I-485 Approval(Good news for All of us)

[Kashmora]

Eb2?

Hey Pandu04,
You owe a public apology for giving us false hopes.

 

[Billtoo]

How visa numbers work Part I

Can anyone one tell me, what's the Visa # and why would i need a Visa # to associate with approved GC A#.

InderPaul,
Well I can describe the whole process ... but it won't fit in into this post alone .. so I split ..
I hope U have the cool mind to read thru this .... anyway here we go.



How visa numbers work. This part covers the quota system.

The US has for many years limited the number of people who may immigrate.

Under the current system, there are four separate quotas, one each for family-based immigrants, employment-based immigrants, diversity immigrants, and refugees. The refugee quota is set each year by the President. It does not interact with the other quotas. There is also a worldwide quota and a per country quota. All of these interact.

The worldwide quota for immigrant visas is 675,000 visas per fiscal year. (The Breakdowns -- Family Based 480,000 + Employment Based 140000 + Ethnic Diversity 55000). The fiscal year starts October 1. Immigrants not subject to the numerical limitations (such as immediate relatives of US citizens, returning residents, and refugees) do not count against the 675,000.

The family-based quota for immigrant visas is calculated on an annual basis, according to the following formula. The base number is 480,000 visas . From that number is SUBTRACTED the number of persons admitted as immediate relatives in the previous fiscal year. If the resulting difference is greater than 226,000, then to the difference is ADDED the number of visas unused from the employment-based quota from the previous fiscal year. If the resulting difference is equal to or less than 226,000, then instead of the resulting difference, 226,000 is added to the number of unused employment-based visas. The resulting sum is the number of family-based visas available for the fiscal year.

[Side note: the reason for this "pierceable cap with a floor" of 226,000 visas is essentially a political face-saving compromise. There was a floor fight between those who wanted to continue to exempt immediate relatives from the quota and those who wanted to include them but raise the quota. The practical result was no change, because only if the number of immediate relatives admitted is less than 294,000 does the computation even come into play. The number of immediate relatives admitted always exceeds that amount. So the only real result of this legislative compromise is that the Department of State now has to keep track of immediate relative visa issuances for the purpose of determining whether the 294,000 threshold has been reached.]

The employment-based quota for immigrant visas is also calculated on an annual basis. The base number is 140,000 visas. To that number is ADDED the number of unused family-based visas, if any, from the previous fiscal year. As a practical matter, there have not been unused family-based visas for some time. For fiscal year 2006, the number of employment-based visas available is 140,000 (the base number).


The diversity-based quota for immigrant visas is alwayws 55,000. It does not change from year to year.

Both the family-based and employment-based visas are allocated by preference group and by country. The preference groups are explained in the Visa Bulletin so I won't go into them here. Suffice it to say that each preference group is entitled to a fixed number of visas (in some cases, an actual fixed number; in others, a percentage of the worldwide quota available that fiscal year), plus any visas allocated to higher preference groups that were not used in the previous fiscal year.

In addition to the worldwide quotas, there is a per-country visa limitation. The purpose of the limitation is to equalize opportunities for nationals of each country to immigrate to the US. The per-country visa limitation is 7% of the sum of the family and employment-based quotas, except for certain colonies and dependent areas where the limitation is 2%. Certain special rules apply to Taiwan, Hong Kong, and a few other areas. The per-country visa limitation does not apply, however, in any fiscal quarter for which there are more visas available for a country than there are qualified applicants. The reason is that if there are excess visas available to that country in a quarter, the country should be allowed to exceed the 7% for that quarter as long as by the end of the fiscal year, the 7% limitation is not exceeded.

The 7% number is not calculated separately for each group (family and employment based). It is a single number, calculated on the basis of the sum of the employment-based and family-based calculations for that fiscal year. For fiscal year 2006, the per-country limitation is 25,620 visas. The per-country limitation for dependent areas is 7,320.

All of this works fine unless there are more applicants than there are available visas for a given country. In that case, the prorating provisions of section 202 of the Immigration and Nationality Act determine how visas are allocated for that country.

The prorating provisions say that if the demand for visas for a particular country exceeds the 7% number, then the visas available for that country that year shall be prorated between the employment and family-based groups in the same proportion as the worldwide levels of immigration in those groups during the previous fiscal year. (This is referred to as an "oversubscription" for that country.) Within each group, the number of visas allocated to each preference is prorated according to the number of visas made available to that preference worldwide compared to the total number of visas available to that group.


