In a memorandum dated August 9, 2013, USCIS has released guidance and clarifications pertaining to the options and timelines for Diversity Visa (DV) selectees who choose to process their green card from within the U.S. by filing I-485, Application to Adjust Status. The memo seeks to provide clarification to those DV selectees who choose to [...]
There is a more recent version of this article. Please see our most recent report from Mr. Charles Oppenheim. In a recent conversation with the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) of which our office is a member, Mr. Oppenheim, the Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division at the U.S. Department of State, has [...]
There is a more recent version of this article. Please see our most recent report from Mr. Charles Oppenheim. Our office just came back from a discussion session here in Washington, DC with Charles Oppenheim. Mr. Oppenheim is the Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division at the U.S. Department of State. For many, [...]
Our office has been able to confirm what we have suspected for a few weeks. Many of our readers are aware that the significant forward movement in the cutoff dates for the EB-2 India and China categories over the past few months has caused a significant number of demand and I-485 filings. USCIS has been [...]
We have written extensively over the past few weeks about the upcoming retrogression in the EB-2 India and China categories. So, it should not come as a surprise that the Department of State has confirmed what we have anticipated and expected for a couple of weeks -- namely, that the Department of State has "internally" [...]
Mr. Oppenheim is the Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division at the U.S. Department of State. For many, he is simply known as the person responsible for the monthly and annual visa number allocations for family- and employment-based green cards. He is also the person who prepares and publishes the monthly visa bulletin [...]
Our office just came back from a discussion session here in Washington, DC with Charles Oppenheim. Mr. Oppenheim is the Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division at the U.S. Department of State. For many, he is simply known as the person responsible for the monthly and annual visa number allocations for family- and [...]
The Department of State ("DOS"), in an "urgent" alert dated as of September 15, 2011, has advised that due to heavy demand in the employment-based immigrant visa categories, DOS has reached the Fiscal Year 2011 annual limit of employment-based green cards. DOS/USCIS to Stop Approving EB Immigrant Visas Until October 1 As a result of [...]
A recent update from USCIS and Charles Oppenheim at the Department of State (the person who is responsible for the Visa Bulletin and visa number allocations) should provide some hope to applicants in some categories, but most notably to the EB-2 India category. Low EB-1 Demand to Cause Visa Number Spillover to EB-2 USCIS has [...]
USCIS has released a schedule of the inventory of pending employment-based Form I-485, Application to Adjust Status. The statistics are very recent - as of January 5, 2011 - and are very helpful to understanding the relative queue positions for employment-based adjustment of status applicants. How Can I Determine My Place in the AOS Queue? [...]