USCIS information on Priority dates

C

cbeking

New Member
I called the USCIS customer service to find out regarding the impact of the new priority dates on pending 485 applications:

First of all, the call center agent did not know much about the impact prirority date retrogression on EB3 applicants from India and, she transferred me to an immigration officer.

Immigration officer requested my filing information, then pulled the Jan, 2005 visa bulletin and told me that " You will not be impacted by the petition date retrogression, as you are already in adjustment of status. As your 140 application is already approved, you will not be impacted by these new priority dates. Of course people whose 140 is not approved will be affected, as the new immigrant visa numbers will not allow approval of their 140 petition"

I then went to the USCIS website to see what the law states:

Here is what i found "

http://uscis.gov/lpBin/lpext.dll/in...?f=templates&fn=document-frame.htm#slb-act245

INA: ACT 245 - ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS OF NONIMMIGRANT TO THAT OF PERSON ADMITTED FOR PERMANENT RESIDENCE

(b) Upon the approval of an application for adjustment made under subsection (a), the Attorney General shall record the alien's lawful admission for permanent residence as of the date the order of the Attorney General approving the application for the adjustment of status is made, and the Secretary of State shall reduce by one the number of the preference visas authorized to be issued under sections 202 and 203 within the class to which the alien is chargeable for the fiscal year then current.

Considering 140 as the immigrant visa petition, according to the above clause, only 140 petitions would be affected by visa numbers.

http://uscis.gov/lpBin/lpext.dll/in...?f=templates&fn=document-frame.htm#slb-act203
INA: ACT 203 - ALLOCATION OF IMMIGRANT VISAS

Also feel free to go to the following link to see what USCIS has to say about immigrant visa number

http://uscis.gov/graphics/howdoi/immvisa.htm

But here is a snapshot
"An immigrant is someone who is not a U.S. citizen but has been authorized to permanently live and work in the United States. If you want to become an immigrant, you must go through a three-step process. First, the USCIS must approve an immigrant petition for you, which is usually filed by an employer or a relative for you. Second, a visa number, through the State Department must be immediately available to you, even if you are already in the United States. If you receive an immigrant visa number, it means that an immigrant visa has been assigned to you. Third, if you are already in the United States, you may apply to adjust to permanent resident status after a visa number becomes available for you. (If you are outside the United States when an immigrant visa number becomes available for you, you must then go to your local U.S. consulate to complete your processing.)

So, my optimistic take would be, people who have their 140 approved and are in 485 pending status need not worry about this new visa bulletin release.

Any thoughts?
 
cbeking said:
I called the USCIS customer service to find out regarding the impact of the new priority dates on pending 485 applications:

First of all, the call center agent did not know much about the impact prirority date retrogression on EB3 applicants from India and, she transferred me to an immigration officer.

Immigration officer requested my filing information, then pulled the Jan, 2005 visa bulletin and told me that " You will not be impacted by the petition date retrogression, as you are already in adjustment of status. As your 140 application is already approved, you will not be impacted by these new priority dates. Of course people whose 140 is not approved will be affected, as the new immigrant visa numbers will not allow approval of their 140 petition"

I then went to the USCIS website to see what the law states:

Here is what i found "

http://uscis.gov/lpBin/lpext.dll/in...?f=templates&fn=document-frame.htm#slb-act245

INA: ACT 245 - ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS OF NONIMMIGRANT TO THAT OF PERSON ADMITTED FOR PERMANENT RESIDENCE

(b) Upon the approval of an application for adjustment made under subsection (a), the Attorney General shall record the alien's lawful admission for permanent residence as of the date the order of the Attorney General approving the application for the adjustment of status is made, and the Secretary of State shall reduce by one the number of the preference visas authorized to be issued under sections 202 and 203 within the class to which the alien is chargeable for the fiscal year then current.

