More RETROGRESSION for US Immigrant Visas

[agentnonoy]

SO.....If you have the skills and educated, bring it to another country that actually wants you. Don't put your talents, money and effort to that country.... even as a tourist. Better yet, spend all that in the Phils.

Good wake up call!

It is challenging for us who want to pursue immigration precisely because of keeping the family ties intact.

While it is true that the wait for the PD to be current may be long, for most of us we seek comfort with gainful local and even offshore employment and acquire more skills to be competitive when the opportunity comes.

[Pauzz]

hi ask lang ako questions, since nagka retrogression. nag email ako sa NVC. regarding sa papers ko I already paid the visa fees submit the ds230 form Last aug. 2010 actually waiting nalang ako for another appointment letter, my category is f2b PD aug.2001 napaka layo. nag moved backwards sila ng may 99 starting jan 2011.

nag response NVC sa akin eto sinabi nila.
(The applicant's name has been placed on the list of documentarily qualified cases awaiting the availability of visa numbers under the numerical limitations prescribed by statute.)
any idea sa response ng NVC sa akin? for how long kaya ako mag wait? till My PD becomes current again?

[JA]

nag response NVC sa akin eto sinabi nila.
(The applicant's name has been placed on the list of documentarily qualified cases awaiting the availability of visa numbers under the numerical limitations prescribed by statute.)
any idea sa response ng NVC sa akin? for how long kaya ako mag wait? till My PD becomes current again?

Yes, the NVC is saying that you will be scheduled for your interview when your priority date is again current. "documentarily qualified" just means that your case is complete and ready for interview.

How long a wait? No one knows. But there is some concern that FB-2B will be the slowest category to recover.

[Pauzz]

JA ; OMG!! after we paid the visa fees & submitted the ds230 All of the sudden we will going to wait for our PD. Becomes current again. looks like na 1st excite kami cause yehey!! na pa aga ang pag approve ng petition. inasikaso namin agad & then bigla na balitaan nag ka roon ng retrogression. @ wala na tayo magagawa kung di mag wait nalang till the PD becomes current again. mukhang ang F2b pa ang slowest category. thanks JA for the Info.

[Pauzz]

JA: nag email ulit sakin *** NVC 2nd time. heres the complete details. mukhang parehas lang ang meaning.

(The applicant's name has been placed on the list of documentarily qualified cases awaiting the availability of visa numbers under the numerical limitations prescribed by statute. The designated representative of this case (applicant, petitioner, or attorney) will be notified of an appointment date as soon as the numbers have been received. The applicant should NOT make any travel arrangements, sell property, or give up employment until the US Embassy or Consulate General has issued a visa.).

since nag ka retrogression mukhang pendin ata talaga ;-) @t mag wait ng matagal ulit till my PD becomes current again, malayo layo inabot ng sakin. PD ko is 2001 aug. *** if kung nakapag bayad ka na ng visa fees & the ds230 form, may posibility kaya JA; Ma pa aga ang issue ng visa# or you will going to wait your PD becomes current bago ka ma bigyan ng visa? tnx.

[cRon13]

grabe ang layo ng ini-atras ng Priority Dates. 3rd priority kami at1999 ang petition date namin e so 8 years pa ang waiting time namin, sobrang tanda ko na nun. Buti na lang nabigyan na kami ng immigrant visa sa Canada, papasyalan na lang namin ang US pagdating ng tamang panahon.

[JA]

JA: nag email ulit sakin *** NVC 2nd time. heres the complete details. mukhang parehas lang ang meaning.

(The applicant's name has been placed on the list of documentarily qualified cases awaiting the availability of visa numbers under the numerical limitations prescribed by statute. The designated representative of this case (applicant, petitioner, or attorney) will be notified of an appointment date as soon as the numbers have been received. The applicant should NOT make any travel arrangements, sell property, or give up employment until the US Embassy or Consulate General has issued a visa.).

since nag ka retrogression mukhang pendin ata talaga ;-) @t mag wait ng matagal ulit till my PD becomes current again, malayo layo inabot ng sakin. PD ko is 2001 aug. *** if kung nakapag bayad ka na ng visa fees & the ds230 form, may posibility kaya JA; Ma pa aga ang issue ng visa# or you will going to wait your PD becomes current bago ka ma bigyan ng visa? tnx.

Unfortunately, they will not schedule the interview until your PD is current. From what you said before, your case is ready to go once visas are available again for your PD.

I think you were very quick in sending all of your docs to NVC so you would have been interviewed pretty quickly had it not been for the retrogression. When they start scheduling interviews for those cases that are ready but are in the retrogression, they usually interview the ready cases by order of PD, earliest first. This means that during the retrogression, more and more people - that were not as quick as you - are just now finishing their application process and the cases are being put in the 'ready' queue.

