Visa Bulletin For July 2017

LAW OFFICES OF NORKA M. SCHELL, LLC 

11 Broadway, Suite 615

New York, New York 10004

Tel. (212) 564-1589

Website: www.lawschell.com 

This bulletin summarizes the availability of immigrant numbers during July for: “Final Action Dates” and “Dates for Filing Applications,” indicating when immigrant visa applicants should be notified to assemble and submit required documentation to the National Visa Center.

FAMILY-SPONSORED PREFERENCES

First: (F1) Unmarried Sons and Daughters of U.S. Citizens:  23,400 plus any numbers not required for fourth preference.

Second: Spouses and Children, and Unmarried Sons and Daughters of Permanent Residents:  114,200, plus the number (if any) by which the worldwide family preference level exceeds 226,000, plus any unused first preference numbers:

A. (F2A) Spouses and Children of Permanent Residents:  77% of the overall second preference limitation, of which 75% are exempt from the per-country limit;

B. (F2B) Unmarried Sons and Daughters (21 years of age or older) of Permanent Residents:  23% of the overall second preference limitation.

Third: (F3) Married Sons and Daughters of U.S. Citizens:  23,400, plus any numbers not required by first and second preferences.

Fourth: (F4) Brothers and Sisters of Adult U.S. Citizens:  65,000, plus any numbers not required by first three preferences.

A.  FINAL ACTION DATES FOR FAMILY-SPONSORED
     PREFERENCE CASES

On the chart below, the listing of a date for any class indicates that the class is oversubscribed (see paragraph 1); "C" means current, i.e., numbers are authorized for issuance to all qualified applicants; and "U" means unauthorized, i.e., numbers are not authorized for issuance. (NOTE: Numbers are authorized for issuance only for applicants whose priority date is earlier than the final action date listed below.)

Family- Sponsored	All Chargeability  Areas Except Those Listed	CHINA-mainland  born	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIPPINES
F1	22DEC10	22DEC10	22DEC10	15JAN96	15SEP06
F2A	08SEP15	08SEP15	08SEP15	22AUG15	08SEP15
F2B	01NOV10	01NOV10	01NOV10	01JUN96	01NOV06
F3	08JUL05	08JUL05	08JUL05	22MAR95	15DEC94
F4	08MAY04	08MAY04	22SEP03	01AUG97	15FEB94

B.  DATES FOR FILING FAMILY-SPONSORED
     VISA APPLICATIONS

The chart below reflects dates for filing visa applications within a time-frame justifying immediate action in the application process. Applicants for immigrant visas who have a priority date earlier than the application date in the chart below may assemble and submit required documents to the Department of State’s National Visa Center, following receipt of notification from the National Visa Center containing detailed instructions. The application date for an oversubscribed category is the priority date of the first applicant who cannot submit documentation to the National Visa Center for an immigrant visa. If a category is designated “current,” all applicants in the relevant category may file applications, regardless of priority date.

The “C” listing indicates that the category is current, and that applications may be filed regardless of the applicant’s priority date. The listing of a date for any category indicates that only applicants with a priority date which is earlier than the listed date may file their application.

Family- Sponsored	All Chargeability  Areas Except Those Listed	CHINA- mainland  born	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIPPINES
F1	22JUL11	22JUL11	22JUL11	01APR96	08SEP07
F2A	08APR16	08APR16	08APR16	08APR16	08APR16
F2B	01SEP11	01SEP11	01SEP11	08AUG96	22JUL07
F3	01DEC05	01DEC05	01DEC05	01MAY95	01FEB95
F4	15NOV04	15NOV04	22JUN04	08JAN98	08FEB95

EMPLOYMENT-BASED PREFERENCES

First:  Priority Workers:  28.6% of the worldwide employment-based preference level, plus any numbers not required for fourth and fifth preferences.

Second:  Members of the Professions Holding Advanced Degrees or Persons of Exceptional Ability:  28.6% of the worldwide employment-based preference level, plus any numbers not required by first preference.      

Third:  Skilled Workers, Professionals, and Other Workers:  28.6% of the worldwide level, plus any numbers not required by first and second preferences, not more than 10,000 of which to "*Other Workers".

Fourth:  Certain Special Immigrants:  7.1% of the worldwide level.

Fifth:  Employment Creation:  7.1% of the worldwide level, not less than 3,000 of which reserved for investors in a targeted rural or high-unemployment area, and 3,000 set aside for investors in regional centers by Sec. 610 of Pub. L. 102-395.

