Those of you who have obtained your permanent residency through an EB-3 petition (professional and skilled workers) and have family who were left abroad because of retrogression should highly consider filing a family-based petition for them. Why? Because based on the figures of the September 2010 Visa Bulletin, it is likely to be much faster to file a separate family-based petition for your spouse and children than waiting for their priority date to become current in the EB-3 category.
Consider these figures of the September 2010 Visa Bulletin:
- Visa numbers are only available in the EB-3 category for those who have a priority date of December 15, 2004 or earlier (except China-mainland and India which are backlogged to October 22, 2003 and January 1, 2002 respectively);
- However, visa numbers for the F2A category (spouses/children of permanent residents) are available for those who have a priority date of January 1, 2010 or earlier (except for those from the Dominican Republic and Mexico which are backlogged to January 1, 2009).
Here is an example to help illustrate:
- An accountant received her green card in 2007 while her husband and children were still abroad in the Philippines;
- Because of the retrogression that occurred in 2007 and after, the family was not able to accompany or follow to join their mother immediately and were stuck behind;
- The family's priority date is January 2006;
- Although we cannot predict how fast the numbers will move, it appears that it would be faster, perhaps by a few years, for the mom to file a family-based petition for her family abroad
If you would like more information, please contact our office.