News!! Priority dates for Eb-3 are retrogressing

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xyz2375

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News!! Priority dates for Eb-3(India, China, Phillipines) are retrogressing

News!! Priority dates for Eb-3 are retrogressing

According to Attorney Carl Shustermann:

EB-3 categorry is going to retrogress back to 2002 for people born in India, China, and Philippines. The rest of the countries are going to remain current for Eb1, Eb2, Eb3

http://www.shusterman.com/

If you are from the above countries, file your I485 quickly, because after Jan 2005, applicants from the three countires in the Eb3 category will not be allowed to file their I-485 if their priority dates are not current.
 
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United Nations,

This was put out there for anyone who is interested in looking at it. Not everyone is as well informed as you are. If you are tired of seeing it, maybe you should find something else to read.
 
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XYZ ,

Question on what you mentioned. My labour date was June 2002. (EB3).


BUt in the processing times 485 showing May 2002. Does it mean my case will

be adjustcated soon?Thanks for your response
 
From my experience what I have seen is that Texas service center is very random in processing applications. They do not strictly adhere to the processing dates that they have published. The processing dates that you see on their site is more of an average estimation of where they currently are. Your's could be processed sooner or may take some time. Its kind of difficult to predict.
 
Is it confirmed now...

Will the priority dates regress to 2002 in Jan 2005 itself ? Is it a confirmed news or just a rumor ?

If they do regress, what happens to the labor substitution cases where the substitued 140 was filed in 2003 but labor was approved in 2001 or 2002 ?

will_get_there
 
If you look at the State Department October bulletin, they have stated that regression action will take place in early Jan 2005. This is expected to happen as USCIS and DOL are getting systems set up to clear backlog. This is no surprise or rumour. It is 100% expected to happen in Jan 2005 after Attorney Shustermann had a discussion with officials in Washington I believe three or 4 days ago. Regression is never a fair game. People who have filed their labor in 2001 and 2002 who are still waiting, this regression will be a godsend to them, as their cases will get processed. If you have filed your labor in 2003 and later, you will have a much longer wait. Priority dates come into play when regression kicks in.

Priority Dates determine when a foreign national will have the ability to file the final stage of the application for the green card (GC), known as the Adjustment of Status or I-485 application. The advantage of filing the I-485 at the earliest opportunity is that it allows the foreign national and any immediate family members the opportunity to file for the EAD or the employment authorization document (permission to work without having to maintain a temporary worker status such as H1B) and Advance Parole (permission to reenter the U.S. after travel abroad while the I-485 is pending). The priority date must also be considered for consular processing (CP) filings. A priority date, in an employment-based (EB) case requiring Labor Certification (LC), is the officially acknowledged date that the case was filed at the state level Department of Labor office, referred to as the SESA. If the EB case was filed in a category that does not require labor certification, then the priority date assigned by the INS is the date the I-140 (Immigrant Visa Petition) is received by the INS Service Center. If a person has already filed the I-485 application when the dates were current, but then the Visa Bulletin date retrogresses to a date before the priority date, the foreign national would still accrue the benefit of being able to remain in the U.S. with renewable EAD or work authorization and permission to travel, even after completing the six years on H1B status in the U.S. However, the I-485 could not be approved until the date again becomes "current."

Priority date for labor substitution cases will probably be the date that the labor was intially filed for the person that you are substituting for. But I am not 100% sure on it. Regression stinks!! But when you have too many applicants from a particular category and country and less number of green cards to be allocated, there is really nothing the State Department can do about it except switch to regression.
 
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2001 labor pending concurrent 140/485 under EB3

Thanks xyz for a detailed explaination. Just to confirm that if the priority dates retrogress to 2002. And if the labor started in 2001, 140 and 485 filed concurrently in Sep 2003, still pending, assume they remain pending untill when DOS retrogress the dates (assuming Jan 2005). Does that mean USCIS can process 140/485 w/o waiting, as the labor is started in 2001, or do they have to wait further. I see you say this will be God for 2001/2002 applicants, meaning these cases can be processed much faster now.

Thanks.
 
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For example, say you're labor was filed in April 2001 and State Department establishes a cutoff date for October 2002. You have already filed your 140 and 485. You do not have to wait for your priority date to become current regardless of country. All 485's with labor priority date before OCtober 2002 will be eligible for filing and processing.
 
xyz,

Thanks for the good explanation. I would like to find out how this is going to affect my case. My labour was started in Oct. 2002. It wa Approved in July 2003. My I-140 and I-485 WERE FILED CONCURRENTLY on Oct 2003. I have already received EADs, AP etc. I just recieved an RFE on I-140. I should be able to address this in a couple of weeks time.

Supposing (Hypothetically speaking),

My I-140 is Approved and there is one more RFE on my I-485 and it is Jan 2005, what is likely to happen to my case? Would it get looked at only when the priority date becomes current? How will this situation be interpreted as per the law?

Pleasse let me know.

beerdrinkingJoe
 
How often does the USCIS update the dates then..

