Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 13
Attorneys analysis
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Here is what my attorney has sent regarding the AILA release, i dont know whether to believe him or other attorneys, i think i have no choice but to go with what my attorney says.He has been really good in these kinds ofnotices for the past 3 plus years, hope he is correct even with this.
1)There is no way that USCIS would get away with shutting down filing of EB-1, EB-2 and EB-3 Adjustment filings without a massive class action lawsuit against the agency;
2)The power to determine the availability or non-availability of permanent residence visa numbers rests solely with the Department of State. USCIS rejected the “Other Worker” Adjustments based upon a notice from the Department of State that there were no longer any visa numbers for the category. I recently attended our annual AILA immigration conference and there were members in attendance who had interviewed the Department of State official who sets the priority dates. The understanding was unequivocal that the Department of State office felt the numbers would remain available throughout July, and perhaps, as late as September;
3)At this time, there are 40,000 immigrant visa numbers available for the rest of the fiscal year. This means that in order for the Department of State to issue any kind of notice to USCIS, 40,000 permanent residence petitions would have to be APPROVED prior to the end of July. I am highlighting the word approved, because I need for all of my clients to understand that between June and July, there will a lot more than 40,000 Adjustments filed. However, what determines an immigrant visa number usage is the approval of a permanent residence.
Now let’s go back to simple math: there are 140,000 immigrant visas available per fiscal year. 40,000 visa numbers are available at this time. The fiscal year runs from October 1st through September 30th. That means that in the first 9 months of the fiscal year, the Department of State and USCIS have managed to approve 100,000, which turns out to be 11,111 petitions per month. There is no possible way that USCIS and the Department of State are going to approve almost 4 times the number of permanent residencies in the month of July. The agencies do not have the time, nor do they have the manpower to approve 40,000 petitions within the next 30 days or so. That is the very reason why the Department of State official solely responsible for the priority dates felt pretty good about the availability of visa numbers throughout the month of July when he spoke to my colleagues from AILA.
To be honest with all of you, I was really disappointed in the message from AILA. In the rush to “inform,” they forgot to pause, analyze and really discuss the true possibility that USCIS would be directed by the Department of State to halt receipt of Adjustment of Status petitions. I want my clients to know this: at this point, I am not worried that the visa numbers will not be available throughout July. If I were worried, I would let you know. My responsibility is to guide you through this process and if there is any genuine worry on my part, I will let you know IMMEDIATELY.