A.  FINAL ACTION DATES FOR EMPLOYMENT-BASED
     PREFERENCE CASES

Employ- ment based	All Charge- ability  Areas Except Those Listed	CHINA- mainland  born	EL SALVADOR GUATEMALA HONDURAS	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIPPINES
1st	C	01JAN12	C	01JAN12	C	C
2nd	C	22MAR13	C	22JUL08	C	C
3rd	08JUN17	01JAN12	08JUN17	15FEB06	08JUN17	15MAY14
Other Workers	08JUN17	15JUL06	08JUN17	15FEB06	08JUN17	15MAY14
4th	C	C	15AUG15	15AUG15	15AUG15	C
Certain Religious Workers	C	C	15AUG15	15AUG15	15AUG15	C
5th Non-Regional Center (C5 and T5)	C	08JUN14	C	C	C	C
5th Regional Center (I5 and R5)	C	08JUN14	C	C	C	C

B.  DATES FOR FILING OF EMPLOYMENT-BASED

     VISA APPLICATIONS

Employment- based	All Chargeability  Areas Except Those Listed	CHINA- mainland  born	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIPPINES
1st	C	C	C	C	C
2nd	C	01OCT13	01FEB09	C	C
3rd	C	01SEP15	01OCT06	C	01JUL15
Other Workers	C	01JUN08	01OCT06	C	01JUL15
4th	C	C	C	C	C
Certain Religious Workers	C	C	C	C	C
5th Non-Regional Center (C5 and T5)	C	01SEP14	C	C	C
5th Regional Center (I5 and R5)	C	01SEP14	C	C	C

* Information extracted from the U.S. Visas- U.S. Department of State - Bureau of Consular Affairs at www.travel.state.gov

Bills Implementing President Trump's Mass Deportation Plan

Democrats and Republicans on Thursday faced off over immigration policy as a House committee began considering a set of immigration bills that Democrats say would amount to the creation of a "mass deportation force."

Proponents of the first bill under consideration by the House judiciary committee -- named after two law enforcement officers who were allegedly murdered by an undocumented immigrant -- advocated for the bill as important to public safety and rule of law.

But Democrats on the committee decried the bill as an unnecessarily harsh anti-immigrant push by President Donald Trump.

"Proponents of this bill say that it's necessary to keep us safe, but what the bill really does is pander to the noxious notion that immigrants are criminals and should be dealt with harshly," said immigration subcommittee ranking member Zoe Lofgren, a California Democrat. "This bill gives Trump and (adviser Steve) Bannon the legislation to establish their mass deportation force. ... This bill should really be called the 'Mass Deportation Act,' because that's what it is."

Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte said the bill was not intended to target immigrants, but to "respect the rule of law."

"This is simply a bill that gives any administration, the current one and future ones, the authority to enforce our laws properly, and gives to state and local governments ... the ability to participate in that enforcement," Goodlatte said.

The committee was set to mark up three Republican bills related to immigration on Thursday -- one that would vastly expand the role of state and local jurisdictions in immigration enforcement and two others that would authorize immigration components of the Department of Homeland Security.

But by mid-afternoon, the committee recessed until next week after only making its way through two amendments. Both were brought by Democrats to strike portions of the bill, and after lengthy debate, both were rejected by the Republican majority committee. Democrats were expected to continue bringing a number of similar amendments when the markup continues on the nearly 200 page bill.

The main bill the committee discussed, the Michael Davis Jr. and Danny Oliver in Honor of State and Local Law Enforcement Act, was introduced by Republican Rep. Raul Labrador of Idaho, and closely resembles similar legislation that the House judiciary committee has advanced in the past and that now-Attorney General Jeff Sessions introduced in his time in the Senate.

The Davis-Oliver Act would substantially increase the capabilities of federal and local immigration enforcement, including empowering state and local law enforcement to enact their own immigration laws and penalties. It also would give the government powers to revoke visas, beef up Immigration and Customs Enforcement's ability to arrest and deport undocumented immigrants, increase criminal penalties for undocumented immigrants and punish sanctuary jurisdictions.

RELATED: What sanctuary cities stand to lose if feds have their way

The two parties went back and forth on the bill, with Democrats decrying it as demonization of all immigrants, as an increase in mass incarceration and as a promotion of racial profiling and as unconstitutional federal overreach. They noted that local law enforcement in sanctuary cities say their policies are important for victims and witnesses of crimes to feel comfortable coming forward.

