Karlosthecackle

I took a look at the bulletin thing. I'm a bit confused by the whole year thing..

• EB-1: All countries except India and China retrogress to May 1, 2016, effective immediately. EB-1 China and India will remain at January 1, 2012.

What does that actually mean if I start the EB-1C process in August? I don't understand why May 1 2016 has any bearing? Sorry i really should do more research

Fred16

Well if the dates remain consistent through future visa bulletin and you apply now, will be about 800 days before GC would be available for you
That May 1, 2016 mentioned is a date that is set when you have an approved I140
So If you get an I140 approval in Jan2019 add 800 days before you can apply for the actual GC.
That is just based on this visa bulletin, to give you an example on how that works

hmvsdog

I didn't notice this before. Makes me very glad my I-485 was filed concurrently when the dates were current.

Olly_

Are you still waiting for your I-140 to be approved?

hmvsdog

Yep. No movement on that.

Olly_

Wow... not good!

hmvsdog

It's certainly been a wait! 14 months now and counting. My EAD and AP applications went in about a month ago with my L-1A PED expiring in 6 months time from now. There's discussion about extending the L-1A but general consensus is there's little point as the pending 485 gives me legal status anyway. Joy.

fbf2006

I'd still extend the L-1A. I'm not a fan of the I-485 pending status...WTH does that really mean? IF it's denied for whatever reason, then you're immediately not on any status.

Fred16

Just want to correct myself
Priority date is based on I140 receipt date, not approval date

hmvsdog

S Folinsky

The visa allocation system is somewhat of a mystery and happens behinds closed doors.

But we can say this - the numerical limits are on a Fiscal Year basis and the Government Fiscal Year starts on October 1st. So FY2019 starts on October 1, 2018.

The system is front-loaded to assist in the orderly issuance of visa numbers Historically, this has led to the exhaustion of available numbers for oversubscribed categories in the last quarter of the year. This causes retrogression in August and September, the last two months of the Fiscal year. Then come October ( and sometimes November) numbers are again available and the prior cutoff dates are restored.

I hope this helps clarify somewhat a very estoteric area of immigration law.

jxv73

There are 140,000 immigrant visa numbers available for employment based immigrants, including their dependents (although some argue the law could be interpreted not to include them) for the fiscal year running from Oct 1 2017 to Sep 30 2018. Of those, 28.6% or 40,040 are assigned to each of EB-1, EB-2 and EB-3. There is also a per-country cap of 7%. India and China usually hit their cap and therefore they set a cutoff date for applicants form these countries. This year, in what is a truly exceptional case, the full cap of 40,040 for EB-1 was reached (or is likely to be reached). This is why the DOS has set a cutoff date, basically if your I-140 was not filed before May 1 2016 then you will not be able to apply for AOS during the fiscal year 2018. There is some speculation that extra visas were given to India and China above the 7% cap before the DOS realized that the full allocation was exhausted. This may be because fo increased EB1-C applications from Indian IT companies.

It is hard to know whether this was a "glitch" for 2018 or whether this will repeat itself in the future. For those with a pending I-140 or who have not had a chance to file an I-485, it means they have to wait for fiscal year 2019, which starts in Oct 1, 2018, when there will be a fresh batch of 140,000 visa numbers. If your I-140 is approved before Oct 1, you will have to wait until that date to file for AOS.

I will add that the 140,000 limit was set in 1990 and 28 years later it has not been revised. There was rarely an issue for EB1 because the 40,040 were plenty. But with new, er, creative applications the numbers are being used up. Interestingly, there are still numbers available in the "lesser" category of EB2.

CA-NY

We've just submitted an EB1 petition and the check for filing fees has been cashed by USCIS but no receipt / case number has been issued. Our AOS is being submitted imminently. Am I right in understanding that even if our AOS went in next week, the clock can't start ticking on that until October 1st? We're assuming worst case scenario for AOS processing is 6-7 months and with no travel within that period, another 2 months added on is not ideal.

hmvsdog

IMHO, I think 6-7 months is hugely optimistic. My I-140 and I-485 were submitted concurrently in May 2017 and I am still waiting. In fact, a quick look at USCIS' processing times (for the Texas service center, which I assume your forms went to based off of you location) suggests employment based I-485's are subject to a 10-19.5 month wait, at the time of writing.

Strap yourself in, it's gonna be a long ride.

hmvsdog