Breaking News

Good news for EB Visas

http://www.immigration-law.com

01/26/2005: Good News for Visa Movement

AILA has reported the DOS advised AILA that "thanks? to" the decrease in demand for EB visa numbers from USCIS I-485 cases and 245(i) labor cases still being held in the Department of Labor, the visa number would progress forward as follows:
Worldwide EB-1 and EB-2: There will be no cut-off date for the these categories.
Worldwide EB-3: Unlike the DOS previous prediction that the large number of 245(i) filings would be filed during March and April 2001 and it would result in a surge of EB-3 number demand and would limit movement of the cut-off date, 245(i) cases still remain at the DOL and therefore there will be movement in EB-3 visa numbers.
India EB-1 and EB-2: It will continue a rapid movement for the next several months.
India EB-3: It will move ahead but may become limited down the road.
China EB-1 and EB-2: It will continue a rapid movement for the next several months.
China EB-3: It will stay at the Worldwide date.
What a good news!
 
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist Introduced Immigration bill

immigration-law hot news. Thanks to Bill.

03/17/2006: Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist Introduced to the Senate His Bill Yesterday, 03/16/2006

The Senator introduced his bill yesterday to the Senate bypassing the Senate Judiciary Committee. Surprisingly, this bill include more positive reform for the "legal" immigration, particularly "employment-based" immigration, indeed somewhat better than the Specter's Mark! We are in the process of analyzing part of the bill. As soon as this bill is analyzed, we will post the summary of EB-related provisions. Please stay tuned.
 
Frist Feast Immigration Bill

TITLE IV – BACKLOG REDUCTION AND VISAS FOR STUDENTS AND ALIENS WITH ADVANCED DEGREES

Section 401. Elimination of Existing Backlogs.

Section 401 reduces visa backlog waiting times by allowing the recapture of unused visa numbers and increases the number of employment-based green cards from 140,000 to 290,000. It also exempts immediate relatives of U.S. citizens from the 480,000 annual cap on familybased immigration.

Section 402. Country Limits.

Section 402 increases the per-country limits for family-sponsored and employment-based immigrants are from 7 percent to 10 percent (in the case of countries) and from 2 percent to 5 percent (in the case of dependent areas).

Section 403. Allocation of Immigrant Visas.

The current 480,000 ceiling on family-sponsored immigrants is redistributed among existing family preference categories. Ten percent is allocated to the first preference -- unmarried sons and daughters of U.S. citizens. Fifty percent is allocated to the second preference -- spouses and unmarried sons and daughters of lawful permanent residents, of which seventy-seven percent
such visas will be allocated to spouses and minor children of lawful permanent residents. Ten percent is allocated to the third preference -- married sons and daughters of U.S. citizens. Thirty percent is allocated to the fourth preference -- brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens. Section 403 restructures visa number availability to provide additional visas for unskilled
workers (who are limited to 5,000/year right now) and other categories where visas have not kept up with demand. The 290,000 ceiling for employment-based immigrant visas is redistributed among the employment-based immigrant visa categories and certain modifications are made to
current categories. 15% is allocated to the first preference -- aliens with extraordinary ability, outstanding professors and researchers, and multinational executives and managers. 15% is allocated to the second preference -- aliens holding advanced degrees or having exceptional
ability. 35% is allocated to the third preference -- skilled workers and professionals. 5% is allocated to a re-designated fourth preference – investors. 30% is allocated to a re-designated fifth preference -- other workers performing labor or services (previously included in third
preference).

Section 405. Student Visas.

Section 405 extends foreign students’ post-curricular Optional Practical Training (and F-1 status) to 24 months. It also creates a new “F-4” student visa for students pursuing an advanced degree candidates studying in the fields of math, engineering, technology or the physical sciences. The
new visa would allow eligible students to either to return to their country of origin or remain in the United States for up to one year and seek employment in their relevant field of study. Once such a student received such an offer of employment, the individual would be allowed to adjust status to that of a legal permanent resident once the alien paid a $1,000 fee and completed
necessary security clearances. Eighty percent of this fee would be deposited into a fund for job training and scholarships for American workers, while twenty percent of the fee would go toward fraud prevention.

Section 406. Visas for Individuals with Advanced Degrees.

Section 406 exempts from the numerical cap on employment-based visas aliens with advanced degrees in science, technology, engineering, or math, and has worked in a related field in the US during the 3 year period preceding their application for adjustment of status. It also exempts immediate relatives of aliens who are admitted as employment-based immigrants from the
numerical limitations of 203(b). Finally, it increases the available visas numbers for H-1B nonimmigrants and provides an exemption from the numerical limitation aliens who have earned advanced degrees in science, technology, engineering, or math. The numerical limitation is also
supplemented with a flexible limitation that is set according to demand for foreign high-skilled workers.
 
