published October 2, 2015
The generous new provisions included in the most recent U.S. Department of State Visa Bulletin, per President Obama’s previous Executive Order, have been rolled back a bit. The most recent visa bulletin – for October, 2015, which included new sections to allow for earlier filing opportunities to qualified permanent resident applicants living in the U.S., still includes the new sections, although they are just a bit less generous and with a smaller pool of applicants benefiting. This reversal of generosity has caused quite a stir among various immigrant communities in the U.S., particularly those living in the U.S. on temporary work visas and whose employment based green card eligibility have been negatively impacted. Whether the community outcry and even a class action lawsuit will lead to a change in policy and restoration of the original plan remains to be seen. Any further changes to this policy will continue to be featured in this column.
While the actual visa availability cut off dates remain the same, its the “advance” cut off dates for employment based applicants which allow for earlier work based adjustment of status filing eligibility that have been pared back. Revised visa bulletin with new cut off dates can be found here:
http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/law-and-policy/bulletin/2016/visa-bulletin-for-october-2015.html
PUBLISHED October 2, 2015– “IMMIGRATION LAW FORUM” Copyright © 2015, By Law Offices of Richard Hanus, Chicago, Illinois