Considering 140 as the immigrant visa petition, according to the above clause, only 140 petitions would be affected by visa numbers.

http://uscis.gov/lpBin/lpext.dll/in...?f=templates&fn=document-frame.htm#slb-act203
INA: ACT 203 - ALLOCATION OF IMMIGRANT VISAS

Also feel free to go to the following link to see what USCIS has to say about immigrant visa number

http://uscis.gov/graphics/howdoi/immvisa.htm

But here is a snapshot
"An immigrant is someone who is not a U.S. citizen but has been authorized to permanently live and work in the United States. If you want to become an immigrant, you must go through a three-step process. First, the USCIS must approve an immigrant petition for you, which is usually filed by an employer or a relative for you. Second, a visa number, through the State Department must be immediately available to you, even if you are already in the United States. If you receive an immigrant visa number, it means that an immigrant visa has been assigned to you. Third, if you are already in the United States, you may apply to adjust to permanent resident status after a visa number becomes available for you. (If you are outside the United States when an immigrant visa number becomes available for you, you must then go to your local U.S. consulate to complete your processing.)

So, my optimistic take would be, people who have their 140 approved and are in 485 pending status need not worry about this new visa bulletin release.

Any thoughts?
Click to expand...


According to attorney Murthy, all I-485s filed after Jan 1 2002 are pended, but the website doesn't talk anything about I-140 applications. Please shed more light whether the officer was positive about pending all I-140s filed after Jan 1 2002. Or did you interpret anything. Please clarify. Whatever it is, I'm ready to accept anything

http://boards.immigrationportal.com/showthread.php?p=997860#post997860
 
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hey cbeking.,

Iam also agreed for that PD effected only to thouse are not getting I 140 approvals. I guess PD related upto olny I 140 level. This morning we got great releif. you did good & great job.

EB3/VSC/INDIA
PD 10/10/02
NP 12/1/03
FP 11/9/04
LUD 11/16/04 --> FP (Rcvd) & 11/24/04 (without message changed)

thanks.,
usinsuser99
 
cbeking said:
Immigration officer requested my filing information, then pulled the Jan, 2005 visa bulletin and told me that " You will not be impacted by the petition date retrogression, as you are already in adjustment of status. As your 140 application is already approved, you will not be impacted by these new priority dates. Of course people whose 140 is not approved will be affected, as the new immigrant visa numbers will not allow approval of their 140 petition
Click to expand...
I agree..I also see lot of scary postings by only few people.. and that too is not new to me..Thoughts :D .. do you know who are they :cool:
 
cbeking said:
I called the USCIS customer service to find out regarding the impact of the new priority dates on pending 485 applications:

First of all, the call center agent did not know much about the impact prirority date retrogression on EB3 applicants from India and, she transferred me to an immigration officer.

Immigration officer requested my filing information, then pulled the Jan, 2005 visa bulletin and told me that " You will not be impacted by the petition date retrogression, as you are already in adjustment of status. As your 140 application is already approved, you will not be impacted by these new priority dates. Of course people whose 140 is not approved will be affected, as the new immigrant visa numbers will not allow approval of their 140 petition"

I then went to the USCIS website to see what the law states:

Here is what i found "

http://uscis.gov/lpBin/lpext.dll/in...?f=templates&fn=document-frame.htm#slb-act245

INA: ACT 245 - ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS OF NONIMMIGRANT TO THAT OF PERSON ADMITTED FOR PERMANENT RESIDENCE

(b) Upon the approval of an application for adjustment made under subsection (a), the Attorney General shall record the alien's lawful admission for permanent residence as of the date the order of the Attorney General approving the application for the adjustment of status is made, and the Secretary of State shall reduce by one the number of the preference visas authorized to be issued under sections 202 and 203 within the class to which the alien is chargeable for the fiscal year then current.
Click to expand...
Look carefully at the words that I have highlighted here. Application for adjustment is I-485 and not I-140. Your 140 approval has nothing to do with the visa availability. Visa is ONLY alloted after your adjustment of status application (I-485) is complete and you are found eligible. It is the LAST step in the adjustment process and not the first step.
Considering 140 as the immigrant visa petition, according to the above clause, only 140 petitions would be affected by visa numbers.

http://uscis.gov/lpBin/lpext.dll/in...?f=templates&fn=document-frame.htm#slb-act203
INA: ACT 203 - ALLOCATION OF IMMIGRANT VISAS

