移民局官員關於接下去幾個月排期的講話

下麵的消息是從murthy law firm那裏來的。根據Chief of Immigrant Visa Control and Reporting Division at the U.S. Department of State (DOS)的講話，2007年度EB2 CHINA AND INDIAN不會前進了，EB3會在這個夏天倒退。

We are often asked by our clients at the Murthy Law Firm to predict the movement of immigrant visa numbers. We have some useful information for MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers in this regard. Charles Oppenheim, Chief of Immigrant Visa Control and Reporting Division at the U.S. Department of State (DOS) was a guest speaker at a February 28, 2007 Washington D.C. Chapter meeting of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), which was attended by several attorneys from our firm. Mr. Oppenheim was kind enough to share his office’s visa number / Visa Bulletin expectations for 2007.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF RETROGRESSION

Mr. Oppenheim discussed the historical background that has led to the current retrogression situation. Retrogression is not something new or unfamiliar in immigration law, as long-time MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers may recall. For many, however, who may have become involved in the green card process since 2001, it is new and, of course, highly problematic. Employment-based (or EB) numbers were current from 2001 through 2005 due to a legislative "fix." This legislation authorized prior, unused immigrant visa numbers from several earlier years to be recaptured and put back into the immigration system. That quota of recaptured numbers was exhausted during Fiscal Year (FY) 2005. As a result, in FYs 2005, 2006 and 2007 we have witnessed severe backlogs in the EB3 categories for all countries and, starting in FY2006, in the EB2 categories for China and India.

PREDICTIONS FOR EB IMMIGRANT VISA NUMBERS

Employment-Based First Preference / EB1

Mr. Oppenheim stated that the employment-based first preference (EB1) category is expected to remain current for all countries of chargeability, including India and China. This is likely throughout the remainder of FY2007 (ending September 30, 2007).

Mr. Oppenheim explained what he referred to as the “trickling effect” of unused visa numbers between EB categories. This trickling effect has resulted in the EB1 category's having remained current. The numbers in the employment-based fourth preference (EB4) and employment-based fifth preference (EB5) categories that are unused are transferred up to the EB1 category. Without this trickling affect, the EB1 category would not remain current for India and China.

This also has an impact on EB2, as unused EB1 numbers trickle down to EB2. There are not enough numbers for India and China, however, to allow the EB2 for these two countries to become current. But it has helped to move EB2 forward for these two countries, to some extent.

Employment-Based Second Preference / EB2

The employment-based second preference (EB2) category is expected to remain at its current cutoff dates for nationals of India and China. These dates have been stagnant at April 22, 2005 for China and January 8, 2003 for India for a few months.

Employment-Based Third Preference / EB3

No forward movement is expected for the employment-based third preference (EB3) category. In fact, as predicted in the March Visa Bulletin and confirmed by Mr. Oppenheim, there is a strong possibility that the EB3 numbers that are not in the "worldwide" chargeability will further retrogress, or move backward. This is expected to occur in the summer of 2007. This backward movement is based upon excessive demand for the limited supply of visa numbers. This will adversely affect nationals of India and China.

Double Dipping

Another problem important to note is one of “doubling dipping” for visa numbers by some individuals. As explained by Mr. Oppenheim, if an employment-based beneficiary filed for adjustment of status in the U.S. and for consular processing overseas, that individual could acquire two visa numbers if both cases are approved. This would result in a wasted immigrant visa number. As a result of this scenario, the DOS and the USCIS are planning a system that would coordinate their visa number allocation, so that each will be aware if the other has already issued a visa number for a particular individual, to prevent waste of this kind.

CONCLUSION

We appreciate Mr. Oppenheim's continued willingness to address matters related to visa numbers and the Visa Bulletin. [The most recent Visa Bulletin chart is always available to our readers on MurthyDotCom.] The lack of employment-based visa numbers is a source of great frustration for many and Mr. Oppenheim's predictions do not assuage that feeling. It is better to have an understanding of the reality of the situation, however, than to operate in ignorance or with unrealistic expectations. The shortage of visa numbers, once again, underscores the need for legislation in this area, to increase the numbers, change the counting of the numbers (from one per person to one per family), or to revamp the system entirely.

Many MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers anxiously await the Visa Bulletin each month. Those who are unfamiliar with the Visa Bulletin or visa numbers should review some of our past articles on the topics of priority dates, visa numbers and the Visa Bulletin, available on MurthyDotCom.

所有跟帖： 

• 鏈接在這裏：http://www.murthy.com/bulletin.html -state.dept- ♂ (0 bytes) () 03/09/2007 postreply 10:44:45

• 徹底完蛋了！大家知道master可以辦EB1嗎？ -state.dept- ♂ (17 bytes) () 03/09/2007 postreply 10:55:41

• 靠!這個4月份積壓的人工卡就這摸多? -wsmv- ♂ (0 bytes) () 03/09/2007 postreply 11:00:17

• master可以辦EB1嗎？不可以。 許多Ph.D 都不行的。 -WTO9- ♀ (0 bytes) () 03/09/2007 postreply 12:21:31

• 黑色星期五。 -等待綠卡中- ♀ (0 bytes) () 03/09/2007 postreply 11:06:01

• 別急,不是還有個法案馬上就通過了嗎?! -wsmv- ♂ (0 bytes) () 03/09/2007 postreply 11:07:57

• 這種GS提案每年都有，早就不相信那幫WBD了。 -等待綠卡中- ♀ (34 bytes) () 03/09/2007 postreply 11:09:35

• 哪兒提了eb2在2007不會前進了？ -thresholding- ♀ (29 bytes) () 03/09/2007 postreply 11:10:02

• 說接下去的幾個月都不會動了。 -等待綠卡中- ♀ (0 bytes) () 03/09/2007 postreply 11:12:01

• 好象用的是現在完成式？ -thresholding- ♀ (0 bytes) () 03/09/2007 postreply 11:14:13

• 哦，前邊那句，好像更糟糕，連幾個月都沒有說，難道幾年？ -等待綠卡中- ♀ (0 bytes) () 03/09/2007 postreply 11:25:23

• 你再看看前一段 -thresholding- ♀ (0 bytes) () 03/09/2007 postreply 11:30:32

• 你再看看前一段。 -thresholding- ♀ (0 bytes) () 03/09/2007 postreply 11:29:46