Posted on 06/18/2007 12:42:57 PM PDT by doc30
Is the U.S. set to grant employment based green cards to everyone who has been waiting to apply for the passt several years?
As some of you may know, I'm in the middle of the legal immigration process to the U.S. for the past several years. Everything has been going properly and I've been very patient, paying the expensive fees and making sure everything is done properly.
At www.uscis.gov, the case processing times can be monitored. Every month, the application dates currently being processed were advancing and for some of my paperwork (the permission to travel documents and the work authorization documents), the difference in dates were only a few weeks. The actual 'green card' was still about a year away.
I look today, and many of the dates have been pushed back over a year! But the 'green card' processing went from over a year away for me, to about 6 weeks! You can see it here at USCIS processing times and scroll down and see the line for I-485. That's the form for permanent residency based on employment. All of the backlogged green card applications now about to be processed and mine is anticipated in about 6 weeks.
Here's my point. There were tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of applications backlogging the system. In one month the backlog is gone and all the people waiting for years are about to get their green cards?
I checked the current visa bulletin at here and there are no employment backlogs anymore!
Being cynical, I looked at the Dept. of State's archives. The previous bulletin, from just one month ago, is here and it clearly shows a backlog of several years in certain cases!
Here is what I think. Reading the government websites, it was explained that the numerical limits of the past years were never really met and everyone now waiting can apply and will get approved in a couple of months. In other words, fewer green cards based on employment were issued than should have been and now everyone can apply!
Could this be some back door way to avoid having to increase the temporary immigration H1B visa numerical limits by fudging permanent immigration visa numbers? Can't bring in temporary workers so bring in permanent ones?
There has to be more to this than that. The new immigration fees are set to kick in. Did that play a role? And there is the pending amnesty bill that won't go away. Could someone be pushing everyone through the current immigration line in order to make room for all the illegals set to enter the system?
I will admit I'm a bit jaded by the amnesty proposals. Plus it's frustrating to play by the rules and, just before it's all done, the system gets turned upside down!
Real Simple. They outsourced these jobs to the Clinton Facility in India. The people of India sub contracted it to us here in Mexico, and we get passports done in our offices in 6 hours. Why does it take the USA so long. ! Hurry up and catch up with the rest of us.
ping
Something smells about this doc30.
Bump and thank you for doing it the RIGHT way.
My wife also did and has been a citizen for about 10 years now.
Wonder how many AQs were/are caught up in the backlog?
“Could someone be pushing everyone through the current immigration line in order to make room for all the illegals set to enter the system?”
If they can check/verify an illegal in 24 hours, they can do anything. LOL!
Congratulations on an excellent piece of research. Of course it is being manipulated in the light of current events. I would like to know who handed down the orders for this to happen.
That's why I posted it. I'm not too worried about it personally. I can have my current, temporary visa extended so I'm not too worried about having my career messed up by changes in processing. But it does impact my family's ability to travel and when my wife will be able to get employment authorization.
When the labor certification was submitted, the system was changed 2 weeks later. What normally would take 6 months became a 2 year wait. Now, with just 6 weeks before our EAD's and Advancecd Parole were to be issued, the dates get pused back by months and years! But I cannot believe that the permanent residency status could be granted that much more quickly!
Unless they are pulling everyone off of those other tasks and are just focusing on getting green cards done. After all, with a green card, you don't need the other documents.
ping
Thanks! It is definitely teaching me patience. But then I hear stories about how all current applications will have to be resubmitted along with the illegals in the new merit based system. That would really upset me!
On the other hand, this is a good thing, because there was no reason for the government to take years to do this work (I mean it wasn’t in the law that it had to take this long).
Part of the illegal immigrant problem was that it took the government too long to process legal requests. Part of the solution should be to hire more workers and process every legal request in a timely manner.
I noticed somethiong similar. The employment based categories were listed separately and had different procesing times. Now, all the employment categories are lumped in together. Something is going on.
My employer started my application, November 2001...
My wife and I received our greencards JUNE 2005...
“they” better hurry and get productive - you bet. Either
the door is going to be torn off its hinge forever or it
will shut with a sound that will be heard around the world.
If the amnesty passes all of the “in the queue” processees
will have an enormous incentive to tear up their papers and
declare themselves illegals eligible for amnesty. No need
for that huge staff to handle the legal queue.
If the amnesty doesn’t pass there is a good chance that the
Tanc’s moratorium will be strongly considered and that means
the door will shut. No need for that huge staff to handle
the legal queue.
Classic bureaucrats seeing their own jobs in dire straights.
EB2 or EB3?
It’s a blur when mine started. First, I was switched to H1B. Then they decided not to file for a few years because of a soft labor market. Then filed the LC in 2005 under RIR, which typically took 6 months, but that got shoved to a backlog reduction center for 2 years. Finally applied, I140 and I485 concurrently under EB2 because there are always visa numbers available. Now, it looks like they are lumping everyone together. I hate being close to done and then some stupid cr@p like this happens that pushes everyting back.
Are they handing out entrance visas etc without further processing?
Skipping parts small or big of the processing of certain documents..just stamping Y’OK without further checking?
I immigrated here in 1971 and nothing was speeded up for me ...every part takes time...
The only way to suddenly overnight bring to completition the processing procedure of 100s of 1000s of applicants, would have to be the introducation of illegal shortcuts which would go against Homeland Security provisions....
While you and youir family are qualified to enter the US and do not plan to engage in terrorist activity, how many of the other applicants who burst through this suddenly opened and wide door would normally have been turned down?
The decrease in processing time from years to months is too immediate to be other than suspicious and questionable...
And of course the much needed time is now freed up and ready for the over-night processing of 25,000,000 illeghal aliens...
BTW Welcome to America We are glad y’all are here....
no need to become illegal for immigration benefits. The current amnesty plan has a cut off date. If your application was after 2005, you will be asked to resubmit under the new system, along with all the illegals. Can't have the illegals waiting behind us legal applicants. That would not be fair!
Non immigrant alien under NAFTA, changed status to immigrant alien then immediately submitted I-485, all done in one shot early 2005... green card quickly issued after wards...
Just odd that it took so long and then BAM everything was completed at once.
Weird how they operate sometimes.
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