Have you ever wondered what are the most common ways to get a green card to the United States? We’ve got you covered.
In this short video, attorney Jacob Sapochnick tells you the top sixteen ways you can get a green card to live and work in the United States.
The Top 16 Ways to get a Green Card with Jacob Sapochnick
Here are the top sixteen ways to get a green card
Marriage to a United States Citizen is the one of the most common ways to obtain lawful permanent resident status. It is an option for those who have a bona fide marriage and entered the United States lawfully (unless they qualify for a special exemption in the law such as section 245i).
Adjustment of status is the process of applying for permanent residence while lawfully residing inside of the United States
Consular processing is the process of applying for an immigrant visa while residing outside of the United States
Want to know why the immigrant visa backlog is still a big issue in 2023? Then you won’t want to miss this blog post, where attorney Jacob Sapochnick tells you all you need to know about the visa backlogs.
Overview
So, you’ve filed your green card application and now your case is stuck in the backlogs. In this video we discuss what the green card backlog is and why it is still happening in 2023.
What is a green card backlog?
A green card backlog occurs when there have been significant delays in the processing and approval of applications for adjustment of status to permanent residency (also known as green card applications filed with USCIS) and/or immigrant visa applications awaiting interview scheduling at U.S. Consulates and Embassies abroad.
While the backlog has always existed to some extent, mandatory quarantines and social distancing protocols occurring during the Coronavirus pandemic worsened delays in green card processing. Additionally, the annual numerical limits for family-sponsored and employment-based preference categories limit the number of green cards that can be issued every year, therefore causing delays among millions of applicants who must wait for their “priority date” to become current on the Visa Bulletin, before becoming eligible to apply for their green card. For many of these categories, demand for visas far exceeds the number of available visas which causes a backlog of applicants waiting for their turn at the front of the line.
Furthermore, the Immigration and Nationality Act imposes a per-country limit on the number of green cards that can be issued by country of nationality. Therefore, applicants from countries that experience a high demand for visas such as India, China, Mexico, and the Philippines have much longer wait times when compared to other foreign nationals.
In this video, we share with you the latest movement in the family-sponsored and employment-based preference categories for the month of August.
There will be significant retrogression of the final action date in the EB-1 India preference category by 10 years and 1 month to January 1, 2012.
Additionally, a final action cutoff date for all countries in the EB-1 category, except China, will be imposed at August 1, 2023.
The EB-3 Professionals and Skilled Workers final action date will also retrogress by 1 year and 9 months to May 1, 2020, except for India which will remain at January 1, 2009, and China which will advance by 2 months to June 1, 2019.
In the family-sponsored categories, the dates for filing cutoff dates remain the same as the previous month, except F-1 Mexico which will advance by 2 years and 3 months to April 1, 2005, and F2B Mexico which will advance by 2 years and 4 months to August 1, 2004.
Here are some of the highlights of the August 2023 Visa Bulletin starting with the family-sponsored categories.
Employment-based categories Highlights
*Final Action cutoff dates – Retrogressions in August:
EB-1 India will retrogress by more than 10 years to January 1, 2012
EB-1 Worldwide, China:
The State Department has imposed a final action cutoff date for EB-1A Worldwide for all countries except China, at August 1, 2023.
The EB-1 China Final Action Date will remain at February 1, 2022.
EB-2 Worldwide, China:
EB-2 China will advance by one month, to July 8, 2019.
The Final Action Date for EB-2 India will remain at January 1, 2011.
The EB-2 Worldwide Final Action Date will advance by six weeks, to April 1, 2022, for all other countries.
EB-3:
The Final Action Date for EB-3 China Professional/Skilled Worker will advance by two months, to June 1, 2019.
EB-3 India Professional/Skilled Worker will remain at January 1, 2009.
For all other countries, the EB-3 Professional/Skilled Worker Final Action Date will retrogress by almost two years, to May 1, 2020.
Prediction: We predict that by October 2023 the EB-1 final action dates will advance significantly, depending on usage and on the FY 2024 annual numerical limit which will reset in October (the start of the fiscal year).
In this video, and just like every month we cover the movement in the family-sponsored and employment-based preference categories of the July 2023 Visa Bulletin.
