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The Department of State has just issued the August 2024 Visa Bulletin. This blog post analyzes this month's Visa Bulletin.
Visa Bulletin
Table A: Final
Action Dates -- Applications with these dates may be approved for their Green
Card (Permanent Residency card) or Immigrant Visa appointment.
Table B: Dates of Filing
The USCIS will use the Table A Final Action chart for I-485 employment-based filings. See: USCIS Visa Bulletin Dates
MU Law Analysis
There was small movement forward for India Categories EB-2 and EB-3 with priority dates moving forward nearly one month, but the remaining preference categories made no movement from July 2024.
The Visa
Bulletin noted again that demand and number use has remained high in the EB-3
visa category. Although retrogression was not necessary for August, it will
likely be necessary to either retrogress the final action date or make the
category “Unavailable” in September.
MU Law will be hosting a FREE webinar
for our clients and friends on Tuesday, July 30th, 2024 from 1:00-2:00 pm
Eastern (12:00-1:00 pm Central).
Join us for this FREE webinar
to learn more about:
PLEASE JOIN US!
The Department of State has
just issued the July
2024 Visa Bulletin. This blog post analyzes this month's Visa Bulletin.
Visa Bulletin
Table A: Final
Action Dates -- Applications with these dates may be approved for their Green
Card (Permanent Residency card) or Immigrant Visa appointment.
|
Employment- |
All Chargeability |
CHINA- |
INDIA |
MEXICO |
PHILIPPINES |
|
1st |
C |
01NOV22 |
01FEB22 |
C |
C |
|
2nd |
15MAR23 |
01MAR20 |
15JUN12 |
15MAR23 |
15MAR23 |
|
3rd |
01DEC21 |
01SEP20 |
22SEP12 |
01DEC21 |
01DEC21 |
Table B:
Dates of Filing
The USCIS will use the Table
A Final Action chart for I-485 employment-based filings. See: USCIS
Visa Bulletin Dates
MU Law Analysis
This Visa Bulletin
essentially means that there will not be any more employment-based immigrant
visas issued this fiscal year. The
August Visa Bulletin will likely retrogress or make unavailable all EB-3 dates.
On May 28, 2024, the USCIS Texas Service Center temporarily suspended the intake of all petitions, applications, and other benefit requests due to widespread and severe weather. This temporary closure has caused delays in the delivery of all immigration applications, petitions, or immigration requests sent to the USCIS Texas Service Center.
Courier services will
re-attempt delivery once the Texas Service Center re-opens, and petitioners and
applicants do not need to take further action. At this time, USCIS has not
announced when the Texas Service Center will re-open.
If a petition or application
has been returned to its sender, USCIS advises those petitioners and applicants
refile at their earliest convenience.
In critical situations,
petitioners or applicants affected by the intake disruption may request filing flexibilities, by
calling the USCIS Contact Center at 800-375-5283. USCIS can
consider relief on a case-by-case basis. If your case has been affected by the
Texas Service Center’s temporary closure, please reach out to your Musillo
Unkenholt legal team to determine what the best course of action is in your
case.
The Department of State has just issued the June 2024 Visa Bulletin. This blog post analyzes this month's Visa Bulletin.
Visa
Bulletin
Table
A: Final Action Dates
-- Applications with these dates may be approved for their Green Card
(Permanent Residency card) or Immigrant Visa appointment.
|
Employment-based |
All
Chargeability |
CHINA- |
INDIA |
MEXICO |
PHILIPPINES |
|
1st |
C |
01SEP22 |
01MAR21 |
C |
C |
|
2nd |
15JAN23 |
01FEB20 |
01APR12 |
15JAN23 |
15JAN23 |
|
3rd |
22NOV22 |
01SEP20 |
15AUG12 |
22NOV22 |
22NOV22 |
Table
B: Dates of Filing
The
USCIS will use the Table A Final Action chart for I-485 employment-based
filings. See: USCIS
Visa Bulletin Dates
MU
Law Analysis
All
dates mirrored the April and May 2024 Visa Bulletins in all relevant dates,
except for India EB-3 which advanced one week.
We continue to not expect any meaningful progression for the remainder
of the US fiscal year. The US fiscal year ends on September 30, 2024.
On April 04, 2024,
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a policy
alert announcing
official guidance in the USCIS
Policy Manual clarifying the
validity period of Form I-693, Report of Immigration Medical Examination and
Vaccination Record, also known as the medical exam. Generally, all green card
applicants are required to submit a valid medical exam to prove to the USCIS
that the applicant’s green card application cannot be denied for health-related
reasons. According to the USCIS, all medical examinations signed by a Civil
Surgeon on or after November 1, 2023, will remain valid indefinitely.
The welcomed
change in policy is due to technological advances in public health which allow civil
surgeons to share some of the applicant’s medical data directly with the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and local U.S. health departments. Subsequently,
a medical exam signed by a civil surgeon on or after Nov. 1, 2023, will never
expire. Prior to this change, all
properly completed medical exams were valid for only two years from the date of
the civil surgeon’s signature.
However, the USCIS reminds applicants, that even in
cases where an applicant’s medical exam is facially valid, USCIS officers do have
the authority to request a new or updated medical exam if the reviewing officer
has reason to believe the applicant’s medical condition has changed or if the reviewing
officer has reason to believe the medical exam does not accurately reflect the
applicant’s medical condition.
If
you have any questions about how this guidance may impact your application,
please contact Musillo Unkenholt.
