Here\'s why we\'re seeing a slow down in FP notices for 10/99 through 03/00.
The slow down is for India and China applicants only at this point. You will notice that people who are getting FP notices around this period and after as from \'Other\' countries. This is because FP approvals are valid for only 15 months, and people were \'timing out\' on that waiting so long for AOS. So, recently the INS decided to send out FP notices only shortly before AOS approval came up, i.e., whereas about a year ago, it took about 12 months to go from FP to AOS, it\'ll take only 3-4 months now. SO, if you\'re from India or China with a ND that\'s after 10/99, you\'re going to have to wait till the flood of applicants from 08/99 and 09/99 gets taken care of. Realize that last year, when the flood gates opened, a lot of EB2 and EB3 categories with PDs from 1996 and 1997 were able to apply. As a result, not only did the INS receive a flood of applications, but also applications which are being given a lot of priority as they have old PDs. It is currently taking about 2-3 months to go through September. Once we\'re done with September applications, things should start speeding up as there was a significnat drop in applications from October through December, a slight uptick in January and then the usual steady trickle after that.
The slow down is for India and China applicants only at this point. You will notice that people who are getting FP notices around this period and after as from \'Other\' countries. This is because FP approvals are valid for only 15 months, and people were \'timing out\' on that waiting so long for AOS. So, recently the INS decided to send out FP notices only shortly before AOS approval came up, i.e., whereas about a year ago, it took about 12 months to go from FP to AOS, it\'ll take only 3-4 months now. SO, if you\'re from India or China with a ND that\'s after 10/99, you\'re going to have to wait till the flood of applicants from 08/99 and 09/99 gets taken care of. Realize that last year, when the flood gates opened, a lot of EB2 and EB3 categories with PDs from 1996 and 1997 were able to apply. As a result, not only did the INS receive a flood of applications, but also applications which are being given a lot of priority as they have old PDs. It is currently taking about 2-3 months to go through September. Once we\'re done with September applications, things should start speeding up as there was a significnat drop in applications from October through December, a slight uptick in January and then the usual steady trickle after that.
