Category: Visas
President Barack Obama has ordered a review of the K-1 fiancé(e) visa program in response to terrorism concerns following the mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, that killed 14 people and injured many others on December 2, 2015. A husband-and-wife team launched the attack following the wife’s admission to the United States several years ago… 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.
The Department of State’s Visa Bulletin for August 2015 (PDF) reported an “extremely large increase” in applicant demand that has resulted in retrogressions in the China-mainland born employment-based third preference (EB-3) and “Other Workers” categories, to June 1, 2004, and January 1, 2004, respectively. The Visa Office said that “[e]very effort will be made to… Read More
Last week The Department of State announced that they were experiencing technical difficulties with its visa system, which caused many applicants to experience appointment delays and an inability to receive visas. The Bureau of Consular Affairs stated Tuesday that the database which is responsible for these problems has been rebuilt. More than two-thirds of posts… Read More
The Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs reported on June 12, 2015, technical problems with overseas passport and visa systems. The issue was not specific to any particular country, citizenship document, or visa category. The Bureau reported that it was “working urgently to correct the problems” in the Consular Consolidated Database (CCD) “and restore… Read More