Approved I-140

Happy New Year to all!

I just want to ask the status of my application in US. The USCIS sent me a document last year of August. It says there that my I-140 is approved with a serial number. I checked it on the USCIS website and it is valid. What does I-140 means and what is the status of my application? My employer told me that it was approved even before retrogression and my application is not affected by it. Is my employer telling the truth?

Please help me .Thanks!

Once you have approval you are affected by retrogression, Current processing dates are 2001 or 2002 depending on which country you was born in. Your employer is telling you false when they say your application is not affected. My approval and PD is Aug 06 and I am affected as are many other nurses some with earlier PD than mine

Is the upcoming US election has anything to do with the retrogression? When do you think it will be lifted? I am so sad

Is the upcoming US election has anything to do with the retrogression? When do you think it will be lifted? I am so sad

I can not see anything happening until after the US elections and everyone is sworn in. and even then I do not think it will happen straight away.

This is my opinion

Is the upcoming US election has anything to do with the retrogression? When do you think it will be lifted? I am so sad

Directly and the strictest sense, no. Retrogression has been in place since Nov. 2006 even before any major political and geo-political issues peaked. Retrogression was simply a result of the 50,000 visas earmarked solely for nurses and PTs being exhausted. in Nov. 2006. Retrogression is a normal end-point if visas are exhausted. All visa numbers are limited or quota-based and so once a quota is reached or if a one-time exclusive special visa category, such as the 50,000 visa Schedule A has been used up it will result in retrogression. It is expected to happen.

I hope your agency is not saying that there is retrogression because of the upcoming elections. It has nothing to do with it.

However, since lifting of retrogression requires a legislation to bring relief, politics plays a role into that passing of a law to allow relief and that exactly what happened for most part of 2007 when multiple amendments and provisions to bring relief were constantly being taken out on bills that it was attached to.

The only effect of the up-coming elections will be is that after the 1st qtr. of 2008, there will be no more major non-essential bills or laws that will be passed since any issue can be taken against a particular party. In short, if there is no relief that will come by the 1st qtr. of 2008, it is very probable that it will not come until after the Nov. 2008 elections. The next viable date might just be the 1st qtr. of next year again.

Thanks for the replies. By the way my I-140 was approved August 2006. I think it would be better for me to apply in any tertiary hospital here in the Philippines. Thanks Silverdragon and Lawrence;)

Posting this to not give false hope but to just say that there is such a move that is being planned this qtr. of the year and is understood that it needs to be done before the elections.

And if I may say, 61,000 visas is quite fair. It's just practically the same thing as the 50,000 that was given before and may even have a lesser impact now since there has been more nurses that got caught up in limbo since then. It may even be barely enough to bring relief to everyone already in the pipeline since only roughly 1/3 - 1/4 actually goes to the nurse and the rest are allocated to their dependents. The 61,000 visas may only be good for those already in the middle to latter stages of the immigration process. It may even be depleted even before it hits those that filed in July and August of 2007. This is the same way, that the previous 50,000 visas were depleted even before everyone were given a visa. Even some of those that filed when there was still no retrogression still don't have a visa up to now and those given one in July and Aug. 2007 are not part of the 50,000 (they were exhausted in Nov. 2006) but are taken out from the annual quota of the EB3 category,

Just hope no one will lobby against this. This is quite fair, at least in my humble opinion and will simply just provide relief to those already in the pipeline rather bring out new nurses.

2008

Leveraging our 2007 success

There is a very real chance that healthcare immigration friendly legislation is passed in 2007. We are currently targeting two efforts:

1. Recapture of 61,000 visas. This is the legislation that was passed by the Senate in October 2007. We have personally met with many of the main players in the House of Representatives, including Rep. Pelosi, who is the Speaker of the House, and Rep. Lofgren, who chairs the Immigration subcommittee. These offices have told us that they believe that there is a real chance for our legislation to be enacted in the first quarter of 2008.

2. Elimination of the Schedule A Visa quota through larger Business Immigration Reform. Very recently we have heard of a revival of the Strive Act. This Act calls for several pro-business visa quota increases. The original Strive Act called for the elimination of the Schedule A visa quota for 10 years. At least one staffer has told us that this is being reconsidered for early 2008, although it may be scaled down from 10 years.

Strategy for 2008

Lobbying and supporting lobbyists for immigration legislation is not for the faint of heart. Immigration is a hot button issue in Washington DC; the issue is often tied up in the Mexican undocumented worker phenomenon. That having been said, our opportunity is now and is very real. Our issue has traction in Washington. There is a lot of pressure on Congress to enact business-friendly immigration in the first half of 2008. The conventional wisdom is that virtually no legislation will pass in late 2008, as the politicians’ focus will be squarely on the Presidential election. Therefore we must act quickly.