Suggestions from Beacon Readers
Over the past few weeks, readers have written in with a number of comments. We wanted to take a moment to address five of the most frequent suggestions.
1) Combine EAD and AP into one document and issue for 3 years.
USCIS is in the process of developing a combination work authorization (EAD) and Advance Parole (AP) card. An announcement regarding this combination card will be made later this year.
2) Allow people with approved immigrant petition to file an I-485.
The regulations at 8 C.F.R. 245.1(a) prohibit a beneficiary of an approved I-140 or I-130 petition from filing an I-485 until a visa number is available.
3) Do not count the dependents against visa numbers.
The requirement to count dependents against available visa numbers is statutory. This is not something that USCIS is able to change on its own; it would require new legislation to be enacted by Congress in order for this to happen.
4) Publish all the backlog data including that of district offices.
USCIS is currently developing an inventory spreadsheet, similar to the one for employment-based inventory, for family-based cases awaiting visa numbers. This spreadsheet would include information about the number of cases at field offices awaiting visa numbers.
5) Publish visa numbers that have been used to date in the current year.
Unfortunately, USCIS is not able to do this, because USCIS is not the only agency that uses visa numbers (the Department of State also uses visa numbers). Accordingly, publishing USCIS’s visa number usage would not be an accurate representation of the numbers used and the numbers remaining. To determine where you stand in the visa number queue, please review the Visa Bulletin.
posted by USCIS Blog Team @ 2:12 PM
166 Comments
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166 Comments:
USCIS Blog Team-
First of Big Thanks for Reading and putting efforts to address the issue raised.
Regarding the 8 C.F.R. 245.1(a)That was published in 2002 when there was no Backlog issue. Now the Backlog is Years of time. Why can't USCIS amend the CFR by publishing in the Federal REgister to Amend the Rule
If the I-140 is pending for more than 1 year and Petition holder is providing the EVL from the Job etc to apply for Change of Status.
That does not require Congressional or Legislation or Department of State Intervention. Why USCIS is not taking that step?
Thank you very much for planning to combine EAD and AP, this will be really helpful.
However, for legal immigrants who are from backlogged countries like India, the biggest question is - 'When Will I get my Green Card ?'. There has to be something that USCIS can do to reduce the backlog. Many years of my life have past living in the fear of losing my working status. Can't remember the last time I took any risk by investing in real estate, nurturing a business idea or even making a career move, all because of the strings attached with the GC process. Please understand the plight of legal immigrants, if you are not willing to give us a GC, please tell us so we can move on in life rather than this endless wait.
Regards.
Decision to combine EAD & AP is wonderful. After years, I really see that agency cares about applicant's issues.
Kudos!!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_of_Federal_Regulations
As per the Rules USCIS can change the Rule to work and make things better.
Why USCIS is stepping BACK?
Thank you very much for responding to our comments. I am very happy to hear that USCIS is considering combining EAD and AP document. This will save a lot of hassle for legal immigrants like me who have to keep extending EAD and AP year after year with no end in sight.
I have one more suggestion. Many legal immigrants who started working for an employer, are finding themselves in a situation where they cannot move up the career ladder within the company,easily, because of the onerous AC21 restrictions. The typical wait for an EB2 immigrant from India/China is 5-6 years and a lot of things are happening in a person's career during this long wait. If USCIS can simplify the rules for the AC21 process, whenever a candidate has to change jobs within or outside of a company, then it will go a long way towards legal immigrant's career.
Hi Blog Team,
This is great news. Now we do believe that you are actually listening to us :)
For backlogged countries the GC is taking years together and some times more than 10 years.
It is just not correct on the part of USCIS asking the guy to be in the same job (or a job with similar responsibilities) for 10 years. It is affecting our career and also the US economy indirectly.
Is it possible for USCIS to remove this restriction from AC21, or at least limit it just to job in the same field (for example IT) and do not bother with the job responsibilities, so that we can take the promotion that comes our way?
USCIS Policy review:
The whole immigration process needs to be revamped as it has lot of outdated processes in place. The Policy should be reviewed to reduce the duplication of work at various stages and remove the unnecessary red tape that does not help either the immigrants or the enforcement agencies. I have following suggestions and the whole policy should be looked from the following angle:
1. Link H1B Approval and PERM certification:
Both the processes have similar purpose in place. The H1B worker or the immigrant Visa (Green Card) seeker should not displace any job which can be done by an American citizen. These two processes have lot of duplicate processes in place which the USCIS has to process two times. Today most of the immigrant visa holders come from H1B visa pool, so USCIS can revisit both these processes and eliminate the deltas so that the PERM certification can be exempted for most of the H1B visa holders who have already undergone similar process.
This would avoid following duplication of work.
• Advertisement by Employer
• USCIS verification.
• Attorney services
• Lot of paperwork
2. I-140 Approval:
The I-140 Approval process verifies the employer credentials and employer’s ability to pay. Though the process is for verification of the employer the I-140 application process is done for each beneficiary. Big companies like Microsoft and Oracle who files for hundreds of immigrant visas have to duplicate the efforts for each beneficiary. There is a lot of scope for avoiding the duplication of work by revisiting the whole process. The I-140 approval should be done once a year for a company and it can be revalidated every Quarter after getting the copy of quarterly results.
3. Adjustment Of Status:
This process consists of following sub processes which might be outdated or not relevant with the changing face of immigration. The following sub processes as a part of AOS process made sense in older times when the green card process use to start for most of the employees when they were overseas and process was very fast. After introduction of the H1B visa program most of the immigrant visa seekers are already in US and applying the visa from US. So following sub processes should be revisited.
• Finger Printing: As mentioned with the changing face of immigration these processes does not do the kind of value addition they were supposed to do when they were introduced. Today everyone coming to US is finger printed at the consulate and at the point of entry. The information is already with USCIS, so USCIS can eliminate this process just by leveraging the available information. Or exempting the immigrants whose information is already there.
• Medical Reports: This process makes sense if the medical exam is made compulsory while admitting the employee in US on a long term non-immigrant visa like H1B. But when the immigrants are already staying in this country for more than 1 year, I do not see any risk in exempting them from medical examination. This process should be moved in front and tide together with H1B approval.
• Issuance of EAD Cards:
In today’s process the EAD cards are issued after filing AOS application. At this time the spouse of the beneficiary can start working legally. Most of the immigrant community in employment based visa is highly educated workers and their spouses are also very likely highly educated. The H1B workers are already earning very good salaries and USCIS makes sure that they are paid the prevailing wages. By giving EAD to the spouses at the approval of H1B/PERM the working immigrants might add significant amount to the federal and state taxes.
Any income earned by the spouse of the beneficiary will be added to the top of what the beneficiary already earns and this will result in very high effective income tax rate.
The working spouses tend to spend on many services like day care, vacationing, eating out, and transportation thus fueling the economy.
Thank you for considering our plight and giving such a good response.
Regarding your explanation for Point # 2 below:
2) Allow people with approved immigrant petition to file an I-485.
The regulations at 8 C.F.R. 245.1(a) prohibit a beneficiary of an approved I-140 or I-130 petition from filing an I-485 until a visa number is available.
We can understand the rule that exists right now which is preventing USCIS to allow anyone from filing I-485 unless visa# is available.
However, if you look at the backlog data from India/China, you can see that it is not possible to overcome it unless something is done. This is one of the ways to do it. If we can at least file for I-485, we will not be completely dependent on H1-B.
USCIS can always ask for a EVL or have the applicant submit it every year to validate the authenticity of I-485.
Just a thought.
USCIS Blog Team
Thanks for reading our suggestions.
Would like to bring one more issue to fore, if it has not already been done. H1-B Renewal Stamp within U.S.
This was possible prior to 2001. Can USCIS restart this again so people donot have to go back to home country or other country just to get the visa stamped. This will help a lot of current H1-B visa holders who are renewing their visas every 3 yrs.
Reduces the expense & uncertainty / delays associated with it. This I believe is not a fringe request as I believe they are a considerable number of people affected by it
Can USCIS give some importance to i485 Old Priority dates, before processing any the other cateogry with latter day Priority, For example I am EB3 India with Proirty date August 2002, we are waiting for long time, waiting and watching others get thier green cards and their Citizenship !?
USCIS - Thanks for posting the information. I think it will help many of us waiting in line. However what isn't helping people in my position is demand number are missing from your bulletins.
I am one of those people whom have not been able to file a I485, because my PD date is in 2008. Since we have not been able to file, we don't know what the demand is, nor can we make an educated guess to when we will be able to file.
Also a GC calculator will be handy on your site so people can see how long it's going to take based on your numbers.
Since USCIS can't change laws maybe you can create a new one to allow I140 holders the chance to file AP/EAD, Yellow Card. So our spouses and teenage children can get jobs. Personally my husband will not be able to work legally in 2 years when he has exhausted his Visa options. Why does it take 7 years to become a Green card holder?
We will become another family ripped apart because of this broken immigration system. How can you ask a 40 yr old man to sit at home to take care of children or return to his home country only to visit his family 3x a year?
USCIS needs to stand up and voice the concerns of legal immigrants, that's the point of this blog right? Voices of illegals are heard through marching and protesting. Do legal immigrants need to do the same to be heard?
Been here legal for 10 years and counting.
THANK YOU! SO GLAD TO SEE THE STEP IN THE POSITIVE DIRECTION TO ISSUE A COMBINED EAD/AP CARD VALID FOR 3 YEARS AT A TIME. PLEASE IMPLEMENT THE STEP ASAP. ALSO, PLEASE ADDRESS THE ISSUE OF BACKLOG. THANK YOU AND KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!
At least, can we have the dependents file for I-485 if the primary applicants I-485 has been pending if the dependent could not file with the primary applicant.
In case of many, the beneficiary got married after his/her I-485. As of today, the dependents of the beneficiary cannot file for their I-485 if their Priority Dates are not current. Can we have at least that regulation wherein a dependent can file I-485 without worrying about the priority dates if the primary applicants I-485 has been filed. That way thousands of dependents would be entitled to EAD & AP.
Recommendation 3:
Background: Independent Auditors' Report (http://www.dhs.gov/xoig/assets/mgmtrpts/OIG_10-59_Feb10.pdf ) mentions that pending cases includes I-485 records of ‘relief for deportation’. Immigrant community is worried that this error might have percolated into Allocating VISA to “‘relief for deportation’ from incorrect category.
Current status: Unknown to non-immigrant community.
