F2A Retrogression: What happened??

[SweetApple08 2]

I just wanted to give your all my opinion on what is going on. Below is my timeline for approval of I-130 and GC though F2A:

US Entry : 12/19/2003 on F-1

Marriage : 03/07/2006 Married an person who was in process of getting GC

I-130 Sent : 08/15/2006Applied as soon as he got his GC, According to USCIS -Vermont office was approving I-130 applications within 6 months, But for our luck the Approval adata of I-130 for F2A category remained January 2006 for about 3 and half years. No aaplications were approved from that office for a long time.

I-130 NOA1 : 08/30/2006

I-130 Transferred from Vermont Center to Texas Center 05/11/2009 After the transfer from Vermont to Texas Center the approval time was less than 5 months, but still no luck. All the applications from 2008 were getting approved (source VJ) while our applications from 2006 and 2007 were lost somewhere "in some boxes" collecting dust.

I-130 Touched on 12/05/2009, on March 2010

I-130 Approved : 03/29/2010 After months of calls (telling us to call back) they opened a ticket to inquire about our case (told us to wait another 60 days) after waiting, called them again and sent an email to main USCIS office and finally our case was found and approved.

I heard many people like me from 2006 and 2007 that they had a nightmare trying to find out what was happening with their case and getting them approved.

On the other hand, other applications from 2008 and 2009 moved fast into the pipeline especially the ones from California center. The approved I-130s from 2008 and 2009 were sent to DOS/NVC (but they had not receieved 2006 and 2007 yet) so their F2A Priority Dates moved fast past those unapproved applications from 2006 and 2007.

While I was still waiting for my I-130 to get approved I saw priority dates moving 4, 6 months at a time, and I just could not believe my eyes. It really seemed unfair waiting for 3.5 years and nothing while others who aplied a year or so already had their NVC process started.

So after all the I-130 from 2006 and 2007 were approved and sent for processing to NVC, they had no choice but to stop processing of the "newer cases" and start processing visas with priority dates from 2007. Thus we see today retrogression of priority dates.

[jsonm8 0]

In Sept. 2010 American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) discussion session here in Washington, DC with Charles Oppenheim. Mr. Oppenheim is the Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division at the U.S. Department of State. For many, he is simply known as the person responsible for the monthly and annual visa number allocations for family- and employment-based green cards. He is also the person who prepares and publishes the monthly visa bulletin which is highly anticipated every month.

Visa Bulletin Predictions – Family-Based

FB 2A. According to Mr. Oppenheim, this family-based category has shown a very low demand over the past months; accordingly, Mr. Oppenheim expects that the 2A category (spouses and children of permanent residents) will continue to move forward aggressively and by the February 2011 visa bulletin, this category may be current or close to being current.

FB 2B. Similarly, movement in the 2B category has been faster than anticipated due to low demand; accordingly faster forward movement in this category is also expected.

Source:

http://www.cilawgroup.com/news/2010/09/23/visa-bulletin-predictions-and-updates-from-charles-oppenheim/

what happened to 'MOVE FORWARD AGGRESSIVELY ON FEB 2011 VB?'.. march vb is jan 2007 on f2a

[aqwer 0]

I just wanted to give your all my opinion on what is going on. Below is my timeline for approval of I-130 and GC though F2A:

US Entry : 12/19/2003 on F-1

Marriage : 03/07/2006 Married an person who was in process of getting GC

I-130 Sent : 08/15/2006Applied as soon as he got his GC, According to USCIS -Vermont office was approving I-130 applications within 6 months, But for our luck the Approval adata of I-130 for F2A category remained January 2006 for about 3 and half years. No aaplications were approved from that office for a long time.

I-130 NOA1 : 08/30/2006

I-130 Transferred from Vermont Center to Texas Center 05/11/2009 After the transfer from Vermont to Texas Center the approval time was less than 5 months, but still no luck. All the applications from 2008 were getting approved (source VJ) while our applications from 2006 and 2007 were lost somewhere "in some boxes" collecting dust.

I-130 Touched on 12/05/2009, on March 2010

I-130 Approved : 03/29/2010 After months of calls (telling us to call back) they opened a ticket to inquire about our case (told us to wait another 60 days) after waiting, called them again and sent an email to main USCIS office and finally our case was found and approved.

I heard many people like me from 2006 and 2007 that they had a nightmare trying to find out what was happening with their case and getting them approved.

On the other hand, other applications from 2008 and 2009 moved fast into the pipeline especially the ones from California center. The approved I-130s from 2008 and 2009 were sent to DOS/NVC (but they had not receieved 2006 and 2007 yet) so their F2A Priority Dates moved fast past those unapproved applications from 2006 and 2007.

While I was still waiting for my I-130 to get approved I saw priority dates moving 4, 6 months at a time, and I just could not believe my eyes. It really seemed unfair waiting for 3.5 years and nothing while others who aplied a year or so already had their NVC process started.

