Category: Processing Times

The Department of State’s Visa Bulletin for February 2015 notes that movement is possible in some employment-based categories in the coming months. In the employment-based “Worldwide” third preference category, the Visa Office expects rapid forward movement “for at least another month or two.” The bulletin notes that rapid movement in recent months is expected to… Read More

The Department of State recently sent a cable to all diplomatic and consular posts providing guidance and describing the timeline for deployment of the new electronic DS-260 (Immigrant Visa Application) and DS-261 (Choice of Address and Agent), which replaces the paper-based DS-230 (Application for Immigrant Visa Registration, parts I and II) and the DS-3032 (Choice… Read More

The India second preference cut-off date has advanced by more than three years, to January 1, 2008. In July, it stood at September 1, 2004. The Department of State’s Visa Bulletin for August 2013 notes that the advance is in an effort to fully use the numbers available under the overall employment second preference annual… Read More

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has expanded the services available via its e-Request system. The Web-based tool allows users to ask about applications and petitions submitted to USCIS. Users can now: Create a service request for all forms to either inquire about the status of an application or petition if it is outside of… Read More

The Department of State’s Visa Office released projections for the next several months in its Visa Bulletin for December 2012. Among other things, it appears likely that a cut-off date will need to be established for the China employment fifth preference category during the second half of fiscal year 2013, the Visa Office said, noting… Read More