Finally, some good news! Starting October 1, 2020, many people who have already been eligible for a green card, but have been waiting years to apply for a green card will be able to do so. The government recently released its monthly visa bulletin, which announces who is able to apply for a green card based on their priority date. People with a priority date earlier than those listed in the chart below are eligible to apply for a green card.
We are excited about this good news for our current clients, and have already started taking action if the new visa bulletin makes you eligible to adjust your status. For those that do not have an existing file open with our office, please contact us by October 1, 2020 to start your case. The government’s deadline is the end of October.
Employment-based applicants from around the world, including Mexico and the Philippines, will be able to apply for a green card. Many applicants from India and China – the countries with the two biggest backlogs – will similarly be able to apply for a green card. This is especially great news for Indian nationals who have been waiting 10+ years to have the opportunity to apply for their green cards.
Given this substantial shake up and all of the many other immigration changes taking place right now, if you are unsure if you qualify, we encourage you to contact an immigration attorney. We can help clients find solutions if they are unsure if their priority date is current. For example, some Indians with an Immigrant Visa petition in the Employment-Based 2nd Preference (EB-2) may still not have a visa number available to them. However, we may be able to get a visa number available for them by applying for an Immigrant Visa petition in the Employment-Based 3rd Preference (EB-3). We will continue to work with our current clients to ensure their applications are timely filed to take advantage of this rare filing opportunity.
To read about the intricacies of the visa bulletin charts, check out our previous article.