Recommendation:
1. USCIS can initiate self Audit of last 2 years of Employment based approved applications.
2. USCIS can publish in their FAQ section that there were no VISA's from EB or other categories were assigned to Asylum cases.
Recommendation 4:
Background: USCIS published Employment pending inventory reports.
Recommendation:
In conjunction with Inventory report USCIS can publish Following reports which includes –Application receipt number, A number, Answer to - part -2 Application Type (As this will determine whether Application is Employment based or any other type), Nationality, Country of Chargeability, Category (EB1,2,3..),Priority date,
1. USCIS to publish monthly I485 application rejection report?
2. USCIS to publish monthly I485 application withdrawal report (due to PD porting to other categories or Employer withdrawal or any other reasons.)?
3. USCIS to publish monthly VISA return (unused) to DOS report, as per Operation of the Numerical Control Process all unused VISA’s need to be returned to DOS for re-issuance?
4. USCIS to publish monthly I485 VISA’s per category demand to DOS?
5. USICS to publish monthly VISA received from DOS but Approval pending report?
Recommendation 5:
Background:
There were 13,472 VISA's were allocated to E4 category in FISCAL year 2009 as per report - http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/statistics/publications/lpr_fr_2009.pdf
There were 9,999 VISA's were allocated from E4 category in FISCAL Year 2009 as per report http://www.travel.state.gov/pdf/FY09AnnualReport_TableV.pdf
So there is GAP of 3473 VISA in EB4 category. Similarly Following is GAP for rest of the Categories,
Employment Preference DHS Published USCIS Published Difference
EB1 40924 40978 -54
EB2 45552 46034 -482
EB3 40398 39791 607
EB4 13472 9999 3473
EB5 3688 4218 -530
Total 144034 141020 3014
Now,
Our Findings for VISA allocation Due to Spillover from FB to EB,
1) Family Based VISA Used in 2007 = 194,900 so Employment VISA available for 2008 Should be 226,000-194900 + 14000 = 171100, But Actual was = 166511,
Question: Why there was Total Loss of 4589?
2) Family Based VISA Used in 2008 = 227,761 so Employment VISA available for 2009 should be 0 + 14000 = 140,000 - But actual Used = 141020 Total Gain = 1020 VISA's
3) Family Based VISA Used in 2009 = 211,859 So Employment VISA available for 2010 should be 226,000-211859 + 14000 = 154141; But DOS is publishing 149200, why there is Allocation GAP of 4941?
Question: Why there is Allocation GAP of 4941?
Overall Questions,
1. Could you get explanation from USCIS/DOS on why there is Discrepancy in data?
2. Could you get explanation on How USCIS/DOS plan to reconcile data with DOS and VICE versa?
3. Could you get explanation on why there is GAP in Spill-over data from DOS for Family category to Employment Category?
Suggestion: USCIS to implement tighter Control over VISA Demand/ Allocation Process and this control needs to be tested every Quarter in Complete and reconciled with DOS rather than Sample data.
Recommendation 1:
Background: System needs to be integrated for United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (hereafter referred as USCIS) to approve/process all the application based on Priority Date. This will require VISA demand to be sent to Department of State (hereafter referred as DOS).
Dependency: DOS is dependent upon USCIS for providing accurate data every month to move dates by VISA bulletin.
Technology requirement: USCIS Primary Application need to communicate in real-time/near real-time with IVAMS (Immigrant Visa Allocation Management System)
Current Status: KPMG audit (http://www.dhs.gov/xoig/assets/mgmtrpts/OIG_10-59_Feb10.pdf) recommendation mentioned on page 12/17 - 4. Track all pending applications within one system or in a series of systems that are integrated.
Question: What is the Implementation date for this recommendation?
Suggestion: USCIS should update FAQ section to reflect implementation date.
Cont.. page 2
Recommendation 2:
Background: CISOMB Annual Report Recommendation 2007-02 (http://www.uscis.gov/USCIS/Resources/Ombudsman%20Liaison/cisomb-2009-response.pdf): Pending Cases – “Provide a clearer picture of the current backlog by providing information on the number of pending cases by form type with receipts that are: (1) less than 90 days; (2) less than 180 days; (3) less than 1 year; (4) less than 2 years; (5) less than 3 years; (6) less than 4 years; and (7) greater than 4 years.”
USCIS response: on February 13, 2008 - upon the launch of USCIS’s new Web site, customers will be able to identify their place in the process as well as the total number of applications pending at that same point.
Current Status: Data on USCIS dashboard (http://dashboard.uscis.gov ) USCIS: National Processing Volumes and Trends) are 3-4 months old (As of April 10 data displayed as of jan10) and nowhere near real-time or near real time. From Raw Data customer is not able to indentify there place in process.
Suggestion:
1. USCIS needs to update their FAQ section to guide how users can identify their place in the process as well as the total number of applications pending at that same point?
2. National Trend Raw data should include unique case Number / Application with unique information for case.
For e.g.
a) For I-140 Application - When we download national Volume Raw data, we see Cumulative number only. - Raw data should be Multiple row/Column containing all the Field offices + Visa centers + Form I140 data such as, Application receipt number, Classification, Certification, Priority date, Consulate, A number, Country of nationality, Response to Processing information 1,
b) For I-485 Application - When we download national Volume Raw data, We see Cumulative number only - This Raw data should be include –Application receipt number, A number, Answer to - part -2 Application Type (As this will determine whether Application is Employment based or any other type), Nationality, Country of Chargeability, Category (EB1,2,3..),Priority date, VISA request to DOS Status (Sent, Received, Pending), I-485 Application Status (Approved, Pending)
3. Modification of My case Status to include “VISA request to DOS” between “Request for Evidence” & “Testing and Interview”
I really really wish USCIS can make an ammendment and let people with I-140 approved to be able to apply for EAD and AP. I have personally been in US for almost 10 yrs and paid my taxes, but I can't make career changes because I dont want to get into trouble with immigration laws and get my GC denied.
My lawyer and employer mess up with me in US on H1B visa and extensions.
I can't invest in a home or start a business because of visa restrictions. Atleast EAD and AP would help a free job change.
Is there a light at the end of the most difficult and a very very long tunnel. sometimes I feel if I am in a tunnel or just assuming to be in a tunnel??
God help us (I mean USCIS help me)
if 8 C.F.R. 245.1(a) is a feredal regulation and can be amended and is in the reach of USCIS then why can't USCIS look into the aspect of amendment of the same and let the people with approved immigrant petion I140 Apply for the I485. Which will help both parites. USCIS will generate income and also continue to generate income as part of on going application for AP and EAD applications each year or two. Also giving travel benifits to people.
Great to hear, but my concern is when will India EB3 move? Even if some one apply under EB3 category, it will take 20 years to get green card. Our next generation will be able to sponsor us. What a pathetic situation for some one to immigrate legally in this High Tech Country? Shame on USA.
I understand you are trying to address the issues in USCIS, but you have a say in Government. Unless you change the EB immigration process to address the demand and supply of EB green card application, it is not going to benefit 90% of your customers.
We are eagerly waiting to see the light from other side.
the combined EAD AP card is welcome news
it will save us EB immigrants some time and money
Thank you for thinking creatively!
The issue of waiting possibly 10 years or more for green card really needs a solution.
Its not practical for highly educated individuals with worldwide demand to wait 10 years in one job and not be able to pursue other opportunities and investments within the US
Not allowing people with approved immigrant petition to file an I-485 is like a dead career, not sure if one will stay in US or go back to our home country.
Why cant steps be taken for this simple issue to be addressed in Congress, who has to take the initiative
Combine EAD and AP into one document and issue for 3 years is a very good idea. at least we can save some money. USCIS should understand for family of four need to spend more than 2800 dollars per year.if you cannot assure the exact date to get green card, at least give us some financial foredoom. Really frustrated and don't know who will understand EB3 pain.
It would be very helpful if USCIS starts a service to pre-certify "same or similar" job. That way if an AOS applicant wants to change his job using AC21, he can use the service to get the new job pre-certified so that there is no uncertainty during the AOS process later on.
Thank you for responding to the non-immigrants waiting to adjust status. This blog has changed the opinion of a lot of people.
We will be eagerly waiting to receive the EAD+AP cards, and to read the comprehensive backlog report.
Please continue forward on this path of transparency and publish the visa usage by USCIS. Most of your readers interested in this data will be able to understand that it is not the complete picture and yet appreciate the data and effort.
With more data and information about your processes, you can ease a lot of the pain that we non-immigrants feel, as we wait in the endless queue.
Firstly a thank you for publishing a clear and concise statement addressing some of the most important questions asked.
The combined EAD/AP document seems to have been Work In Progress since 2007, so it good to hear that a conclusion is near.
I understand that some issues are beyond your purview.
Some, however are not.
You state:
4) Publish all the backlog data including that of district offices.
USCIS is currently developing an inventory spreadsheet, similar to the one for employment-based inventory, for FAMILY-BASED cases awaiting visa numbers. This spreadsheet would include information about the number of cases at field offices awaiting visa numbers.
but this completely ignores the EMPLOYMENT BASED cases at District Offices.
Anecdotally, these may have a significant effect on EB approval time, since they are not included in the currently published EB Inventory. I hope they will be included in your update.
Also, you state:
5) Publish visa numbers that have been used to date in the current year.
Unfortunately, USCIS is not able to do this, because USCIS is not the only agency that uses visa numbers (the Department of State also uses visa numbers). Accordingly, publishing USCIS’s visa number usage would not be an accurate representation of the numbers used and the numbers remaining. To determine where you stand in the visa number queue, please review the Visa Bulletin.
Frankly that is a little disingenuous.
USCIS processing of AOS represents 85-90% of the total Employment Based Visas issued each year.
This information would give an excellent indication of total Visa usage in this category. I think people are intelligent enough to realize it would not cover the totality of the situation.
Historically, it has been USCIS inability to process applications fast enough that has led to wasted Visas in the EB categories.
All stakeholders, including the applicants should have access to this important metric of USCIS efficiency.
A refusal to do so, on rather flimsy grounds, speaks of the old USCIS, continuing to withhold information or being economical with the truth, or redefining it, as has been the case of the true size of backlog numbers.
I hope you will seriously reconsider your answers to questions 4 & 5.
why cannot USCIS amend the 8 C.F.R. 245.1(a). Does it take a congressional legislation to amend? We the legal immigrants are rotting in line. My I-140 is approved for last two years and still not seeing any at end of the tunnel. USCIS and officials might think having AOS is a Privilege but it’s a survival for us. Thanks for your understanding.
