Managing Partner Michael Wildes was recently quoted in a Wall Street Journal posting regarding the recent revisions for visa application dates published by the State Department in their monthly Visa Bulletin.
As the article explains and Michael Wildes articulated, “under the new system announced in September—which uses two different dates to set the waiting list that decides who gets to apply for a green card—Indians holding H-1B visas may be able to apply up to six months earlier than under the previous system.”
In Michael’s opinion, the split into two dates on the Visa Bulletin is a good thing because in the long run, people will be able to get the benefits of filing an I-485 sooner and between Immigration Services and the State Department, a more reasonable estimate of how many immigrant visas are really being used will be identified.
The unfortunate issue is that State Department originally overestimated the filing cut-off date, and had to roll it back a few weeks later, which resulted in many people believing they were finally going to be able to file their applications for permanent residence, and going to the expense and effort of preparing the applications (including undergoing costly medical examinations) and then being told they would have to wait.
For more information on the revisions to the Visa Bulletin, please click here.
To view the entire text of the Wall Street Journal article, entitled How Are H-1B Holders Affected by the U.S. Green Card Application Flip Flop?, please click here.
