AOS filers from July 2007

mutya · Oct 13, 2007

if you follow links in my posts #13 and #24 it will give you detailed statistics about family members that received their visas along with primary applicants. 36,367 visas were isued in FY2005-2006 for schedule "A" applicants including spouses and children. Do you seriously believe that 14,000 visas could be issued in just 2 month if it took a year and a half to issue 36,000 visas in 2005-2006?
And the question is why "schedule A" was not current after Nov 2007 if as of Oct. 1 2007 there were 14,000 unused visas?

The numbers that you have posted was right and your calculation of 14,000 visas left is also correct. But it is hard to assume that there are still visas left. As for me there are no more visa left, the 14,000 that is the point of discussion here was used to clear the backlog on EB3. Please remember that nurses belong to EB3. If we take a careful look at the visa bulletins there is no schedule A in May 2005 and it started in June 2005. WE take a closer look at May 2005 bulletin EB3 for PIC is Jun02. Then they created Schedule A to clear the backlog for nurses in June 2005. Take a look at Jan 2007 VB they are processing Schedule A for June 2004.*** How can they process Schedule A for June 2004 if Schedule A started in June 2005???? It is because they consider all nurses that apply in EB3 to be a part of schedule A before June 2005. So the 14,000 that is under discussion here was also used to clear the nursing backlog from Jun02 to Jun 04 under EB3.

:monkeydance:

lawrence01 · Oct 14, 2007

There should be no deadline for schedule "A" if visas are available. They set a deadline based on the prediction that schedule "A" 50,000 limit would be exhausted by Nov. 2006. Schedule "A" quota has nothing to do with annual limits for EB category.

They always set deadlines. Much better that way, than go overboard. They can always give more visas when they later find out that there are actually some more visas left. And they did. They published that there were a few more visas left and that they were giving it until the the 2nd half of Nov. 2006. This is why you've been hearing of some nurses getting their visas until the 2nd half of 2006 even though they set the dealine on Nov. 1. You may also refer to RN4US' post on post #36. That actually already explained that the unused visas from the 50,000 batch were re-allocated and used up as well.

Let's not dwell on the past. It is already almost a year since the 50,000 were exhausted. All unused visas were already re-capped as well as Suzanne said during the months of July and Aug. There are no more unsused visas left to re-cap and if by chance (but I doubt it) that there are still leftovers, it will not go to people who just filed their I-140s and I-485s. It would go to people with older PDs than them and there are many in front of them still. Both in CP and AOS. You may not be aware that there are actually still a few that did AOS somewhere in the middle of 2006 that weren't given visas during the months of July and Aug. and once visa numbers are available again for distribution, it will go first to people with older PDs, whether AOS or CP and not to people who just filed in July.

lawrence01 · Oct 14, 2007

"At a recent AILA Conference, Michael Ayetes (USCIS Associate Director, Operations) announced...."
That information is not official. It's not posted anywhere on the official web site.
Dependents file their own I-485. So I don't see why you decided that those were not counted by USCIS?

That was their breakdown base on their estimates and this was given by the USCIS Associate Director to the American Immigration Lawyers Asociation.

It isn't posted on USCIS' website yet because thay are double checking all their stats before they actually post it. The one given to AILA may yet be revised to reflect more accurate data but I certainly do not think that it will differ much from it and it was just a bird's eye view. These were all who filed in all EB categories, plus their dependents. Dependents are always included when counting visa numbers, in fact they make up at least 2-3x more than the actual applicants, so things can easily shoot up.

Expect to see a more detailed breakdown in the weeks to come. The per country visa demand would be more of a benefit to some countries or a bane to some, so the upcoming statistic for these would be more accurate on where each country stand

lawrence01 · Oct 14, 2007

Suzanne, did you read my post? Any comments about were 14,363 Schedule "A" visas have gone?
Schedule "A" visas can be used for schedule "A" professionals only and has nothing to do with 800,000 (I doubt it's a correct number) programmers, engineers, etc. submitted their applications in June, July, August 2007. Schedule "A" is a part of EB3. But Schedule "A" category had it's own quota and was listed as a separate category. Open any visa bulletin from June, 2005 to October, 2006 and see it yourself.

Again, that was then. Starting Feb. 2007 all nurses are again part of EB3 and there were no more special "Schedule A" sub-category under EB3 as Anna mentioned. Being part of the greater EB3 again means that nurses are competiting with everyone else (IT workers, etc... ) for visa numbers and there are more IT workers than there are nurses.