Combining EAD and AP will be useful for both beneficiaries and USCIS.
Since backlog is not going to be resolved anytime soon, At least it would be helpful to count GC waiting time towards citizenship for those pre-adjudicated.
One word of 'Thanks" just would not justify for this good news. But that is all we got. So, Thanks.
Also please consider the pain of the people in EB3 backlog. We did everything right. Still we are waiting for more than 8 years.
My only request is please "waive" the labor certification for the EB3 to EB2 conversion. There are already some GC categories that are waived from labor certification.
We got our labor approved. We also got I140 approved. We have now more than 8 years of experience in our current job and we qualify for EB2 by all means.
I certainly hope there is no congressional law needed for the waiver of labor certification for EB3 to EB2 conversion for people waiting for more than 5 years.
We will appreciate your reply.
Thanks again.
Possible for USCIS to notify beneficiary upon pre-adjudication?
Why the USCIS has a Delay in Issuing receipts for I-485 form the Lockbox? It is taking more than 6 weeks these days. In the past, it took less than 10 days.
kudos to you sir for the response and considering our comments. we thank you for it.
As far as combining the EAD/AP card, please give more thought to this change before implementing it. Please remove the condition of same job or similar job clause along with this. Because of the backlogg people have been waiting for more than 5 years and hence please don't force this people to stick to same job. A lot of these employers have been sucking these employee's salary and please give them freedom from this slavery.
Once the appplicants find a breathing space with this, they will applaud you and your department for doing this first time in the history.
Also please
a) try to clear as much 485 backlogg as possible every year, so that this clogged system will be cleared in the next few years.
b) Make it a condition that every new applicant will have to wait atleast minimum period of 6 months before getting GC. Any new I140 approvals should go through same process
c) please please stop allowing porting I140's. This is creating a huge mess for USCIS in terms of tracking. so many EB3's are porting to EB2 with old EB3 PDs. This is unfair for people waiting in EB2 line.Any new applicants will have to go through a pre-registration line will help stop this problem.
c)Also please consider implementing spill over every quarter instead of at the end of the year.
this should help adjudicators spill more visas to other categories (EB1->EB2->EB3) every quarter.
Thanks a lot for being a customer facing agency. It is a major "focus" shift since I have been dealing with INS / USCIS over a decade now. It seems some of the top suggestions were reviewed and those within your jurisdiction are being acted upon. I am sure, USCIS can highlight major areas that require immediate attention from congress and other legislative body for appropriate changes. These changes will primarily streamline and remedy the unprecedented legal immigration queue.
First of all thanks for scanning through all the suggestions and comments. But you missed the big one that is most frequently asked and that is about backlog reduction through administration fix (letter written the Director Mayorka by Mr. Khattri.) Can USCIS can address this issue? Is UCSI is willing to work towards any means to reduce the backlog (other than approval of congress)? EB folks are really frustrated due to long long wait and uncertainty of getting green card. Other than getting GC, nothing will help much to hardly hit EB community.
One more thing, how much USCIS will charge for combined EAD/AP card for 3 years validity is very important to know. If you will charge anything more than $500 would make no sense. We have paid enough fees to USCIS and attorney and we are not willing to pay more.
Is it possible to do away with all these complexities and make everyone happy by simply giving permanent residency to anyone(and their immediate family) who can prove legal stay in this country for 10 years? I came to this country when I was 28 .. today I am nearing 40 and I am still waiting for my green card. I am in EB3 India (2005) backlog so I am not sure if I will get it in my lifetime (or even if it will make any difference) but in any case this maybe a suggestion worth considering. I know .. I know USCIS cannot do this alone without legislative changes but as they say if there is a will there is a way.
God Bless Everyone!
Thank you very much for planning to combine EAD & AP.
But I am hearing this from one year. Why not make that announcement fast. Because most people will need to renew their EAD & AP in June ,July and give three year expire date. In that you will not have any load for next three year and you can clear the backlogs.
Also EAD & AP, the expire date is not continued from previous year EAD expire date.so people will lost two or three months period. Why not they make like H1B renew type. Because if we renew H1B it will continue from previous H1B expire date.
Thank you for your efforts and providing an avenue for feedback.
You have the data supporting that the rules/policies for legal immigration have been outdated. For instance, EB3 Category specifically India and China. Applicants have been waiting for more than 5 years could qualify for EB2. Moreover, there are applicants with US Masters and have their applicants filed in EB3 category.Provisions for upgrading EB3 to EB2 needs to be evaluated.
Kindly provide the data and supporting facts to the legislative authority or people who can make the difference.
Visa Recapture could alleviate some of the backlog. We would like to see movement for Visa Recapture.
We appreciate your efforts and hope that data and supporting evidence you bring in will help make things better. THere are lot of applicants who have postponed major decisions such as buying house, making large investments, starting new business etc before the outcome of green card process. It will definitely help US economy to reduce the backlog process.
Thank you for working towards EAD/AP issue. Very much appreciated. Also understand the restrictive framework that you work with on other issues but a humble request is to at least gather important people within your agency and brainstorm ideas about reducing the backlog as it stands now. I am sure you can think of better ideas within the agency than us outsiders. I sincerely believe an hour or two of brainstorming from knowledgeable people within USCIS with a serious intention to solve the 485 backlog issue can certainly open other avenues.
Well, Lets USCIS begin publishing VISA usage every month. Rest we can deal separately.
Thanks for the idea of combine EAD and AP for three years!! We are in I485 pending for three years and every time we visit our family, we have to apply AP for $680 for me and my husband. We visit our parents who are 80s every year....plus the EAD renewal is same fanancial burden for us. According to the processing timeframe, if we are lucky, we might get our green card in 2012. We have been in this country for over 10 years. Both our I140 were approved as EB2.
Looks good. Hopefully the EAD+AP will come soon. It would be great if DOS can do a similar blog that cross references with some of the items mentioned here that DOS does and USCIS does not. This will benefit the entire community.
Lot of famiies are suffering because of EB Visa back log, requesting to do something which clears the backlog. We are tax payers like US citizens, we have the right to ask. Please do whatever USCIS can do within the admin fix. expecting to file I-485 as soon as possible. along with AP.
Why is USCIS waisting visa numbers year after year? We are waiting for our dates to be current for past 6 years, but how will the dates be current if USCIS is not clearing the backlog by waisting visa numbers?
Knowing that somebody is listening in to our desperate voices feels as good as drinking an iced coca cola after been walking in the desert for three hours.
I’m almost positive that the members of our congress have no idea about the injustice and abuse that has been committing to all of us EB3 China, India and Mexico.
We EB3’s have been wasting most of our productive adult life waiting in limbo for a green card for five plus years, instead of moving on with our lives and make our dreams come to a reality.
Plans like opening a new business, create much needed jobs, or accepting a better job offer, so we can contribute to the greatness of this country that we already love, despite the wait and discrimination. None of that is available to us.
Please remember that we are all well educated individuals, already paying taxes, willing to be even a greater part of the engine of this moving economy. Instead, we are stuck in a hole, and being told to be patient, and that we must wait for an immigration reform that is NEVER going to happen. This is a total none sense, we are not stealing any ones job because most of us have employment authorization cards. THIS IS TOTALLY UNFAIR. PLEASE DO NOT TIED US UP WITH THE 12 MILLION ILLEGALS IN THIS COUNTRY.
WHY WAIT FOR AN IMMIGRATION REFORM IN ORDER TO FIX THE EB3 BACKLOG??
WE NEED OUR VOICES TO BE HEARD BY THE MEMBERS OF OUR CONGRESS. A brainstorm of ideas how to do that, will be great.
Good luck to all.
I don't understand what is the issue with legal immigration. Countries like Canada, Australia, Western Europe have points based system and are benefiting from skilled migration. The would love to have the same demand as US is enhoying. Skilled immigrants are like an instant asset to US economy. The skilled immigrant is already educated, skilled and ready to work and produce for the economy. Given the fact of the ability of these legal immigrants to survive in US and hold jobs for 10 plus years on H1 visa before getting the Green Card you would have to appreciate and understand the true capabilities of those individuals. I don;t understand why US is not benefiting from those people....
Great news indeed. Some more good news like this and we'll all be singing USCIS praises for the rest of our lifetime. Thanks!
Thanks for your effort.
By keeping country quota is a racist behavior. If you claim to be non-racist please remove country limit on EB green card. EB green card must be based on merit not by country or color.
If you don't have power to remove country limit, please tell the person who has power. At least that much of power you should have.
hoping for more good news on a EB movement for India, China and Mexico.
Dear USCIS,
Thank you for listening to us and a Great job for EAD/AP , I am EB-3 May 2003 India still waiting.
I have no idea when will I receive Green card. I am here since 11 years anxiously waitingand maintaning status.
Please have some mercy on EB-3 India !!
God Bless America!!!
Thank you for the response. It's helpful to combine EAD,AP.
It doesn't help me at all at this point. I'm 1 month late for July,2007. I have been waiting 3 years and still see no light in the tunnel.
I'm actually hoping that I can get kicked out, that way I don't have to pay for the green card penalty if I leave the job.
I will go back to my homecountry soon since I'm so unwelcomed and blocked here after so many years of being a taxpayer and working hard.
if 8 C.F.R. 245.1(a) is a federal regulation and can be amended and is in the reach of USCIS then why can't USCIS look into the aspect of amendment of the same and let the people with approved immigrant petition I140 Apply for the I485. Which will help both parties. USCIS will generate income and also continue to generate income as part of on going application for AP and EAD applications each year or two. Also giving travel benefits to people.
Thanks so much for listening to our voices. I can feel the winds of hope in my face!
As a possible solution to the EB3 backlog, is to "waive" the labor certification for the EB3 to EB2 conversion. Most of us accumulate more than 5 years experience required to qualify as EB2.
We got our labor approved,we also got I140 approved as well as an I485 pending. We have now more than 10 years of experience in our current job and we qualify for EB2 by all means.
I certainly hope there is no congressional law needed for the waiver of labor certification for EB3 to EB2 conversion for people who has lived in the US for over 10 years legally.
PLEASE HELP US !!
Thank you again for listening to us.
How about creating a single line for all immigrant applications in a given category? In other words, remove the country-based quota system and impose a single quota on the total counts per year, regardless of country of citizenship. It would be simpler for everyone if the system were a simple first-in-first-out model. The USCIS already follows this model for non-immigrant visas such as the H, F, J categories. If the same is implemented for the green card, it would remove the uneven wait times and make it a truly equal-opportunity system.