As you know, they release the visa numbers around the 10th of the month before they become effective, so next week we will see if there is any good news for February. I don't think there will be, but I am usually wrong when I try to guess PD movement!

[Pauzz]

Unfortunately, they will not schedule the interview until your PD is current. From what you said before, your case is ready to go once visas are available again for your PD.

I think you were very quick in sending all of your docs to NVC so you would have been interviewed pretty quickly had it not been for the retrogression. When they start scheduling interviews for those cases that are ready but are in the retrogression, they usually interview the ready cases by order of PD, earliest first. This means that during the retrogression, more and more people - that were not as quick as you - are just now finishing their application process and the cases are being put in the 'ready' queue.

As you know, they release the visa numbers around the 10th of the month before they become effective, so next week we will see if there is any good news for February. I don't think there will be, but I am usually wrong when I try to guess PD movement!

Thank you very much Ja; for the info, sana mag karoon po ng magandang movement.

[JA]

Thank you very much Ja; for the info, sana mag karoon po ng magandang movement.

You're very welcome. About five more days to go and we will see...

[chmchrm]

Hello po! Sa case ko po, F4 category. Sept 1990 ang PD namin. May interview na sana kami kaso nahold kasi kelangang magsputum ng mom ko then after 2 months (December) nagretrogress naman. Our physical exam expires on March, so probably kapag hindi parin nag move, uulit nanaman kami ng medical and another 2 months to wait. -_-. Miracle na talaga kung next month umabot kami sa cut off.

[greggy279]

Just to give you a background on my case:


My father was petitioned by my US citizen aunt for a family-based migration way back 1976. After 25 years of waiting, our family-based petition was approved. The whole family (my father, mother, 2brothers and 2 sisters) migrated to the US except me. I'm the eldest among the siblings and I was 25 years old then when the family petition was approved.

My father who is now a LPR filed a I-130 petition for me (unmarried child over 21 of permanent resident) last July 21, 2003.

I just want to know if I am still eligible under the CSPA?


About me:

I'm currently 33 years old, single and never married.

My priority date: July 21, 2003

AOS fee ($88.00) paid already last Jan 3, 2011

IV fee ($404.00) paid already last Jan 3, 2011



What are the stages in NVC immigration visa processing? So as of the moment, at what stage am I now?

[JA]

What are the stages in NVC immigration visa processing? So as of the moment, at what stage am I now?

It is hard to make an accurate outline of the immigrant visa process because there are so many little things that can drastically alter the path.

Although this will not be accurate for everybody, here is a general list of the "steps" that many people applying in the Philippines would follow in family cases.



1. Petition And Approved by USCIS.

The date the petition is received by USCIS is called the Priority Date (PD).


2. Approved petitioner sent by USCIS to the National Visa Center (NVC).

If the petition is a Preference Petition (FB-1, FB-2A, FB-2B, FB-3, FB-4), it is held without any significant action by the NVC until the PD is near to being current. Monthly updates to the PDs can be found in the Visa Bulletin.

If the petition is for an Immediate Relative of a US Citizen, their is no waiting time and the case goes into immediate processing, below.


3. When PD nears, NVC issues the "Fee Bills".

The current IV fees are US$404 for the Immigrant Visa and US$88 for the Affidavit of Support review. Each person must pay the $404, but sometimes the $88 Aff fee will cover multiple related persons.


4. Pay fee bills to NVC.

On-line or by mail.


5. Receive Payment Confirmation.


6. Prepare the Application and documents.

The Petitioner prepares the Affidavit of Support (I-864). The form and instructions can be downloaded from http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigra...info_3730.html.

The intending immigrant prepares the Immigrant Visa Application (DS-230) and begins collecting all of the supporting documents required for Immigrant Visa processing (birth certificates, passports, NBI certificate, photos, etc). The forms and instructions for this step are at http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigra...info_3190.html.


7. Send Application, Affidavit and all documents to the NVC.


8. NVC Request for more or corrected documents.

If a document or form was not absolutely perfect, the NVC will send a request for the correct document or information needed. This is often frustrating because they usually do not return the incomplete form, making you do a whole new form!


9. Send correct (or corrected) documents to NVC until they are satisfied.


10. Once complete, NVC places your case in line for an interview.

There are two electronic holding queues for completed cases. One is for completed cases with current priority dates. These are sent to the embassy for interview by order of priority date.

The other line is for completed cases without current priority dates. There are two reasons this line exists. First, the NVC often starts the IV process early by sending out the fee bills before the PD is current. Sometimes the case is completed quickly and PDs are still not current. The other use for this line is retrogression - the PDs went backwards instead of forwards. The cases that were started before the retrogression are now complete, but the PD is no longer current. Once the priority date becomes current, the cases will be put back in line for an interview.


