Category: DOS
Some users are reporting problems with the new 9 FAM-e, which replaced the legacy Volume 9 of the Foreign Affairs Manual (9 FAM) on November 18, 2015, and is the “authoritative source for visa guidance,” according to the Department of State’s (DOS) December 2015 Visa Bulletin. DOS developed crosswalk tables correlating old citations with new,… Read More
The Department of State’s Visa Bulletin for December 2015 includes information on visa number availability in the coming months. For the employment fourth preference (certain religious workers) category, the bulletin notes that the non-minister special immigrant (SR) program expires on December 11, 2015. No SR visas may be issued overseas, or final action taken on… Read More
On November 18, 2015, the Department of State (DOS) will replace the legacy Volume 9 of the Foreign Affairs Manual (9 FAM) with the 9 FAM-e. The 9 FAM-e will become the authoritative source for visa guidance. DOS said the new 9 FAM-e represents the revision and reorganization of more than 4,000 pages of the… Read More
On September 24, 2015, the Department of State issued an update that supersedes the previously released October Visa Bulletin. By moving many filing dates back, the update radically changed the recently announced benefit offered by a revised procedure for determining immigrant visa availability and filing adjustment of status applications. The revised process allows foreign nationals… Read More
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), in coordination with the Department of State (DOS), is revising the procedures for determining visa availability for applicants waiting to file for employment-based or family-sponsored adjustment of status. Applicants will be able to file adjustment applications before their priority dates become current, based on a new second chart in the Visa Bulletin listing when adjustment applications can be filed. This change is expected to be particularly significant for Chinese (EB-2), Indian (EB-2), and Philippines (EB-3) applicants, who have experienced large backlogs.