
Full Answer
Will USCIS be able to use all or most of spillover?
The State department’s Charles Oppenheim is regularly moving the Visa bulletin ahead hoping that USCIS will be able to use all or most of the spillover. We do not know if USCIS and DOS are talking to each other on monthly updates with respect to how much they can achieve by Sep 2021 end.
Should family based spill over of unused green cards be allowed?
If the family based spill over is allowed, employment based visa holders most of whom are Indians in a green card backlog would have stood a chance to use these unused green cards. Now like any other bill, this bill too has to be passed by the full House and the Senate for it to become a law.
Is USCIS on the way to waste most of its i485 spillover?
Visa bulletin predictions July 2021 David Bier from the CATO institute has projected that USCIS might be on the way to waste most of the Oct 2020 spillover if not all, based on their Oct-Dec 2020 i485 processing data.
How often does the Department of State give out EB visa numbers?
The Department of State can technically give all the available EB Visa on the First Day of Fiscal Year (Oct 1) or Release the visa numbers as requested by USCIS every month or every quarter. The Department of State doesn’t know, how many Visa numbers would be requested by USCIS.

How many family based visas are issued each year?
226,000Family-sponsored preference visas. There are 226,000 green cards reserved each year for other categories of relatives.
How many family based visas are there?
To ensure that family visas are not issued just to immediate relatives, immigration law requires that at least 226,000family visas be allocated through the family preference categories. About 40 percent of the family preference visas are issued to the spouses and minor children of LPRs.
How many green cards issued 2022?
280,000 greens cardsUnder immense pressure USCIS has to issue 280,000 greens cards before the end of their FY 2022.
How many families get green card each year?
226,000 familyEach year, a total of 226,000 family-based green cards are issued to applicants from different countries. While this might sound like a large number, the volume of people seeking green cards annually is often much higher.
How long does family based immigration take?
Green cards for parents of U.S. citizens For parents of U.S. citizens, the process usually takes 10-13 months. Like for spouses of U.S. citizens, there is no limit on the number of green cards. Therefore, you can generally get a green card based on your parent relationship within one year.
How many marriage based green cards are issued each year?
114,200 visas are issued annually and up to 77% of the family-based green cards for the category usually go to the spouses and children.
Will USCIS speed up 2022?
USCIS Extends Premium-Processing to Certain Pending Immigrant Petitions. On May 24, 2022, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced an expansion of premium processing service to two additional categories of Form I-140 immigrant petitions.
How long is the green card process in 2022?
Paying a $2,500 fee could cut this wait to “only” 2 years and 5 months. The government has added nearly 16 months to the average green card process since 2016, with more than a year added in 2021 and 2022 alone.
How long does it take to get a green card 2022?
7 to 33 monthsIt takes 7 to 33 months to process a Green Card application. The Green Card processing time depends on the type of Green Card you are applying for, the location of the processing office and other factors. Family Preference Green Cards processing takes from 1 to 10 years depending on the wait time and yearly caps.
How many green cards wasted 2021?
Despite about 1.4 million immigrants waiting for an employment‐based green card in 2021, the government only used 195,507 of the 262,288 available green card numbers, wasting 66,781 green cards.
Why is USCIS taking so long 2022?
The reasons for these delays are twofold: (1) the COVID19 pandemic impacted the efficiency and productivity of USCIS and all government functions, including mail delivery, and (2) the Trump Administration delayed processing of visa petitions as a way to reduce the number of legal immigrants entering the United States.
How long does it take to get a green card for parents 2022?
While every case is different and processing times may vary depending on the circumstances, the citizen's parents should receive their Green Card in 12 – 15 months.
What are the types of family visa?
Family and partner visasAdoption visa (subclass 102)Aged Dependent Relative visa (subclass 114)Aged Dependent Relative visa (subclass 838)Aged Parent visa (subclass 804)Carer visa (subclass 836)Carer visa (subclass 116)Child visa (subclass 101)Child visa (subclass 802)More items...•
What are family visas?
Family-based visas (FB) are an immigrant visa category where a U.S. citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR) petitions for a relative for immigration to the United States.
Who qualifies for family visa?
Family Based Immigration To be eligible to apply for an IV, a foreign citizen must be sponsored by an immediate relative who is at least 21 years of age and is either a U.S. citizen or U.S. Lawful Permanent Resident (that is, a green-card holder).
What are the two categories of family based immigration?
All family-based immigrants fall into one of two major categories, immediate relative or family preference.
When will the 2020 unemployment spillover be available?
However, as they say there is a silver lining in every cloud, the other news is that the current spill over of no less than 122,000 received in the employment based category in October 2020 for fiscal year 2021 should be made available in September 2021.
What is the Homeland Security Funding Bill 2022?
The House Appropriations Committee approved on July 13 Fiscal Year 2022 Homeland Security Funding Bill, including an amendment to preserve green card numbers for employment-based, family-based and diversity visa lottery. Now how this affects Indians is that this would simply mean that Indian employment based visa holders will lose the benefit ...
Will there be a spill over for family green cards in 2020?
Back in 2020 too there was an attempt to hold back the family based green cards spill overs to go to the employment-based category, but this could not get a go ahead in the Senate leading to an eventual spill over.
Will there be a green card for illegal immigrants in 2021?
Read: Supreme Court says no green cards for illegal immigrants (June 8, 2021) Due to the heavy backlog, India continues to be the most retrogressive country and therefore this spill over, if allowed, could have been good news for Indians waiting for green cards.