Also feel free to go to the following link to see what USCIS has to say about immigrant visa number

http://uscis.gov/graphics/howdoi/immvisa.htm

But here is a snapshot
"An immigrant is someone who is not a U.S. citizen but has been authorized to permanently live and work in the United States. If you want to become an immigrant, you must go through a three-step process. First, the USCIS must approve an immigrant petition for you, which is usually filed by an employer or a relative for you. Second, a visa number, through the State Department must be immediately available to you, even if you are already in the United States. If you receive an immigrant visa number, it means that an immigrant visa has been assigned to you. Third, if you are already in the United States, you may apply to adjust to permanent resident status after a visa number becomes available for you. (If you are outside the United States when an immigrant visa number becomes available for you, you must then go to your local U.S. consulate to complete your processing.)

So, my optimistic take would be, people who have their 140 approved and are in 485 pending status need not worry about this new visa bulletin release.

Any thoughts?
Click to expand...
Read carefully (highlighted above):
1. Blue is I-140.
2. Now look at what I highlighted in RED. After 140 the immigrant visa number should be available to you. If your PD is before the current published PD, only then an immigrant visa number is available to you. Only then will you be allowed to file I-485. If your PD is not before the current published PD, a visa number is not available to you. In that case you will be stuck at step 2 and will have to wait at step 2 until a visa number is available to you (meaning the published PD moves beyond your PD).

You are confused because USCIS allowed concurrent processing. Before concurrent processing was allowed this was the exact processs being followed. Concurrent processing for 485 was allowed for all employment based applications because the PD was current for all categories.

As far as your case goes, since you have already filed 485 the impact on you is much lower. The impact on you (and I am assuming here that your PD is after 1/1/2002, you are from one of the 3 designated countries where PD has retrogressed and you have filed in EB3), would be that your 485 will not get approved unless a visa number is available to you. If you would not have filed 485 already then USCIS would have refused to accept your 485 application. But since you already have you can enjoy the benefit of EAD and AP while your application is pending.
 
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cooldude2k4 said:
According to attorney Murthy, all I-485s filed after Jan 1 2002 are pended, but the website doesn't talk anything about I-140 applications. Please shed more light whether the officer was positive about pending all I-140s filed after Jan 1 2002. Or did you interpret anything. Please clarify. Whatever it is, I'm ready to accept anything

http://boards.immigrationportal.com/showthread.php?p=997860#post997860
Click to expand...
Murthy is correct. Read my post above.
 
usinsuser99 said:
hey cbeking.,

Iam also agreed for that PD effected only to thouse are not getting I 140 approvals. I guess PD related upto olny I 140 level. This morning we got great releif. you did good & great job.

EB3/VSC/INDIA
PD 10/10/02
NP 12/1/03
FP 11/9/04
LUD 11/16/04 --> FP (Rcvd) & 11/24/04 (without message changed)

thanks.,
usinsuser99
Click to expand...
NO. PD determines your priority over others to get a immigrant visa number. A immigrant visa number is alloted to you AFTER your immigrant visa is approved (i.e. 140 approved). For AOS (adjustment of status), USCIS allots the visa number as the last step in 485 process. The reason they do this is because when you filed the visa number was available to you (else they would not have let you file I-485), but by the time they reached your application the PD may have retrogressed (which is what has happened here) and a visa number may not be available. So they do it as the last step.

Even for Consular processing, a interview call is not made until a Visa Number is available. A visa is only alloted after they have decided that they want to give a GC to you. If your case is stuck in name checks, RFEs etc etc, there is no point in alloting a visa number to you as some people withdraw their applications also.
 
dazzling said:
NO. PD determines your priority over others to get a immigrant visa number. A immigrant visa number is alloted to you AFTER your immigrant visa is approved (i.e. 140 approved). For AOS (adjustment of status), USCIS allots the visa number as the last step in 485 process. The reason they do this is because when you filed the visa number was available to you (else they would not have let you file I-485), but by the time they reached your application the PD may have retrogressed (which is what has happened here) and a visa number may not be available. So they do it as the last step.

Even for Consular processing, a interview call is not made until a Visa Number is available. A visa is only alloted after they have decided that they want to give a GC to you. If your case is stuck in name checks, RFEs etc etc, there is no point in alloting a visa number to you as some people withdraw their applications also.
Click to expand...


