Articles Posted in Consular posts

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Did you know that once you have obtained your E-2 visa as a treaty investor, you can bring essential employees to work for your company in the United States?

The E-2 visa presents an exciting opportunity for entrepreneurs to invest in and start their businesses in the United States. But what many investors may not know, is that they can petition to bring essential employees with certain specialized skills to work for their companies in the United States.

In this video, we discuss:

  • Who qualifies for an E-2 visa as an essential employee?
  • What is an essential employee?
  • How long can essential employees stay in the U.S.?
  • What are the Key Advantages for E-2 Essential Employees?

And more!

To learn more about this important topic, please keep on watching.

Overview

Who Can Qualify as an E-2 Essential Employee?

 An essential employee is one whose duties are vital to the successful operation of the E-2 company. Generally, essential employees may be those who are seeking to work for the E-2 company in an executive, supervisory, or other essential capacity.  Since the E-2 visa is designed to stimulate foreign investment in the U.S. economy, as well as encouraging job creation, this is an excellent visa type for employees who qualify.

To be eligible, the employee of an E-2 treaty investor must:

  1. Have the same nationality as the E-2 employer (example: the E-2 investor is an individual who is a national of Mexico– a country that maintains a treaty of commerce with the U.S. In such a case, the employee must also be a national of Mexico to qualify)
  2. Be coming to the United States to work for the E-2 company in an executive, or supervisory capacity, or if they will be employed in a lesser capacity, they must have special qualifications.

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If you are interested in applying for the Diversity Visa Lottery program now is the perfect time. Online registration for fiscal year 2026 is now open until Tuesday November 5th at 12 noon Eastern Standard Time.

In this video, attorney Jacob Sapochnick explains everything you need to know about your eligibility for the Diversity Visa lottery, how to apply, and useful tips for how to maximize your chances at selection.

Want to know more? Just keep on watching

Overview

What is the Diversity Visa Lottery program?

Every year, the U.S. government makes available up to 55,000 immigrant visas as part of its Diversity Visa Lottery program (also known as the green card lottery). This program is meant to offer green cards to individuals who are from countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States to promote diversity.

To participate in the program, you must meet the DV lottery requirements and submit a free online registration during the registration period running from now until Tuesday November 5th at 12 noon Eastern Standard Time.

Winners for the DV lottery for FY 2026 are expected to be announced starting May 3, 2025, through September 30, 2026. Participants can check whether they have been selected on the DOS Website by selecting DV Entrant Status Check.

Entrant Status Check is the ONLY means used by the Department of State to notify selectees of their selection. The Department of State will not mail notification letters or notify selectees by email.

DO NOT BE SCAMMED: There is NO FEE to complete the online registration.

Who is Not Eligible?

Not every country is eligible to participate in the Diversity Visa lottery. For instance, countries like Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, Mainland China, Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Venezuela, Vietnam, etc. are NOT eligible to participate.

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Have you applied for an immigrant or nonimmigrant visa and received a notice of 221(g) administrative processing after your Consular visa interview? If so, then you won’t want to miss this important video explaining what administrative processing is all about and what you can expect during this process.

Overview

What is 221(g) Administrative Processing?

A visa refusal under section 221(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) means that an applicant has not established eligibility for their visa to the satisfaction of the Consular officer.

Administrative processing is not a denial. It simply means that your visa has been temporarily refused by the Consular officer, because further review is needed before your visa can be approved. While a 221(g) refusal means that you are not eligible for a visa at this time, it is not the end of the road.

In fact, the majority of cases placed in administrative processing are released from administrative processing and are approved within 60 days of the visa interview. Often, a Consular officer may simply be waiting for the results of the applicant’s background check before they can provide clearance for the visa to be issued.

But for other more complicated cases, including those where concerns relating to fraud, criminal history, or national security concerns are involved, it can take several years before a case can be resolved. The timing of administrative processing will therefore depend on your individual circumstances and other complications rooted in your immigration history.

How do I know if I have been placed in 221(g) Administrative Processing?

Applicants who are placed in 221(g) administrative processing following their visa interview will typically receive a 221(g) notice from the Consular officer at the conclusion of the interview. The notice will indicate that further review is necessary before a final decision can be made, and in some circumstances the notice may request for an applicant to provide additional information or documentation such as travel history.

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If you are applying for an employment-based immigrant visa, you won’t want to miss this important update regarding visa availability. In this video, attorney Jacob Sapochnick discusses some new information released in the Department of State’s September Visa Bulletin which impacts most employment-based preference categories.

