Employment-Based ( EB ) Immigrant Visa Numbers for June 2012

Processing time for employment-based lawful permanent residence (green card) preference category cases (EB cases) are tied to immigrant visa number availability.  Immigrant visa numbers can retrogress (take much longer than the government’s previously estimated processing time).  The wait time for an immigrant visa number for an employment-based case is determined by a case’s priority date, the employment-based preference category (EB category) and the foreign national beneficiary’s country of birth (not nationality).  A priority date is the date of filing a case (such as the date of filing a PERM or an I-140 Immigrant Petition).  The types of EB cases include extraordinary ability, outstanding professor and researcher, multinational executive and manager, exceptional ability, national interest waiver, PERM labor certification, and others.

On May 8, 2012, the U.S. Department of States issued the latest summary of immigrant visa number availability in its Visa Bulletin June 2012.   In June 2012, immigrant visa numbers are available for employment-based green card preference category 2 for foreign nationals of all country of birth other than India or China (no visa numbers available for China or India).   The cut-off priority dates for EB preference category 3 is August 8, 2005 (China), September 15, 2002 (India), May 22, 2006 (Philippines), and June 8, 2006 (Mexico and all other country of birth).

For more information on the immigrant visa number (especially June 2012), please visit the immigrant visa bulletin website of U.S. Department of States at

http://www.travel.state.gov/visa/bulletin/bulletin_5712.html .

By Aik Wan Kok Fillali, Attorney at Law, at Tiya; Tel: 703-772-8224 & koka at tiyalaw dot com

www.tiyaimmigration.com ; http://tiyalaw.blogspot.com ; www.immigrationresource.net  .

We represent employers, and individuals and their families in green card and all work visa matters in U.S. immigration law. We also have a focus on self-petition green card cases such as extraordinary ability and national interest waiver.

All Rights Reserved.

This article is intended for informational purposes only, and should not be relied on as a legal advice or an attorney-client relationship.

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