Where F=family-based quota for year 1
and E=employment-based quota for year 1
and c=per-country limitation for year 2
and f=family-based visas available to that country for year 2
and e=employment based visas available to that country for year 2


then (f + e) = c
and f = (e * (F/E))
and e = (f * E/F)).

 

[Billtoo]

How it works. Part II

Can anyone one tell me, what's the Visa # and why would i need a Visa # to associate with approved GC A#.

Visa numbers are not carried over from year to year. If unused at the end of the year, they are lost. Therefore, one can see that if a country continues to be oversubscribed year after year (i.e., demand for visas exceeds the number of visas allocated by prorating the 7% per country limitation number), eventually a country will get to a point where the number of applicants registered in PREVIOUS years who are awaiting visas will exceed the number of visas allocated for the current fiscal year to that country. The result: all of the visas allocated for the current fiscal year must go to applicants who registered in previous years, and none are available for any applicant who registers in the current year. In other words, visas become "UNAVAILABLE" for that particular category because all of them are earmarked for applicants already waiting in line.

Disclaimer: I have never worked for the State Department, so I don't pretend to give an exact description of every procedure. The following explanation is a general explanation of the procedure, ignoring some of the details. It is designed to convey a basic idea of how the process works, not to list every single step.


As previously explained, the State Department allocates a specific number of immigrant visas for each country. If the country is oversubscribed (that is, there are more applicants than there are visas allocated), the visas allocated for that country are prorated between the family and employment-based groups in proportion to the ratio of worldwide visas available that fiscal year for each group, and similarly among the preference categories for each group.


Each month on the first of the month, every immigrant visa issuing post submits a report to the State Department of the number of documentarily qualified immigrant visa applicants registered at the post. "Documentarily qualified" is a technical term, but its basic meaning is that the post has determined that the applicant has assembled all of the documents required by the regulations for that type of visa. In practice, posts rely on submission of Form OF-169 (the cover letter issued with Packet III) to make this determination. Until the post receives OF-169, the applicant does not go on the documentarily qualified list.


Traditionally, this report has been submitted via a "Visas Whale" cable. Some posts (London and Tokyo being the ones that come immediately to mind) are now fully computerized, and submit their reports via the Department's computerized system, called IVACS.


So, on the first of every month, the State Department has, from each post, a list of all of the immigrant applicants registered with that post, along with the visa classification for which the applicant is applying and the applicant's priority date. These lists are also maintained by post, by classification, in order of priority date. In the case of applicants with the same priority dates, the list is ordered by date of becoming documentarily qualified, with the applicants who become documentarily qualified earliest being listed first.


Based on this list, the Department allocates immigrant visas from the total pool allotted for that country, prorating by classification if necessary. In the beginning part of the year, the Department can allocate most of the visas necessary to meet the needs of the list without worrying about running up against the 7% per-country limitation. In the later months of the year, the Department has to hold some in reserve, partly to make sure that visas are not overissued for the year, partly to account for the visa numbers which must be allocated to aliens who adjust status in the US. (More on that below.)


In some cases, visas are allocated but they are not used, either because the applicant dies, terminates registration, changes to a visa class not subject to the quota, or is found not qualified for a visa. These unused visas are also reported to the State Department on a periodic basis, but at least once a month by the fifth day before month end. (The reporting cable is called a "Visas Giraffe.") Thus, the State Department theoretically has, by the first of the month, accurate totals of how many visas are remaining to be issued for that country, including an accounting for visas issued in previous months of the fiscal year that have not been used and have been "returned" for reissuance.

Visas Giraffe cables are also used to report visas that have been issued but are then not used. This might happen if the applicant is issued a visa, then dies before the applicant can immigrate, or decides not to immigrate, etc. These visas are called "recaptured."


State Department procedures instruct posts to be particularly careful to report returned and recaptured visas as soon as possible towards the end of the fiscal year, so that they can be reissued in the same fiscal year. Once the fiscal year is over, the count starts anew, so any unused recaptured or returned visas in the pipeline are lost forever.


These procedures are simple if the number of applicants does not exceed the number of available visas for any given month. But in cases where the number of applicants exceeds the number of available visas, the priority date of the _first_ applicant on the list for whom a visa is not available becomes the cutoff date for that classification. This is how the cutoff dates in the Visa Bulletin are produced.


Example: in the October 2006 Visa Bulletin, the cutoff date for India employment-based second preference is 01AUG02. If you were looking at the list of documentarily qualified Indian applicants in the EB-2 preference, ordered by priority date, and matching up those applicants on a one-to-one basis (derivative applicants count, so for a family of four, one principal applicant uses up four numbers) with the number of visas allocated for EB-2 by the State Department in October, you would see that the priority date of the first alien on the list for whom a visa is not available would be 01AUG02.


