powburn

Hi,

Labor Certification Priority date August 2005, approved in 60 days.
I-140 just approved today. Next step should be application for the I-485.

However, according to our lawyer we can't apply for the I-485 until our Priority Date becomes current and according to http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/b...letin_2868.html
that looks like it'll be in about 9 years time for H1B candidates (employment based 3rd class - May 1st 2001) since the priority date they are processing has only been moving 15 days per calendar month for many months now.

Is our lawyer right that we're stuck in the middle of the Green Card Process for the next 9 years or thereabouts?
Just seems ridiculous amount of time to wait, about twice as long as the whole of the old process used to take.

Our lawyer also keeps mentioning some legislation that will be going before Congress to reduce or remove the throttle on the number of I-485's that can me processed each month. He hasn't been specific though, has anyone else heard of this legislation, I'd dearly like to look it up and check for myself.

Thanks.

Folinskyinla

Hi:

You canNOT extrapolate processing times from a current visa bulletin and even just a few months. Read the comments on the current Visa Bulletin where they comment they are advancing India & China to generate demand.

What you don't know is how many people are in front of you. Also, do note that the cut-off date is not that far after the 4-30-2001 "245(i)" cut-off date. Note that the Visa Bulletin comments talks about demand from USCIS. I would not be surprised if a largish part of the CURRENT demand are these old cases. The number of labor certificate filings went down a lot after April 30, 2001. It MAY be that once the 245(i) cases are disposed of, there will be a large advance in the EB-3.

However, this is speculation.

To repeat -- you can't really extrapolate your availability from the CURRENT demand.

mpandrews

It sounds as if like me you are subject to retrogression. I would urge you to go to http://immigrationvoice.org/. This is a voluntary organization set up to get political support to fix this situation. A situation that is currently being swamped by the furore over illegal immigration.

The legislation that your lawyer is referring to has been added/removed/modified several times over the last several months. We need to make a concerted effort to make ourselves heard within the government else who knows how long this situation will continue?

JonaDv

    > It sounds as if like me you are subject to retrogression. I would urge
Could you please give more information on what is the retrogression
all about. I'm in the same situation as OP: I-140 approved for EB-3
category and long wait ahead with priority date in 2001.
How likely is it that the backlog is just temporary one?

I found this very informative article on the topic of I-485 backlog:
http://www.ingber-aronson.com/article/2005-backlog.htm

The article claims that backlog is here to stay for forseieable
future ...

    > you to go to http://immigrationvoice.org/. This is a voluntary
    > organization set up to get political support to fix this situation. A
    > situation that is currently being swamped by the furore over illegal
    > immigration.
    > The legislation that your lawyer is referring to has been
    > added/removed/modified several times over the last several months. We
    > need to make a concerted effort to make ourselves heard within the
    > government else who knows how long this situation will continue?

JonaDv

On 2006-04-08, Folinskyinla <member4043@british_expats.com> wrote:
    >> Hi,
    >> Labor Certification Priority date August 2005, approved in 60
    >> days.
    >> I-140 just approved today. Next step should be application for
    >> the I-485.
    >> However, according to our lawyer we can't apply for the I-485 until
    >> our Priority Date becomes current and according to
    >> http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/b...letin_2868.html
    >> that looks like it'll be in about 9 years time for H1B candidates
    >> (employment based 3rd class - May 1st 2001) since the priority date
    >> they are processing has only been moving 15 days per calendar month
    >> for many months now.
    >> Is our lawyer right that we're stuck in the middle of the Green Card
    >> Process for the next 9 years or thereabouts?
    >> Just seems ridiculous amount of time to wait, about twice as long as
    >> the whole of the old process used to take.
    >> Our lawyer also keeps mentioning some legislation that will be going
    >> before Congress to reduce or remove the throttle on the number of I-
    >> 485's that can me processed each month. He hasn't been specific
    >> though, has anyone else heard of this legislation, I'd dearly like to
    >> look it up and check for myself.
    >> Thanks.
    > Hi:
    > You canNOT extrapolate processing times from a current visa bulletin and
    > even just a few months. Read the comments on the current Visa Bulletin
    > where they comment they are advancing India & China to generate demand.
    > What you don't know is how many people are in front of you. Also, do
    > note that the cut-off date is not that far after the 4-30-2001 "245(i)"
    > cut-off date. Note that the Visa Bulletin comments talks about demand
    > from USCIS. I would not be surprised if a largish part of the CURRENT
    > demand are these old cases. The number of labor certificate filings
    > went down a lot after April 30, 2001. It MAY be that once the 245(i)
    > cases are disposed of, there will be a large advance in the EB-3.
    > However, this is speculation.
I'm trying to find information on this topic of backlog in I-485
and found this very interesting article:
http://www.ingber-aronson.com/article/2005-backlog.htm
The article claims that the backlog is not just temporary but is here
to stay for the forseable future. This is bad news for me since I'm
in the same exact situation as OP: I-140 approved and long wait for
the priority date ahead..


    > To repeat -- you can't really extrapolate your availability from the
    > CURRENT demand.

Folinskyinla

Hi:

Dinesh's article is an excellent one. And it is consistent with my posting.

Another factor not mentioned but MAY have an effect -- a lot of those old LC's included attempts to convert to PERM and the PERM applications ended up being denied -- destroying the old priority date.

mpandrews

Like I said. Go to http://immigrationvoice.org/. You can find more information there and post in forums that are dedicated to this topic. Join us and be an active participant in trying to improve our situation.

powburn

Joined up and participating!

JonaDv

On 2006-04-14, mpandrews <member34041@british_expats.com> wrote:
    >> Hi:
    >> Dinesh's article is an excellent one. And it is consistent with my
    >> posting.
    >> Another factor not mentioned but MAY have an effect -- a lot of
    >> those old LC's included attempts to convert to PERM and the PERM
    >> applications ended up being denied -- destroying the old
    >> priority date.
    > Like I said. Go to http://immigrationvoice.org/. You can find more
    > information there and post in forums that are dedicated to this topic.
    > Join us and be an active participant in trying to improve our situation.
Thanks a lot. I checked the site you referring to and found a lot of
interesting information there. I'll definitely visit it more.
What I'm wondering about is how likely situation with the backlogs and
retrogression is to improve? Are there any signs that congress is
considering these issues? It seems strange to me that administration
is so intent now on legalizing illegal immigrants and not paying enough
attention to the situation many skilled workers who are legally in
US find themselves in.

JD.

ladyofthelake

So, am I right in thinking, with my husband's LC stuck in the Philly backlog center and a priority date of March 04, there's not much point in converting to PERM now? It would still be a long wait regardless, and unless it could be changed to the EB2 category it wouldn't be worth it. Right?

Elvira

OMG are you guys still waiting? That really sucks...

I hope this gets sorted soon!

ladyofthelake

Yep, though the DOL has posted that they are aiming to clear the backlog within 19 months. woot woot

Learning01

Take a look here. http://www.immigrationvoice.org
All USCIS and EB3 and other issues are neatly explained here. And also
join and partcipate there actively.