If they announce in Jan 2005 that the PD with Oct2002 and before only will be processed, when will USCIS come again and revise that date to include later filers ? Is there any set period when USCIS revises these dates or is it totally random ?

will_get_there
 
The priority dates are not revised by the USCIS but by the chief officer at the State Department(I think it is still Mr. William Oppenheim) who counts every month on how many green cards are needed, how many are issued. Thats his job. He pretty much looks at for example say how many people from India and China have been approved for green cards in the previous month and sets cut off dates based on this calculation. There's a whole lot of basic mathematical calculations that go into setting cut off dates. Sometimes cutoff dates move faster, sometimes they move slower, sometimes they could move from october 2002 to say August 2002. That has happened I beleive in 1997 or 99. That is known as further retrogression.

To answer your question in short the dates are looked at by State Department every month.USCIS just requests a green card slot for you from the State Department. USCIS and State Department do work very closely together monitoring how many green cards are issued, how many are left and how many will be needed
 
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beerdrinkingjoe,

File your I-140 RFE ASAP with TSC. Since you have filed concurrently and Texas right now seems to be clearing cases a little faster than usual, even if you get I-485 RFE (god forbid it doesn't happen), you have November and December before retrogression kicks in Jan 2005. If it kicks in, and your 485 RFE has not been processed yet, they will put a hold on your case and leave it pending till your PD becomes current.
 
xyz2375,
Thanks very much for detailed and clear explanations. My labor was filed in Feb 2002. It has been approved and my 140 is filed in this month (employer is denying to concurrently file 485). I'm not sure mine is EB2 or EB3 category, who decides the category and when(time of filing labor?) ? Do you have any idea what exact date the PD would retrogress to? Any sugestions on my case? I would appreciate your reply.
 
gc108,

If you can afford to pay for it, go ahead and file your I-485 yourself or with the help of an outside attorney. The 485 is your application and does not belong to your employer. The 485 is all about you and you are the applicant. You only have to get an Employment verification letter from your employer stating your hire date, promise of continued employment, and current salary. Eb categories 1, 2, or 3 are determined by USCIS when they look at your labor and read your job details and minimum requirement. You're attorney can request a high category but it all comes down to USCIS deciding what category your job really fits into. I wish I had a crystal ball and can predict the PD cutoff, but even the State Department does not exactly know what date it would be exactly. Hopefully it does not regress to Jan 2002 for all our sakes.
 
Please Donot confuse between, priority date and processing Date

Processing dates are what USCIS is posting on their website. Priority dates are when your are eligible to file your 485. Once filed, cases will be processed based onthe processing dates. If your priority dates are not current you'll have to wait to file 485 until your dates become current.

Having said that, All those who have already filed before dates are not current anymore, they'll have to just wait for the processing dates to pass the filling dates. Once filedl, priority dates have no or very less control over adjuticating your case.

Again, this is just my understanding. This is what I was told by my lawyer.

Thanks.
 
xyz2375,
Thanks for your quick reply. I would like to file 485 by myself but my employer would not give me the required letter. Can you elaborate on "promise of continued employment" How long they have to promise the job? Can you post the sample letter? Thanks again for your reply/feedback.
 
gc108,

This is a sample letter if you are currently working for your sposoring employer.

Sample Letter:(on comapny letterhead with current date)

To whom it may concern:

The purpose of this letter is to confirm [your name] has been employed by [company name] in the position of [job title] from [hire date] to present. There have been no interruptions during his/her employment with us. This is a full time position and the current annual salary is [salary]. Upon the completion of this application for permanent residency, it is our desire to continue to employ [your name] on a continuing basis.

If there are any questions concerning this matter, feel free to contact me.

Sincerecely,

HR
 
IndianInDallas, Please advise

Hi IndianInDallas,

when I read those posts, I was so worried about my case, since my labor certificate was approve in August 2003. I filed 1-140 in Oct 2003 and I485 in Feb 2004 in TSC

So based on your understanding, I already filed I-485, do you think USCIS will not process my case even though all materials are ready around next Jan 2005 when they set up the cut off priority date?

Thanks for your help



IndianInDallas said:
Processing dates are what USCIS is posting on their website. Priority dates are when your are eligible to file your 485. Once filed, cases will be processed based onthe processing dates. If your priority dates are not current you'll have to wait to file 485 until your dates become current.

Having said that, All those who have already filed before dates are not current anymore, they'll have to just wait for the processing dates to pass the filling dates. Once filedl, priority dates have no or very less control over adjuticating your case.

Again, this is just my understanding. This is what I was told by my lawyer.

Thanks.
Click to expand...
 
I think people who have applied for their 485 should be ok since the issue is a visa number being available for you when you want to apply for you AOS. If you have applied for you 485 then you have your visa number. Earlier it was that even if your 140 has been approved then you would have to wait till you got a visa number once that's available to you, you can apply for your 485, not sure what'll happen to concurrent processing when a visa number is not available.
 
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