Immigration Success Story: Employment-Based EB-2

Tags

EB-2, Green Card, Immigrant Visas, PERM

Employment-Based Green Card for Physical Therapist

We regularly help clients in petitioning for permanent resident status (“green card”) for their employees with specialized knowledge and advanced degrees. This month, we are highlighting the success story of a Doctor of Physical Therapy who was able to obtain a green card.

Previously, we worked to prepare H-1B petitions for him on behalf of his employer. We were very happy to learn that his employer, a highly successful sports organization, decided to petition for an employment-based green card for him so that he could stay on a permanent basis in the United States.

Upcoming Visa Bulletin Shows Updated Final Action Dates

Tags

EB-1, EB-2

The Department of State recently published their September 2016 Visa Bulletin. The publication shows final action dates for a handful of employment categories have been updated.

In August, the EB-1 final action date was January 1, 2010. In September, it is current.

DOS Announces Visa Retrogression for India and China EB-1 and Worldwide EB-2 until October 1, 2016

Tags

DOS, EB-1, EB-2

Due to continued high demand for immigrant visas, the U.S Department of State (DOS) announced cut-off dates for permanent residence applicants under the employment-based EB-1 category for India and China and all applicants in the second preference EB-2 category.

EB-1 Visas are primarily reserved for priority workers and historically remained current for all applicants throughout the year.  Meaning that these applicants did not have to wait for visa availability to apply for an immigrant visa.  Eligible individuals could file an adjustment without a backlog.  However, the high demand led DOS to establish a January 1, 2010, cut-off date for EB-1 applicants from India and China.

EB-2 and EB-3 Retrogressions for India and China

Tags

EB-2

The demand for the EB-2 employment-based category is also very high.  As a result of the ongoing high demand for visa numbers for EB-2 India and lack of access numbers from EB-2 worldwide which could have been used for India, the EB-2 India final action date retrogressed to October 1, 2004. The DOS expects that the EB-2 India cutoff date will advance slowly for the rest of the fiscal year, at a pace similar to the EB-3 advancement.

Similarly, the EB-2 and EB-3 employment-based for China final action cutoff date have retrogressed to January 1, 2010. The cutoff dates for EB-2 and EB-3 are expected to remain unchanged for the remainder of the fiscal year, therefore, applicants will have no incentive to downgrade from EB-2 to EB-3.