NEW VISA BULLETIN PROVIDES FASTER VISAS AND AOS PROCEDURES
Author: New York Immigration Lawyer Alena Shautsova
There are new changes to the most complicated and slowest immigration process in employment and family preferences categories : the Department of State and Immigration authorities are revising the way Immigrant visas are counted and the timing when one can file his/her applications for the visas.
From now on, the visa bulletin will provide for two different dates:
- Dates for Filing Applications (earliest dates when applicants may be able to apply); and
- Application Final Action Dates (dates when visas may finally be issued).
The significance of the new changes will primarily affect those who are in the U.S. waiting to file an application for adjustment of status. An applicant for adjustment of status may also submit (with no additional charge) an application for employment authorization. In addition, often such applicants may submit an application for a travel permit, and plus, when the adjustment of status application is pending , the applicant is considered to be “legal.”
Here is a reference to the USCIS clarifications regarding the new procedure: http://www.uscis.gov/visabulletininfo.
Simple comparison of the charts of October 2015 visa bulletin reveals that in average an applicant in a preference family category will be able to apply for adjustment of status, approximately a year earlier than previously.
The most important issue here is the implementation of the new rule, and hopefully, absence of new lawsuits against its makers…