Simplified graphical example:
List of EB-2 (3 visas available)
1. Alien 1 : Priority date 12/1/2001
2. Alien 2 : Priority date 12/15/2001
3. Spouse of alien 2: Priority date 12/15/2001
4. Alien 3 : Priority date 02/8/2002

No visa is available for Alien 3, because the three visas available for the month were used by Alien 1 and Alien 2 (including Alien 2's family). So Alien 3's priority date of 02/8/2002 becomes the cutoff date for EB-2 for that month, and is published in the Visa Bulletin.

So now it is clear why, in most cases, cutoff dates move forward more quickly during the beginning months of the fiscal year. At that time, the State Department is holding few visas back from the monthly allotment. As the year progresses, the Department holds back more visas to make sure that there are no overissuances, so the numbers move forward more slowly.

 

[Billtoo]

How it works. Part III

Can anyone one tell me, what's the Visa # and why would i need a Visa # to associate with approved GC A#.

I should also mention that the monthly reordering of lists by priority date (so that the cutoff date can be determined) is not related to the order in which immigrant visa cases are processed. The general rule is that cases are processed in the order in which the applicant becomes documentarily qualified, so that it is first-come, first-served. (Remember that once a visa number is issued, it is allocated to a specific person until used, returned, or recaptured, or until the fiscal year ends. So there is no need for a constant reshuffling of interview dates to accommodate aliens with earlier priority dates who became documentarily qualified later than aliens with later priority dates.)

There are some exceptions to this rule based on individual circumstances. For example, there might be humanitarian reasons, such as a medical emergency, that would cause a case to be processed out of order. One other reason for a case to be taken out of order is if the applicant is in danger of "aging out" -- becoming disqualified for the visa because the applicant is turning 21. In those cases, the Department may process the case out of order to make sure that the applicant can be issued the visa and immigrate before becoming ineligible. However, in general the rule is first-come, first-served, with the clarification that "first-come" in this instance does not mean when the applicant first has contact with the consulate but when the applicant is determined to be documentarily qualified.

Formerly, some INS offices used a 'one-step' procedure under which the alien filed the I-485 and all documents, was interviewed on the day of filing, given employment authorization unless the case was clearly deniable, and then instructed to wait until the necessary security checks, etc. had been done. When all of the checks were completed, the alien would be notified that "processing is complete", meaning the alien's adjustment to permanent residence had been approved.

These days, most INS offices have abandoned the one-step method. Instead, aliens' paperwork is prescreened, usually at the counter, rejected if clearly deniable for an obvious reason (example: the alien's priority date is not current, the alien's passport indicates the alien is subject to 2YRFRR, etc.). Once accepted and fee'd in, the security and file checks are then done, and only afterward is the alien set up for an interview. This second method generally enables the examiner to grant or deny adjustment at the interview, so that the interview becomes the final step in the process rather than one of the first steps.

 

[Billtoo]

How it works. Part IV

The remainder of this post discusses processing under the latter method since it is the most common.

According to internal Service administrative guidelines, the alien is supposed to be interviewed within sixty days of filing the I-485. Current backlogs and personnel shortages have stretched this time period out considerably in many offices. Much the waiting time has nothing to do with how long the security and file checks are taking. Instead, it has to do with the fact that files are sitting on shelves, waiting for examiners to clear current caseloads so that new cases can be accepted and processed.

Editorial comment: This is not the fault of the examiners, who are by and large overworked. It is partly the fault of institutional inefficiencies and mostly the fault of an increasing workload unsupported by concomitant increases in resources. The Service is, by most accounts, getting better and more efficient -- some places more quickly than others, and some types of cases more quickly than others. This year, the focus is on naturalization, where some applicants are waiting two years even without any priority date system. In other years, the emphasis has been on other impacted areas. The problem is compounded by special legislation, usually enacted for good reasons, that creates special categories of immigrants with whom the INS must deal. For example, the Chinese Student Protection Act, passed in the wake of Tiananmen, created eligibility for permanent residence in the third employment-based preference for a large group of PRC nationals.

I have already referred to the prescreening process done at the counter or by a designated (usually junior) officer to reject clearly unapprovable cases. The question is sometimes asked, what cutoff dates govern. The answer is that INS is instructed to go by the cutoff dates published in the Visa Bulletin for the current month, even if the bulletin with the following month's dates has been issued. In other words, for the month of September 2006, INS will use the cutoff dates published in the September 2006 Visa Bulletin, even though the October bulletin is now officially out.

