Visa Bulletin – March 2024

March Visa Bulletin for the FY 2024 was released few days. Here are key insights and updates to it with some predictions.

How to use Demand Data to calculate EB3 to EB2 Porting?

As per visa allocation each year under each category, USCIS/DOL should use 233 visas every month for EB2-India. Normally this should reduce demand by 233 every month. Since we are not seeing any reduction in demand data, it suggests that there are many individuals who are upgrading their case from EB3 to EB2. So what is the rate at which EB3 to EB2 porting is happening? Simple Calculations that could be used to estimate this is ...

EB3 to EB2 Porting with same employer: Not a good idea

These days it is been topic of the town for Indian nationals to port their priority date from EB3 to EB2 category. So far this totally makes sense. This could tremendously reduce the wait time for an individual to receive a green card. But an individual and his employer should be very careful while taking this step if they are planning to port the case with a same (current) employer. There are rumors that many employers are upgrading their employees’ petition from EB3 to EB2 category just to retain their employees.

I-485 Case Tracker for PDs 'Current'

We have released new I-485 case tracker for cases that are 'Current' today. Please use this tracker to enter details of your application and case status. Please fill in as much details as possible and edit the tracker as and when you will get more information on your application status. Use this tracker to see if PDs that has recently became current are getting approved

January 2012 I-485 Pending Inventory - EB Category Visa Use

USCIS released I-485 pending inventory upto 12 January 2012. Please note this inventory is only for Service Centers and Field Offices, and does not contain consular processing cases. Dependents are included. Here is a summary of the I-485 inventory when compared to October 2011 Inventory. This inventory is used to estimate the visa use during Q1 of FY 2012 and Projected Demand for FY 2012.Please note that one fallacy to using inventory to estimate demand is that it will not consider cases approved in less than 90 days.

EB Category Roll-Over and PWMB Demand: I-485 Receipt Data

We analyzed I-485 Approvals and Receipts for FY 2011 to estimate carry-over demand from FY 2011 in EB category. We also used this data in conjunction with USCIS I-485 Performance data and I-485 representative filings from June to September 2011 at trackitt to estimate People Who Missed the Boat (PWMB) demand for EB2-IC upto September 2011 that may start consuming visa numbers from FY 2012 annual allocation and/or spillover.

Prediction for EB2 Category for FY 2012

Here is the Prediction for EB2 Category cutoff date retrogression for Fiscal Year 2012. Basis for this prediction is simple calculations (see below) which is done based on available data i.e. PERM data published by DOL, I-485 Inventory data, latest trend on Trackitt for EB1 & EB2 cases and other published data by USCIS. Demand data for each dependent category is predicted and explained in calculations below. This data is further used to calculate spillover that would be available for EB2 category. Retrogression is estimated based on visa allotment available each year for each country and total spillover that is expected in FY 2012. In each case, Optimistic, Realistic and Worst-Case scenario is estimated.

Green Card Calculator - Employment Based

As per recent demand data released until September 01, 2011 on EB I-485 inventory, here is the 'Green Card' calculator for Employment- Based category that tells an individual how many I-485 applicants are there before them in the queue under their filed preference category. Beyond this, calculations are extended to predict how many years will it take an individual to receive a green card. In addition, you can put an assumption for a spillover that your category and country would receive every year and see how this changes the scenario.

What to do once Priority Date (PD) becomes current?

A very commonly asked question by fellow petitioners is the step by step process that they should follow after an individual’s Priority date will become current. Please read this article to check on next steps and required I-485 documents.

I-485 Primary & Secondary Evidence - Country Specific

Commonly asked question is what to do when primary evidence of birth, marriage, divorce etc is not available. Here is the country specific I-485 Required documents for (AOS) or (CP). Immigration officers or Adjudicators are asked to refer to the list below before making any decision on RFE or NOID in case primary evidence is not submitted or established. Please select your country from the drop-down list to see specific secondary evidence and documents.

EB2-India & China I-140 Demand (Yearly) based on DHS Released Report

DHS on 29th December 2011 released a Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman's recommendation to improve the quality in Extraordinary Ability and Other Employment based petition adjudication document. We used this data to deduce I-140 demand for EB2-India and China.

EB2-IC Movements FY 2012 - Mr. Oppenheim's thinking?