11. Embassy requests x# of applications to fill their appointment slot for the next month.


12. Interview notice is sent by the NVC.

The interview notice contains the date and time for the interview, instructions for the medical exam, and a summary of the status of all documents already submitted or still needed for the interview.


13. Interview on the Embassy and Decision.

If additional documentation is requested at the embassy, the documents must be submitted before a decision is issued.

If a special waiver of a ground of inadmissibility is requested by the embassy, the waiver (I-212 or I-601, both US$585) must be completed and filed before a decision is issued.


14. Visa Issuance.


15. Visa Usage

When entering the United States, the applicant will be inspected and admitted. Once admitted, you are now a U.S. Permanent Resident!

[chmchrm]

any idea kung hanggang kelan ang retrogression?? Im really praying na sana naman next month makaabot na kami sa cut off. x.x

[Pauzz]

any idea kung hanggang kelan ang retrogression?? Im really praying na sana naman next month makaabot na kami sa cut off. x.x

sana maging ok na ang retrogression.

[harryw]

Good wake up call!

It is challenging for us who want to pursue immigration precisely because of keeping the family ties intact.

While it is true that the wait for the PD to be current may be long, for most of us we seek comfort with gainful local and even offshore employment and acquire more skills to be competitive when the opportunity comes.

This is a wake up call indeed. I know some people who wait and stop their lives for 5 to 10 years just to be in the US. I don't want to judge, but that's really sad, and humiliating to us as a country. The decline of opportunities in the US and their economy is a challenge for us to question our intentions.. why do we really want to go there? What for? This is the right time to prove to the world and ourselves that we can make it on our own. The rise of other Asian economies in the next 10 years and decline of the west's will prove this.

[snake_hockey]

hindi ko maintindihan yung visa bulletin, pwede paki enlighten naman ako.

petition was filed feb 2004 and i am below 21 yrs old then, 2 years after we got a notice that the petition has been approved but i'm already 23 y/o then. then a year after, petitioner naturalized and i was given the option to opt out of change of classification which i did.

did i did the right thing? i think from fb-2b dapat mag change ako to fb-1 pero nag opt out ako sa change since may nagsabi sakin na mas matagal daw ang processing ng fb-1. tama ba ito? tia!

[JA]

hindi ko maintindihan yung visa bulletin, pwede paki enlighten naman ako.

petition was filed feb 2004 and i am below 21 yrs old then, 2 years after we got a notice that the petition has been approved but i'm already 23 y/o then. then a year after, petitioner naturalized and i was given the option to opt out of change of classification which i did.

did i did the right thing? i think from fb-2b dapat mag change ako to fb-1 pero nag opt out ako sa change since may nagsabi sakin na mas matagal daw ang processing ng fb-1. tama ba ito? tia!

You did the right thing. And if FB-1 later gets quicker then FB-2B, which is unlikely, opting out can be reversed.

Reading the Visa Bulletin is not that difficult. Your Priority Date is in Feb, 2004. The Visa Bulletin tells us what cases they are working in different categories for different countries.

For you (assuming you are born in the Philippines!), find your category, FB-2B, and look across to the date shown under "Philippines". That date is the "cutoff date". The cutoff date shown in the January Visa Bulletin for FB-2B for the Philippines is 15MAY99. That means a visa is available to anyone with a PD before May 15, 1999.

Since your PD is in 2004, the cutoff date in the Visa Bulletin must advance a lot before your PD is current for a visa (even for hockey players).

[snake_hockey]

You did the right thing. And if FB-1 later gets quicker then FB-2B, which is unlikely, opting out can be reversed.

Reading the Visa Bulletin is not that difficult. Your Priority Date is in Feb, 2004. The Visa Bulletin tells us what cases they are working in different categories for different countries.

For you (assuming you are born in the Philippines!), find your category, FB-2B, and look across to the date shown under "Philippines". That date is the "cutoff date". The cutoff date shown in the January Visa Bulletin for FB-2B for the Philippines is 15MAY99. That means a visa is available to anyone with a PD before May 15, 1999.

Since your PD is in 2004, the cutoff date in the Visa Bulletin must advance a lot before your PD is current for a visa (even for hockey players).

thanks for the info! hahaha! funny but for some reason mas in favor ako na matagalan ang processing hahaha! i just don't wanna go there if not for my family. thanks again!

[greggy279]

hi po! bakit wala pa kaya visa bulletin for February 2011?

[kelvincaducoy]

FEBRUARY Visa Bulletin

PHILIPPINES
1st 01AUG94
2A 01JAN08
2B 01JUN99
3rd 22OCT91
4th 15JAN88