Once the I-485 has passed the preliminary prescreen, the fee has been collected, and a file established, Service internal instructions direct the officer to complete Form I-181, Memorandum of Creation of Lawful Residence, by filling in as much information on the form as possible from the paperwork filed. Form I-181, which is actually a three-part form, is used to communicate with the State Department's Visa Control office to request a visa number, to report adjustment of the principal alien, and to communicate adjustment of the principal alien to a consular post for the purpose of following-to-join dependents.

Coordination with the State Department is necessary because aliens who adjust in the US count against the worldwide visa quotas for their particular groups as well as against the per-country limitations and against the number of immigrant visas allocated for specific preference categories.

The internal instructions state that Form I-181 is to be sent to the Visa Control office during initial processing of the application to request a visa number. "Initial processing" is not defined, and is subject to a certain amount of interpretation by the local office. The instructions seem to suggest that when an officer receives the file, Form I-181 should be immediately completed and sent to the Visa Control office so that a number can be reserved and allocated. For offices where large backlogs mean that files sit on a shelf until they are referred to individual examiners, however, initial processing may not be determined to take place until the file is actually assigned. The instructions do state that applications are to be processed in order, first-come, first-served, as opposed to by the alien's priority date. Therefore, an alien with an earlier priority date who files later than an alien with a later priority date will not, absent special circumstances, be processed first.

In this sense, the term "priority date" is misleading. The priority date is the way the State Department keeps track of who is entitled to a visa number and who is not. But circumstances of individual cases, including delays caused by the alien's later filing, may affect the order in which the cases are adjudicated. In other words, the priority date creates a natural order of eligibility for an immigrant visa (or, what is the same thing, eligibility to apply for adjustment of status), but once the application is filed and accepted, the rule is first-come, first-served. An earlier priority date does not entitle the applicant to earlier priority in processing.

When the INS sends Form I-181 into the State Department, a visa number is allocated from the available pool for that alien, and the duplicate copy of Form I-181 is sent back to the Service noting the allocation. At that time, the visa remains allocated to the alien until used or returned, or until the end of the fiscal year when it is no longer valid.

As is the case with consular posts, special care is taken in the last two months of the fiscal year to make sure that no allocated visa numbers will be wasted. On the last business day of August each year, an inventory of pending cases for which numbers have been assigned is conducted, and for any cases in which (1) processing will not be completed by the end of the fiscal year, or (2) for some other reason are sure to be denied or continued beyond the end of the fiscal year, the visa numbers allocated to those cases are recaptured and returned to the State Department on September 10 so that they can be reallocated in September either to INS or to consular posts. For the remainder of September, cases are carefully monitored to make sure that if they will not be complete by September 31, already allocated numbers are returned to the State Department and re-requested in the new fiscal year.

 

[Billtoo]

How it works. Part V

Because the monthly waiting lists submitted by posts are ordered within each classification by priority date of documentarily qualified applicant, a heavy influx of applicants for the new month can result in a case where the priority date of the highest applicant on the list for whom a visa number is not available is actually earlier than the priority date of the corresponding applicant on the previous month's list. The result is a "retrogression" of the cutoff dates in the Visa Bulletin.

What happens when an alien has filed an I-485 with a then-current priority date, and while waiting for processing, the cutoff date retrogresses or becomes unavailable? (This could happen for a variety of reasons: the file has been waiting to be assigned to an officer; the alien has requested transfer of the file to another Service office before I-181 could be sent to the Visa Control Office; the alien changes preference classifications.) Service Operations Instruction 245.4 governs this situation.OI 245.4 instructs the officer to send Form I-181 to the State Department, with a stamp notated "HOLD FOR VISA NUMBER" in the upper right hand corner of the box allocated to the Visa Office. When the Visa Control Office receives these, they are sorted by country and preference category, then integrated into the master waiting list so that when visa numbers become available for that country and category, they can be allocated to those cases in the proper order.

In the meantime, the I-485 is "suspensed" until the visa number is assigned. The OI does not specifically state whether the other processing such as interviews and security and file checks, is also held in suspense or whether it is pursued during this time. Consequently, the procedures vary by local office depending on how their particular examinations unit is structured, and subject to any procedures issued by the Central Office to address specific systemic situations.

