JQK Law at the Global Gamin Expo, Las Vegas 2015

USCIS Backtracks on New Visa Bulletin

DOS Publishes Updated Visa Bulletin for October 2015

On Sept. 25, the Department of State (DOS) published an updated Visa Bulletin for October 2015. This bulletin supersedes the bulletin for October 2015 that was originally published on Sept. 9, 2015. Following consultations with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Dates for Filing Applications for some categories in the Family-Sponsored and Employment-Based preferences have been adjusted to better reflect a timeframe justifying immediate action in the application process. The Dates for Filing Applications sections on pages 4 and 6, which have been adjusted, have been identified in bold type and highlighted.

Applicants should use the chart published by DOS on Sept. 25 when filing for adjustment of status. This chart has also been updated on uscis.gov. Please be advised that DHS will rely on this revised bulletin rather than the bulletin published on Sept. 9, 2015, when considering whether an individual is eligible to file his or her application for adjustment of status.

The Dates for Filing Applications chart is a part of the revised procedures for determining visa availability for applicants waiting to file for adjustment of status that USCIS announced on Sept. 9, 2015. Continue reading below for more information.

Background Information

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 is 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

Two charts per visa preference category will be posted in the DOS Visa Bulletin:

•  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).

Each month, in coordination with DOS, USCIS will monitor visa numbers and post the relevantDOS 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:

•  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).

Please visit the State Department Visa Bulletin for the revised October Charts.

October 2015 Visa Bulletin Released

The new visa bulletin includes a new system for Immigrants that are already in the U.S. to adjust status before their Priority Date becomes Current:


http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/law-and-policy/bulletin/2016/visa-bulletin-for-october-2015.html

Approved L-1B Intracompany Transferee Specialized Knowledge Petition in only 15 days!

EB-5 and other USCIS Timelines for September 2015

The Form I-526 processing time has not changed, but Form I-829 (petition by entrepreneur to remove conditions(has increased again by a month) as did Regional Center Form I-924.

For more information about the EB-5 program, please contact the JQK Law Firm at (310) 582-5904.

Form I-526 (Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur)

• 13.4 months (no change)

Form I-829 (Petition by Entrepreneur to Remove Conditions) 

• 14.7 months (1.1 increase) 

Form I-924 (Application for Regional Center)

• 12.4 (.9 increase)

For more USCIS Processing times, please visit these links:

AAO Processing Time Reports

CSC Processing Time Reports

NBC Processing Time Reports

NSC Processing Time Reports

TSC Processing Time Reports

VSC Processing Time Reports

EB-5 Processing Time Reports

International Operations Offices Processing Time Reports

PERM Processing Time Reports

Visa Bulletin Update To Accept I-485 Before Priority Date

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the Department of State (DOS) announced that beginning with the visa bulletin effective October 1, 2015, USCIS will accept for filing I-485 applications to adjust status to Permanent Resident according to a separate filing date chart. 

This new filing date chart will be published in DOS’s Visa Bulletin alongside the usual chart outlining which Priority Dates are current and therefore eligible for adjudication that month. This change applies to both Family Based (“FB”) and Employment Based (“EB”) immigrant visa cases. The adjudication of all I-485 applications will still be subject to the same per country and per category quotas, and therefore backlogs for those oversubscribed countries and categories. However, this new policy will allow many FB and EB principals and their qualified dependents who have approved immigrant petitions, but have been waiting for their Priority Dates to become current, to file their I-485s with attendant applications for employment authorization and travel authorization.  

- Read more at: http://www.natlawreview.com/article/uscis-to-accept-certain-i-485-applications-priority-date-becomes-current#sthash.ThLkdlXw.dpuf

DOL Glitch Prevents Perm Filings

A programming glitch, which occurred during a software update implemented by the Department of Labor (DOL) on September 1, 2015, prevented some employers from being able to file their PERM applications, the DOL announced today on its website. The DOL explained that the malfunction precluded employers from completing some of the ETA Form 9089 online. 

Read more at the National Law Review

Obama: U.S would accept at least 10,000 refugees in the next year

WASHINGTON — President Obama, under increasing pressure to demonstrate that the United States is joining European nations in the effort to resettle Syrian refugees, has told his administration to take in at least 10,000 displaced Syrians over the next year.

At a briefing at the White House on Thursday, the press secretary, Josh Earnest, said the United States would “accept at least 10,000 refugees in the next fiscal year,” which begins Oct. 1.

Read more at the New York Times

DHS Designates TPS for Yemen

http://www.lexisnexis.com/legalnewsroom/immigration/b/newsheadlines/archive/2015/09/02/advance-copy-of-dhs-notice-tps-for-yemen.aspx

Draft USCIS Guidance on EB-5 Released

USCIS Released Draft Guidance on the Job Creation Requirement and Sustainment of the Investment for EB-5 Adjudication of Form I-526 and Form I-829.

Please see: http://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Outreach/Draft%20Memorandum%20for%20Comment/PED-Draft_Policy_Memo_Guidance_on_the_Job_Creation_Requirement_and_Sustainme.pdf