Latest USCIS Visa Bulletin Predictions

The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) recently met again with Charles Oppenheim to discuss the current demand and expected movements in various visa bulletin categories.

Charles Oppenheim is the Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division within Department of State (DOS). Please see the important details below:

EB2 India: As mentioned in the earlier blog post, DOS has started moving dates forward in EB2 India starting from February 2015 Visa Bulletin. The expected forward movement is 4-6 months for the next several months.

Since the dates are moving slowly, most of the visas would be allocated to EB3 India who are upgrading to EB2 India; since very few original EB2 India are remaining at this date. If the porting continues to increase, DOS is expecting dates to move forward by maximum Summer 2009 for FY 2015. This is similar to dates reached by EB2 India for FY 2014.

Workload Transfer within Service Center Operations

From USCIS: USCIS recently made two operational changes to balance our overall workload.

Workload Realignment

USCIS recently began transferring some Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, cases filed by lawful permanent residents for their eligible family members from the Vermont Service Center to the California Service Center.

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 delay the processing of your cases except for the additional time needed to transfer the file.

Effective March 27, 2015, USCIS will transfer the adjudication of some cases to balance our overall workload. The affected cases include those filed with the following forms:

• I-129F, Petition for Alien Fiancé(e)
• I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker
• I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status (employment and asylum-based only)
• I-821D/I-765, Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals/ Application for Employment Authorization (initial and renewal requests)

The filing location and instructions for these forms will not change. Please continue to file the forms at the address noted on the form instructions and on the USCIS website at www.uscis.gov.

How to Track the Status of Your Case

USCIS Will Accept H-1B Petitions for Fiscal Year 2016 Beginning April 1, 2015

From USCIS: On April 1, 2015, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin accepting H-1B petitions subject to the fiscal year (FY) 2016 cap. U.S. businesses use the H-1B program to employ foreign workers in occupations that require highly specialized knowledge in fields such as science, engineering and computer programming.

The congressionally mandated cap on H-1B visas for FY 2016 is 65,000. The first 20,000 H-1B petitions filed for individuals with a U.S. master’s degree or higher are exempt from the 65,000 cap.
USCIS expects to receive more petitions than the H-1B cap during the first five business days of this year’s program. The agency will monitor the number of petitions received and notify the public when the H-1B cap has been met.

If USCIS receives an excess of petitions during the first five business days, the agency will use a lottery system to randomly select the number of petitions required to meet the cap. USCIS will reject all unselected petitions that are subject to the cap as well as any petitions received after the cap has closed. USCIS used the lottery for the FY 2015 program last April.

Premium Processing for Cap-Subject Petitions

H-1B petitioners may still continue to request premium processing together with their H-1B petition. However, please note that USCIS has temporarily adjusted its current premium processing practice based on historic premium processing receipt levels and the possibility that the H-1B cap will be met in the first five business days of the filing season.

USCIS Temporarily Suspends Adjudication of H-2B Petitions Following Court Order

From USCIS: As of March 5, 2015, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is temporarily suspending adjudication of Form I-129 H-2B petitions for temporary non-agricultural workers while the government considers the appropriate response to the court order entered March 4, 2015, in Perez v. Perez, No. 3:14-cv-682 (N.D. Florida, Mar. 4, 2015).

Due to this decision, starting March 4, the Department of Labor (DOL) is no longer accepting or processing requests for prevailing wage determinations or applications for temporary labor certifications in the H-2B program. DOL is considering its options in light of the court’s decision. (See DOL Office of Foreign Labor Certification for more details.)

Because H-2B petitions require temporary labor certifications issued by DOL, USCIS has also temporarily suspended adjudication of H-2B petitions. USCIS will continue adjudicating H-2B petitions for non-agricultural temporary workers on Guam if the petitions are accompanied by temporary labor certifications issued by the Guam Department of Labor.

USCIS Revises Form G-28

USCIS has published a revised Form G-28, Notice of Entry of Appearance as Attorney or Accredited Representative. The revised form G-28 is part of a final rule that became effective on Jan. 27, 2015.

About Form G-28

Attorneys and legal representatives accredited by the Board of Immigration Appeals use Form G-28 to notify USCIS of their legal representation in a given case. Form G-28 must be signed by the legal representative and by the applicant/petitioner/requestor. When a valid Form G-28 is on file, USCIS communicates with the legal representative.