HERE IS AN EASY AND SIMPLE AND EFFECTIVE SOLUTION FOR LEGAL IMMIGRATION AND ILLEGAL MIGRATION. ANYONE IN THE COUNTRY FOR TEN YEARS LEGALLY GETS PR [GREEN CARD] PROVIDED THEY ARE OTHERWISE ELIGIBLE.ILLEGAL MIGRANTS GETS A COMBINED WORK AND TRAVEL AUTHORIZATION CARD VALID FOR FIVE YEARS. AFTER THAT THEY LEAVE VOLUNTARILY OR ARE DEPORTED. HEAVY FINES ON EMPLOYERS WHO HIRES ANY INDIVIDUAL WITHOUT VALID AUTHORIZATION [WHICH CAN BE VERIFIED BY E-VERIFY]. USCIS DIRECTOR: PLEASE BRING THIS TO THE ATTENTION OF THE CIR COMMITTEE. AND NOT TO WORRY, THIS WILL INCREASE THE REVENUES FOR USCIS MANY FOLD. THE GC AND GUEST WORKER CARDS WILL CARRY A FEE, SO LOTS OF $$ FOR THE DEPARTMENT. US JOBS ASSURED!
Dear USCIS Director & Blog team members,
DEAR USICS DIRECTOR & BLOG TEAM MEMBERS,
FIRST OF ALL THANKS A MILLION FOR READING OUR OUT CRY AND REQUESTS..I AM IN INDIA,EB3 CATEGORY. WE STRONGLY BELEIVE THAT USA IS THE GREATEST NATION IN THIS ENTIRE UNIVERSE...GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!
PLEASE THINK ABOUT LEGAL IMMIGRANTS..SO MANY LEGAL IMMIGRANTS & THEIR DEPENDENTS ARE BADLY SUFFERING DUE TO THE EB3-INDIA BACKLOG AND 485 APPLICATION CONSTRAINTS. WE CANNOT BUY A HOUSE OR SEND OUR CHILDREN TO SCHOOL...PLEASE,PLEASE CONSIDER TO REDUCE THE EB3 BACKLOG...ALSO, PLEASE MOVE THE EB3 VISA DATES TO CURRENT JUST FOR 1 MONTH SO THAT FEW APPLICATIONS WHO MISSED JUNE/JULY 2007 FIASCO CAN FILE THEIR 485/EAD/AP. THIS IS GOOD FOR BOTH 485 APPLICANTS AND USCIS AS WELL. FUNDS FROM 485/EAD/AP FEES CAN ASSIST IN USCIS BUDGET.
THANKS!!
Even though this is a very good news, we the EB3 applicants waiting for more than 8 years are disappointed since there is no mention about many of our requests. Please, please, please answer to the following questions:
1) Can USCIS "waive" the labor certification process for EB3 to EB2 conversion? If USCIS cannot do that who has the power to do that. Please also note that some of the EB categories are exempted from labor certification process.
2) Can USCIS do something so the people in EB3 backlog can get their GC in atleast two years?
We will be greatful if you provide answers to these questions.
A request to fellow posters:
1) USCIS cannot remove country quota
2) USCIS cannot recapture visa
3) USCIS cannot cange the law
USCIS said this many times before. Please do not spam this blog.
Please ask admin fixes to solve your problems.
USCIS can change the following for sure by AMENDMENT in the FEDERAL REGISTER.
"Allow people with approved immigrant petition to file an I-485.
The regulations at 8 C.F.R. 245.1(a) prohibit a beneficiary of an approved I-140 or I-130 petition from filing an I-485 until a visa number is available."
If USCIS can issue EAD to person who has an approved I-140, than it does not affect any congressional regulations on visa numbers or limitation on filing I-485 only after visa number is available. Having EAD will help us and our spouse with job flexibility and will give some relief to all while waiting for visa numbers.
In this economy all employers who need skilled workers are just scared of filing for H-1B visa. It is really hard to maintain the H-1B for so long. I have H-1B since 8+ years and I am not sure how long I will be able to hold on to it. Really tired of this slavery, let us know if there is not going to be any change in our situation than we can just go back to our home country or move to other immigrant friendly country.
Finally, Somebody at USCIS is listening to people.
Combining EAD and AP is a great step BUT HOW COME CUSTOMER SERVICE IS NOT NUMBER ONE TO FIX.
please address the customer service especially the #800, Service centers, and local office.
Separate the 800# to 3 numbers for the service center (nvc, vsc, tsc).
Thumbs up, heading in the right direction. Good job keep it up.
Can someone help? My company applied for my I-485 in 2002 for me and my family. We all received our permananent residency in 2004 except for my son. We have been waiting for the approval for all these years. My wife, my daughter and myself have become citizens and applied for his I-485 as immediate family member and his I-130 has been approved and we are still waiting for his Permanant residence approval. Is there anything I can do? He is now 20 and would like to have the approval beore he turns 21
Is good to know that someone is listening. If uscis can make adjustment so that people with approved I-130 or I-40 can adjust their status, that will be one of the biggest achievement of the year. On the other hand, since uscis is the mediator between the congress and the public, they can present our cases to the congress. We know you can do it.Please help us !
I applied for a fiance k1 visa 10 months ago. latest message from you was give us 60 more days.
Now i am a US born citizen that has traced my anscesters back to early 1800's. I worked hard to help build this country to what is is today. I have paid taxes for 40 yrs and never asked one thing from my country but to approve this petition.
Just read that you have 25000 petitions for haitians. Sure you help them which is good, but you cannot find time to process my papers and I help to pay the bills you make. I am tired of being treated like dirt by my gov. Let the ones you care for pay your salaries. I'm tired of doing it.
To the person who applied for the K1 Visa. I have news for you. I can trace my roots in the United states since the 1600's, my grandfather thought Canada would be a great place to live.
I am second generation Canadian and have been in this country for 10 years rotting in line like the rest of the foreigners. USCIS doesn't give preference to anyone. Apparently they aren't really paying attention to the pain and suffering the laws have created for Legal folks, and as you can read they aren't changing them anytime soon.
Please give EAD to approved I140 applicants - Stop the slavery !
When there is a will there is a way - 8 C.F.R. 245.1(a) can not stop you from helping us.
I really like the idea someone posted - H1B stamping while already in US...If it can be resumed it will go a LOOOOOOOOOOONG way!
to USCIS Blog Team - Please present all these suggestions to congressmen and senators on our behalf. We will be obliged!
Please don't hold on to I-140 for years without making a decision while your website says 4 months processing times.
Dear USCIS Director,
Sir, it is apparent you are doing your best to reach out to people like us and this beacon blog is sure example.
Dependent spouses of F1 and H1B visas are legally permitted into the country but by not not permitting them to study or work while they are here creates an idle and mental block restricting self development and creativity. I have a bachelor's degree and had a good career before I joined my husband here. I was actively involved and could have made great contributions to the community here too. But with no ID, own income or driving license, life is difficult. Everyone loves America and I do too. Unfortunately I didn't think at that time that by making a choice to be with family and as dependent I would have to sacrifice seven years of my life doing nothing and become outdated.
My plea Sir, even if you do not want to grant green cards or citizenship, at least allow us dependents the freedom to work or study temporarily while we reside here.
Thanks for this opportunity to express our concerns.
Sincerely,
Stephanie
Combining EAD & AP is a welcome change and will greatly benefit the applicant with I-485 pending. Also issuing with 3 year validity helps very much. Would be better if allow to renew 6 months prior to the current authorization expiry, since if the approval gets delayed, caused lots of unnecessary burden on the applicant.
What is the deal with the notice of action receipt from some lock boxes. Why it takes long time?
Sir,
Thanks for providing this opportunity to express our view.
Is there any proposal from USCIS to remove the I140, I485 concurrent filing ? This is the major reason for July 2007 flood of applications.
Please respond.
Regards
Hello Guys.
I am surprised to hear that USCIS will combine the EAD & AP together in one card to help the future Green Card holders to avoid the each year red tape. Honestly, I think is a good idea, but no one knows how will work. Will we have to pay for both or just for one? What will be the cost? However, if I recall correctly, in 2007 USCIS was talking that they will start to give EAD's for 2 years, never saw that coming throught as a real thing. Or was that an another " fried duck"? Also, I got to tell you that some people from Mesquite office do not know to read proper English and don't know how to do their job. I had my case for my new EAD tossed from TX to VT, and back from VT to TX where I mailled initially to be processed, it took a month and half to have that sorted out among those two offices who is going to process. Shame, shame & again shame to those people from Mesquite office for doing not a good job.
It is an excellent idea, whose time is ripe; to issue a combined EAD/AP card valid for 3 years. Please start issuing these cards ASAP and please issue them to everyone with approved petitions. And, please approve all petitions in 6 months or less. In this day and age, it should not take any longer. Thank you!
Thanks for publishing the I-485 Inventory. I understand that USCIS does not control issuing visa numbers...However USCIS should own a little responsibility on behalf of these cases and ask the State Department to publish a similar info. At the end of the day, both of them belong to the same government.
I think now is a high time when the Government should consider lifting the per country limit...atleast for the employment based categories. This rule is going to hurt to the US. Because of this limit, a person from any part of the world except India/China/Phillipines/Mexico, with their local undergrad degree ...which in most cases may or may not have any credintials...can get Green Card withing 6-8 months whereas people from India/China having higher degrees as well as degrees earned in the US have to wait anywhere between 4-8 years to get their Green Card. Why will they come and spend their dollars to get higher education in the US. I think USCIS being the most involved department in this issue should take this up with the Government.
How about to the hundreds of India fake degrees and fake job experiences and fraud commited by the Desi consulting companies. With the per country limit the rest of the world is protected from the Indian scams. If you are genuine and US educated then yes, please go in front of me inline. I guess it is USCIS at fault because some people are not given the correct priority other the others
The Immigration community needs to give some of these suggestions regarding Visas to the State Department who has a lot to do about the number of Visas available for us. They will then lobby congres for the respective changes, incremental or wholesome. Lets email and canvass on their Blog for change.
It would also be constructive for Managers of this Blog to share these comments with the State Department or this blog be made accessible to them since the Immigration matter directly involves both USCIS and STATE DEPT; just an idea.
Who will answer for this for more than 8 hours Mumbai US consulate website was showing the below as cut off dates for June 2010. We need an asnwer for this as tax payers in the USA. Please see below are you playing with people's life??
