Grim News for Employment-Based Immigrants

By REUBEN S. SEGURITAN

The wait time for employment-based applicants to obtain a visa number will be much longer in the coming months and in future years, according to Charles Oppenheim of the U.S. Department of State Visa Office.

The grim prediction is based on a recent analysis by the Visa Office of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) processing during the first seven and a half (7 ½) months of the current fiscal year and the changes to the processing patterns. Mr. Oppenheim also estimates that all of the 140,000 employment-based visa numbers allocated for this fiscal year will be used by September 30, 2009.

tens of thousands of I-485 applications with priority dates in 2004 and earlier.

At that time, visa numbers for the other employment categories remained available except for China and India whose second preference (EB-2) showed a cut-off date of February 15, 2005 and February 15, 2004, respectively.

But there has been a strong surge in the demand for other preferences, Mr. Oppenheim said. The 4th preference (EB-4) which refers to religious workers and other special immigrants may experience retrogression later this year as a result.

There has also been a heavy increase in applications for the employment-based 5th preference (EB-5) for immigrant investors and for the employment-based first preference (EB-1) for outstanding professors and researchers, multinational executives and managers and persons of extraordinary ability.

The EB-1 for India may require the establishment of a cut off date in August or September this year.

The surge in the EB-4 and EB-5 is significant because unused visa numbers in these categories are given to the EB-2 and EB-3 categories. With these categories using all their allotted numbers, the retrogression of the EB-2 and EB-3 will get worse.

The applicants from India and China will have the longest wait. The EB-2 cut-off date for July 2009 is January 1, 2000, but it may become unavailable this August or September. At the start of the 2010 fiscal year (10/01/2009), India’s cut-off date for EB-3 will be November 1, 2001 while China’s cut-off date will be March 1, 2005.

The Visa office estimates that on October 1, 2009, which is the start of the 2010 fiscal year, the EB-3 category will have the following cut-off dates: China – March 1, 2003; India – November 1, 2001; Mexico – March 1, 2003; other countries – March 1, 2003.

Without immigration reforms, the waiting time for the EB-3 applicants will probably be over a decade.

(Editor’s Note: REUBEN S. SEGURITAN has been practicing law for over 30 years and is included in the Marquis Who’s Who in American Law. A former law editor, he previously taught law and international politics and is the author of “We Didn’t Pass Through the Golden Door.” He frequently writes and speaks on immigration and other legal topics. He has received numerous awards in the U.S. and abroad, including several outstanding professional awards and Philippine Presidential awards. For more information, you may log on to his website at www.seguritan.com or call (212) 695-5281.)

Written by admin on June 20th, 2009 with no comments.
Read more articles on Employment based visas.

Five Ways to Stop Deportation of Your Loved One

By AJAY CHOUDHARY

Many people think that if the government places them in deportation proceedings, there is no way they can avoid being deported. However, there are ways to stop deportation that many people do not know about.
One way a person in deportation proceedings can avoid deportation is by applying for cancellation of removal.

A person can apply for cancellation of removal and obtain permanent residence (a “green card”) if the person:
(1) has lived in the U.S. for ten years,
(2) has been a person of good moral character,
(3) has a spouse, parent, or child who is a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, and
(4) has a spouse, parent, or child who would suffer exceptional and extremely unusual hardship if the person is deported. 

A person can also apply for cancellation of removal and obtain permanent residence if the person
(1) has lived in the U.S. for three years,
(2) has been a person of good moral character,
(3) has been subjected to extreme cruelty by a spouse or parent who is a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, and
(4) the person’s deportation would cause extreme hardship to the person, his child, or his parent.

more than a 50% chance that the person would be persecuted in his native country because of his race, religion, nationality, membership in a social group, or political opinion.

A person can avoid deportation if he is granted adjustment of status (permanent residence) in his deportation proceedings.

One way a person who lawfully entered the U.S. can become eligible to apply for adjustment of status is if the person marries a U.S. citizen in good faith.

A person can also avoid deportation by applying to the Department of Homeland Security for deferred action on the ground that there are humanitarian reasons for why the person should not be deported. If a person is granted deferred action, he can obtain authorization to work in the United States.

If a person is placed in deportation proceedings, he should talk with an attorney about the ways he can avoid deportation.

Written by admin on June 17th, 2009 with no comments.
Read more articles on Deportation.

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