New Form G-28 Changes

The revised Form G-28, with the 03/04/2015 edition date, includes two new boxes that allow the applicant/petitioner/requestor to tell USCIS whether they want to receive their notices and secure documents directly, or whether they want USCIS to send them to their legal representative.

May 2015 Visa Bulletin Predictions

For April 2015 Visa Bulletin, please click here: http://blog.mygcvisa.com/2015/03/april-2015-visa-bulletin.html

For the official May 2015 Visa Bulletin, please click here: http://blog.mygcvisa.com/2015/04/may-2015-visa-bulletin.html

Please see May 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: 3-5+ months
  EB2 India: 4-6+ months. Please see article 1. Also see article 2.
• EB3 (ROW, Mexico): 0-2+ months. Please see article.
  EB3 China: 0-2 weeks
  EB3 India: 1-2 weeks
  EB3 Philippines:  0-2+ months. Please see article.
• FB categories: 1 to 12 weeks Please see article.
• F2A: 3-6 weeks. Please see article.

Family Based:

Family-Sponsored	All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed	CHINA- mainland born	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIPPINES
F1	15AUG07	15AUG07	15AUG07	08NOV94	15FEB05
F2A	01SEP13	01SEP13	01SEP13	15AUG13	01SEP13
F2B	08OCT08	08OCT08	08OCT08	01MAR95	22APR04
F3	22FEB04	22FEB04	22FEB04	01MAY94	22AUG93
F4	08JUL02	08JUL02	08JUL02	08AUG97	22OCT91

Employment Based:

April 2015 Visa Bulletin Analysis

For April 2015 Visa Bulletin, please click here: http://blog.mygcvisa.com/2015/03/april-2015-visa-bulletin.html

Please see below analysis of April 2015 Visa Bulletin:

EB1: All EB1 categories are current and should continue to remain current for fiscal year. Demand continues to be around 1650 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 700 per month. 

EB2 China: EB2 China moved forward by 7 months in this visa bulletin. It is likely to continue to move forward around at a fast pace in the next few months.

EB2 India: EB2 India category also got a big jump in this visa bulletin. It moved forward by 8 months in this visa bulletin. Per the latest pending inventory, there around 1,000 I-485 pending applications before that date. In addition, there are applicants in EB2 who have not yet filed their application as well as applicants who will be porting from EB3 India to EB2 India.

April 2015 Visa Bulletin

For March 2015 Visa Bulletin, please click here: http://blog.mygcvisa.com/2015/02/march-2015-visa-bulletin.html

For analysis of April 2015 Visa Bulletin, please click here: http://blog.mygcvisa.com/2015/03/april-2015-visa-bulletin-analysis.html

April 2015 Visa Bulletin has been released (valid from April 1 to April 30 only). Please see below for more details.

Family Based:

Family-Sponsored	All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed	CHINA-mainland born	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIPPINES
F1	01AUG07	01AUG07	01AUG07	01NOV94	01FEB05
F2A	01AUG13	01AUG13	01AUG13	08JUL13	01AUG13
F2B	22AUG08	22AUG08	22AUG08	01FEB95	01APR04
F3	08FEB04	08FEB04	08FEB04	01APR94	08AUG93
F4	15JUN02	15JUN02	15JUN02	08JUL97	22SEP91

Employment Based:

Re-registration Deadline for El Salvador TPS is March 9, 2015

From USCIS: Monday, March 9, 2015, is the deadline for current El Salvador Temporary Protected Status (TPS) beneficiaries to re-register for the 18-month extension of TPS that runs from March 10, 2015, through Sept. 9, 2016.

The law requires USCIS to withdraw TPS for failure to re-register without good cause. Therefore, if you fail to re-register by this deadline, you may lose your TPS and your work authorization.

You can find details and procedures for re-registering for TPS on the USCIS website and in the Federal Register notice announcing the extension of TPS for El Salvador.

Eligible El Salvador TPS beneficiaries who re-register during the registration period and request employment authorization will receive a new Employment Authorization Document (EAD) with an expiration date of Sept. 9, 2016.

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

USCIS EB I-140 Processing Statistics 

	Received	Approved	Denied	Pending
QTR 1 FY 2015	23,188	20,382	1,813	36,177
QTR 4 FY 2014	24,959	20,482	2,041	30,430
QTR 3 FY 2014	24,254	20,490	1,924	27,175
QTR 2 FY 2014	17,879	10,930	1,593	24,595
QTR 1 FY 2014	14,566	10,393	1,759	15,166

USCIS EB I-140 Processing Statistics