U.S. Immigration Explained Blog

Waiting for a Visa? Your wait just got longer.

If you’ve been waiting years to get a green card, chances are you will be disappointed by the October 2008 Visa Bulletin. For those individuals born in China, India and Mexico, they have been expecting a two year wait for an EB-2 visa. Now, its four and a half years for Mainland China back to April 1, 2004. And Indian nationals must wait five and a half years as it was pushed back from August 1, 2006 to April 1, 2003.

There is good news for those applying for an EB-1 visa in that it was not changed.

Also, EB-4 and EB-5 were kept current. Why the huge change in dates? The whole system of application dates depends on the current availability of employment visas allotted. Immigration into the U.S. is governed by a set number of visas (140,000) issued each year and every country has the same number of visas allotted to it, no matter how many or few populate that country. So, India, with one billion people, and Pakistan, population 173 million, are allowed an equal number of people to become U.S. citizens. Therefore, if countries like China and India quickly fill the quota, yet smaller countries don’t fill up the remainder of allocated visas, then the time has to be pushed back for the larger countries to allow for that year’s quota to be met by the smaller countries.

Why is this important? For employers in America, this is very bad news. The current need for skilled labor in the U.S. is simply not being met by its own people. Therefore, as a highly trained foreign national, you can fill the gap. The EB-3 visa covers physical therapists, nurses, computer experts and teachers. Yet, the draught in this country can not been filled because the quotas were not yet met. For a hospital administrator trying to hire new nurses, this could be frustrating because there are no more temporary visas for nurses.

Fortunately, there is a new program available to RN’s and PT’s who are eligible. It allows for special processing to issue permanent U.S. residency. For information on this exciting program, click on the CONTACT US button at the bottom of this page.

But, what about the school superintendent hoping to hire more math and science teachers? If you are an Indian educator wanting the position, you probably do not qualify for the H-1B lottery and permanent resident visas are no longer available.

These deficiencies that you might ordinary fill are suddenly made worse by the new dates. And many a good teacher or nurse will not wait around for years and years to work in America when the same job is readily available somewhere else. The U.S. Congress is considering bills that would change all this. The major bill would alter the quotas for each country to represent the population of each, but legislators are balking at its passage. If you wish to urge swift reform in immigration, write them a letter. That’s a freedom we cherish in America and one you can embrace.

The following link offers exact dates for all visa categories. travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/bulletin/bulletin_4357.html