Dazzling,

thanks a lot....yeah, in my curiosity, I misread the statements. THANKS a lot for the confirmation.
 
I agree with dazzling.
Remember the old days, you need both an aprroved 140 AND a visa number to just file your 485. The priority date is certainly ONLY related to 485. It has nothing to do with 140.
But it is still not clear how USCIS will handle the priority data now with the concurrent processing. I would guess that the priority date will not have any effects on the pending 485s. They will stop accepting new applications based on PD. But I don't think they have a system ready to process based on PD.

dazzling said:
NO. PD determines your priority over others to get a immigrant visa number. A immigrant visa number is alloted to you AFTER your immigrant visa is approved (i.e. 140 approved). For AOS (adjustment of status), USCIS allots the visa number as the last step in 485 process. The reason they do this is because when you filed the visa number was available to you (else they would not have let you file I-485), but by the time they reached your application the PD may have retrogressed (which is what has happened here) and a visa number may not be available. So they do it as the last step.

Even for Consular processing, a interview call is not made until a Visa Number is available. A visa is only alloted after they have decided that they want to give a GC to you. If your case is stuck in name checks, RFEs etc etc, there is no point in alloting a visa number to you as some people withdraw their applications also.
Click to expand...
 
tdr said:
I agree with dazzling.
Remember the old days, you need both an aprroved 140 AND a visa number to just file your 485. The priority date is certainly ONLY related to 485. It has nothing to do with 140.
But it is still not clear how USCIS will handle the priority data now with the concurrent processing. I would guess that the priority date will not have any effects on the pending 485s. They will stop accepting new applications based on PD. But I don't think they have a system ready to process based on PD.
Click to expand...

Dazzling & cbeking - You both have very valid points, we have not tested Dazzlings points after concurrent filing has come into effect.

This is what makes me tilt towards cbeking. As per current VISA BULLETIN there are still around 100, 000 visas pending to be allocated from 1999 & 2000 AC21 act, which is approximately pending Employment petitions.

There are 2 possiblities for INS to do this
1. Expect there are going to be 100, 000 cases or above, in pending cases with PD < Jan 2002; which I think most of us would agree that there are not that many cases left with PDs < Jan 2002

2.Expect INS require 100, 000 visas to clear remaining pending cases, which approximates to remaining EB petitions

Out of 2 possiblities I would vote for the 2nd; which implies that INS is working under assumption it is going to clear all pending AOS applicants irrespective of PDs,

Also, cbeking mentioned that he talked to INS and officer who told him it is not going to affect him, which implies there are no memo circulating around in INS on Dazzlings points, more over I have seen 3 approvals after 8th 2 from Feb 2002 (8th) and 1 from May 2002(on 10th) in Eb3 which further reinforces CBEKING theory

Any thoughts Dazzling? I know if you talk to an attorney he will support your theory, but have the attorneys tested this after conncurent filing has come into effect.

I want to be bit optimistic:)
 
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Concurrent filing effect

I do agree with dazzling's view point, but, here are my thoughts,

# 1. USCIS Immigration officer was very positive about the fact that the new visa numbers won't impact pending adjustment of status applications (I infact told him that i am from one of the countries whose priority dates have retrogressed). But the above statement could be due to 2 possible reasons
a. The officer is knowledgeable, experienced and he correctly understands the visa #'s and their relation to 140/485
b. The USCIS office has not got any notification about the new visa # and its impact on processing applications.

# 2. Being optimistic, during the pre-concurrent filing years (prior to July, 2002), one had to wait for the visa # to become current to apply for 485 application (even dazzling agrees with it), after 140 petition approval. Fortunately, due to the introduction of concurrent processing, lot of people were allowed to file 485 applications when the visa numbers were current. If you look at the new visa bulletin, they have clearly stated the reason why they have retrogressed the priority dates for EB categories from certain countries. Gist of it is, priority dates have retrogressed as lot of 485 applications are being processed due to the new USCIS backlog reduction policy. So I think, the new visa numbers will not allow new 485 applications to be filed, or even CP interviews, but will push the existing 485's to completion.
#3. In the following Link:
http://uscis.gov/graphics/howdoi/immvisa.htm
You can find this Q&A,