We looked into if there is any analytical correlation between movements that Mr. Oppenheim did last year for Family Based Category (F2A) and current movement that we saw with EB2-India and China for Employment Based Category. Is there any correlation or equation or factor that can determine how Mr. Oppenheim would think in absence of demand or visible demand in case number of filings that he is receiving or available adjudicated case cases are less? That is when we started digging into this.

AC21 Portability - FAQs and Sample Letters to USCIS

Some people suggests that sending letter to USCIS on job change after invoking AC-21 portability is not required. But this is a gray area, and no one knows it better if USCIS should be informed when individual would invoke an AC-21 portability to change job once applicant's I-485 is pending for more than 180 days with USCIS.

Understanding Section 245(k) to use it for Derivative applicants after Primary’s I-485 approval

Common question asked by many primary I-485 applicants who had previously filed I-485 Adjustment of Status (AOS) application, which is still pending with USCIS, is about adding their spouses or children (derivatives) to their pending I-485 application. At this point there is always a concern among the petitioner that their case will be approved before their derivatives application

July 2012 Visa Bulletin Predictions - EB Category

Here is the prediction for July 2012 Visa Bulletin. We should see following movements in each category as long as USCIS/DOL would use visa numbers as per statutory allocations.

EB2 India & China - What to expect in FY 2012?

Cut-Off Dates has reached PD 15th April 2007 for EB2-India and China for FY 2011 in September bulletin, now what can we expect for FY 2012?. We have some analysis to estimate movement in FY 2012. This is very rudimentary as of now and can change as FY 2012 will progress.

EB3 ROW-Mexico-Philippines - What to expect in FY 2012?

For FY 2012, EB3-ROW-M-P is expected to move together similar to the movement that was seen for FY 2011. Based on available I-485 inventory, last released demand data, and hidden demand (or Consular Processing demand) that was observed in FY 2011, total EB3-M-P demand until ....

How to know if old I-140 has been revoked by previous employer?

If an individual filing a green card under employment-based category has changed job and now planning to port priority date from previous filed Labor certification, he/she will at least need an approved I-140 from previous employer to recapture priority dates. This I-140 should not be revoked and still active.

Understanding Visa Bulletin Cut-Off Date Determination

The State Department (DOS) is responsible for the allocation of numerically limited immigrant visa numbers under the authority granted by section 203 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). These visa numbers are allocated based on congressionally mandated preferences that assign an overall total, limits for each category and per country limits within each category. Here is a quick Memo on the steps involved.

'Hard' vs 'Soft' LUD - How to use it to track your case status with USCIS?

If you heard people talking about keeping track of 'Soft' and 'Hard' LUDs on forums and other websites, and wondered what it is, now you can understand what is LUDs and how you can use them to track any activity on your petition that is pending with USCIS.

How to Obtain an Emergency Advance Parole (AP) Document?

If your current status is Adjustment of Status (AOS) Pending and you are currently working on EAD, it is very important that you renew your Advance Parole (AP) document in timely manner, well in advance. If an individual leaves a country under AOS pending status with their AP application pending or AP document due expire when they are traveling outside of country, they will abandon their status in United Status. Subsequently their I-485 application will be denied.

People Who Missed the Boat (PWMB) during July 2007

Question was asked in the comment section that how would applications with Priority date before July 2007 who could not file in July 2007 would affect EB2-IC movement for FY 2011. These people are commonly referred as "People Who Missed the Boat (PWMB)" by some people. We earlier thought that these numbers will small percentage of the whole group. But careful analysis of PERM data suggests that these numbers are significant when you will include primary + dependents (assuming a family would consume 2.5 visas) applications.

EB3 to EB2 Porting Calculations - Part III

We have a poll on EB3 to EB2 Porting which is up since last week of February 2011, and till-date we have received '445' votes. Results has been consistent through out the poll for the last two months. It suggests that the general trend or distribution of individuals with different PD that are porting has not changed from day to day regardless of number of votes received.We are convinced that this will be a general trend for rest of the current year regardless of porting numbers. Calculations are further extended to extrapolate real world numbers.

H1B FY 2012 CAP Count & Predictions

As per recent release by USCIS, regular cap has utilized till date 11,200 visas and Masters quota has utilized 7,900 visas as of 13th May 2011. It is interesting to see that H1B visa under Master Cap has utilized more than 35% of the quota. As of now number of petitions increased from last week is 1,600. Based on past months trend, regular cap can reach by 27th January 2012 and Masters Cap by 30 September 2011.