What you should be awaiting word for is what was the visa demand of Philippine-borned applicants under EB3 out of those 800,000 total (primary, dependents and this was all EB categories and all countries) that did AOS. Of course, for PH, we won't have much demand coming from IT workers and other workers under EB3 compared to India and China. Most PH applicants going to the US under EB3 are still mostly just nurses and PTs, so that is something to look forward to. PH nurses are not competting much with other PH workers such as IT workers and other workers under EB3 because we don't have much of those in the 1st place compared to other countries.

Lastly, no matter what will be the official data will be on how many applied for AOS, (800k, 300k total or even less) the fact is there are limited visas (9,800 per country per year) and once visa numbers are to be distributed again possibly starting in Dec. (as indicated in the Nov. VB), it will be given to people with older Priority Dates and have complete files (complete means there are no RFEs pending and they are just waiting for visa numbers to come up to proceed). It certainly will not go first to people who just filed in July and whose I-140s has not even been approved yet. You don't even know if your I-140 will be approved or will be issued an RFE. Those people I was talking about that filed for AOS in middle to late 2006 and have not received their green cards are those that were issued RFEs, so that delayed them some more. Some I-140s were also denied after it was concluded that their employers do not qualify to petition in the 1st place, even after the RFE and the filed AOS automatically gets cancelled if the I-140 gets denied. And if the I-140 gets approved, there is also no gurantee the I-485 will get approved as well.

And if there is any forward movement that is going to happen starting Dec., it will be from countries outside PIC+Mexico. No questions asked. PH has a slight chance of continuing to track the "Other areas" in terms of the cut-off dates. It has been tracking it for some time now and I hope it continues to do so.

Snowstorm · Oct 14, 2007

ei, snowstorm, kindly edit your "Nov. 2007" and "Oct. 2007" in post numbers 31 and 35. I think you are talking about "2006".
Whatever, I still cannot understand your point. Are you saying that there must be Schedule A visas available until this moment? That is not possible because Schedule A visas were available until January. 2007....I guess it was exhausted during that period (Dec. to Jan).
http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/bulletin/bulletin_3100.html
And my dear, there were also many plus their dependents who got it through Consular Processing....add that to your equation and there shall be no balance. Do not under-estimate the number of approvals using CP process at that period....we've seen it with our eyes how many nurses were flying to the US with their x-ray results on their hand-carried luggage....

OK guys, read the data please. 36,367 visas were isued in FY2005-2006 for schedule "A" applicants including spouses and children. That's for AOS and CP together and that's according to the DHS.

Do you want to say they issued 14,000 visas in October -November 2006, and January 2007? Especially considering the cut-off date of 15JUN2004 in January 2007? Schedule "A" was not available in Dec. 2006.

P.S. I corrected dates in posts #31 and #35. Thank you.

Snowstorm · Oct 14, 2007

WE take a closer look at May 2005 bulletin EB3 for PIC is Jun02. Then they created Schedule A to clear the backlog for nurses in June 2005. Take a look at Jan 2007 VB they are processing Schedule A for June 2004.*** How can they process Schedule A for June 2004 if Schedule A started in June 2005???? It is because they consider all nurses that apply in EB3 to be a part of schedule A before June 2005. So the 14,000 that is under discussion here was also used to clear the nursing backlog from Jun02 to Jun 04 under EB3.
:monkeydance:

Schedule "A" did not start in June 2005. They just changed the law in 2005 and made 50,000 visas available exclusively for schedule "A" professionals.

Recaptured Visa Numbers for Nurses. Section 502 of Division B, Title V of P.L. 109-13 (H.R. 1268, the emergency FY2005 supplemental appropriation) amends the American Competitiveness in the Twenty-first Century Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-313) to modify the formula for recapturing unused employment-based immigrant visas for employment-based immigrants “whose immigrant worker petitions were approved based on schedule A.” In other words, it makes up to 50,000 permanent employment-based visas available for foreign nationals coming to work as nurses. This provision was added to H.R. 1268 as an amendment in the Senate and was accepted by the conferees."

http://www.ilw.com/immigdaily/news/2005,0718-crs.pdf

Can you give me any reference about "nursing backlog" from 2002-2004 and that those 14,000 visas were used to clear this "backlog" in 2007? They would eliminate that backlog in the first place in 2005.

My point is that although schedule "A" is not listed as a separate category anymore, there is a possibility that there are some schedule "A" visa numbers left, and there is a chance that those can be used by those filed under July 2007 visa bulletin.

lawrence01 · Oct 14, 2007

OK guys, read the data please. 36,367 visas were isued in FY2005-2006 for schedule "A" applicants including spouses and children. That's for AOS and CP together and that's according to the DHS.
Do you want to say they issued 14,000 visas in October -November 2006, and January 2007? Especially considering the cut-off date of 15JUN2004 in January 2007? Schedule "A" was not available in Dec. 2006.