How Can I Find Out When an Immigrant Visa Number Will Be Available for Me?
Each approved visa petition is placed in chronological order according to the date the visa petitioin was filed. The date the visa petition was filed is known as your priority date. The State Department publishes a bulletin that shows the month and year of the visa petitions they are working on by country and preference category (see eligibility information above). You can estimate of the amount of time it will take to get an immigrant visa number by comparing your priority date with the date listed in the bulletin. For instance, suppose you look under your country and preference category, and see that the State Department is working on applications they received in May 1996. If your priority date is May 1998, then you may have to wait several more years for an immigrant visa number to become available. You may access the State Department Visa Bulletin at the State Department's Website, or you may call the Department of State Visa Office at (202) 663-1541, to learn which priority dates are currently being processed.

My interpretation is the visa numbers affect you at the time of filing 485 application not at the time of processing the filed applications.

Again another POSITIVE thought is, the USCIS officer has not got any notification about the visa #'s and its impact (at least as of yesterday).
ULTIMATELY USCIS is the place where our applications are processed to COMPLETION. So USCIS will continue to process existing applications to completion, no matter what the Visa bulletin has to say. Which means we can expect some pending 485 applications to be processed even after Jan 1, 2005, may be for a month or two after Jan ( or until they receive some sort of notification on this)
That atleast would save a few lucky people to get through before the last bus leaves for the GREEN CARD destination!

Let us hope for the best.

Again, lawyers interpret everything based on the INA laws, but Concurrent Filing is a totally new concept, which was enacted while the priority dates were current.

Hope this helps.



tdr said:
I agree with dazzling.
Remember the old days, you need both an aprroved 140 AND a visa number to just file your 485. The priority date is certainly ONLY related to 485. It has nothing to do with 140.
But it is still not clear how USCIS will handle the priority data now with the concurrent processing. I would guess that the priority date will not have any effects on the pending 485s. They will stop accepting new applications based on PD. But I don't think they have a system ready to process based on PD.
Click to expand...
 
To me at this moment what immigration officer is saying holds more value than any other interpretation written in this or other LONG thread.. Before concluding that EB3 approval will become rare, I would rather wait till Jan Feb 2005 to see the effect..

I have not seen USCIS following any law in very strict way ( and for sure if they do it will increase backlogs more..guess why ? .. as said "easy" case takes 10 minutes to approve and "tough" one takes forever )..they rather offer very promising trend ( like approval in 60 days after FP2, few months back they approved many before FP1 expiration, then now they are approving almost everyone within 90 days of FP1, or 30 days of LUD change )
 
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MD_Rockville said:

I have not seen USCIS following any law in very strict way ( and for sure if they do it will increase backlogs more..guess why ? .. as said "easy" case takes 10 minutes to approve and "tough" one takes forever )..they rather offer very promising trend ( like approval in 60 days after FP2, few months back they approved many before FP1 expiration, then now they are approving almost everyone within 90 days of FP1, or 30 days of LUD change )
Click to expand...
Actually with PD coming into affect all the cases that have a PD after the published dates will cease to be back logged. Backlog is not calculated by the mere fact that the case is sitting in the service center for X number of days. Backlog is counted for a case only if the case can be approved today, but is not being approved. With PD, USCIS will be furthur able to reduce the backlog.
 
guys over here it says the same thing, pd is when the labor cetriciation is applied.http://www.shusterman.com/vb.html

Persons born in countries other than Mexico and the Philippines should look in the "Worldwide" current on the left side of the page to determine their "priority date". A priority date is established by the submission of a relative visa petition in the family categories, and by either the submission of an application for alien labor certification or by the submission of an employment-based visa petition in the employment categories.
 
Very-important Exceprts from Murthy.com -

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."
See below complete details.
http://www.murthy.com/news/UDpdhdtw.html
 
Hi sunny27, Murthy posting is dated in 2000 at that time there is no concept of Concurrent filing. May be that will not work for concurrent users.
 
cbeking said:
I called the USCIS customer service to find out regarding the impact of the new priority dates on pending 485 applications:

First of all, the call center agent did not know much about the impact prirority date retrogression on EB3 applicants from India and, she transferred me to an immigration officer.