We are seeing some big advancements in the family-sponsored categories next month, as well as some retrogressions in the final action dates for the employment based third preference category (EB-3) for all countries except China.
Before we jump into our analysis, let’s first go over some of the highlights of the July 2023 Visa Bulletin starting with the family-sponsored categories.
Family-sponsored categories Highlights
*Dates for Filing cutoff dates – Advancements in July:
Are you going through the immigrant visa process, waiting for your interview to be scheduled at a Consulate or Embassy overseas? Then this video is right for you. We will provide the latest updates including which Consular posts are open, their processing times, and which posts are experiencing long wait times as of June 2023.
Overview
Embassies and Consulates around the world are beginning to ramp up their processing of immigrant visas, with the hiring of additional personnel to reduce the visa backlogs.
During the Coronavirus pandemic, immigrant visa cases have been warehoused at the National Visa Center (NVC) while awaiting interview scheduling at U.S. Embassies and Consulates abroad. Due to the high demand for visa interviews, most Consular posts have not been able to accommodate the majority of applicants who are still waiting for their appointments to be scheduled.
Unfortunately, the National Visa Center (NVC) is not able to forward cases to Embassies and Consulates until they have received confirmation that the post has available interview slots.
This is the case even if your case is documentarily qualified and even if your priority date is current on the Visa Bulletin. Your case cannot be forwarded to the Embassy or Consulate until they have confirmed that an interview slot is available for you.
On the other hand, if your case has not been documentarily qualified (meaning all documentation has been received by the NVC), or your priority date is not current on the Visa Bulletin, then your case will not be scheduled for an immigrant visa interview.
In this video, attorney Jacob Sapochnick provides a case study of an EB-1A graduate student researcher of extraordinary ability, filing an I-140 self-petition based on his outstanding achievements in cancer research and prevention.
Overview
What is the EB-1 preference category?
First, let’s discuss the EB-1 visa category. EB-1 is an employment-based, first preference immigrant visa category for aliens of extraordinary ability (EB-1A), outstanding professors, researchers (EB-1B), or certain types of multinational executive or managers (EB-1C). One of the major benefits of the EB-1 category is that it is a self-petition, meaning you do not need an employer to sponsor your petition. However, the subcategory for EB-1B researchers requires applicants to provide an offer of employment from their prospective U.S. employer, documentary evidence of their employer’s accomplishments, and evidence of employment of at least 3 full-time researchers. No labor certification is required for EB-1B.
Once the I-140 petition has been approved, applicants can proceed with filing their green card application in the United States or apply for an immigrant visa at a Consulate overseas.
For the purposes of this case study, we will be focusing on the EB-1A aliens of extraordinary ability and EB-1B category for outstanding researchers.
What are the criteria for an EB-1B researcher?
In order to qualify for the EB-1B subcategory, researchers must demonstrate international recognition for their outstanding achievements in a particular academic field.
Qualified candidates must have at least 3 years’ experience in their area of academic research. Researchers are also required to pursue tenure or tenure track teaching or a comparable research position at a university, institution of higher education, or private employer.
In this video, attorney Jacob Sapochnick provides an update regarding the recent increase in the Immigrant Visa backlogs, which grew to more than 21,000 additional cases in the month of February alone.
If you would like to know more about this important update, please keep on watching.
Did you Know? Every month the Department of State’s National Visa Center (NVC) publishes an Immigrant Visa Backlog report, which provides data and statistics relating to the current status of worldwide visa operations, including the number of documentarily complete immigrant visa cases currently at the National Visa Center waiting for interviews, the number of cases that were scheduled for interviews at the end of each month, and the number of immigrant visa cases still waiting to be scheduled for a visa interview after interview appointment scheduling was completed at the end of each month.
Overview
According to the National Visa Center’s Immigrant Visa Backlog Report for the month of February 2023, there has been a substantial increase in the immigrant visa (IV) backlog rising from 386,787 pending cases in January to 408,456 cases in February — nearly a 6% increaseamounting to a jump of 21,669 additional cases added to the backlog in just a one-month period.