When numbers become available, the State Department returns Form I-181 to the Service notifying the Service that a visa number will be allocated to the case in the month _following_ notification. The purpose of this mechanism is to allow the Service to complete any unfinished processing before the first of the month, so that in the event processing cannot be completed by that time, the number can be re-allocated to other cases that may have been affected by the retrogression. The practical result is that aliens whose cases are suspensed as a result of cutoff date retrogression can, if they have completed all processing, expect their cases to be approved during the month following the month in which numbers have become available for their preference category and country. Depending how efficient the correspondence unit of the local office is, notification may be received then or some time later.

Postscript: I have, in this post, referred to Form I-181, which is the form used to communicate to the Visa Control Office. The rule is that only one visa number may be granted for each Form I-181 completed. Therefore, in cases where dependents are accompanying the principal alien and adjusting in the United States, Form I-181 is completed for each alien and sent to the Visa Control Office to request a visa number.

In cases where the principal alien is adjusting alone and dependents are following to join, Service OIs instruct that a Form I-181 should be completed for each dependent and sent directly to the consular post with jurisdiction over the dependents. There is no provision in the OIs for charging a fee for this function. Nevertheless, some local offices require that Form I-824 be filed and the $30 fee paid to have this done. Aliens who have dependents who will be following to join should check with their local offices for procedures, but in any event, the officer should be requested at the time of interview to forward Form I-181 to post for dependents before terminal processing of the file.
-- Above intended as general commentary, not specific legal advice.
Your mileage may vary.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Readers: If there are some mistake somewhere .. please do correct it.

 

[hopeofgc]

Because the monthly waiting lists submitted by posts are ordered within each classification by priority date of documentarily qualified applicant, a heavy influx of applicants for the new month can result in a case where the priority date of the highest applicant on the list for whom a visa number is not available is actually earlier than the priority date of the corresponding applicant on the previous month's list. The result is a "retrogression" of the cutoff dates in the Visa Bulletin.

What happens when an alien has filed an I-485 with a then-current priority date, and while waiting for processing, the cutoff date retrogresses or becomes unavailable? (This could happen for a variety of reasons: the file has been waiting to be assigned to an officer; the alien has requested transfer of the file to another Service office before I-181 could be sent to the Visa Control Office; the alien changes preference classifications.) Service Operations Instruction 245.4 governs this situation.OI 245.4 instructs the officer to send Form I-181 to the State Department, with a stamp notated "HOLD FOR VISA NUMBER" in the upper right hand corner of the box allocated to the Visa Office. When the Visa Control Office receives these, they are sorted by country and preference category, then integrated into the master waiting list so that when visa numbers become available for that country and category, they can be allocated to those cases in the proper order.

In the meantime, the I-485 is "suspensed" until the visa number is assigned. The OI does not specifically state whether the other processing such as interviews and security and file checks, is also held in suspense or whether it is pursued during this time. Consequently, the procedures vary by local office depending on how their particular examinations unit is structured, and subject to any procedures issued by the Central Office to address specific systemic situations.

When numbers become available, the State Department returns Form I-181 to the Service notifying the Service that a visa number will be allocated to the case in the month _following_ notification. The purpose of this mechanism is to allow the Service to complete any unfinished processing before the first of the month, so that in the event processing cannot be completed by that time, the number can be re-allocated to other cases that may have been affected by the retrogression. The practical result is that aliens whose cases are suspensed as a result of cutoff date retrogression can, if they have completed all processing, expect their cases to be approved during the month following the month in which numbers have become available for their preference category and country. Depending how efficient the correspondence unit of the local office is, notification may be received then or some time later.

Postscript: I have, in this post, referred to Form I-181, which is the form used to communicate to the Visa Control Office. The rule is that only one visa number may be granted for each Form I-181 completed. Therefore, in cases where dependents are accompanying the principal alien and adjusting in the United States, Form I-181 is completed for each alien and sent to the Visa Control Office to request a visa number.

In cases where the principal alien is adjusting alone and dependents are following to join, Service OIs instruct that a Form I-181 should be completed for each dependent and sent directly to the consular post with jurisdiction over the dependents. There is no provision in the OIs for charging a fee for this function. Nevertheless, some local offices require that Form I-824 be filed and the $30 fee paid to have this done. Aliens who have dependents who will be following to join should check with their local offices for procedures, but in any event, the officer should be requested at the time of interview to forward Form I-181 to post for dependents before terminal processing of the file.
-- Above intended as general commentary, not specific legal advice.
Your mileage may vary.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Readers: If there are some mistake somewhere .. please do correct it.

Billtoo, Can you pls tell us briefly what exactly its mean? Making long story short.