Want to know more? Just keep on watching

Overview

Recently, the U.S. Department of State published a new update in its September Visa Bulletin, which warns applicants that due to a steady increase in demand for employment-based visas in fiscal year 2024, the annual numerical limits have been reached for all employment-based preference categories.

As a result, no further immigrant visas or green cards will be issued for the remainder of the fiscal year which ends on September 30, 2024. This means that if your case is currently waiting for interview scheduling with USCIS or the National Visa Center, no further action will be taken on your case until the new fiscal year begins and new final action cutoff dates are issued.

However, the good news is that the new fiscal year will begin on October 1st and a new allocation of visas has been made for the month of October. The October Visa Bulletin was released several weeks ago and has shown great progress.

For the month of October, the Final Action Date for EB-1 Worldwide remains current; EB-3 Worldwide will advance by nearly 2 years to November 15, 2022; and EB-5 Worldwide will remain current. The Final Action Date for EB-5 India will also make significant advancement of 13 months to January 1, 2022, and China will advance by 7 months to July 15, 2016.

Unfortunately, EB-3 China’s Final Action date will retrogress by 5 months to April 1, 2020, and in the Dates for Filing Chart, EB-3 China will retrogress by 7.5 months to November 15, 2020, and EB-5 China will retrogress by 3 months to October 1, 2016.

For more information about the October Visa Bulletin’s advancements, please click here.

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Are you waiting for your priority date to become current on the visa bulletin? Then you won’t want to miss this blog post covering the release of the October 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 October.

USCIS Adjustment of Status

For employment-based preference categories, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has confirmed it will use the Dates for Filing chart to determine filing eligibility for adjustment of status to permanent residence in the month of October.

For family-sponsored preference categories, USCIS will continue to use the Dates for Filing chart to determine filing eligibility for adjustment of status to permanent residence in the month of October.

Highlights of the October 2024 Visa Bulletin

At a Glance

Employment-Based Categories

  • The Final Action date for China EB-3 Professionals and Skilled Workers will retrogress by five months, to April 1, 2020. The Date for Filing will retrogress by almost 8 months, to November 15, 2020.
  • The Final Action date for EB-3 Professionals and Skilled Workers Worldwide will advance by almost two years, to November 15, 2022. The Date for Filing will advance by one month, to March 1, 2023.
  • The Final Action date for China EB-5 Unreserved will advance by seven months, to July 15, 2016. The Date for Filing will retrogress by three months, to October 1, 2016.
  • The India EB-5 Unreserved Final Action date will advance by more than one year, to January 1, 2022. The Date for Filing will remain at April 1, 2022.

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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.

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In this video, attorney Jacob Sapochnick discusses a hot topic addressing what is the fastest method to immigrate a foreign spouse to the United States.

Many couples often wonder what the best option is to immigrate their foreign spouse, such as applying for an immigrant visa at a U.S. consulate overseas or applying for adjustment of status from inside the United States.

To learn more, please keep on watching this video.

Overview

There are two main methods by which a U.S. Citizen can immigrate his or her foreign spouse to the United States.

The most suitable method will depend on the consideration of various factors such as:

  • Is the foreign spouse currently outside of the United States?
  • Is the foreign spouse already inside the United States in lawful status (for example are they on an F-1 student visa, B-1 business visitor visa, or some other temporary visa)?
  • Does the foreign spouse have lawful status in the U.S.?
  • Is it important for you to obtain employment authorization during the immigration process?
  • Is prolonged separation an issue for you?

These are important factors that will determine which process married couples may wish to consider.

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If you are currently going through the immigrant visa process and are waiting for your interview to be scheduled at a U.S. Consulate or Embassy overseas, then you won’t want to miss this important video. In this video attorney Jacob Sapochnick shares the latest updates regarding the operational capacity of U.S. Consular posts and Embassies worldwide as of June 2024.

Annual Numerical Limits – Visa Bulletin

Please note that certain categories of immigrants are subject to annual numerical limits which means that applicants must wait until an immigrant visa becomes available to them, before they can be scheduled for an immigrant visa interview at a Consulate overseas.

These include unmarried sons and daughters of U.S. Citizens, spouses and children of permanent residents, unmarried sons and daughters (21 years or older) of permanent residents, married sons and daughters of U.S. Citizens, and brothers and sisters of adult U.S. Citizens.

Additionally, all employment-based immigrant visa categories are subject to annual numerical limits.

If any of the above-mentioned categories apply to you, you must check the Visa Bulletin every month to determine whether your priority date is current according to your preference category and country of nationality. Only once your priority date is current on the final action date chart of the Visa Bulletin, can your case be scheduled for a visa interview.

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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.

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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.

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