But Labrador said the notion that the bill harms public safety is "the most preposterous and outrageous argument I've ever heard."

"For too long we have allowed individuals to enter our country illegally and in many cases do us harm," he said. "While other reforms are needed, this bill is vital to a long-term fix."

The other two bills, introduced by Goodlatte, a Virginia Republican, would serve as authorizations for ICE and US Citizenship and Immigration Services, codifying the mission statements of both entities. The USCIS bill would focus the agency, which oversees the issuance of visas and grants immigrants the ability to enter the US, on preventing fraud and security threats and on protecting American jobs from being taken by immigrants.

The ICE bill would increase the number of deportation officers and ensure that each one is granted, among other armament an M-4 rifle. Both bills would likely be packaged with a broader Homeland Security authorization being worked on by the House homeland security committee, which has jurisdiction over most of the rest of the department.

RELATED: Immigration arrests rise in first months of Trump administration

It's unclear if any of the bills will make it to the full House floor. It is a virtual certainty that Democrats will unanimously oppose the bills, and a substantial number of moderate Republicans could balk at such an aggressive approach to immigration enforcement.

Even if the bills were to pass the House, they would need at least eight Democratic votes in the Senate to pass there, assuming all Republicans support the bills.

Pro-immigration groups were quick to decry the legislation in advance releases Wednesday.

"If enacted, the bills would raise a host of constitutional concerns, undermining public safety and harming immigrants and U.S. citizens alike," said Ronald Newman, policy counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union. "They would also lead to significant, unnecessary federal spending and erode US values and norms. They would provide rocket fuel for President Trump's mass deportation agenda."

The Cato Institute, a libertarian-leaning think tank, also offered a statement criticizing the bill.

"(H.R. 2431) purports to empower states and localities to take action against serious criminals who have violated immigration law," Cato analyst David Bier wrote. "In reality, the bill is a vehicle for a massive expansion of the federal government and of federal power over states and their citizens." Click here.

IMMIGRATION AND POLICY BY NYC BUSINESS IMMIGRATION LAWYER - Phone (212) 564-1589: JUNE 2017 VISA BULLETIN

IMMIGRATION AND POLICY BY NYC BUSINESS IMMIGRATION LAWYER - Phone (212) 564-1589: JUNE 2017 VISA BULLETIN: LAW OFFICES OF NORKA M. SCHELL, LLC 1 1 Broadway, Suite 615 New York, NY 10004 Tel.(212)564-1589 and (973)621-9300 Website: www...

JUNE 2017 VISA BULLETIN

LAW OFFICES OF NORKA M. SCHELL, LLC

11 Broadway, Suite 615

New York, NY 10004

Tel.(212)564-1589 and (973)621-9300

Website: www.lawschell.com 

The following is the June 2017 Visa Bulletin with updates. 

FAMILY-SPONSORED PREFERENCES

First: (F1) Unmarried Sons and Daughters of U.S. Citizens:  23,400 plus any numbers not required for fourth preference.

Second: Spouses and Children, and Unmarried Sons and Daughters of Permanent Residents:  114,200, plus the number (if any) by which the worldwide family preference level exceeds 226,000, plus any unused first preference numbers:

A. (F2A) Spouses and Children of Permanent Residents:  77% of the overall second preference limitation, of which 75% are exempt from the per-country limit;

B. (F2B) Unmarried Sons and Daughters (21 years of age or older) of Permanent Residents:  23% of the overall second preference limitation.

Third: (F3) Married Sons and Daughters of U.S. Citizens:  23,400, plus any numbers not required by first and second preferences.

Fourth: (F4) Brothers and Sisters of Adult U.S. Citizens:  65,000, plus any numbers not required by first three preferences.

A.  FINAL ACTION DATES FOR FAMILY-SPONSORED
     PREFERENCE CASES

On the chart below, the listing of a date for any class indicates that the class is oversubscribed (see paragraph 1); "C" means current, i.e., numbers are authorized for issuance to all qualified applicants; and "U" means unauthorized, i.e., numbers are not authorized for issuance. (NOTE: Numbers are authorized for issuance only for applicants whose priority date is earlier than the final action date listed below.)