The Department of State has just issued the May 2024 Visa Bulletin. This blog post analyzes this month's Visa Bulletin.
Visa Bulletin
Table A: Final Action Dates -- Applications with these dates may be approved
for their Green Card (Permanent Residency card) or Immigrant Visa appointment.
|
Employment-based |
All
Chargeability |
CHINA- |
INDIA |
MEXICO |
PHILIPPINES |
|
1st |
C |
01SEP22 |
01MAR21 |
C |
C |
|
2nd |
15JAN23 |
01FEB20 |
01APR12 |
15JAN23 |
15JAN23 |
|
3rd |
22NOV22 |
01SEP20 |
15AUG12 |
22NOV22 |
22NOV22 |
Table B: Dates of Filing
The USCIS will use the
Table A Final Action chart for I-485 employment-based filings. See: USCIS Visa Bulletin Dates
MU Law Analysis
All dates mirrored the
April 2024 Visa Bulletin. We do not
expect any meaningful progression for the remainder of the US fiscal year. The US fiscal year ends on September 30,
2024.
USCIS has announced a temporary final rule increasing the automatic extension period for certain employment authorization documents (EADs) from 180 days to 540 days.
The rule applies to eligible workers with pending renewal applications filed on or after October 27, 2023, and to those who file renewal applications between April 8, 2024, and September 30, 2025.
Eligible
workers include, but are not limited to:
A full list of the eligible categories may be found on the USCIS website here.
The temporary final rule follows a previous measure from 2022 that increased the EAD automatic extension period for workers with renewal applications filed before October 27, 2023.
USCIS estimates the temporary final rule will benefit 800,000 workers and 60,000 to 80,000 employers by preventing prevent lapses in work authorization.
From now until June 7, 2024, USCIS invites comments from the public on whether the automatic extension period for EADs should be permanently increased to 540 days or whether a different solution should be implemented.
MU Law encourages workers with pending EAD renewal applications to contact their MU immigration attorney to determine if they qualify for the automatic 540 EAD extension.
Please refer to the USCIS press release for further details. Comments may be submitted on the Federal Register until June 7, 2024.
On March 21, 2024, USCIS announced that they would be extending the registration period for the 2024 (fiscal year 2025) H-1B cap registration.
The initial registration opened at
noon eastern on March 6, 2024 and was scheduled to run through noon eastern on
March 22, 2024. The registration period will now run through noon eastern
on March 25, 2024. The extension of the registration period is due to a
temporary USCIS outage that was experienced by some registrants.
The registration process during this
extended period will remain the same and USCIS still intends to notify
registrants that they are selected by March 31, 2024.
The Department of State has just issued the April 2024 Visa Bulletin, which is the sixth of the 2024 US fiscal year. This blog post analyzes this month's Visa Bulletin.
Visa
Bulletin
Table
A: Final
Action Dates -- Applications with these dates may be approved for their Green
Card (Permanent Residency card) or Immigrant Visa appointment.
|
Employment-based |
All Chargeability |
CHINA- |
INDIA |
MEXICO |
PHILIPPINES |
|
1st |
C |
01SEP22 |
01MAR21 |
C |
C |
|
2nd |
15JAN23 |
01FEB20 |
01APR12 |
15JAN23 |
15JAN23 |
|
3rd |
22NOV22 |
01SEP20 |
15AUG12 |
22NOV22 |
22NOV22 |
Table B: Dates of Filing
The USCIS will use the
Table A Final Action chart for I-485 employment-based filings. See: USCIS Visa Bulletin Dates
MU Law Analysis
Philippines and All
Other EB-3 continued slow, pace forward, moving ahead just
over 60 days to November 2022. China and India EB-3 remained at
September 1, 2020 and while India progressed just one month
to August 15, 2012.
There is a similar story
in EB-2. China and India EB-2 as each moved ahead one
month. Philippines and All
Other EB-2 advanced approximately
60 days to January 15, 2023.
MU Law expects similar
paced progress in the next few months, followed by a slowdown and we get closer
to the end of the fiscal year over the summer months.
The Department of State has just issued the March 2024 Visa Bulletin, which is the sixth of the 2024 US fiscal year. This blog post analyzes this month's Visa Bulletin.
Visa Bulletin
Table A: Final Action Dates -- Applications with these dates may be approved for their Green Card (Permanent Residency card) or Immigrant Visa appointment.
|
Employment-based |
All Chargeability |
CHINA- |
INDIA |
MEXICO |
PHILIPPINES |
|
1st |
C |
15JUL22 |
01OCT20 |
C |
C |
|
2nd |
22NOV22 |
01JAN20 |
01MAR12 |
22NOV22 |
22NOV22 |
|
3rd |
08SEP22 |
01SEP20 |
01JUL12 |
08SEP22 |
08SEP22 |
Table B: Dates of Filing
The USCIS is expected to
use the Table a Final Action chart for I-485 employment-based filings. See: USCIS Visa Bulletin Dates
MU
Law Analysis
Philippines
and All Other EB-3
continued slow, although uninspiring, progress by one week to September 8,
2022. China and India EB-3 remained at their February Visa Bulletin
dates, September 1, 2020 and July 1, 2012, respectively.
There
is a similar story in EB-2. China and
India EB-2 remained at their February Visa Bulletin dates, January
1, 2020 and March 1, 2012. Philippines and All Other EB-2 advanced one week to November 22,
2022.
MU
Law expects similar progress in the next few months, followed by a slowdown and
we get closer to the end of the fiscal year.
