Annual Immigrant Visa Report Shows Long Waiting Lists According to Dallas Immigration Lawyer
Dec 27, 2010
The National Visa Center released its annual report of immigrant visa applicants in the family-sponsored and employment-based preferences in early November, 2010. Dallas immigration attorney Stewart Rabinowitz of the firm Rabinowitz & Rabinowitz breaks down the numbers and advises applicants on what steps to take.
Dallas, TX (Law Firm Newswire) December 27, 2010 – The majority of immigrant visa applicants are eligible based on either employer or family sponsorship. Most categories receive more applicants than the limit every year, so additional applicants are placed on a waiting list, with priority based on filing date.
On the employment side, “Priority Workers – those with outstanding abilities in business, athletics, the arts, education or the sciences – have the best chance of having a visa immediately available,” said Stewart Rabinowitz, a Dallas immigration attorney with the firm Rabinowitz & Rabinowitz. “A foreign national in this classification must prove that he or she is on of the very few at the top of their field, an increasingly difficult standard to meet.” Unlike others who file for a visa based on employment, these workers can self-petition and do not need prior approval from the Department of Labor.
Those with advanced degrees (with limited exception), bachelor’s degrees or those with two years of training or experience who have desirable skills must first obtain certification of available U.S. workers through the Department of Labor. Visa backlogs, especially for applicants from India or China with advanced degrees, may have a 5-year wait for a visa to become available; those with bachelors degrees from either country may have a 10 or more year wait. Applicants with advanced degrees grew by 7 percent between 2009 and 2010, while those with lesser degrees or desirable skills or training shrunk by .5 percent. The waiting list for employment-based visas grew as a whole by 33.8 percent, or 1,183,429 people.
On the family side, a U.S. citizen can file a petition for a spouse, for children, and for brothers and sisters. Mexico has the single highest amount of visa applicants based on family, with almost 1.4 million people on the waiting list. The Philippines is the second highest, with just shy of 500,000. India, Vietnam, China and the Dominican Republic all also have sizable waiting lists of more than 100,000 people.
“Our Firm has successfully represented many foreign nationals who have immigrated based on employment or family status,” Rabinowitz said. “We offer comprehensive evaluations for businesses who seek to immigrate a needed foreign national employee or for individuals who seek to bring family members. With increased scrutiny at every turn by different branches of the federal government, charting a course to successfully negotiate the complex minefield of U.S. immigration law has never been more difficult.”
To learn more, contact a Dallas immigration lawyer or Dallas Immigration Attorney at Rabinowitz & Rabinowitz, P.C., call 1.972.233.6200 or visit http://www.rabinowitzrabinowitz.com.
Rabinowitz & Rabinowitz, P.C.
14901 Quorum Drive, Suite 580
Dallas, Texas 75254
Phone: 972.233.6200
