Visa Retrogression for Most Family Sponsored Preferences in January 2011

The Department of State had recently released the Visa Bulletin for January 2011. Unfortunately, for many Petitioners and Beneficiaries who had been waiting to be reunited with their families, the new year brings about additional waiting.

As seen this month, December 2010, there were only two family based categories affected by visa retrogression, 3rd and 4th preference. However, for January 2011, all other preference categories (1, 2A, 2B, and 3) will be affected. As for the 4th preference, there was no movement from December 2010 to January 2011 for all chargeability.

For example: Family Sponsored Preference - 1st Category (Unmarried Sons and Daughters of Citizens)

All Chargeability: January 01, 2005 compared to February 15, 2006 in December 2010.

China: January 01, 2005 compared to February 15, 2006 in December 2010.

Dominican Republic: January 01, 2005 compared to June 01, 2004 in December 2010. ***No retrogression***

India: January 01, 2005 compared to February 15, 2006 in December 2010.

Mexico: January 08, 1993 compared to January 01, 1993. ***No retrogression***

Philippines: June 01, 1994 compared to April 01, 1997 in December 2010.

Below is the complete January 2011 Visa Bulletin as posted by the Department of State.

Family All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed CHINA-mainland born DOMINICAN REPUBLIC INDIA MEXICO PHILIPPINES
1st 01JAN05 01JAN05 01JAN05 01JAN05 08JAN93 01JUN94
2A 01JAN08 01JAN08 01JAN08 01JAN08 01APR05 01JAN08
2B 15APR03 15APR03 01MAR02 15APR03 22JUN92 15MAY99
3rd 01JAN01 01JAN01 01JAN01 01JAN01 22OCT92 22OCT91
4th 01JAN02 01JAN02 01JAN02 01JAN02 22DEC95 01JAN88


Employment- Based

All Chargeability Areas Except Those Listed

 CHINA- mainland born DOMINICAN REPUBLIC INDIA MEXICO PHILIPPINES
1st C C C C C C
2nd C 22JUN06 C 08MAY06 C C
3rd 22MAR05 15DEC03 22MAR05 01FEB02 15APR03 22MAR05
Other Workers 22APR03 22APR03 22APR03 01FEB02 15APR03 22APR03
4th C C C C C C
Certain Religious Workers C C C C C C
5th C C C C C C
Targeted Employment Areas/ Regional Centers C C C C C C
5th Pilot Programs C C C C C C

If you have additional questions or need help with the processing of an immigrant visa petition, please do not hesitate to contact our office.

Bagon Law Firm
21550 Oxnard Street, 3rd Floor
Woodland Hills, CA 91367
Tel.: (818) 224-6632
Fax: (888) 589-0804

Popular posts from this blog

USCIS PREDICTS 2014 H-1B CAP TO BE FILLED BY APRIL 5, 2013.

WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on March 15, 2013 that it will begin accepting H-1B petitions subject to the Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 cap on Monday, April 1, 2013. Cases will be considered accepted on the date that USCIS receives a properly filed petition for which the correct fee has been submitted; not the date that the petition is postmarked. The cap (the numerical limitation on H-1B petitions) for FY 2014 is 65,000. In addition, the first 20,000 H-1B petitions filed on behalf of individuals with U.S. master’s degree or higher are exempt from the fiscal year cap of 65,000. Based on feedback from a number of stakeholders, USCIS anticipates that it may receive more petitions than the H-1B cap between April 1, 2013 and April 5, 2013 .  USCIS will monitor the number of petitions received and notify the public of the date on which the numerical limit of the H-1B cap has been met. This date is known as the final receipt date.  I...
Read more

Visa Processing Fees to Change on April 13, 2012

Effective April 13, 2012, the Department of State will adjust visa processing fees. The fees for most nonimmigrant visa applications and Border Crossing Cards will increase, while all immigrant visa processing fees will decrease. The Department is required to recover, as far as possible, the cost of processing visas through the collection of application fees. For a number of reasons, the current fees no longer cover the actual cost of processing nonimmigrant visas. The nonimmigrant visa fee increase will support the addition and expansion of overseas facilities, as well as additional staffing required to meet increased visa demand. Although most categories of nonimmigrant visa processing fees will increase, the fee for E visas (treaty-traders and treaty-investors) and K visas (for fiancé(e)s of U.S. citizens) will decrease. Nonimmigrant Visa Processing Fees Type of Visa Previous Fee New Fee Tourist, Business, Transit,...
Read more

Changes to Stand-Alone I-130 Filing Locations

USCIS Announces Changes to Stand-Alone I-130 Filing Locations Published Dec. 23, 2011; revised Jan. 1, 2012 WASHINGTON – On January 1, 2012, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) changed the filing locations for Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative.  Domestic petitioners will now mail their stand-alone I-130 applications to either the Chicago Lockbox or the Phoenix Lockbox, depending on their residence in the United States.  Updated filing addresses are available at this link: Form I-130 Direct Filing Locations .  This effort will balance workloads between the two locations and provide more efficient and effective processing of Form I-130.  There will be no change in filing locations when submitting Form I-130 along with Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status. Individuals filing these forms together will continue to mail them to the Chicago Lockbox facility. Petitioners filing from overseas addresses...
Read more