Family- Sponsored	All Chargeability  Areas Except Those Listed	CHINA-mainland  born	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIPPINES
F1	22DEC10	22DEC10	22DEC10	01SEP95	22APR06
F2A	15AUG15	15AUG15	15AUG15	22JUL15	15AUG15
F2B	22OCT10	22OCT10	22OCT10	08APR96	22SEP06
F3	01JUL05	01JUL05	01JUL05	22FEB95	08OCT94
F4	08MAY04	08MAY04	15SEP03	15JUL97	22NOV93

22MAR05

22MAR05

B.  DATES FOR FILING FAMILY-SPONSORED
     VISA APPLICATIONS

The chart below reflects dates for filing visa applications within a timeframe justifying immediate action in the application process. Applicants for immigrant visas who have a priority date earlier than the application date in the chart below may assemble and submit required documents to the Department of State’s National Visa Center, following receipt of notification from the National Visa Center containing detailed instructions. The application date for an oversubscribed category is the priority date of the first applicant who cannot submit documentation to the National Visa Center for an immigrant visa. If a category is designated “current,” all applicants in the relevant category may file applications, regardless of priority date.

The “C” listing indicates that the category is current, and that applications may be filed regardless of the applicant’s priority date. The listing of a date for any category indicates that only applicants with a priority date which is earlier than the listed date may file their application. 

Family- Sponsored	All Chargeability  Areas Except Those Listed	CHINA- mainland  born	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIPPINES
F1	22JUL11	22JUL11	22JUL11	01APR96	08SEP07
F2A	08APR16	08APR16	08APR16	08APR16	08APR16
F2B	01SEP11	01SEP11	01SEP11	08AUG96	22JUL07
F3	01DEC05	01DEC05	01DEC05	01MAY95	01FEB95
F4	15NOV04	15NOV04	22JUN04	08JAN98	08FEB95

EMPLOYMENT-BASED PREFERENCES

First:  Priority Workers:  28.6% of the worldwide employment-based preference level, plus any numbers not required for fourth and fifth preferences.

Second:  Members of the Professions Holding Advanced Degrees or Persons of Exceptional Ability:  28.6% of the worldwide employment-based preference level, plus any numbers not required by first preference.      

Third:  Skilled Workers, Professionals, and Other Workers:  28.6% of the worldwide level, plus any numbers not required by first and second preferences, not more than 10,000 of which to "*Other Workers".

Fourth:  Certain Special Immigrants:  7.1% of the worldwide level.

Fifth:  Employment Creation:  7.1% of the worldwide level, not less than 3,000 of which reserved for investors in a targeted rural or high-unemployment area, and 3,000 set aside for investors in regional centers by Sec. 610 of Pub. L. 102-395.

A.  FINAL ACTION DATES FOR EMPLOYMENT-BASED
     PREFERENCE CASES

On the chart below, the listing of a date for any class indicates that the class is oversubscribed (see paragraph 1); "C" means current, i.e., numbers are authorized for issuance to all qualified applicants; and "U" means unauthorized, i.e., numbers are not authorized for issuance. (NOTE: Numbers are authorized for issuance only for applicants whose priority date is earlier than the final action date listed below.)

Employ- ment based	All Charge- ability  Areas Except Those Listed	CHINA- mainland  born	EL SALVADOR GUATEMALA HONDURAS	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIPPINES
1st	C	01JAN12	C	01JAN12	C	C
2nd	C	01MAR13	C	01JUL08	C	C
3rd	15APR17	01OCT14	15APR17	15MAY05	15APR17	01MAY13
Other Workers	15APR17	15JUL06	15APR17	15MAY05	15APR17	01MAY13
4th	C	C	15JUL15	C	15JUL15	C
Certain Religious Workers	C	C	15JUL15	C	15JUL15	C
5th Non-Regional Center (C5 and T5)	C	08JUN14	C	C	C	C
5th Regional Center (I5 and R5)	C	08JUN14	C	C	C	C.

B.  DATES FOR FILING OF EMPLOYMENT-BASED
     VISA APPLICATIONS

Employment- based	All Chargeability  Areas Except Those Listed	CHINA- mainland  born	INDIA	MEXICO	PHILIPPINES
1st	C	C	C	C	C
2nd	C	01OCT13	01FEB09	C	C
3rd	C	01SEP15	22APR06	C	01JUL14
Other Workers	C	01JUN08	22APR06	C	01JUL14
4th	C	C	C	C	C
Certain Religious Workers	C	C	C	C	C
5th Non-Regional Center (C5 and T5)	C	01SEP14	C	C	C
5th Regional Center (I5 and R5)	C	01SEP14	C	C	C

This chart was extract from US Visa US Department of State - Bureau of Consular Affairs available at www.travel.state.gov