Can Indians block Americans from hiring?
They can be hired only when no one is available from local areas. So no way Indians can block Americans from hiring.
Can you have your family with you after getting a green card?
So after you get the green card using the number from Families don’t complain that you can’t have your family with you….just wait and wait . Leave the unused family visa to families is fair don’t be selfish , one day you would need to have your beloved with you …
How many visas were issued in 2017 for EB4?
So, EB4 had a maximum of 9,940 for FY 2017. But, only 8,997 was issued. S0, unused 943 visas from EB4 would spill over to EB1.
What is the total available with spill over from EB1?
Total Available with Spill Over from EB1 = 40,040 + 0 = 40,040
How much is the total spill over from EB2 ROW to EB2 India?
Total Spill Over from EB2 ROW to EB2 India = 2,879 – 2,803 = 76
What is EB4 in immigration?
EB4 is for Religious Workers and EB5 is for Immigration through Investment (1 Million Dollars or $500,000 in certain areas).
Does USCIS know how many visas are released?
USCIS doesn’t know how many visas would be released by DOS. To better control the demand, DOS introduced Final action Dates and Filing Dates for I-485 to figure out the Visa Demand. So, USCIS would know in advance how many applicants would file for I-485.
Which countries are affected by the I-485?
If you look at I-485 Inventory data, there are four countries (India, China, Mexico and Philippines) that are typically impacted by backlogs (more applicants than available Green Cards Cap per country). Since, there’s not enough applicants from other counties, we have another Category of Country – Rest of the World (ROW).
Is there a spill over from EB1 to EB2?
There’s no spill over from EB1 to EB2 ROW and EB2 ROW to EB2 India.
How many IVs were issued in 2019?
To get a sense of the dramatic decrease in overall IV issuances resulting from the pandemic, in July 2019, consular posts issued a total of 39,568 IVs (across all categories, including DV and immediate relatives) in contrast to only 4,412 issued in July 2020.
Is the INA a high priority for FY21?
For FY21, the allocation of employment-based visa numbers is expected to be unprecedentedly high. This is because the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) requires unused family-based visa numbers from the immediate prior fiscal year to be added to the employment-based allocation (and vice versa ).
Is USCIS processing capacity curtailed?
Despite its budgetary challenges, to date USCIS’s processing capacity has not been significantly curtailed by the pandemic, we expect that the infusion of additional IV numbers into the employment-based categories will likely result in significant advancement in all of the employment-based categories, perhaps with the exception of EB-5, due to the factors discussed above.
Visa Bulletin Final Action Dates
The lists below are updated annually. Please refer to the Visa Bulletin page for final action dates established during the current fiscal year or the archive section on that same page for past Visa Bulletins.
Multi-Year Reports
For more multi-year reports, please select a Report of the Visa Office.
What is the best case scenario for USCIS?
The average scenario is when USCIS will not use at least 25% of green cards. The worst case is when USCIS will lose 50% of Green card numbers forever. India. Final Action.
How long is the waiting period for EB2?
The average waiting time for anyone already in the EB2 Indian queue at least 20 years if their GC date is before Dec 2012 if you ignore the spillover that happened in Oct 2020.
How long should EB2 and EB3 stay close to each other?
If we go by this logic, both EB2 and EB3 should stay close to each other within 3 months’ difference.
How many green cards does India have in EB2?
If we look at the last couple of year’s data, the EB1 India itself is backlogged thereby leaving EB2 India with just the basic quota of 2,879 green cards per year.
What are the extra green cards for EB1?
EB4 and EB5 extra green cards are given to EB1.
When will the DOF chart close for EB2?
EB2 and EB3 ‘Date of filing’ dates should stay the same and USCIS will most probably keep the ‘DOF filing’ chart closed until Sep 2022.
What percentage of green cards does USCIS waste?
Best case means USCIS wastes only less than 10% of Green card numbers. The average scenario is when USCIS will not use at least 25% of green cards.
Why is Greg Siskind filing a lawsuit?
The good news is that Greg Siskind and his team with @ckuck are ready to file a lawsuit to avoid this wastage of Green cards just because USCIS does not have the capacity to process them within the given timelines. Our opinion on whether you should join the Green card lawsuit or not.
How many green cards will be available in 2021?
The total number of employment-based green cards available for the fiscal year 2021 is about 262,000 and USCIS has only used 45,381 in 6 months. Going by this rate, USCIS may not only waste the complete spillover of 122k but will also not be able to use the normal 140k GCs.
Why is USCIS wasteing more than 100k green cards?
Charles Oppenheim has shared in his Aug 2021 video chat that USCIS is on track to waste more than 100k Green card numbers due to limited i485 processing capacity.
How much of the GCs will USCIS waste?
We hope that this is true and if it is in sync with the visa bulletin trend, it is possible that USCIS reaches their target by year-end may only waste about 10-20% of the GCs if not all.
What happens if USCIS doesn't use GC numbers?
As per the law, if USCIS does not use up all GC numbers, they will be wasted and may trigger the slow or retrogression of VB dates for Indians pretty soon.
Does USCIS approve I-485?
Well, some attorneys including Emily Neumann from RN Law firm believe that USCIS usually approves more i-485 in the second half of the year than what they do in the first half. They have shared this opinion in their weekly video chats that they host on their YouTube channel.
Is there a correlation between the monthly visa bulletin and the number of i485 approvals?
Nobody knows but we found a strange correlation between the monthly visa bulletin and the number of i485 approvals between the first two quarters.
