Business Immigration Insights

The Visa Bulletin is released monthly by the Department of State and is used to determine when a sponsored foreign national can submit the final step of the green card process.  The complete visa bulletin can be found here.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced a significant expansion of in-person interviews for individuals applying for permanent residence based on an offer of employment. The policy also applies to a much smaller population of beneficiaries of I-730 Refugee/Asylee Relative Petitions who are inside the United States. The new policy will begin on October 1, 2017, and is expected to result in more than 130,000 additional interviews conducted each year at USCIS District Offices throughout the country. Affected applicants should expect significant processing delays, as these interviews will be conducted by an agency that is already struggling to keep up with current processing demands. These interviews will be conducted at the final stage of the permanent residency application process, called adjustment of status.

The U.S. Department of State has announced that, effective August 23, 2017, U.S. consular operations in Russia – Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and Vladivostok – will suspend processing of all nonimmigrant visa (NIV) applications. This action is being taken due to recent personnel reductions the Russian government has mandated for the U.S. Mission in Russia. Immigrant Visas related to permanent residence may also be impacted.