The following was the info appeared for at least 8 hours in the Mumbai consulate website. Can we do something legally for this. But now they changed it. Please advise. You should make all current at least for a month now.
http://mumbai.usconsulate.gov/cut_off_dates.html
Immigrant Visas
Cut-Off Dates for Immigrant Visas
We are pleased to announce the June 2010 cut-off dates for immigrant visas for individuals born in India and those born in most other countries.
To qualify for an appointment, an applicant's priority date (the date that the petition was filed) must fall before the cut-off date for the appropriate category.
The following numbers are derived from the Department of State's Visa Bulletin. If you have additional questions about cut-off dates and your case is being processed at the U.S. Consulate General in Mumbai, please e-mail us or call us at +91-22-2363-7407 between 2 and 4 p.m. IST.
Category India Most Other Countries
F1 8 November 2004 8 November 2004
FX 1 December 2006 1 December 2006
F2A 1 January 2008 1 January 2008
F2B 15 November 2002 15 November 2002
F3 22 June 2001 22 June 2001
F4 1 September 2000 1 September 2000
E1 Current Current
E2 Current Current
E3 22 June 2003 22 June 2003
EW 1 June 2001 1 June 2001
E4 Current Current
E4-Religious Current Current
Hi,
Pls allow people with approved I-140 to file EAD, this way you will help many people who are waiting in this endless line of Green Card wait.
I was really excited when I read EB 2 was current for Indians. I have been waiting for it from 3 years. But again it was a disappointment, i have contacted my lawyer. We will evaluate what can be done legally about this kind of actions from USCIS/DOS.
This issue is not going to be resolved by waiting and waiting for years and years to get the visa number. You can see the backlog in EB2, EB3 India. It will take 10 years or more at this rate.
I want USCIS to make some changes in their policy. Please issue EADs to people with approved I-140. This will help the families waiting for years while holding on to their H1/H4 visas. In my case i have been in USA since 10+ years, i have H-1B visa and my wife has H-4. My employer is not ready to maintain my H-1B now as he did help me for 6 years and also filed for my green card. Now the conditions are not good and they do not want to support me for long. I have approved I-140 since last 2.5 years. I have got job offers but no one wants to issue me a new H-1B visa or want to take care of my paperwork so i can keep my priority date.
I am in big trouble, as I have a mortgage to pay and my wife can not work (H4 visa) so there is no source of income. I can not even think of losing my house and car when forced to leave this country just because me and my wife do not have EAD.
There is no law which prohibits me and my wife from getting EAD when we have approved I-140. Just the interpretation of law is causing this trouble. Why we the immigrants are hated so much, we did not cause this mess in which the country is! We are not the cause the country has lost jobs than why are we being punished.
I-140 approval should come with EAD+AP attached with it. That will solve lot of problems. I don't see any law that stops government agencies from starting this.
One question, why the USCIS and DHS place immigrant already leagal on hold and profile them as Terrorist using sec 212 of INA. more than 8000 asylee and refgee has been place on hold under 212 (a)(3)(b). for how long they will be placed on that hold, this is not justice nor fair.
"I was really excited when I read EB 2 was current for Indians. I have been waiting for it from 3 years. But again it was a disappointment, i have contacted my lawyer. We will evaluate what can be done legally about this kind of actions from USCIS/DOS."
Exactly nothing...
From my understanding, that was a mistake on the website of one particular consulate. That's not the official Visa Bulletin. If you can't wait 1/2 day more for the official Visa Bulletin, your problem...
And the dates are for next month, anyway. If it were for this month, you may have had a point.
There really is no point about obsessing with the Visa Bulletin over half a month in advance. And while "looking for somebody to sue" is an American pastime, it won't get you anywhere. It just makes you look silly.
I have been in the US legally for 11 years, and now that my H1 is expiring, my employer refuses to sponsor my Green Card. So now what? I leave or get deported? You are working on a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants who have been here for 10 years simply because their whole lives are here. Then how come the same doesn't apply to legal immigrants? Why am I expected to give up everything and leave? Where is my path to citizenship?
This is regarding the typo on the US Consulate - Mumbai website mentioned above. I was fooled by this misprint as well, which was so conveniently removed without any acknowledgment of the havoc it played with the emotions of the thousands of people who have been waiting patiently for years. There wasn't so much as an apology or a notification of the edit that was eventually made. I think this should become a class action lawsuit.
PLEASE APPROVE ALL PETITIONS WITHIN 6 MONTHS, AND PLEASE ISSUE COMBINED EAD/TRAVEL CARD TO ALL APPROVED PETITIONS AND BENEFICIARIES. THANK YOU.
Please give EAD to approved I140 people ... Atleast that will help to some extent ... Me and my family are literally worried every SECOND because of this Modern Day Slavery !!!! PLEASE HELP US !!!!
If USCIS can do some Admin fix to allow folks from retrogressed countries and categories to apply for AoS (I-485) and the EAD/AP benefits, many people will get some relief.
Please advance the PDs just for the sake of filing AoS Papers and then PD can go back to the demand/supply level.
It is frustrating noone in this country cares for EB LEGAL immigrants who are BIG part of the US economy and helps US economy grow and compete with other countries in the World.
USCIS case status online is down and for that also they want to blame customers.
When your 1950 oudated system goes down and you have to keep it down for an extended period to fix it ...what do you do? Instead of putting an "Unavailable" message, you simply tell the Visa applcants rather blame them that they are being locked out due to over activity! This is not fair Mr.Mayorkas.
Dear EB2 and EB3 community:
Our only way to raise our voices in order to reduce the backlog, and stop this injustice is that, each one of us write a letter or email our congressman and or representative according to our zip code.
PLEASE!! Take a few minutes of your time to research who is your congressman and write a note explaining what is going on. I’m almost positive that the member of our congress have no idea of this injustice.
I know that there’s a good chance they won’t listen because we don’t have the right to vote… for now. But if we all do the same, I’m sure that it can make a difference.
Thanks:
Dear Sir,
With due respect, I would like to propose that if primary's I-485 is already filed, please let his/her minor dependents to submit the application. There are bunch of people whose whole family filed but application for minor child got rejected due to various reasons. Now the situation is that the person has to keep his/her H1B status live to keep the minor's H4 live. In case, the primary loses a job he/she has to find another H1B job within 10 days(which itself is a challenge in current economic situation) or just send the minor back to his/her country till the primary looks for a job. This jeopardizes the school, studies and causes a mental agony to the whole family. I have seen various rules and talks by the USCIS about family union but this rule is breaking the family. Please consider this as the top priority. I am sure there are lot of people who got affected by this issue during the 2007 fiasco due to attorney's mistakes of other reasons beyond one's control.
Thanks
THANKS! THANKS! THANKS! and THANK YOU for COMBINING EAD/AP for 3 years.What a relief!!!!!!!!.
Combine EAD and AP into one document and issue for 3 years.
Thanks for taking the suggestion positively.
But "later this year" timing is counterproductive. If you wait till later this year, all July VB filers would have renewed their EAD second time and they will not benefit at all!
Would you make it possible by replacing the "Just issued" cards with the new validity?
Combining EAD/AP that valid for three years is a great idea. I wish this will come through.
Is it within your realm to move applicants pending in EB3 category with more than 5years (or with US Masters)to EB2 category without filing for Labor and I140 again. Companies will be willing to pay higher porting fee to compensate for the filing fee of labor and I40. When the appliants filed their green card initially it used to take less than 4 years on average for EB3 and not much difference between those 2 categories. Now things have changed and this provision needs to be revisited. Companies will be willing to pay higher filing porting fee if they do not have go through the time/effort consuming process of Labor certification again.
Please consider EB3 to EB2 porting as this will help reduce the EB3 backlog. Something needs to be done to reduce this alarming EB3 backlog.
EAD and AP combination is greatest things you can do for legal immigrants from backlogged countries and i wish they increase that til 5 years so it helps everyone but 3 years aint bad
This country no one cares including law makers about legally who are waiting to get green card. But everyone talks about doing favor to illegals. This is really frustrating. Either give us soon or say, we won't give you green card, we can prepare our mind and leave this country.
USCIS leadership:
Can you please apply the spillover rule each quarter versus applying it at the end of Fiscal Year? This way people who already filed their AoS petitions and are Pre-adjudicated awaiting VISA numbers for final approval can get the GC earlier than waiting until the end of the Fiscal Year.
What's the point in keeping them waiting for 1st 9 months of the FY and then rush everything at the end of FY?
Many things can be done by USCIS administratively or by applying the FAIR interpretation of the law...everybody talks about helping the undocumented workers and provide them the path for Citizenship...but noone really cares for the Law abiding, TAX paying LEGAL immigrants in this country.
Can USCIS and DoL work together and use some VISA numbers from the Diversity Visa pool for FB/EB backlog reduction efforts??? Can this be suggested to the US lawmakers and see if this legislation can be passed in the US congress and give some kind of temp relief to FB/EB immigrants?
We have spent the most poductive years of our professional career in growing this economy and are contributing to this country in Positively , we are not burden on this Country neither we are stealign any Jobs from the Americans.In spite of our contributions we are being treated as 3rd grade citizens in this country.
PLEASE PROCESS ALL PETITIONS IN 6 MONTHS OR LESS, AND ISSUE EAD/TRAVEL CARD VALID FOR 3 YEARS, UNTIL AOS CAN BE FILED. THANK YOU
Are the administrators of this blog realizing that most of the comments posted here are coming from the EB category for India? I would like to know what the USCIS is doing to provide relief to EB-2 and -3 for India. 5 and 10 year wait times while being stuck in the same job at the same company are simply unacceptable.
Please allow the spouses of H1B, TN, or O-1 visa holders to work like the spouses of L-1 visa holders are allowed to. It is a matter of fairness that only makes sense.
The United States Declaration of Independence from Thomas Jefferson in 1776:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all
men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. ing their just powers from the consent of the governed"
Really? Just wondering if USCIS really believes in this.....
Thanks for the work done for EAD/AP combination.
Please also consider early file of 485 or instant approval of EAD/AP with 140. This can be done without congress approval, and would be VERY helpful for us waiting folks!
Combining AP and EAD in a single card with 3 year expiration will be a great idea if it actual comes thru. Spending thousands of dollars fro their renewal and related aggravation is horrendous in its current form.
OBAMA's AUNT Got her GREEN card for being ILLIGALLY IN THE USA today.
May 17th 2010
Washington (CNN) -- President Obama's aunt from Kenya can stay in the United States, a U.S. immigration judge has ruled, ending a six-year-plus legal battle over her status.