So after all the I-130 from 2006 and 2007 were approved and sent for processing to NVC, they had no choice but to stop processing of the "newer cases" and start processing visas with priority dates from 2007. Thus we see today retrogression of priority dates.

Logical and real analysis ... thanks

[ralph240574 0]

This same "incompetent country" is the country you have elected to live in. Having had dealings with Colombia I know you are well aware of how streamlined and smoothly things run there with no delays or hassles. As a veteran who has served and fought for this nation I take offense when people start cursing the nation. You have every reason to be upset with the system, it's not perfect. Instead of griping and cussing spend those energies working to improve it.

I lived most of my life in Germany and when I say that this country is incompetent in it's immigration affairs, I mean it and I have plenty of reasons to support that.

I receive a PhD in 2001 from Georgia Tech mostly paid for by tax payers through Graduate Assistantships. After living in the US with an F1-student visa for almost seven years LEGALLY (yes grad school can take long), I could not even get a H1-B work visa after my OPT ended in February 2008, due to another quota. So I actually left the country until October that year, fortunately my employer could send me to a different country during that time. Then after receiving my green card in 2009 I thought I was done having to deal with any immigration issues but unfortunately I met my wife after I received my green card.

At this point I am very close to just max out my credit cards and walk away from my mortgage and move back to Europe, where I can bring my wife without any wait time and ridiculous processing fees. A spouse of any EU citizen (in some countries also gays) has the same rights as the EU citizen, i.e. they can work and live in all EU countries. In many European countries a person that lived in a country legally for certain period of time (e.g. 5 years in the UK) is eligible for citizenship.

Furthermore I was fully aware of the issue of long wait times and wouldn't have married just yet (so that my wife could have gotten a student visa), but last year the cut-off dates were moved dramatically forward. In November, after the December bulletin was out, one could have expected a wait time of 4 months, but then the big retrogression came.

So, YES the US is COMPLETELY incompetent regarding it's immigration policies. They are not able to enforce their own immigration laws, and people who actually follow the laws have to suffer.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

I lived most of my life in Germany and when I say that this country is incompetent in it's immigration affairs, I mean it and I have plenty of reasons to support that.

I receive a PhD in 2001 from Georgia Tech mostly paid for by tax payers through Graduate Assistantships. After living in the US with an F1-student visa for almost seven years LEGALLY (yes grad school can take long), I could not even get a H1-B work visa after my OPT ended in February 2008, due to another quota. So I actually left the country until October that year, fortunately my employer could send me to a different country during that time. Then after receiving my green card in 2009 I thought I was done having to deal with any immigration issues but unfortunately I met my wife after I received my green card.

At this point I am very close to just max out my credit cards and walk away from my mortgage and move back to Europe, where I can bring my wife without any wait time and ridiculous processing fees. A spouse of any EU citizen (in some countries also gays) has the same rights as the EU citizen, i.e. they can work and live in all EU countries. In many European countries a person that lived in a country legally for certain period of time (e.g. 5 years in the UK) is eligible for citizenship.

Furthermore I was fully aware of the issue of long wait times and wouldn't have married just yet (so that my wife could have gotten a student visa), but last year the cut-off dates were moved dramatically forward. In November, after the December bulletin was out, one could have expected a wait time of 4 months, but then the big retrogression came.

So, YES the US is COMPLETELY incompetent regarding it's immigration policies. They are not able to enforce their own immigration laws, and people who actually follow the laws have to suffer.

BS. The immigration laws in Germany are not too dissimilar from the laws in the US. Non-EU citizens still need a basis to enter and stay in the country - skilled worker, student, relative of German citizen, etc. There are some aspects that are even more strict than the US, such as derivative spouses in many visa categories need to pass an A1 level exam in the German language in order to get a visa. There would be rioting in the US if you told H1B visa holders that their spouses couldn't get a visa until they could pass an English fluency test.

Applying for citizenship in Germany requires 8 years of legal residence, as opposed to 5 years in the US, or 3 years if you're the spouse of a US citizen. Children born in Germany don't automatically acquire German citizenship unless one or both parents are German citizens or are eligible for German citizenship (e.g., permanent resident who has resided in Germany for 8 years).

Germany doesn't seem to be doing much better enforcing their own immigration laws, given they've got about a million illegal immigrants, 1/4 of those in Berlin.

Immigration to the US is time consuming because the US is the top immigration destination in the world, beating the nearest competitor by a factor of six. It's expensive because immigrants and their sponsoring relatives pay the costs, rather than forcing US taxpayers to pay for it. If you don't like the way it works then you can try to change it, but you need to make sure that most Americans agree. Recent polls indicate that most Americans believe it should be more difficult rather than less difficult to immigrate here.

