Tuesday, January 24, 2012

THE VISA BULLETIN IN THE MONTHS' AHEAD

The American Immigration Lawyers Association’s Business Committee Chairs met with the Department of State’s Charles Oppenheim last week. Based on the meeting, AILA predicts that EB-2 numbers will jump another six months when the March 2012 Visa Bulletin is published in mid-February. This jump of priority dates comes after several months of rapid progression of priority dates in the EB-2 category. The EB-2 progression will stop at that point until the summer. There was no prediction about the progression of EB-3 petitions.

Charles Oppenheim is the Department of State’s Chief of the Control and Reporting Division. He is the officer who is responsible for producing the Visa Bulletin each month. Both Mr. Oppenheim and the USCIS are surprised at how low the demand has been for employment-based green cards in 2011-12. Mr. Oppenheim says that about 10-15% of all employment-based green cards are Consular Processed and 85-90% are Adjustment of Status petitions.

There has been anecdotal evidence that there are many EB-3 to EB-2 upgrades, although the true impact on EB-3 priority dates is still unknown. The slow advancement of priority dates in early Fiscal Year 2011 was due in part by these upgrades. Mr. Oppenheim’s office does not clear an upgraded EB-3 number until the upgraded EB-2 petition is approved.

11 comments:

  1. Interesting news.

    Should they be surprised at the low number of petitions? News spreads so fast these days people are well aware of the long wait times.

    Throughout all the problems in the world with the economy Australia has been recruiting Nurse's they also give priority to Visa processing and you can be there in 6 months!!!!

    A big difference I'm sure your agree.

    How do you upgrade to EB-2 is this the degree thing?

    I'm still passionate about coming to US but ain't getting any younger so this year have been seriously considering other options.

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  2. @lanyu...will you please share with me how to apply in Australia and what are the basic requirements. Thanks a lot.

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    Replies
    1. Its pretty much the same as registering for any other country need to meet requirements of the nursing board

      http://www.nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au/

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  3. The Australian nursing board site is very confusing...No address where to send foreign application and no exact amount of fees to send...they need to totally revamp that site. Don't you agree? I'm sure they get complaints from people all over the world because their site is not user-friendly...

    Do you know where I should send the foreign nurse application(the exact address) and how much should I pay the nursing board(in Australian Dollars)?

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  4. I think the website is fine had no problems There is a section for international nurses the last page of the registration form has the fees and where to send it it even gives you an example.

    Which country are you from?

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  5. To Lanyu:

    Please post this form with payment to:
    AHPRA
    GPO Box 9958
    IN YOUR CAPITAL CITY
    You may contact the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation
    Agency on 1300 419 495 or you can lodge an enquiry at
    www.ahpra.gov.au

    Oh yeah, they updated the fee now on the form(but they left one blank, but I found it, 115 Australian dollars right? )

    I think you now understand what I mean regarding the address where to send the form with the payment...What does in your capital city mean? If i follow what they wrote, I think even the postmaster will be confused...NZ international nurse application form is clearer, with detailed instruction and no guessing games like the AU website.

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  6. Its a General post office (GPO) box address so it should get there via your capital City

    Have you got a job in AU and sponsorship? Which area you considering?

    Have you got a long wait for US EB3 we have 3 years at present but in reality could be longer as its not moving in realtime d:-(

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  7. I don't know if this is a dumb question Lanyu, but are these the only choices for the "IN YOUR CAPITAL CITY" with respect to their provinces/states ?

    Australia and
    Australian Capital Territory 1.) Canberra

    New South Wales 2.) Sydney

    Victoria 3.) Melbourne

    Queensland 4.) Brisbane

    Western Australia 5.) Perth

    South Australia 6.) Adelaide

    Tasmania 7.) Hobart

    Northern Territory 8.) Darwin


    Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Australian_capital_cities

    Nope, I'm still pondering on the possibility of applying for licensure at the AU Nursing Board. I have no idea where to apply (AU province), and I'm hoping to receive more feedback/experience from others...I think it should be where the demand/need is.

    Oh yes, hence our only hope for USA EB3 is a schedulea relief/visa release.

    I'm considering to apply in Australia, but I don't know how to proceed with the licensure process because of this concern on the form. Are you also from the Philippines Lanyu?

    Is there a competency assessment program for nurses in AU like in NZ for Philippine nurses? How long does the process typically take?

    I want to ask, is it worth mentioning that we have a US license? Will it have any bearing? Will it reduce or waive the CAP or is it just an added expense(verification costs US Dollars) that we don't need to have it verified?

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  8. My Capital city is London UK so that's where I would send the form via.

    I'm in the UK if you are in doubt you have no choice to ring them just to clarify I'm not at that stage yet.

    I wouldn't advise you to start the process though before you have been offered a job and your confident you education meets there standards. They do have a form to see if your eligible

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  9. To Lanyu:

    I see, but isn't it that when you send documents, what needs to be written is the address of the receiver, not you as the sender?

    Yeah, no choice but to contact them(could have been prevented if they only made their instructions clear).

    I eee, do you have the site for the form to check eligibility? Thanks.

    I think there is no problem with UK nurses gaining registration to AU because your health care system/education is similar, whereas Philippine health care system/education mimics that of USA.

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