Judge Leonard Shapiro made the decision Friday, court officials said. Two government sources confirmed Monday that the ruling will give legal status to Zeituni Onyango, 57, allowing her to remain in the country.
Onyango's attorneys held a press conference on the matter Monday afternoon in Ohio.
Onyango, who is the half-sister of the president's late father, applied for political asylum in 2002 due to violence in her native Kenya. She was a legal resident of the United States at the time and had received a Social Security card a year earlier.
Onyango's asylum request was turned down in 2004. She appealed the rejection of her request twice but was denied each time and ordered to leave the country.
Onyango remained in the country illegally until April 2009 when Shapiro gave her permission to stay in the United States while he considered her case.
In February, Onyango arrived at an immigration court in a wheelchair and testified before the judge for more than two hours, her representative, Amy Cohn, told CNN at the time.
Two doctors, including her personal physician, also testified on her behalf. Onyango's medical condition was part of her legal defense against expulsion.
White House officials said during the appeals that Obama was staying out of the matter.
"The president believes that the case should run its ordinary course," an official said.
Onyango's immigration status came to light in the final days of the 2008 presidential race.
That's how We get screwd by Immigration Judges.
Staying in line for almost 10 years to get my Green Card and still not sure when I will get but for her was easy, Vey not humaine.
People,
We, those who are waiting for years to get Green Cards, FORGET IT. Today, 17th of May,2010, Obama's Aunt, got her green card for being illegal in the country. Where's the MY GREEN CARD FOR BEING legal?
Hello, please do everything possible to eliminate the visa backlog. Because of the ridiculously long waiting times for a green card in the EB3 category, it makes it extremely difficult to move on in my career because we are stuck working for the same employer for years. In the current situation, i feel like a dog, who has to stay loyal to the Mster (sponsoring company) or who gets layed off (ditched) by the company before even being able to apply for I-485, because the priority date doesn't become current. It is also unfair to the sponsoring company, who payed a lot of money to get the green card process started.
Thank you for reading and for the positive actions you will do in the future to end this mess!
Obama's Aunty got get green card - USCIS / DOS don't give any credit for the hardworking technically skilled EB applicants. Shame on this country for punishing EB applicants waiting legally in this country who are part of creamy layer in economic as well as knowledge. Please give some fair justice to the people who are waiting to get LPR under EB category.
Issue with on-line status message :
The on-line status message for my 485 shows "Document production or Oath Ceremony" but my visit to local visa office proved that the status message is in-correct and they indicated that this issue will be communicated service center for correction, but as of today the on-line status message for my case did not change and I still renew my EAD and AP documents.
Will this in-correct status message impact my case adjudication when my priority date becomes current.
I am in the country since 2000 legally. We are stuck in the EB3 black hole legally. We are waiting for 10 years legally. We pay our taxes legally. We pay Social security, Medicare legally. We pay for all the services (not taking goverment services) legally. We follow all the law legally.
Atlease since we follow the law, do something for the EB3 backlog, as a token of appreciation.
Give us the Green card. We do not want three year EAD/AP.
"Obama's Aunty got get green card - USCIS / DOS don't give any credit for the hardworking technically skilled EB applicants."
Geez. It was an asylum case that was re-opened.
Being educated (EB2 or EB3 people have a college degree) you guys should really be able to read...
Being frustrated over your own case doesn't excuse things.
"Atlease since we follow the law, do something for the EB3 backlog, as a token of appreciation."
How hard is it to understand that CIS can not change the laws???
Congress makes and changes laws in this country.
Call your Congressperson.
"Atlease since we follow the law, do something for the EB3 backlog, as a token of appreciation."
If USCIS schedule a high level meeting with an one point agenda of "Within our powers, How can we help the EB3 backlogged people so they can get their green card in a reasonable time frame", cannot USCIS comes up with one solution? At least one solution?
USCIS never had such a meeting and it will never have one.
Just wondering, how many meetings USCIS did last year for adding restrictions for H1B?
to USCIS:
On March 30th, there was a post by USCIS blog team that "USCIS is now reviewing the merits of allowing certain H-4 visa holders to work in the United States."
Can you give out more information on this? There are people out there who are in dilemma of whether to change status to F1 or not.
Also, there are lot of people out there who has I-140 approved and can't go further because of the backlog. It does not make any sense for their spouses to change status to F-1 when in reality, they want to immigrate to this country.
To USCIS -
Some on this blog have requested for combined EAD and AP to all approved I-140 candidates. Could you please respond on that? I understand USCIS can't change law. But internal regulations of USCIS can definitely be changed, right?
Hi,
Can you pls let us know what conclusion you have come regarding allowing people of h4 to work. Previosuly in your postings on this blog USCIS have mentioned that they are looking into that option.
Can you also address if you can allow people with approved I-140 to file for EAD and AP. Because of this economy it really becomes so get a job on H1 as the rules for H1b are changing day by day. Pls consider the situation.
I have lived here for 9 years: 4 as a student and 5 in H1B status, never missed a paycheck (taxes included) all these years even as a student. Only now has my employer accepted to file for a GC. With current retrogression, it will be another 5 years before I get the GC and another 5 before I become a citizen. So in total 19 years for me to become a voting citizen after being completely legal all these years! This is very unfair that only the illegal aliens are featuring in the talk for a "path to citizenship". I understand that the US allows me to live and work here as a privilege and I have no right to demand anything. But it is only fair that after paying taxes all these years, no criminal record and understanding and assimilating into the culture here (speaking good English included), that aliens like us be also given some consideration.
One good way of doing this could be if someone completes one full six year H1B term without any status violations or tax/criminal issues, they could be allowed to apply for AOS with the regular checks irrespective of country of origin.
Is this something even feasible? Kindly let me know.
SO GLAD TO SEE THE STEP IN THE POSITIVE DIRECTION TO ISSUE A COMBINED EAD/AP CARD VALID FOR 3 YEARS AT A TIME. PLEASE IMPLEMENT THE STEP ASAP. ALSO, PLEASE ADDRESS THE ISSUE OF BACKLOG. GREAT!
It would really our life less stressful if
1: we know our that our I-485 application is approved or not while we wait for visa number to become available
2: we can count the number of years we waited to get the greencard towards citizenship application
Mr. Mayorkas
Since that 2007 Fiasco, where hundred of thousands of I-485 employment based applications were filed giving fake hopes to all of us, even with my busy daily schedule is hard not to think and question, if this will ever really end.
This Long waiting period of time for green card adjudication makes me wonder if it was the right decision to move here and contribute to this society, I feel my life has been "on hold" for the last 7 years. There is no freedom for us the immigrants that have obeyed every single rule. WE have lived here for almost 7 years and have accumulated credits towards our social security benefits which we might never even see if we had to leave this country, decision that many people I personally know have taken and are now active members of other countrie's economies that have opened their arms to highly skilled professionals.
Would you be kind enough to propose any immediate solution to this issue?
Lawmakers have already admitted that the immigration system is totally broken and it needs to be fixed. It's all about how and when. This blog is for sharing our views on possible solutions (ideas). Let's keep doing that. I am sure USCIS is hearing us but I expect more frequent response from them on this blog. Thanks!
I am getting frustrated because most of the comments under each and every topics under this blog is regarding reduing EB3/EB2 backlog and people literally cried and got angry due to this problem that USCIS is not paying attention. I know USCIS can say that it is its responsibility, but honestly, is this fair stand of USCIS beaing EB folks are their customers. I was completely surprised when USCIS Director Mr. Meyorkas testified in fron of congress committee, he did not mention a single words about this huge and killing backlog issue for EB3 guys. Is this his ingnorance or just the neglecting stand?? Can't believe it. Hypocracy in democracy is worst thing in this world.
God bless America!
Great to hear from USCIS, this blog is really helpful to communicate with USCIS, thanks to all the efforts USCIS is doing to communicate with the public and making the processes more transparent. Also instead of a combined EAD/AP can it be a conditional green card valid for 5 years, probably also can charge an extra fee and provide this for cases that are pre adjudicated.
Once visa number is available make it a valid green card. That way we can also reach the citizenship queue faster.... Thank you again USCIS for all the great work.
What is a pre adjudicated case? How to get a case pre adjudicated?
Respected Authorities at USCIS,
I would like to appraise you of a particular area of United States Immigration law that has a huge potential of fraud and misrepresentation along with being unfairly biased in favor of the people who choose to abuse it. I am talking about the Employment-based first preference category EB1C. As you are already probably aware, the requirements for eligibility in that category is just a year of overseas managerial experience in a company that conducts business in both US and abroad. I am sure you will agree that compared to the fair and stringent requirements of EB1A and EB1B, this is a rather simple qualification to prove. Moreover it opens up avenues for fraud and misrepresentation particularly by overseas companies doing business in USA to unfairly take advantage of this simple requirement.
The following example illustrates the fallacy:
Person A (originally from India) has a US masters degree in a STEM field and works for a company in a managerial job that requires a Masters degree and a few years of experience. This person can only file in EB2 category which is badly backlogged.
Person B (originally from India) has a bachelors degree in a STEM field and works for a company in a job that requires a Bachelors degree and a few years of experience. This person can only file in EB3 category which is even more severely backlogged.
In contrast, Person C (originally from India) works as some manager (over a year) in an Indian software company that also conducts business in the USA. This person can file in EB1C and will get preference over Persons A & B. Please note that for Person C, educational qualifications are irrelevant as there is no such requirement and moreover they are determined by the employing company. So potentially a person with a high school diploma can qualify in that category, not to mention that the prospect of frauds opens up exponentially. Contrast this with EB1A (persons of exceptional ability) and EB1B (outstanding researchers). In terms of immigration preference, person C is considered at par with a Noble Prize worthy scholar (EB1A) or a renowned Researcher in a STEM field (EB1B). I am sure you are able to see the fallacy easily.
I would like to request you to kindly take up the matter with the appropriate authorities about this issue and restore some parity in the above categories. Ideally the EB1C category should be abolished or downgraded to a lower preference category.
Request your help with this,
Thanking you in anticipation.
Guys
I totally understand the frustation of all those people who at times have to watch their less qualified / below average counterparts get a GC in 6 to 7 months when the rest have to wait for a decade. For sure EB1C is being misused at times though not always.
But can you guarantee that the EB2 cases are all genuine?
How many of our friends in the software field have manipulated their resumes before applying for a Job?
People who have one year experience have shown 4-5 years when they have applied for jobs. Is that genunie?
