Finally
there has been some movement on the Green Card
application backlog. The March 2008 Visa Bulletin
indicates processing is now available for All
Other Countries and the Philippines for applications
filed prior to January 1, 2005. This is a huge
jump of three years for these two groups. There
was no real improvement for India (Aug. 2001)
and China (Dec. 2002) applicants.
So,
Green Card visas are now available to those
applicants with Priority Dates on or before
the dates listed. The Priority Date is the date
a petition filing is accepted by the Department
of State, which essentially establishes the
applicant's place in line. All others must wait
until the dates move past their Priority Date.
The Visa Bulletin should be checked regularly
for updates and can be seen at is at http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/bulletin/bulletin_1360.html
- look for the Employment Based 3rd category
on the grid.
Nursing
immigration to the U.S. came to a halt in early
2007 year because of Retrogression (backlog)
in the EB-3 Green Card category. Retrogression
occurs when there are more applicants than the
number of visas available and then petitions
either cannot be filed or cannot progress until
more visas are available. The U.S. Department
of State allocates 140,000 new Employment Based
visas every year but availability for applicants
depends on applicant volume and processing times.
This
is an extraordinary interruption to visa availability
and processing times. International nurses have
supplemented the U.S. nursing work force for
decades and between our ever-present U.S. nursing
shortage and massive nursing retirements of
U.S. nurses in coming years - there is no question
that visas will always be available. The current
problems relate to processing times and availability
of visa numbers. A coalition of healthcare employers
(including Procare USA/Nursing USA), immigration
attorneys and other interested parties continues
to lobby representatives in Washington on visa
availability for healthcare workers.
We
recognize that it takes an extraordinary commitment
to emigrate to the U.S. and this is made all
the more difficult with the unpredictability
of visa availability in recent times. Notwithstanding
these challenges, we remain committed to sponsoring
international nurses and we hope you will not
be deterred from the Green Card process whether
already in the U.S. or coming from outside the
country to live and work here. Clearly, applicants
outside the U.S. should make no relocation plans
until a visa has been stamped in the passport
when they will have six months to enter the
U.S. to "activate" their status.
Please
check back for periodic updates. We also recommend
you check the healthcare advocacy blog at the
website www.hammondlawfirm.com
for news and comments on retrogression and please
check the Visa Bulletin every once in a while
as it is not unusual for processing dates to
move ahead for months or years at a time.
