Monday, September 21, 2015

SAVE CaseCheck Now Easier for Benefit Applicants

From USCIS, 09/172015

On September 9, USCIS enhanced SAVE CaseCheck to make it easier for people applying for federal, state or local benefits to check the status of their immigration verification case.

Benefit-granting agencies may need to verify a person’s immigration status to process an application. The SAVE Program lets them do that, and CaseCheck lets applicants monitor the progress of the request.

Until now, to run a CaseCheck query, applicants had to obtain a case verification number from a participating SAVE agency. Now, they can enter their date of birth along with a number from one of these immigration documents:

  • Certificate of Citizenship
  • Certificate of Naturalization
  • Form I-20, Certificate of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant Student Status
  • Form I-94, Arrival/Departure Record
  • Form I-94 stamp in an unexpired foreign passport
  • Permanent Resident Card
  • Employment Authorization Card

This update of CaseCheck will mean more convenience for applicants, and save time for benefit-granting agencies.

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

October 2015 Visa Bulletin

THE OCTOBER 2015 VISA BULLETIN ISSUED ON 09/09/2015 HAS BEEN REISSUED. PLEASE SEE THIS POST FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: 

From the Council for Global Immigration, 09/09/2015

The Department of State (DOS) released the October Visa Bulletin today, implementing changes pursuant to the President’s report on visa modernization that provide significant relief to many waiting in the green card backlogs. In an announcement from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the agency says that the revised process will “better align with procedures DOS uses for foreign nationals who seek to become U.S. permanent residents by applying for immigrant visas at U.S. consulates and embassies abroad” and “enhance DOS’s ability to more accurately predict overall immigrant visa demand and determine the cut-off dates for visa issuance published in the Visa Bulletin.”

The format of the October Visa Bulletin will be used for all visa bulletins moving forward. The change will also allow applicants to apply for immigrant visas or adjustment of status, along with concurrent employment authorization document (EAD) and travel authorization applications, and receive those concurrent benefits before a green card is immediately available. The immediate impact is most notable in the India EB-2, China EB-2 and Philippines EB-3 categories.

The visa bulletin has been revised to include two charts on employment-based preferences rather than the one chart found in previous visa bulletins:

  • The first chart shows “application final action dates for employment-based preference cases,” which are the priority dates for which final action can be taken on adjustment of status applications or for consular processing.

  • The second chart shows “dates for filing of employment-based visa applications,” which shows priority dates for which applicants can file an adjustment of status (along with EAD and travel document applications) or submit documents to the National Visa Center.


The impact on EB-2 professionals is as follows:
  • Indian nationals in the EB-2 category can now file for an immigrant visa or adjustment of status applications if they have a priority date on or before July 1, 2011, even though visas are only immediately available for those with a priority date on or before May 1, 2005.
  • Chinese nationals in the EB-2 category can now file an immigrant visa or adjustment of status applications if they have a priority date on or before May 14, 2014, even though visas are only immediately available for those with a priority date on or before January 1, 2012.
The impact on EB-3 skilled workers and professionals is as follows:
  • Indian nationals in the EB-3 category can now file an immigrant visa or adjustment of status applications if they have a priority date on or before July 1 2005, even though visas are only immediately available for those with a priority date on or before March 8, 2004.
  • Chinese nationals in the EB-3 category can now file an immigrant visa or adjustment of status applications if they have a priority date on or before October 1, 2013, even though visas are only immediately available for those with a priority date on or before October 15, 2011.
  • Filipino nationals in the EB-3 category can now file an immigrant visa or adjustment of status applications if they have a priority date on or before January 1, 2015, even though visas are only immediately available for those with a priority date on or before January 1, 2007.
  • Nationals of Mexico and all other chargeability areas in the EB-3 category can now file an immigrant visa or adjustment of status applications if they have a priority date on or before September 1, 2015, even though visas are only immediately available for those with a priority date on or before August 15, 2015.