I am sure most of the people (NOT ALL) who have vent out their frustation in this forum have manipulated their resume at some point or the other in their career. Most of them wont even qualiy for EB2 position. There are companies that also help us out by demanding a post graduate degree during PERM stage just to get us in to the EB2 zone when a basic graduate can do the job.
Didnt they all do this at the cost of others who are more elligible?
Its the same in the case of EB1C. There is a rule established and people are taking advantage of it.
Our frustation is not since someone else is doing wrong but its only because we are not able to do the same.
One is happy as long as he gets to reap the benefits of manipulation but cant bear seeing others getting benifitted.
Lets move on and concentrate on what needs to be done to improve our status rather than trying to bring someone down.
BTW... I am an EB3 candidate. So no hardfeelings on me pls
USCIS need to carefully and urgently look at the EB1C cases from companies with offshore outsourcing operations that are abusing the EB1C criteria.
First of all, I would like to thank USCIS for creating this blog.
I agree with the anonymous poster above regarding the fraud and misinterpretation of EB1C cases. In addition, EB1C category is being heavily abused that is causing a reduction in spill over of the visas to legitimate EB2 canditates that went to school in the US or that worked for over 5 years in the US.
Thank you for your time.
Dear USCIS,
We understand that we all are bound by the rules laid out the congress... but you can do the following ( without breaking the rules )to make life less horrible for present and future Employment Based Migrants...
Have all the US Embassys in India and China display current Green Card Wait times ( 10 -26 years for Skilled catagory )in BOLD letters so that people can make an informed decision and do not complain when their lives rot like many of us..
Use under utilized VISA numbers by rest of the world as a spill over to India / China etc in REAL TIME not at the end of the year.. Law does not stop you from doing this. If our understanding is incorrect, please explain and we will stop hoping for that..
" Similar Job " requirement under AC 21 was meant for small delays... NOT for 10 years etc... Come on.. even the White House administration changes every 4 years...!!! Please isuue a liberal guidance of " Similar job " for 485 waiters, who have waited one year after filing 485..
Regards and GOD blees you all
A life wasted
Please apply any spillovers to the heavily retrogressed categories first...do away with the vertical spillover etc. because Eb2 is a black hole right now and EB3 guys will have to endure another decade or so if this continues...i am not saying that you should apply everything to EB3..atleast bring both EB2 and EB3 to the same level..by now every EB3 guy who has been waiting for atleast 5 years is already Eb2 approvable....if you cannot do that atleast try to distribute the spillover equally among all the categories....
here is to hoping that you will make a fair and just decision for this year's spillover.
God bless America!
Please consider the total time of stay in USA to give immigration. The person lived here since 2000 but priority date is 2004 in EB3 born in INDIA will get immigration in 2014 (hopefully). Is there any life left after getting immigration. Just consider the situation.
I am a qualified dependent wife of a legal immigrant from India whose PD is Aug 2003. It is very unfortunate that although my husband came to this country in 1986 as a student and did his two Masters and working here since then,(except 1997)he is still on H1B! His employer could'nt file his GC under EB2, because the job did not require his Masters Degree.He can't even change his job because of his GC status. He don't want to take the risk of
"interfiling".
Is it my husband's fault or the system which screwed his future by restricting his freedom?
Is this is a land of opportunities... land of freedom...? Where is the justice?
Anyone listening...? God help US !
the three and ten year ban for those whose inadvertedly traveled under advance parole should be reviewed. with the waiting time so long from labor cert to adjustment of status, and the lack of public imformation at the time The Ban is Unfair!
EBIC - category Abuse
Dear Sir,
I would like to appraise you of a particular area of United States Immigration law that has a huge potential of fraud and misrepresentation along with being unfairly biased in favor of the people who choose to abuse it. I am talking about the Employment-based first preference category EB1C. As you are already probably aware, the requirements for eligibility in that category is just a year of overseas managerial experience in a company that conducts business in both US and abroad. I am sure you will agree that compared to the fair and stringent requirements of EB1A and EB1B, this is a rather simple qualification to prove. Moreover it opens up avenues for fraud and misrepresentation particularly by overseas companies doing business in USA to unfairly take advantage of this simple requirement.
The following example illustrates the fallacy:
Person A (originally from India) has a US masters degree in a STEM field and works for a company in a managerial job that requires a Masters degree and a few years of experience. This person can only file in EB2 category which is badly backlogged.
Person B (originally from India) has a bachelors degree in a STEM field and works for a company in a job that requires a Bachelors degree and a few years of experience. This person can only file in EB3 category which is even more severely backlogged.
In contrast, Person C (originally from India) works as some manager (over a year) in an Indian software company that also conducts business in the USA. This person can file in EB1C and will get preference over Persons A & B. Please note that for Person C, educational qualifications are irrelevant as there is no such requirement and moreover they are determined by the employing company. So potentially a person with a high school diploma can qualify in that category, not to mention that the prospect of frauds opens up exponentially. Contrast this with EB1A (persons of exceptional ability) and EB1B (outstanding researchers). In terms of immigration preference, person C is considered at par with a Noble Prize worthy scholar (EB1A) or a renowned Researcher in a STEM field (EB1B). I am sure you are able to see the fallacy easily.
I would like to request you to kindly take up the matter with the appropriate authorities about this issue and restore some parity in the above categories. Ideally the EB1C category should be abolished or downgraded to a lower preference category.
All the pending EB2s and EB1Cs from India need to be re-scrutinized and if required be pushed to EB3 queue as appropriate. Many people like me who have followed the rules continue to languish in EB3. Many of the so- called “advanced degree” people have gotten in there by virtue of working for body shops who are lax in following the rules and use GC as an incentive to make employees subservient. Priority in EB2 should be given to people who have obtained an advanced US university degree.
Thanks!!
My hopes are dieing day by day and my future in this country is fading away day by day due to uncertainty caused by not getting green card. I am already 37 currently waiting under EB3 category of India. My Priority date is Feb-2004. Looking at the current backlog and country wide cap, I probably will not get my GC atleast for next 15-20 years. I guess I will get my GC at the age of 60. My heart just lost a bit. What will I do after getting my GC at the age of 60? By the way I am senior engineer working in hi-tech field in a top Semiconductor industry and having my MS degree from US. I am confused that should I wait for GC or better I should start exploring other options outside this country?
Can someone who arrived from Haiti after January 12 2010 apply for TPS?
Guys,
Canada came up with a good immigration policy...Life in Canada is same as it is in US...Time has come to explore other options...
Kudos!!! to USCIS for the current scrutiny on H1-Bs. This has lead to lot of clean up of the system to ensure that only genuine firms are using it. Some suggestions—
1. Ensure existence of contract / work order from clients before H1 is approved for IT service providers / outsourcing companies. Usually these firms process H1 without actual work orders in hand or do pure staff supplementation.
2. Priority on H1 visas to be provided only to firms who are direct end users of these visas with proper justification
3. Expedite approval process for H1 extensions were the user is already in the US and is continuing with the same firm
4. Increase focus on new H1s and bring in a requirement of minimum year of experience to qualify as a specialized worker. For. E.g. Mandate minimum of 6-7 years of experience in the respective field to qualify as a specialized worker. Usually firms apply H1s for people with just 1-2 years of experience who won’t qualify as specialized workers (these people are just shipped in for labor arbitrage)
USCIS wants to know our opinion on the fee increase. We thank USCIS for asking our opinion, but at this point after spending 10 years in this country as a legal immigrant, I really believe that USCIS could have done much more for their customers for the amount of money they have been paying USCIS. I have spent thousands (20K plus to be specific) of dollars between lawyers and USCIS fees to maintain my legal status and today I am still struggling to keep up with the ever changing laws of USCIS.
What good a fee increase is going to do for me? USCIS is not able to keep up with the cost than think about us how we are struggling to keep up with the laws and regulations imposed by USCIS.
I have been waiting for my Priority Date since over two years (March 1 2008- EB-2 India), this is my second attempt; I lost my PD when I changed company in 2007 due to work related issues. I could have been a permanent resident by now but due to the laws of AC21 I lost that chance. Now here I am again battling the same problem of maintaining H-1B while waiting for PD.
When we asked a question that why can’t USCIS issue EADs to people with approved I-140, the answer was “USCIS only follows the law we do not make the laws”. This is not correct, USCIS can always make adjustments in how they administer the law and they are the only one who can recommend changes to the flaws in current laws. Why USCIS do not need permission from congress when they want to increase the fees? I have seen many fee increases but I have not seen any improvement in your commitment to clear the backlog or making adjustments to the current laws regarding employment based green card process.
I oppose this fee increase. We need some changes and some answers to what is going to happen in EB categories for India and China.
I remember the application of spillover visas was done based on priority dates instead of category. But in recent years I see this has changed to based on category.
For example the spillover visas from worldwide in employment based categories are applied to EB2 first instead of EB3, which is much more retrogressed then EB2. Why is this unfair decision? This is not something decided by congress, it's purely unders USCIS control. Why can't this be done in a fair manner by providing the spillover visas to the cases with the oldest priority dates first (irrespective of category/country).
It is a shame that common sense is not applicable for green card approvals. A person who has spent 12 years in USA and contributing to this country is made to wait longer due to an EB3 category, but people who cheat the system via L1 visas are allowed green cards within 3 months and via EB2s are given within 5 years.
Scrutiny of H1Bs should be extended to L1 visas and related green card applicants and also to all EB2 applicants who have been applying with fake experiences just to avoid the backlog.
I hope USCIS does a final check before approving those green cards in those categories.
My heart sank when I noticed that EB3 India just moved by one month in July Via Bulletin ... what kind justice this is.
I have accumulated enough credits to be eligible for social security and still my priority date (OCT 2002) is no where in sight. This is very painful and some times unbearable.
Respected authorities at USCIS,
First I would like to commend you for all that you are doing about securing American jobs. Even though I am an immigrant myself, I can say with conviction that the employment based immigration system has been exploited to the hilt primarily by IT Consulting companies and that needs to be stopped. Further to my note to you a few days ago about introducing sweeping changes and if possible abolishing the EB1C category, I want to appraise you of another area which is now being heavily abused.