H1B FY 2012 : List of Disqualified Employers

H1B FY 2012 season will be here soon. It is advisable that the prospective aspirants for H1B FY 2012 should be aware of the debarred or disqualified employer for this season. Please make sure you do not become a bait to any of these employers for your H1B filing. These employers are willful violator employer and are black-listed.

PERM Processing Time Starts to Slump

DOL recently released current PERM processing times. It looks like fire-sale is almost over and PERM processing time will again start creeping towards 1-2 months wait or more in coming months. 5 days approval will be a history. Temporary Government shutdown is still not in effect and this will delay the processing time further when some decision about it will be made during April 8, 2011. The Senate votes to fund the federal government through April 8. But the stalemate over 2011 spending remains, and no one wants to pass another short-term stopgap. Is the stage now set for a government shutdown next month is yet to be known.

Document on Tax Exemption for OPT Students and Students on F1B visa

Document or proof stating that OPT students are not required to pay Social Security Taxes and Medicare tax. You can share this with your employer

What is H1B 'CAP Exempt' visa?

Most of the international students after graduation would focus their attention to find a job in corporate world. But it is always difficult to find an employer who will be ready to sponsor your H1B visa. If you are lucky, you may find an employer who is willing to sponsor your work visa, but could not do it because quota is not available at that time or if quota is open, is worried that he may have to wait until start of fiscal year in October before you could begin working for him. What are other options in such case? Well in this case, you can opt for working for organizations that are exempted from H1B visa regular cap quota.

Showing posts with label Port. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Port. Show all posts

Saturday, January 29, 2011

EB3 to EB2 Porting with same (current) employer: Not a good idea

Posted On Saturday, January 29, 2011 by Rav 6 comments

These days it is been topic of the town for Indian nationals to port their priority date from EB3 to EB2 category. So far this totally makes sense. This could tremendously reduce the wait time for an individual to receive a green card. If you are porting your case after attaining new job offer from a new employer that would qualify you into EB2 category, well then this should be very straight forward. But an individual and his employer should be very careful while taking this step if they are planning to port the case with a same (current) employer. There are rumors that many employers are upgrading their employees’ petition from EB3 to EB2 category just to retain their employees.

Why EB3 to EB2 Porting with same (current) employer is not a good idea?

To port case from EB3 to EB2 category with same (current) employer it is a common notion among immigration community that your new job description should be different and you should be able to prove that you have attained all your experience before joining current employer. New Job Description should be at least 50% different from previous EB3 job description in order to port case with the same (current) employer. It is also believed that any progressive experience attained with the same (current) employer could be counted towards new EB2 petition. Though this sounds perfect, but an individual opting for this route should consider following points that USCIS would consider before approving your case:

a) Whether new future job opening is legitimate and well documented internally in the company. Employer could be asked to provide evidence or proof supporting this. (example: an email trail from manager requesting addition of head count)

b) If an employee from a company is considered for this new EB2 level job, what would happen to future EB3 level job? Has employer posted an old EB3 level job again in the market? If earlier EB3 level job is not open, did employer falsify his need previously? Is it required for an employer to fill that position?

c) Was your promotion internal and you were considered for this new future job due to experience gained at EB3 qualified job? For example “Software Engineer” to “Project Manager”

d) Whether new job description is biased to gratify individual’s experience and qualifications. This would cause more audits at new PERM or I-140 level.

e) If an American citizen who would qualify for your job at EB3 level today, could he be qualified for your EB2 level job after attaining similar progressive experience. Does this call for testing market for your EB3 job level again in current time when unemployment is so high.

f) How many employees from same employer have recently been upgraded from EB3 to EB2? Does this call for auditing employer for all the recent approved cases.

So in all EB3 to EB2 Porting with same (current) employer could open whole new can of worms, and I would refrain myself from opting this route. If an employer is considering this as an option for number of his employees, he should be cautious as this could call for many audits in future and he could eventually be under scrutiny by USCIS and DOL. It is just a matter of time.


Thursday, April 30, 2009

Does your Form I-94 has an Incorrect Information?

Posted On Thursday, April 30, 2009 by Rav 2 comments

If you have an incorrect information on Form I-94 card or you have lost it, Please do not neglect this. Rather follow right procedure to amend it.