Immigration officer requested my filing information, then pulled the Jan, 2005 visa bulletin and told me that " You will not be impacted by the petition date retrogression, as you are already in adjustment of status. As your 140 application is already approved, you will not be impacted by these new priority dates. Of course people whose 140 is not approved will be affected, as the new immigrant visa numbers will not allow approval of their 140 petition"

I then went to the USCIS website to see what the law states:

Here is what i found "

http://uscis.gov/lpBin/lpext.dll/in...?f=templates&fn=document-frame.htm#slb-act245

INA: ACT 245 - ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS OF NONIMMIGRANT TO THAT OF PERSON ADMITTED FOR PERMANENT RESIDENCE

(b) Upon the approval of an application for adjustment made under subsection (a), the Attorney General shall record the alien's lawful admission for permanent residence as of the date the order of the Attorney General approving the application for the adjustment of status is made, and the Secretary of State shall reduce by one the number of the preference visas authorized to be issued under sections 202 and 203 within the class to which the alien is chargeable for the fiscal year then current.

Considering 140 as the immigrant visa petition, according to the above clause, only 140 petitions would be affected by visa numbers.

http://uscis.gov/lpBin/lpext.dll/in...?f=templates&fn=document-frame.htm#slb-act203
INA: ACT 203 - ALLOCATION OF IMMIGRANT VISAS

Also feel free to go to the following link to see what USCIS has to say about immigrant visa number

http://uscis.gov/graphics/howdoi/immvisa.htm

But here is a snapshot
"An immigrant is someone who is not a U.S. citizen but has been authorized to permanently live and work in the United States. If you want to become an immigrant, you must go through a three-step process. First, the USCIS must approve an immigrant petition for you, which is usually filed by an employer or a relative for you. Second, a visa number, through the State Department must be immediately available to you, even if you are already in the United States. If you receive an immigrant visa number, it means that an immigrant visa has been assigned to you. Third, if you are already in the United States, you may apply to adjust to permanent resident status after a visa number becomes available for you. (If you are outside the United States when an immigrant visa number becomes available for you, you must then go to your local U.S. consulate to complete your processing.)

So, my optimistic take would be, people who have their 140 approved and are in 485 pending status need not worry about this new visa bulletin release.

Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

Dazzling's analysis of this information is fully correct. Any one with 6+ months experience in this board can easily understand from the quoted information that visa number is charged to a country ONLY at the time of adjustment of status approval (I485 approval). I140 approval does not mean that visa number is counter against the per country and per category quota.
So i would strongly believe that even if the I140 is approved, it is very difficult to get I485 approved for the EB3 people from the 3 countries if their PD is > 1/1/2002. Of course with INS, any thing is possible :confused:
 
MD_Rockville said:
To me at this moment what immigration officer is saying holds more value than any other interpretation written in this or other LONG thread.. Before concluding that EB3 approval will become rare, I would rather wait till Jan Feb 2005 to see the effect..

I have not seen USCIS following any law in very strict way ( and for sure if they do it will increase backlogs more..guess why ? .. as said "easy" case takes 10 minutes to approve and "tough" one takes forever )..they rather offer very promising trend ( like approval in 60 days after FP2, few months back they approved many before FP1 expiration, then now they are approving almost everyone within 90 days of FP1, or 30 days of LUD change )
Click to expand...

Time and again it has been proved in this forum that many immigration officers and immigration lawyers gave wrong information. Some times what some one in this forum says makes much more sense than what an immi lawyer says, though many times the converse is also true :cool: . My best advise would be not to go for generalizations. Let'sd take each advise at its own merit. When agroup of people discuss things in good spirit , without showing off egos, then every one can see what is right and what is wrong. That is the spirit of this forum.
 
I might be wrong but, per my understanding, one cannot file 485 if visa availability is not current. USCIS started concurrent filing of 140 and 485 because visa numbers were available. Now doesn't it mean that a visa number is assigned to your case when 485 is filed. In other words all who have filed 485 will get approval irrespective of PD.
 
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