[nela 0]

I just wanted to give your all my opinion on what is going on. Below is my timeline for approval of I-130 and GC though F2A:

US Entry : 12/19/2003 on F-1

Marriage : 03/07/2006 Married an person who was in process of getting GC

I-130 Sent : 08/15/2006Applied as soon as he got his GC, According to USCIS -Vermont office was approving I-130 applications within 6 months, But for our luck the Approval adata of I-130 for F2A category remained January 2006 for about 3 and half years. No aaplications were approved from that office for a long time.

I-130 NOA1 : 08/30/2006

I-130 Transferred from Vermont Center to Texas Center 05/11/2009 After the transfer from Vermont to Texas Center the approval time was less than 5 months, but still no luck. All the applications from 2008 were getting approved (source VJ) while our applications from 2006 and 2007 were lost somewhere "in some boxes" collecting dust.

I-130 Touched on 12/05/2009, on March 2010

I-130 Approved : 03/29/2010 After months of calls (telling us to call back) they opened a ticket to inquire about our case (told us to wait another 60 days) after waiting, called them again and sent an email to main USCIS office and finally our case was found and approved.

I heard many people like me from 2006 and 2007 that they had a nightmare trying to find out what was happening with their case and getting them approved.

On the other hand, other applications from 2008 and 2009 moved fast into the pipeline especially the ones from California center. The approved I-130s from 2008 and 2009 were sent to DOS/NVC (but they had not receieved 2006 and 2007 yet) so their F2A Priority Dates moved fast past those unapproved applications from 2006 and 2007.

While I was still waiting for my I-130 to get approved I saw priority dates moving 4, 6 months at a time, and I just could not believe my eyes. It really seemed unfair waiting for 3.5 years and nothing while others who aplied a year or so already had their NVC process started.

So after all the I-130 from 2006 and 2007 were approved and sent for processing to NVC, they had no choice but to stop processing of the "newer cases" and start processing visas with priority dates from 2007. Thus we see today retrogression of priority dates.

I think the retrogression happened cuz maybe they needed the money , you had such a long wait wow

[Wayne and Claudia 40]

I lived most of my life in Germany and when I say that this country is incompetent in it's immigration affairs, I mean it and I have plenty of reasons to support that.

I receive a PhD in 2001 from Georgia Tech mostly paid for by tax payers through Graduate Assistantships. After living in the US with an F1-student visa for almost seven years LEGALLY (yes grad school can take long), I could not even get a H1-B work visa after my OPT ended in February 2008, due to another quota. So I actually left the country until October that year, fortunately my employer could send me to a different country during that time. Then after receiving my green card in 2009 I thought I was done having to deal with any immigration issues but unfortunately I met my wife after I received my green card.

At this point I am very close to just max out my credit cards and walk away from my mortgage and move back to Europe, where I can bring my wife without any wait time and ridiculous processing fees. A spouse of any EU citizen (in some countries also gays) has the same rights as the EU citizen, i.e. they can work and live in all EU countries. In many European countries a person that lived in a country legally for certain period of time (e.g. 5 years in the UK) is eligible for citizenship.

Furthermore I was fully aware of the issue of long wait times and wouldn't have married just yet (so that my wife could have gotten a student visa), but last year the cut-off dates were moved dramatically forward. In November, after the December bulletin was out, one could have expected a wait time of 4 months, but then the big retrogression came.

So, YES the US is COMPLETELY incompetent regarding it's immigration policies. They are not able to enforce their own immigration laws, and people who actually follow the laws have to suffer.

Again, I say: If you are so unhappy then try to change it or leave. It's a simple process. Be proud of the fact that you received a mostly "free to you" education. I paid for my BSEE and BSME myself, never even having taken a grant. Good luck to you wherever you end up.

[ralph240574 0]

Again, I say: If you are so unhappy then try to change it or leave. It's a simple process. Be proud of the fact that you received a mostly "free to you" education. I paid for my BSEE and BSME myself, never even having taken a grant. Good luck to you wherever you end up.

Thanks, that's is exactly what I am contemplating now, at least for the next year, a lot of tax dollars that Uncle Sam will loose...

[ralph240574 0]

My other question is will uSCIS process our petitions withi the five months in light of the retrogression

Mine was approved just 2 days short of 5 months. It seems they are trying hard to stay within 5 months. My wifes priority date is Oct 2010, and now the NVC has sent me already the affidavit of support bill. According to the NVC they will only start the process if they think visas will be available within the next 9 months. Hope that is true.

[jerih 1]

wow mine is oct 2010 also, but havent recieved yet.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Post containing business advertisement in violation of TOS has been removed. Acceptable parts of the post are returned to the thread below:

Hi,

I just read the January 2011 visa bulletin & almost had a stroke. Have you got to any idea what will happen next? we have received our first package from nvc three days back & our pd was current on Dec 2010 visa bulletin. Will it still be current for process our case on regular basis & visa issuance or we are also in backlog?