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Immigration News Flash
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January 2007
Visa Retrogression - What Lies Ahead?
The February 2007 visa bulletin was
released last week and much to the dismay of thousands of
employment-based (EB) immigrant visa applicants waiting for
their priority date to become current, the visa numbers did not
advance in any of the EB categories - not even by one day. The
Department of State offered no explanation or forecast for
future visa number activity for the employment-based visa
numbers. While this does not provide much hope for applicants
waiting to file the final step in the long road to permanent
residence, there may be some relief in the future. One of the
debates that will hit the floor once again in 110th Congress is
the increase of available visa numbers for employment-based
cases and the applicants' dependents. If
successful, we look forward to fewer backlogs
and increased movement in the numbers. The current
backlog in the India 3rd preference category
is so severe it has been stuck at May 2001 since October
2006. While we are hopeful for
Comprehensive Immigration reform including relief
in immigrant visa numbers, there is still a lot of work ahead
for Congress. If this
and other immigration reform measures are not passed in this
Congress, it is not likely that the issue will hit the floor
again until after the 2008 elections.
Greenberg Traurig is at the
forefront of immigration reform and will provide further updates
as they
become available.
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