Additionally, when comparing the January and February Immigrant Visa backlogs, we can see that the number of immigrant visa applicants whose cases were documentarily complete and therefore ready to be scheduled for an interview at Consulates and Embassies increased by 21,874 cases, from 422,954 (in January) to 444,828 (in February).
A case is considered documentarily complete by the National Visa Center, when the applicant has paid all necessary fees and submits all necessary documents to meet the formal visa application requirements, such that the case is ready to be scheduled for a visa interview. When a case becomes documentarily complete, the NVC sends applicants an email to notify them that their case is complete and pending scheduling at the local Consulate or Embassy.
Welcome back to the Immigration Lawyer Blog! In this video, attorney Jacob Sapochnick shares the most up to date information regarding the current status of U.S. visa services at U.S. Consulates and Embassies worldwide.
Many of our viewers have been asking us to provide a new update regarding visa operations in the year 2023. Here we provide a roundup of everything we know about this important topic.
Keep on watching to find out more.
Overview
As you might remember, the Department of State first suspended routine visa services at U.S. Consulates and Embassies worldwide during March of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Slowly, but surely, Embassies and Consulates began a phased resumption of routine visa services, scheduling visa interviews according to local country conditions.
Today, Coronavirus restrictions have been lifted worldwide. Approximately 96 percent of U.S. Embassies and Consulates are interviewing visa applicants, while processing nonimmigrant visa applications at 94 percent of pre-pandemic monthly averages, and immigrant visa applications at 130 percent.
In the past 12 months (through September 30, 2022), DOS reported processing 8 million non-immigrant visas. The agency expects to soon meet or exceed pre-pandemic visa processing capacity.
The waiver of in-person visa interviews for several key visa categories has been an important part of driving down the substantial visa backlogs. For instance, DOS has been waiving in-person interviews for many students and temporary workers integral to supply chains. In addition, applicants renewing nonimmigrant visas in the same classification within 48 months of their prior visa’s expiration can apply for visas without an in-person interview in their country of nationality or residence. This has dramatically reduced the wait time for an interview appointment at many Embassies and Consulates.
The State Department estimates that 30 percent of worldwide nonimmigrant visa applicants may be eligible for an interview waiver, freeing up in-person interview appointments for those applicants who still require an in-person interview.
In this video attorney Jacob Sapochnick, brings you the latest updates regarding the rates of immigrant and non-immigrant visa approvals at U.S. Consulates and Embassies worldwide.
The latest Immigrant and Non-immigrant Visa Issuance Reports recently published by the State Department demonstrate that both immigrant and non-immigrant visa approvals are increasing significantly, nearly returning to pre-pandemic visa processing levels.
If you want to know more just keep on watching.
Did you know? Every fiscal year, the Department of State releases the Immigrant and Non-immigrant Visa Issuance Reports which include important statistics and data relating to current immigrant and non-immigrant visa backlogs at U.S. Consulates and Embassies worldwide. The data includes information regarding the number of immigrant and non-immigrant visas being issued at each Consular post worldwide, and a complete breakdown of visa issuance numbers by visa category.
As we near the end of the month, attorney Jacob Sapochnick discusses the release of the February 2023 Visa Bulletin and the trends and projected movement you can expect to see in the family-sponsored and employment-based preference categories for the month of February.
If you are interested to know about the cutoff dates and visa availability for the upcoming Visa Bulletin, please keep on watching.
Did you know? Every month the Department of State releases the Visa Bulletin, which summarizes the availability of immigrant visa numbers for that particular month. The “Final Action Dates” and “Dates for Filing Applications,” charts indicate when immigrant visa applicants can assemble and submit the required documentation to the National Visa Center (for those residing overseas), or USCIS (for those residing in the United States).
The primary purpose of the Visa bulletin is to provide an updated waiting list for immigrants that are subject to the numerical visa quota system.
Overview
USCIS Adjustment of Status Filing Charts for the February Visa Bulletin (for those residing in the USA)
To be eligible to file a family or employment-based adjustment of status application in the month of February (for those residing inside the United States), foreign nationals must have a priority date that is earlier than the date listed below for their preference category and country.
Immigration Lawyer Blog