Bills from Friest and Specter are not good for us (Indian). They will cross out the spil over provision.

here is the copy paste fropm IV....

If you thought Retrogression is going to go away with Frist's or Specter's Bill, think again. Many of you are jubiant about Frist's and Specter's Bill. For most of you, these bills will leave you worse off, if you are from the the heavily retrogressed countries of India and China. This is all because of the hard limit on the country quota.


SEC. 402. COUNTRY LIMITS.

Section 202(a) (8 U.S.C. 1152(a)) is amended--

(1) in paragraph (2)--

(A) by striking `, (4), and (5)' and inserting `and (4)'; and

(B) by striking `7 percent (in the case of a single foreign state) or 2 percent' and inserting `10 percent (in the case of a single foreign state) or 5 percent'; and

(2) by striking paragraph (5)."

Paragraph 5 mentioned above is the one that states "Employment-based immigrants not subject to per country limitation if additional visas available" i.e. spillover from rest of the world (ROW) is allowed and so at present the per-country limit is a SOFT limit.

Removing this paragraph will make the per-country limit a HARD limit.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
RLNY122004 said:
Bills from Friest and Specter are not good for us (Indian). They will cross out the spil over provision.

here is the copy paste fropm IV....

If you thought Retrogression is going to go away with Frist's or Specter's Bill, think again. Many of you are jubiant about Frist's and Specter's Bill. For most of you, these bills will leave you worse off, if you are from the the heavily retrogressed countries of India and China. This is all because of the hard limit on the country quota.


SEC. 402. COUNTRY LIMITS.

Section 202(a) (8 U.S.C. 1152(a)) is amended--

(1) in paragraph (2)--

(A) by striking `, (4), and (5)' and inserting `and (4)'; and

(B) by striking `7 percent (in the case of a single foreign state) or 2 percent' and inserting `10 percent (in the case of a single foreign state) or 5 percent'; and

(2) by striking paragraph (5)."

Paragraph 5 mentioned above is the one that states "Employment-based immigrants not subject to per country limitation if additional visas available" i.e. spillover from rest of the world (ROW) is allowed and so at present the per-country limit is a SOFT limit.

Removing this paragraph will make the per-country limit a HARD limit.

If I read it corretly some place (www.newsobserver.com), he has also proposed 1 VISA for a family instead of each and every individual in the family. This would make the movement faster a littlebit. He also proposes to capture unused VISA's since 1991.
Regards.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
BEC Tracker Update

PLEASE JUST POST YOUR UPDATES IN THE BEC PRIORITY DATE TRACKER THREAD .

MVINAYS OR MYSELF WILL UPDATE THE EXCEL TRACKER. IT IS HARDER TO KEEP VERSION CONTROL IF OTHER PEOPLE UPDATE THE TRACKER DIRECTLY.


WHEN POSTING UPDATES, PLEASE INCLUDE INFO YOU MAY HAVE:

STATE SWA
EB2 or EB3
RIR or Regular
PD - Priority date - try to get the real date, not just month and year
RD - Regional receipt date[/B] - if you didn't get to Regional, say "NO TRANSFER"
Regional DOL
New BEC Case no. - please provide all but last 3 numbers
45-day letter Date received

IF YOU ARE GOING TO POST YOUR SCREENSHOT, PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO POST STATE AND REGIONAL RD

THANK YOU FOR TAKING CARE OF THE TRACKER :)
 
Something which was published in Omaha Herald, NE

Something which was published in Omaha Herald, NE

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi

I had written to the omana herald, NE & they did publish this opinion on thier public pulse section.They have edited some part & thankfully the zist is still there. Lets all try to do the same by making the media , people, aware of our issues

Published in Omaha herald, dated 15th April , 2006 in Public pulse section
www.omaha.com

__________________________________________________
An unfair process



I am a native of India and a software professional. I came to this country in October 1999 on an H-1B visa.

I have been trying to get my green card through my employer. But because of delays in labor certifications from the U.S. Department of Labor and the unavailability of visa numbers, people like me might get green cards only after 10 or more years of waiting. In reality and logically, this process should not exceed 24 months.

This delay in processing green cards is killing day-to-day life for my family and myself. We are not able to make major decisions like buying a home, establishing a business, investing in the economy through stocks, etc.

I am a legal, taxpaying and productive member of American society. But my career and working status are stalled by this seemingly never-ending, unfair wait in the American legal immigration system. It is very discouraging and possibly detrimental to the interest of the U.S. global economy in the 21st century.
__________________________________________________ _______________

Thanks
GCcomesoon
 
Top