Are you applying for an immigrant visa and want to know when your priority date will become current? Then you won’t want to miss our analysis of the January 2025 Visa Bulletin.
In this video, attorney Jacob Sapochnick explains what you can expect to see in terms of the movement of the family-sponsored and employment-based visa categories in the month of January.
USCIS Adjustment of Status
For employment-based and family-sponsored preference categories, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has confirmed it will continue to use the Dates for Filing chart to determine filing eligibility for adjustment of status to permanent residence in the month of December.
What will Trump’s immigration policies look like during his second term? In this video, attorney Jacob Sapochnick breaks down what families need to know before he takes office.
You will learn all about the upcoming changes that may impact family-based immigration, and how his policies may slow down the processing of immigrant visas at U.S. Embassies and Consulates abroad.
This information is based on the Trump administration’s campaign promises, and actions taken during his first term in office. While we do not know for certain what is to come, applicants should expect a departure from the Biden administration’s immigration policies.
Overview
Looking back on President Trump’s first term in office, his administration issued far-reaching executive actions on immigration. From Muslim travel bans to an overhaul of the public charge rule, the immigration process became much more restrictive.
Many of these executive actions and policy changes may be reinstated during his first 100 days in office, causing more headaches for family-based immigrants.
Here are some of the changes that may be expected from the Trump administration.
Return of the Public Charge Rule for Green Card and Immigrant Visa Applicants
To obtain a green card or immigrant visa, applicants must demonstrate that they are not likely to become a “public charge” on the U.S. government. A person who is likely to depend on government assistance for their basic needs is deemed a “public charge.”
In 2019, the Trump administration expanded the criteria used by USCIS and Consular officials to determine whether an immigrant is likely to become a public charge. Under Trump’s public charge rule, the use of public benefits (such as food stamps, Medicaid, and Section 8 housing assistance) were factors that were considered in public charge determinations, making it more difficult for immigrants receiving these benefits to obtain a green card.
The Trump administration also required USCIS and Consular officers to weigh several factors when making a public charge determination, including the applicant’s age, health, family status, assets, resources, financial status, education, and skills.
Proof of Personal Financial Resources
To make matters worse, Trump’s public charge rule also required green card applicants to show proof of personal financial resources.
Are you applying for an immigrant visa and want to know when your priority date will become current? Then you won’t want to miss our analysis of the December 2024 Visa Bulletin.
In this video, attorney Jacob Sapochnick explains what you can expect to see in terms of the movement of the family-sponsored and employment-based visa categories in the month of December.
USCIS Adjustment of Status
For employment-based and family-sponsored preference categories, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has confirmed it will continue to use the Dates for Filing chart to determine filing eligibility for adjustment of status to permanent residence in the month of December.
In this video, attorney Jacob Sapochnick discusses the process of applying for a green card via “consular processing” for individuals residing outside of the United States. Additionally, in this video you will learn how long it is taking for an immigrant visa interview to be scheduled as of September 2024.
Please note that the green card application process will differ for individuals applying from inside the United States (this process is known as Adjustment of Status).
For the purposes of this video, we will focus solely on consular processing for applicants applying for their green card from outside the United States via a U.S. Consulate or Embassy overseas.
Steps Involved in Applying for a Green Card via Consular Processing
There are multiple steps involved when applying for a green card visa consular processing. To understand this process, here is an overview of what lies ahead:
Step 1: The first step to begin consular processing is for your qualifying relative to petition for your visa by submitting Form I-130 Petition for Alien Relative with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
Step 2: After submitting the immigrant petition, it takes USCIS several months to approve the petition. The time it takes for this petition to be approved depends on several factors including the workload of the service center processing your petition and current USCIS backlogs.
Step 3: Once your petition is approved by USCIS, you must check the Department of State’s Visa Bulletin to see whether a green card is available for you based on your priority date as listed on your I-130, I-140, or I-360 approval notice. For PERM applications, the priority date is the date when the PERM was filed with the Department of Labor. Please note that immediate relatives of U.S. Citizens have a green card immediately available, and they do not need to wait in line. However, other green card applicants are subject to numerical quotas.
Step 4: Once your priority date is current on the Visa Bulletin, and a green card is available, USCIS will forward your petition to the National Visa Center (NVC) for further processing. It takes approximately 90 days for the NVC to receive your case from USCIS. The NVC is an intermediary between USCIS and the Department of State, responsible for preparing your application to be sent to the U.S. Consulate or Embassy abroad where you will be interviewed at the end of your application process.
In this video, attorney Jacob Sapochnick discusses the current status of parole in place applications under the Keeping Families Together program and how a new lawsuit will impact the approval of applications under the program.
To learn more, please keep on watching this video.
What is Keeping Families Together?
The Keeping Families Together program was recently established by presidential executive order to create a pathway to permanent residency for undocumented spouses and stepchildren of U.S. Citizens, who entered the country without inspection, and have been continuously present in the United States since at least June 17, 2024.
Those granted parole in place under Keeping Families Together are given three years to apply for temporary work authorization and permanent residency from inside the United States. At least 500,000 spouses, and about 50,000 of their children are set to benefit from this program.
Parole in place simplifies the green card application process by eliminating the need for spouses to apply for an extreme hardship “waiver,” and to depart the United States to attend a visa interview at a U.S. Consulate abroad.
In doing so, this process prevents prolonged family separation and enables applicants to obtain permanent residency without departing the United States.
Federal Judge Temporarily Halts Parole in Place Program
Have you ever been confused about how to read the Visa Bulletin or wanted to learn more about how it works? Then you won’t want to miss this important video.
