Department of State Expects Backlog in Visa Availability for Employment-Based Immigrants

Every month the Department of State publishes a Visa Bulletin. The Visa Bulletindiscloses the priority date of the I-130 (family-based) and I-140 (employment-based)petitions for which a visa number is currently available, according to category. Theemployment-based categories have been current (marked "C") for several years, meaningthat the beneficiary of an approved I-140 petition is immediately eligible to apply foradjustment of status or an immigrant visa.Family based categories have long beenbacklogged, however. Only applicants who have a priority date earlier than the date listedfor the appropriate immigrant category in the Visa Bulletin are eligible to file anapplication for adjustment of status or an immigrant visa.

The Department of State announced in the October 2004 Visa Bulletin, however, thatemployment-based immigrant categories will soon go the way of the family-basedcategories; they too will soon have to wait for their priority dates to become currentbefore they can apply for adjustment of status or consular processing. As early as January2005, the priority dates for employment-based categories could be backlogged.

This development is owing in large part to the gigantic USCIS backlog in I-485(adjustment of status) adjudications. USCIS has taken so long to process theseapplications that there are thousands that have been filed and are waiting for adjudication.Many aliens have been waiting 2-3 years for their I-485 applications to be adjudicated.Then, USCIS implemented a backlog reduction plan and is now ardently working onadjudicating I-485 applications. This means that thousands of applications will require avisa number and, lo and behold, there won't be enough.

The Department of State also reports that priority dates for which visa numbers areavailable are not likely to move forward for family-based immigrant categories, and mayin fact retrogress.

H-1B Numbers Likely to Be Available for Fiscal Year 2005 for Several More Weeks

The American Immigration Lawyers Association has been informed by USCIS that FY-2005 H-1B numbers are likely to be available for several more weeks. The recent reportsabout the usage of H-1B numbers, which have been discussed in previous editions ofImmigration Newswire, have been calculated by USCIS on the assumption that the H-1Bnumbers set aside for nationals of Singapore and Chile under the U.S. free tradeagreements with those countries would all be used. However, very few of the 6,800 H-1Bnumbers set aside for nationals of these countries have been used. Therefore, despite thefact that USCIS reports about H-1B usage have dramatically increased the number of H-1B petitions that are being filed, it is still likely to take "several weeks" for the FY 2005cap to be reached.