Initially, one of the main goals for this website was to monitor the visa bulletin charts for SIJ cases. With our transition to Docketwise, which now tracks our cases and priority dates, this function is no longer necessary. As a result, this blog can now be repurposed for other uses.

The visa bulletin for June 2024 has been posted. The priority date for all chargeability areas is November 1, 2020

The visa bulletin for September of 2023 has been posted. The priority date for all chargeability areas except for those listed is September 1, 2018. In February of 2022, the priority date was March 15, 2019. However, in March of 2022, the priority date regressed to June 15, 2017. I believed that the June 15, 2017 was an arbitrary number to show that visa numbers were unavailable. Previously, the visa bulletin would say “unavailable” but that led to some confusion as some people mistakenly believed that the entire preference category was removed and “unavailable” permanently. In October of 2022, the date for final action for employment-based fourth preference is March…

The visa bulletin for July of 2023 has been posted. The priority date for all chargeability areas except for those listed is September 1, 2018. In February of 2022, the priority date was March 15, 2019. However, in March of 2022, the priority date regressed to June 15, 2017. I believed that the June 15, 2017 was an arbitrary number to show that visa numbers were unavailable. Previously, the visa bulletin would say “unavailable” but that led to some confusion as some people mistakenly believed that the entire preference category was removed and “unavailable” permanently. In October of 2022, the date for final action for employment-based fourth preference is March…

How do you measure success as an immigration attorney? Is it the same way as how someone would measure a year? Five hundred, twenty five thousand, six hundred minutes or is it something deeper. We recently appeared before an Immigration Judge and our case for cancellation of removal from start to finish took approximately 17 minutes of court time. As a matter of context, for some people without legal immigration status in the United States, cancellation of removal is a form of relief that may be available if certain requirements are met. Those requirements include being physically present in the United States for a continuous period of not less than…

The visa bulletin for December of 2022 has been posted. Unfortunately, there is no movement for the SIJ category, which is listed under the employment-based fourth preference, for applicants from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. In December of 2022, the date for final action for employment-based fourth preference is March 15, 2018, which is the same exact date as listed in the October of 2022 visa bulletin. I think USCIS recognizes this problem and has taken steps to address the potential wait time. Indeed, USCIS has done at least 2 things to make the wait more bearable. First, in March of 2022, USCIS published a final rule in the Federal…

The visa bulletin for November of 2022 has been posted. Unfortunately, there is no movement for the SIJ category, which is listed under the employment-based fourth preference, for applicants from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. In November of 2022, the date for final action for employment-based fourth preference is March 15, 2018, which is the same exact date as listed in the October of 2022 visa bulletin. I think USCIS recognizes this problem and has taken steps to address the potential wait time. Indeed, USCIS has done at least 2 things to make the wait more bearable. First, in March of 2022, USCIS published a final rule in the Federal…

Eventually, I would like to draft and share a post about why I wanted to be an immigration attorney. In the meantime, I would like to share some memorable moments from my practice as an immigration attorney and the profound impact that it had on our clients. I had a client named Maria. Maria entered the United States under a Fiancée visa (K-1) with her daughter who entered as a K-2. Maria married her fiancé within 90 days of her entry into the United States. Maria filed the green card paperwork with USCIS for both her and her daughter. Unfortunately, Maria’s husband passed away before the green card paperwork was…

October is always an interesting month for immigration law especially when dealing with petitions that have a priority date. Some immigration benefits such as a family-based petition filed by a lawful permanent resident on behalf of their unmarried sons and daughters who are 21 years of age or older will generally have a wait time even after approval due to the unavailability of a visa number. The priority date is the date that the petition is received by USCIS and acts as a ticket number or marker to determine when an approved petition can utilize a visa number so the beneficiary of that petition can either obtain an immigrant visa…