John Valdez’s Legal Blog

I am often asked by potential clients: “When should I start the green card process”?  My usual answer is the sooner the better.  Filing for an immigrant visa or labor certification will establish a priority date, which will in turn establish your place in line for a visa, if one is not currently available under the Department of State Visa Bulletin.  If you would like information about how the Visa Bulletin works, you can check my earlier blog on the subject. 

Today, the Department of Labor issued its July Visa Bulletin.  The news wasn’t too good for the employment-based third preference category, for skilled workers and professionals.  This category went from a priority date of March 1, 2006 to “unavailable.”  The term unavailable means there are no more available immigrant visas for the category for the rest of the fiscal year, which ends on September 30, 2008.  The good news is that the Deparment of State predicts that visas will again become available for the third preference category on October 1, 2008, probably with a priority date close to March 1, 2006.  There are also long waits for most other family and employment-based categories.

Some people do not have to wait in the visa line.  For example, an immediate relative petition (for U.S. citizens sponsoring a parent, spouse, or unmarried child) is not subject to a numerical cap, and the first preference employment-based category (for priority workers) is not backlogged.   But most people are subject to a waiting period before they may obtain an immigrant visa.

Just because the visa line is backed-up does not mean you should not get in it.  The sooner you start your case, the sooner you can reserve a space in line.  Also, every so often the Department of Labor completely opens up a category, or several categories, as it did at one point last year.  Many of those in the line at the time received green cards just before the categories were made unavailable.   

The Long Beach immigration attorneys  at Smith & Garg, PC will gladly discuss ways for you to start the green card process, so please feel free to contact us.