runs from Oct. 16, 2014 through Dec. 15, 2014. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) encourages beneficiaries to re-register as soon as possible once the 60-day re-registration period begins. USCIS will not accept applications before Oct. 16, 2014.

The 18-month extension also allows TPS re-registrants to apply for a new Employment Authorization Document (EAD). Eligible TPS Nicaragua beneficiaries (or persons without nationality who last habitually resided in Nicaragua) who re-register during the 60-day period and request a new EAD will receive one with an expiration date of July 5, 2016.

To re-register, current TPS beneficiaries must submit Form I-821, Application for Temporary Protected Status. Re-registrants do not need to pay the Form I-821 application fee, but they must submit the biometric services fee (or a fee-waiver request) if they are age 14 or older. All TPS re-registrants must also submit Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization. TPS re-registrants requesting an EAD must submit the Form I-765 application fee or a fee-waiver request. If the re-registrant does not want an EAD, no application fee is required.

USCIS US Citizen I-129F, I-130 & I-485 Processing Statistics As Of August 2014

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	13,683	22,305	264,875
Customer action waiting	4,192	4,394	18,837
Completed	3,788	5,793	47,115
New receipts	587	3,736	41,441

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

	CSC	VSC	National
All Other Pending	7,902	1,124	17,732
Customer action waiting	890	75	3,275
Completed	1,368	62	4,368
New receipts	1,642	61	3,616

USCIS I-485 Processing Statistics:

USCIS FB I-485 & I-130 Processing Statistics As Of August 2014

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

USCIS I-130 - Preference Category Processing Statistics

	CSC	VSC	NSC	National
All Other Pending	4,576	6,894	674	13,017
Pending but adjudication deferred	348,234	141,363	2,884	495,279
Customer action waiting	19,132	2,654	219	22,092
Completed	19,443	3,260	824	24,025
New receipts	13,785	3,663	529	18,117

Volume in Texas Service Center (TSC) is currently low.

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

USCIS EB I-140 and I-485 Processing Statistics As Of August 2014

USCIS EB I-140 Processing Statistics 

	TSC	NSC	National
Pending	15,501	10,707	26,266
Customer Action Wait	1,761	1,363	3,124
Completed	3,950	3,383	7,333
New Receipt	4,633	3,598	8,231

USCIS EB I-485 Processing Statistics

January 2015 Visa Bulletin Predictions

For December 2014 Visa Bulletin, please click here: http://blog.mygcvisa.com/2014/11/december-2014-visa-bulletin.html

For the official January 2015 Visa Bulletin, please click here: http://blog.mygcvisa.com/2014/12/january-2015-visa-bulletin.html

Please see January 2015 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: 1-2 months
  EB2 India: 0 day. Please see article 1. Also see article 2.
• EB3 (ROW, Mexico): 3-6 months. Please see article.
  EB3 China: 3-6 months
  EB3 India: 0-1 week
  EB3 Philippines: 3-6 months. Please see article.
• FB categories: 1 to 12 weeks Please see article.
• F2A: 3-5+ weeks. Please see article.

Family Based:

Family-Sponsored	All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed	CHINA- mainland born	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIPPINES
F1	15JUL07	15JUL07	15JUL07	08SEP94	01FEB05
F2A	22APR13	22APR13	22APR13	01MAR13	22APR13
F2B	08APR08	08APR08	08APR08	22OCT94	01FEB04
F3	01JAN04	01JAN04	01JAN04	22NOV93	08JUL93
F4	08MAR02	08MAR02	08MAR02	15MAR97	01JUL91

Employment Based:

December 2014 Visa Bulletin Analysis

For December 2014 Visa Bulletin, please click here: http://blog.mygcvisa.com/2014/11/december-2014-visa-bulletin.html

Please see below analysis of December 2014 Visa Bulletin:

EB1: All EB1 categories are current and should continue to remain current for fiscal year. Demand continues to be around 1200-1400 every month (per the latest pending inventory).

EB2 ROW: This category continues to remain current. Demand in EB2ROW continues to be very low at an average of around 300-600 per month. 

EB2 China: EB2 China moved forward by 3 weeks in this visa bulletin. It is likely to continue to move forward around 3 to 5 weeks per month.

EB2 India: Also as expected, EB2 India category did not move forward after retrogressing in previous visa bulletin to 15FEB05. We had earlier posted a blog post that EB2 India quota has been used up for fiscal year 2014. This category may not move forward for the next few months.

We have added a blog post exclusive to EB2 India movement in fiscal year 2014. As many of you expected, retrogression was expected in November due to large demand from (a) applicants porting from EB3 India to EB2 India  (since they have been waiting in EB3 India category for more than a decade) and (b) applicants who are filing I-485 for the first time.

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

December 2014 Visa Bulletin

For November 2014 Visa Bulletin, please click here: http://blog.mygcvisa.com/2014/10/november-2014-visa-bulletin.html

For analysis of November 2014 Visa Bulletin, please click here: http://blog.mygcvisa.com/2014/11/december-2014-visa-bulletin-analysis.html

December 2014 Visa Bulletin has been released (valid from December 1 to December 31 only). Please see below for more details.

Family Based:

Family-Sponsored	All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed	CHINA-mainland born	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIPPINES
F1	22JUN07	22JUN07	22JUN07	15AUG94	15DEC04
F2A	22MAR13	22MAR13	22MAR13	01JAN13	22MAR13
F2B	22FEB08	22FEB08	22FEB08	01OCT94	15JAN04
F3	15DEC03	15DEC03	15DEC03	15NOV93	22JUN93
F4	22FEB02	22FEB02	22FEB02	01MAR97	01JUN91

Employment Based:

Temporary Protected Status Extended for Honduras

From USCIS: Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson has extended Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for eligible nationals of Honduras for an additional 18 months, effective Jan. 6, 2015, through July 5, 2016.

Current TPS Honduras beneficiaries seeking to extend their TPS must re-register during the 60-day re-registration period that runs from Oct. 16, 2014 through Dec. 15, 2014. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) encourages beneficiaries to re-register as soon as possible once the 60-day re-registration period begins. USCIS will not accept applications before Oct. 16, 2014.

The 18-month extension also allows TPS re-registrants to apply for a new Employment Authorization Document (EAD). Eligible TPS Honduras beneficiaries (or persons without nationality who last habitually resided in Honduras) who re-register during the 60-day period and request a new EAD will receive one with an expiration date of July 5, 2016.

To re-register, current TPS beneficiaries must submit Form I-821, Application for Temporary Protected Status. Re-registrants do not need to pay the Form I-821 application fee, but they must submit the biometric services fee (or a fee-waiver request) if they are age 14 or older. All TPS re-registrants must also submit Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization. TPS re-registrants requesting an EAD must submit the Form I-765 application fee or a fee-waiver request. If the re-registrant does not want an EAD, no application fee is required.