What If your Form I-94 has incorrect information on it?
If your Form I-94, Arrival-Departure Record, was issued by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) (at a port of entry) and it has an error, you should go to the nearest CBP Office with proof of entry or admission and the Form I-94, and request a new Form I-94. If the Form I-94 was issued by USCIS (at a local USCIS office or from a USCIS Service Center) and it has an error, you should go to a USCIS local office and request a new Form I-94. If the officer at the local office is not convinced that the Form I-94 was issued in error, the officer may advise you to file a Form I-102, Application for Replacement/Initial Non-immigrant Arrival Departure Document.

What If your Form I-94 has been lost, stolen, mutilated, or destroyed?
If your Form I-94 has been lost, stolen, mutilated, or destroyed, you will need to apply for a replacement Form I-94 by filing a Form I-102.


Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Filing Complaints with US Government regarding mistreatment at Port of Entry (POE)

Posted On Tuesday, April 07, 2009 by Rav 4 comments

While the US government and INS/USCIS provides services in a reasonable and fair way at Port of Entry majority of the times, there are times when an immigration officer is rude or abusive. The immigration officer at any US border, represent the very first face of the United States of America, to the incoming visitor. So the immigration officer should be very courteous and service oriented. We know that their job is to safeguard and prevent the entry of any unauthorized person to the country. However, this does not give them an authorization to be rude and arrogant and mistreat visitors. An International traveller visiting the United States has to go through many hassles, such as obtaining visa, purchasing ticket, long journeys across continents or borders, security checks etc. After passing through such ordeals, a warm welcome and courteous tone at Port of Entry would not be a high expectation. If that seems to be too much to ask of the Immigration officers then at least they don't have to go out of their way to be rude and arrogant.

The US government recognizes that sometimes its employees do not provide the kind of service required, and has instituted procedures for filing complaints. While many immigrants often hesitate to file such complaints, fearing that it could result in retaliation, they are necessary to keep the INS informed about the actions of its employees, so that it can properly discipline those who need it, and so that it can institute better training programs. In this case make sure to note down the name and badge number of the Immigration Officer at Port of Entry with the exact time and date you entered US.


Complaints against the INS/USCIS can be made in a number of ways. Those sent to the Justice Department Office of the Inspector General must be made in writing and sent to the following address:


Office of the Inspector General
US Department of Justice
Investigations Division
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Room 4706
Washington, DC
20530

The OIG is the Justice Department’s internal quality control branch.


Complaints may also be filed with the INS Office of Internal Audit. These complaints must also be sent by mail. Complaints will be kept confidential, unlike those made to the OIG. The address to which complaints should be sent is:


Director, Office of Internal Audit
US Immigration and Naturalization Service
425 I St., NW
Room 3260
Washington, DC
20536


Source


Monday, April 6, 2009

Denied Entry to H1B holders at Port of Entry (POE) - A Rumor

Posted On Monday, April 06, 2009 by Rav 6 comments

There is some concern among H1B holders these days about denied entry to US by Immigration Officer (IO) at Port of Entry (POE) after return from home country or abroad. Though, this may be true in particular cases as with every denied cases with USCIS, but if individual is working for a legitimate company with a valid job offer or employment , and have required paper work to show that he/she is currently employed in good standing with the company, then one should not worry. These reportings are definitely a rumor and have no published news to support them.

Recently two weeks back, I went to Canada for a conference and had no issues getting back to USA. Since I had heard of these rumors, I made sure to carry my latest pay stubs and employment verification letter from my employer. Coming back was as easy as getting out of USA.

Only thing that gets me worried every time I come back to USA is how much acquaintant an Immigration Officer (IO) at POE is of current rules and regulations? During my trip to Canada, I had I-797 from my current employer and valid H1B visa stamp from my past employer. When I handed over my visa and I-797 paperwork, Immigration Officer at Port of Entry was surprised to see two different employer's name on two furnished documents. IO just kept checking each of them for few minutes as if to understand that re-entry to USA with two different documents endorsing two different employer's name is an officially recognized rule. I did not bother to say anything until asked for. After ten minutes, paperwork was handed back to me and formalities for immigration clearance commenced. In the meantime, I made sure to eyeball his name tag for future reference incase things go wrong.

This is not the first time that I experienced this. Similar issue was experienced few years back when I was returning on my F1 visa with I-20 for transferred university. I had to convey it to IO that one need not re-stamp the F1 visa after university transfer, as long as my F1 visa is valid. My suggestion to everyone entering back to US at their respective POE is that they should make a note of Immigration officer’s name and badge number for future reference.