In this video, attorney Jacob Sapochnick breaks down everything you need to know about how to read and understand the Visa Bulletin issued by the State Department.
Overview
What is a Priority Date?
First, let’s discuss what a priority date is in immigration law.
A priority date is the date that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) received your I-130 immigrant petition for alien relative, or I-140 immigrant petition for alien worker. For employment-based cases, where a labor certification application is required, the priority date is the date on which the labor certification was received by the Department of Labor.
Essentially, a priority date determines a person’s place in line in the immigrant visa queue because there are a limited number of green cards available in a given year. The limited number of visas is also referred to as an annual numerical limitation or “visa cap,” set by the U.S. Congress.
A priority date is critically important because it determines when you can apply for your green card (if you are in the U.S.), or your immigrant visa at a consulate overseas.
Are you seeking to financially sponsor someone who wants to immigrate to the United States?
If so, you will be interested to know that all immediate relatives of U.S. Citizens and individuals falling in the family-based preference categories, are required to submit the Form I-864 Affidavit of Support to obtain permanent residency in the United States.
The form is signed by the U.S. Citizen or legal permanent resident petitioning for the intending immigrant to show they will have the adequate means of financial support while in the U.S. and will not seek financial benefits from the U.S. government.
By signing the affidavit of support, you are accepting financial responsibility for the applicant seeking to immigrate to the United States.
In this video, we share with you everything you need to know regarding your responsibilities and obligations as a financial sponsor of the affidavit of support.
Overview
Who Signs the I-864 Affidavit of Support
The I-864 Affidavit of Support must be completed and signed by the U.S. Citizen or lawful permanent resident who is petitioning for the intending immigrant (also known as the primary sponsor).
The affidavit is essentially a contract between the petitioner and U.S. government, which establishes that the petitioner has enough income or assets to financially support the intending immigrant. Its main purpose is to ensure the alien does not become a public charge on the U.S. government.
In this video and blog post, we discuss a recent Supreme Court decision finding that U.S. Citizens do not have a fundamental right in having their noncitizen spouses admitted to the United States.
What is this ruling all about?
Department of State v. Muñoz
On June 21, 2024, the Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 decision in Department of State v. Muñoz that U.S. citizens petitioning for their foreign spouses do not have a constitutional liberty interest in their spouses being admitted to the country.
What’s worse, the court upheld the doctrine of consular nonreviewability, which says that there can be no judicial review of a consular officer’s decision finding a visa applicant inadmissible, except in a very limited class of constitutional cases.
About the Case
The plaintiff in the case, Sandra Muñoz, married her husband, a Salvadoran citizen in 2010, and shared a U.S. Citizen child with him. Thereafter, her husband applied for an immigrant visa at the U.S. Consulate in El Salvador so that they could live together in the United States and sought a waiver of inadmissibility. He denied having any gang affiliations despite being heavily tattooed.
After undergoing several interviews, the consular officer denied his application, citing §1182(a)(3)(A)(ii), a provision that renders inadmissible a noncitizen whom the officer “knows, or has reasonable ground to believe, seeks to enter the United States to engage solely, principally, or incidentally in” certain specified offenses or “any other unlawful activity.”
The plaintiff’s husband assumed that he had been denied a visa based upon the erroneous finding that he was a member of the gang MS-13. He denied being a member and requested the Consulate to reconsider its findings.
After the consulate refused, they appealed to the Department of State, which ultimately agreed with the consulate’s determination.
The couple then sought Congressional intervention and sued the State Department, claiming that they violated the plaintiff’s constitutional liberty interest in her husband’s visa application by failing to give a sufficient reason why he was inadmissible under the “unlawful activity” bar.
In this video, we share some big news recently announced by the Biden administration.
The President has issued a new executive action on immigration that will soon allow undocumented spouses of U.S. Citizens to apply for permanent residence without having to depart the United States, if they have resided in the United States for at least ten years as of June 17, 2024.
Who does this apply to?
This order applies to undocumented spouses of U.S. Citizens who entered the country without inspection and have continuously resided in the United States since their entry.
Later this summer, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will implement Biden’s new program called “parole in place” which will allow such undocumented spouses to apply for their green cards.
Those who are approved for “parole in place” will be given a three-year period to apply for permanent residency. During this period, spouses can remain with their families in the United States and be eligible for work authorization.
Are you interested in self-petitioning for a green card (permanent residence) in 2024? If so, you won’t want to miss this important video.
Overview
Did you know that it is possible to apply for a green card on your own through a self-petition and avoid the process of getting a U.S. job offer? In this video, we discuss the top three ways you can apply for permanent residence without a U.S. company sponsoring you and without a U.S. job offer.
Option #1: Employment-Based First Preference Category, EB-1A Aliens of Extraordinary Ability
The first immigrant visa classification we will discuss is the EB-1A visa. This immigrant visa is suitable for individuals who have attained “extraordinary ability” in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics through sustained national or international acclaim in their field.
Those who qualify for the EB-1A category can self-petition for their visa on their own. They do not need a U.S. job offer nor employment sponsorship to apply for permanent residence.
EB-1A is Current on the Visa Bulletin
Additionally, as of June 2024 the EB-1A category remains current on the Visa Bulletin for all countries except India and China, which means that most applicants will not need to wait to apply for adjustment of status to permanent residence so long as the category remains current. For nationals of India and China please see the EB-1A wait times on the June 2024 Visa Bulletin.
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