2015 Old Blog

The U.S. Department of State (DOS) released its January 2016 Visa Bulletin highlighting the processing dates for employment- and family-based green card applications. The format of the bulletin recently changed. Each month the DOS will publish the updated Visa Bulletin and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will issue a subsequent announcement one week later, informing foreign nationals if they may use the Dates for Visa Application charts or not. For more information, read Introducing the new Visa Bulletin.

The U.S. Department of State (DOS) released its December 2015 Visa Bulletin. However, the format of the bulletin has recently changed. Going forward, the DOS will publish the updated Visa Bulletin each month, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will issue a subsequent announcement one week later, informing foreign nationals if they may use the Dates for Visa Application charts or not. For more information, read Introducing the new Visa Bulletin.

Update: In response to the 5^th Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision to uphold the expanded DACA/DAPA injunction, on November 20, the Obama administration appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. The following Monday, Texas asked the Supreme Court for a 30-day extension to respond to the appeal (a request that has subsequently been filed by 25 other states), but the court granted the states only an eight-day delay. As a result, the justices will determine whether or not to take the case in January — keeping the case on track to be resolved by June, Politico reports.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) implemented an additional step to the green card process. Beginning with the November 2015 Visa Bulletin, if there are more immigrant visas available for the fiscal year than known applicants, USCIS will issue an update. It will inform applicants that they may use the Dates for Filing Visa Applications chart to ascertain if they may file Form I-485 (Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status). This determination will be published one week after the Department of State (DOS) releases the Visa Bulletin.

Note: The October Visa Bulletin was revised on Sept. 25 by the U.S. Department of State. As a result of this unforeseen change, some employment-based green card petitioners no longer have a "current" application filing date and can't file Form I-485 (Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status) in October. Review the "Dates for Filing of Employment-Based Visa Applications" table to view the changes, displayed in bold.

Due to the long wait times faced by many foreign nationals seeking legal permanent residency, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has revised its procedure for determining visa availability. Beginning in October, USCIS will start accepting Form I-485 (Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status) from foreign nationals with an approved I-140 (Immigrant Petition) application to apply for their green card sooner than previously allowed.

The U.S. Department of State's (DOS) September 2015 Visa Bulletin has been released. For updated family and employment-based green card processing times, view the following charts.

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) received over 99% of the 2,600 employment authorization document (EAD) cards that were incorrectly sent to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients early this year.

The August 2015 Visa Bulletin is now live. For updated family- and employment-based green card processing times, view the charts below.

United States Immigration and Citizenship Services (USCIS) recently updated the naturalization test, which legal permanent residents must pass in order to obtain U.S. citizenship. To help you prepare, we’ve identified the top 10 things you need to know about the new naturalization test.