As you are aware, the current immigration law allows porting by an applicant from EB2 to EB1 actegory and EB3 to EB2 category if he/she has approved I-140 petitions (Petitions for Immigrant Worker) in both categories so that the earlier priority date is applied to the later case. As you can already see, this is a fallacy and a genuine avenue for fraud. Lets consider this example:
Person A (IT Consulting employee from India) has an approved I-140 petion in EB3 category. He has a priority date of May 2002. Subsequently, he makes an "arrangement" with a sister IT consulting company who then sponsors him under EB2 and he gets an approved PERM in May 2009. Thereafter while applying for I-140, he can port his old May 2002 priority date and all of a sudden he becomes an EB2 candidate with a May 2002 Priority Date and his status is "Current" which allows him to adjust his status to become a Permannet Resident. This is grossly unfair as he did not meet EB2 requirements as of May 2002, his original priority date.
Sir, I am sure you will agree that with visa date retrogression, this fallacy is leading to unfair practices and this needs to be stopped. My suggestion is to allow porting but not to retain the old priority date which in effect would mean, if a person changes categories, he should be at the back of the new queue.
Looking forward to you taking up this matter,
Thanking you in anticipation,
Sincerely
I have been reading lot of comments by other bloggers regarding misuse of EB-2 and EB-1.
I don't think we have any right to argue about it. If the application was approved in EB-1 or EB-2 than we cannot argue that the applicants or lawyers have misused the system. This type of allegations are baseless and shows that how opportunistic and self-centered are we as an immigrant community.
For few bad cases all shall not suffer. Have faith in the system and I am sure USCIS will help in clearing the backlog of EB-2 and EB-3 India, China.
Dear USCIS,
While it great news that EB2 dates have moved forward. Please do a close re-scrutiny during approval to verify if all the EB2 in pipeline are genuine and true...
Please start issuing 5 yr EAD/AP to the retrogrssed categories like EB-3 india/china and RoW...we are wasting our money each year on the renewal fees...in the old days it made sense to have EAD/AP renewal each year bcos the PDs were not retorgressed very badly, but now that EB-3 queue and EB-2 india/china is choked up USCIS leadership should come up with some kind of changes in the EAD/AP renewal process and help the EB community.
Please work with the members of US congress to address the Employment based legal immigration backlog. People are waiting in the queue with PDs ranging from 2001 to 2007. People from EB-3 (India,China,RoW ) and EB-2 (India/China) were not able to file their AoS paetitions since Aug 2007...as the PDs are retrogressed...and without PD becoming current we can not apply for AoS and the benefits like EAD/AP.
Instead of CIR, please work with US congress on some kind of piecemeal legislation or Admin fixes to reduce the Employment based backlogs.
Current system is so unfair especially for people born in mainland China and India. Even holding good qualifications/technical skills and US masters degrees people by means of their job requirements are rotting in this EB-3 queue.PLease do something ASAP to help EB-3 community.
Guys
I just got my new EAD and they gave it for 2 years from 2010 till 2012. So, they are working, but still slow. I think they realize that some moves should be done, otherwise is just not worth it to have it for a year.
USCIS should streamline / review the entire EB and H1 process for the benefit of this country’s future
• Most of the offshore IT outsourcing firms / body shops conduct sham interviews in the US to create a sense of artificial deficiency of qualified people in the local US locations
• There is an unwritten rule wherein these firms expect employees here to work at least 12 hr per day / (60-75) hrs per week with no overtime. They get away under the pretext of exempt employees. Anybody who asks this question during the interview is considered ‘un-recruitable’ by the unwritten HR guidelines of these firms
• They always prefer to bring in someone on H1-B who is totally in their control Vs recruiting someone here locally and are aware of employee rights.
• Towards end of 6 years they apply for GCs for few such employees and in-lieu take a written agreement from such employees that they will continue to serve the firm at least for 2 year after getting the GC. Else the employee needs to compensate the firm with a penalty as decided by the company if they choose to leave earlier.
While approving the new round of EBs now, please re-verify if these firms continue in the business post 2008- 2009 recession. Some of the have closed shop…or employees no longer work for these firms....
Dear Sir / Madam,
I saw your answer to the request to publish the visa numbers that have been used to date by USCIS.
I understand that Consular Posts also use visa numbers but if you can publish USCIS usage data we can request DOS to publish CP usage as well. Since USCIS uses majority of the numbers, USCIS usage information is more important to see.
My second request is about spillover visas going to EB2 India and China. I think this is extremely unfair. When applicants’ from two countries are getting all the excess visa's that are mainly coming out of EB2 worldwide category. These numbers should be used help EB3 worldwide category. For an example a country that has 50 visas in the back log has to wait until a country that has thousands in the backlog to clear. I think changing the interpretation of the law couple of years ago in this regard has put many applicants from around the world representing a diverse group of cultures and backgrounds has been held hostage.
In the minimum USCIS should split the spillover visas between EB2 India / China and EB3 worldwide.
I typically don't like to tell my story because I feel when I do I am admitting that the American Dream I believed in all these years is just a mirage. But after seeing what is in store for me next I just thought I have to.
In short I have lived in the US legally for over 16 years and have had my entire higher education in US Universities. I have a BA, Masters Degree and a CPA. I am more qualified than the manager I report to but, I have been doing the same job for the last 9 years. Most colleges with similar qualifications are making double my salary and advanced in their careers.
My marriage has reached the tail end and we are very close to a divorce. My wife has a successful career and did not want to move to the US and stay at home indefinitely. It is not that we did not try to get an H1B for her we tried the last few years, but it was impossible with having to file by April 1 and ask the company to wait till Oct to start working. We have yet to start a family after 5 years of marriage. We don’t know what our future holds. My only hope is someone will read my note and do something.
I love this country, I want to be a part of this society, and most importantly I don’t want to lose my hopes of achieving my American Dream.
Hi USCIS,
A suggestion from me would be Please move the cut off dates by 3 months instead of making current when the EB2 India's backlog is cleared.
The reason is as all the spill over visas are going to EB2 category there would be no spill over to EB3 category in near future.
Say we have 51000 EB2 people with PDs till July 2007, waiting for Visa numbers. Now say in 2 years the backlog of for EB2 is cleared, and when you move the cut off dates to current then all the people from Priority dates Aug 2007 till date will apply and then again the backlog will be huge. It would take another 3 years to clear that backlog. Meantime the EB3 will still be deep in the hole with out any movement and the difference between EB2 and EB3 will be in decades. This EB2 becomes current every 3 years abd exhaust all the spill overs everytime and will be a cycle all over, with nothing left for EB3 category.
So my humble suggestion is please coordinate with DOS to move cutoff dates by 3 months at a time rather than making them current and creating new backlogs for years.
This will help everyone in EB3
Any update on family based inventory spreadsheet??
To Director Mayorkas,
I am hearing from different sources that technically it is possible to recapture the wasted visa numbers through an administrative fix. Could you please initiate the admin fix?
Thanks.
Now a-days some optimistic people are thinking that when comprehensive immigration reform (CIR) is approved the legal immigrants stuck in backlog of EB categories will also benefit.
Let me tell you, Comprehensive Immigration Reform is a political football and it will be kicked around for years before any version of it ever takes any effect.
I have one question
Why legal immigrants have to wait for CIR? These so called reforms are for 11 Million plus illegal immigrants. If a whole country can take part in debates for illegal immigrants and also organize protest for immigration laws of Arizona than why there is not debate over legal immigration. Who is going to present our case?
I think the answer is USCIS. Legal immigrants shall be represented in congress by USCSI. We have been paying USCIS for our legal status and are following all guidelines.
It is really hard to stay legal. No one cares, I think whole nation is more worried about illegal immigrants and CIR is all about them so why not join them, at least illegal immigrants have a voice and President himself in sympathetic to them.
This never ending wait for change of status and H-1B visa regulations are not allowing us any freedom or peace of mind.
USCIS can clear the backlog. There are many ways suggested by blog readers and attorneys to clear the 100K plus of total EB backlog.
If not then make some modifications in rules and regulations to help people stuck is backlog. At least allow people with approved I-140 to apply for EAD. Allow H-4 visa holders to work.
I request USCIS to preset some form of action plan to address the backlog. Is there any way other than waiting for years and years to get our green cards?
Thank You
Here is an excerpt from one of your EAD customer's comments posted on a blog site regarding how USCIS treats its customers. It appears that the standard of service is getting lower and lower each day.
-----------------------------------
- They keep changing rules. (my two replies: first one saying less than 75 days; second one saying less than 90 days)
- They don't follow rules.
http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/uscis_response_to_cisomb_recommendation35_01_02_09.pdf
Here clearly said: SR will be accepted if pending more than 75 days.
And they didn't process application based on date. Many application in June have been approved, while lots of in April, May still pending.
What can we do if USCIS is working this way???
Allow 485 (AOS) filing as per below
Section 1255(a)(3) does not prohibit consecutive filing. Beyond this, the agency has already construed the term “immediately available” in 8 C.F.R. § 245.1(g)(1), which defines the term to mean that the immigrant's priority date for a visa number is current. An application to adjust status may be accepted for filing and processing if the applicant's place on the waiting list is earlier than the date shown in the State Department's Visa Bulletin. Id. For applicants with previously approved visa petitions, their place in the queue is apparent at the time of filing. It is not manifestly contrary to the statute for the agency to accept the applications of alien beneficiaries of special immigrant religious worker visas for filing and processing only when they have a visa in hand, thus making it obvious that the visa number is “immediately available.”
if we have 5 years experience in US, can we shift EB3 to EB2?
couple of months ao you talked about a 3 year combine EAD-AP comning ater this year...well its been a couple of months and we are already lte into the year...any update on when that is going to be introduced?
Its end of year still no news to combine EAD and AP into one document
Please allow the spouses of H1B, TN, or O-1 visa holders to work like the spouses of L-1 visa holders are allowed to. It is a matter of fairness that only makes sense.
What happened to the "announcement" on "Combine EAD and AP into one document and issue for 3 years."? It's 2011.
Thanks for listening to our suggestions in trying to simplify things where possible. More parts of our government need to follow your example. It is called public "service" for a reason. Thank you, SJ
Please allow the spouses of H1B, TN, or O-1 visa holders to work like the spouses of L-1 visa holders are allowed to. It is a matter of fairness that only makes sense.
One of the frustrating things for citizens is feeling ill informed during a process that affects every aspect of their lives. Putting processes in place to help people feel like more than just a number in a queue will improve perceptions about the Visa process.
This is August 2011 but do not see combined AP and EAD for 3 years yet. Please provide any update on this.
Thanks!
Alex
I have stopped thinking.if us does not care aboutlegal immigrants,than there are lot of opportunities in India and china.I am tired,frustrated with this country and its outdated immigration system
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