Have you read the explantion on that link that was provided by RN4US?

"D. SCHEDULE A WORKER VISA CATEGORY

A small amount of Schedule A Worker numbers which had been provided to consular offices for November use were returned unused after the end of the month and thus became available for reallocation. All remaining Schedule A Worker numbers have been made available to applicants whose priority dates are within the January cut-off date (15JUN04). The Schedule A Worker category will be removed from the listings beginning with the February cut-off dates."

Isn't that already proper explaination on what happned to the unused visas?

And we honestly don't get your point. Why are you dwelling on the past. That is the past already. They already said that everything was exhausted. If you are questioning whether all 50,000 weren't really used then you can complain to the DHS or USCIS and get it straight from them. You won't read on anything on AILA or anyone else questioning USCIS or DHS regarding the allocation of all the 50,000. If they do, then they should have done this months ago. Alas, it is already almost 1 year since then. No body questioned it then and why question it now.

lawrence01 · Oct 14, 2007

My point is that although schedule "A" is not listed as a separate category anymore, there is a possibility that there are some schedule "A" visa numbers left, and there is a chance that those can be used by those filed under July 2007 visa bulletin

If there were, it certainly will not go to those who just filed in July, 2007. Not by a long shot. This is what we are trying to explain to everyone else that just filed their AOS in July. Be happy that you got your petitions filed and that you will be getting your EADs.

Do you think there are no other nurses that filed way ahead of you ?? You have a PD of July 30, 2007. Do you honestly think that there are no other nurses that has a PD older than yours?

Even some nurses that filed their AOS in the US in the middle of 2006 did not get their visas last July and Aug. 2007. So, they get the first crack on it when the time comes and don't forget those on consular processing as well. There are no seperate line between AOS and CP when it comes to distributing the visa numbers. The one having the older PDs get the 1st crack on anything. And by the sheer number that are already waiting in line ahead of you, both from AOS and CP routes, it would be a long while before you get your turn. This is why I mentioned earlier on this thread that you guys should just be focusing on when you will be getting your EADs that permits you to work temporariliy while the AOS is pending. You will be leaving off of it for a while. It would be no much of a difference if you are working on just with an EAD or if holding a green card. The nurses I mentioned that filed their AOS in the midlle to the latter of 2006 that weren't given visa numbers are already on their 2nd EAD (1 year, renewable). I hope this tells you that if these people are already on their 2nd EAD (2nd year waiting for AOS approval) that it would be a while before you get your turn. Again, once visa numbers are distributed once more, the people with older Priority Dates get the first crack. That is what the PD is for. It is a virtual line.

suzanne4, RN · Oct 14, 2007

And for others that are reading this and to clear up any miconceptions:

The I-485 is submitted for an Adjustment of Status when the person is in the US and meets all of the requirements for it and there are visas available so that USCIS will accept it. All dependents must have the AOS filed for them at the same time and be present in the US as well, or they will not get a green card when their family member does. The US requires that dependents be in the US and meet the same residency requirements as the employee that is being petitioned.

The number of dependents that can get included with this, also have to file a petition as a dependent and they in fact are included in the actual number of petitions that are submitted; it is not just the employer sponsored person, but their family members as well. And this has a very large bearing on the number that will get their green cards.

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End of discussion on this topic, statements have been issued by the US

Government and there is no reason to try to tear it apart. There were no visas available when the AOS petitions were submitted over the past couple of months, this was a very well known fact prior to them being submitted. There are not any green cards available, and all of the recapped ones to a total of over 60,000 were used in June and July to have them gone before the new fiscal year started. Most are aware that they will not get a green card for sometime but are thiankful that they are able to get the EAD and are able to work while waiting. There are many that would like to have had that chance. And there is still no guarantee that anyone that got their petition submitted will get it approved, getting the EAD or fingerprints done means nothing in the scheme of things as far as approval. But without visas being available, no approvals or anything else.

There are those that post here that have been waiting for about 18 months and have everything done expect for getting the visa number assigned due to the retrogression; they will be first in getting their coveted green card, as well as those that are in the process from last year for the AOS and have not received their green cards yet.

This thread is being closed for a cooling down period to get it back on track. This bulletin board is privately owned and if someone does not like the way things are discussed here, then they do not need to stay.

My Co-Moderators and I invest quite a bit of time as volunteers getting correct information out to you, and time answering questions. Arguing is not the way to do things here. This is not a paid gig that we have, but do it because it is something that we love.