USCIS Announces Revised Procedures for Determining Visa Availability for Applicants Waiting to File for Adjustment of Status

From uscis.gov, 09/09/2015

USCIS, in coordination with Department of State (DOS), is revising the procedures for determining visa availability for applicants waiting to file for employment-based or family-sponsored preference adjustment of status. The revised process will better align with procedures DOS uses for foreign nationals who seek to become U.S. permanent residents by applying for immigrant visas at U.S. consulates and embassies abroad.
This revised process will enhance DOS’s ability to more accurately predict overall immigrant visa demand and determine the cut-off dates for visa issuance published in the Visa Bulletin. This will help ensure that the maximum number of immigrant visas are issued annually as intended by Congress, and minimize month-to-month fluctuations in Visa Bulletin final action dates.
The Visa Bulletin revisions implement November 2014 executive actions on immigration announced by President Obama and Secretary of Homeland Security Johnson, as detailed in the White House report, Modernizing and Streamlining Our Legal Immigration System for the 21st century, issued in July 2015. 
What is Changing
  • Application Final Action Dates (dates when visas may finally be issued); and
  • Dates for Filing Applications (earliest dates when applicants may be able to apply).
  • Documentarily qualified visa applicants reported by DOS;
  • Pending adjustment of status applications reported by USCIS; and
  • Historical drop off rate (for example, denials, withdrawals, abandonments).
About the Visa Bulletin
  • The priority date is generally the date when the applicant’s relative or employer properly filed the immigrant visa petition on the applicant’s behalf with USCIS. If a labor certification is required to be filed with the applicant’s immigrant visa petition, then the priority date is when the labor certification application was accepted for processing by Department of Labor.
  • Availability of an immigrant visa means eligible applicants are able to take one of the final steps in the process of becoming U.S. permanent residents. 

Two charts per visa preference category will be posted in the DOS Visa Bulletin:
Each month, in coordination with DOS, USCIS will monitor visa numbers and post the relevant DOS Visa Bulletin chart. Applicants can use the charts to determine when to file their Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status.
To determine whether additional visas are available, USCIS will compare the number of visas available for the remainder of the fiscal year with:
DOS publishes current immigrant visa availability information in a monthly Visa Bulletin. The Visa Bulletin indicates when statutorily limited visas are available to prospective immigrants based on their individual priority date.
Learn more about adjustment of status and the Visa Bulletin on our website.

Friday, September 4, 2015

Significant Change to US Department of State Visa Bulletin

From Morgan Lewis, 09/03/2015

New class of cut-off dates to be created

According to multiple reliable sources, the US Department of State (State Department) is in the process of reengineering its system for determining immigrant visa availability and will unveil a new mechanism for regulating such availability in the near future. This change appears to be in response to President Obama’s call for a modernization of the immigrant visa system contained in his Immigration Accountability Executive Actions proposed in November 2014.
The current system for determining immigrant visa availability is based on a monthly Visa Bulletin published by the State Department that contains a series of cut-off dates (which often fluctuate from month to month) that are based upon the relevant foreign national’s country/region of chargeability and Employment-Based (EB) preference category. In order for a foreign national to file Form I-485 (Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status) and have this application approved, the applicant’s priority date must be “current,” meaning that the priority date must be before the relevant cut-off date listed in the Visa Bulletin applicable to the foreign national’s country/region of chargeability and EB preference category.
It is our understanding that the State Department intends to create two separate categories of cut-off dates, both of which would be reflected in each monthly Visa Bulletin. The first, an “approval” cut-off date, would function as the current cut-off date does and would regulate when an adjustment application or immigrant visa application may be approved. The second, an “acceptance” cut-off date, would regulate when an adjustment of status application may be filed and would allow the filing of such an application, provided that the foreign national’s priority date is before the relevant acceptance cut-off date. Once the adjustment application is filed, the foreign national would be eligible for the secondary benefits available to adjustment of status applicants, including employment authorization documents, advance parole authorizations, and I-140 immigrant petition portability.
It is likely that the “acceptance” cut-off dates will be several years before the “approval” cut-off dates in the China/India EB categories, with the result being that a large number of nationals from these countries will be able to file adjustment applications immediately once the Visa Bulletin containing the new acceptance cut-off dates becomes effective.
This is obviously a major development in the employment-based green card process and will be particularly welcome to nationals of India and China, some of whom currently face delays of years before they can file adjustment of status applications.
We will continue to monitor the situation closely and will provide further information as soon as it becomes available.