Employment-Based Green Card Dates Advance Significantly for Indian Nationals

By: Min Kim, Angelita Chavez, and Jacqueline Valle

Several employment-based immigrant visa cutoff dates have significantly advanced in the October 2020 US Department of State Visa Bulletin. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that it will use the Dates for Filing Visa Bulletin, which means that many foreign nationals are newly eligible to file for adjustment of status to obtain United States permanent residence, and the EB-3 immigrant visa cutoff date will significantly advance for Indian nationals

SIGNIFICANT ADVANCEMENTS FOR INDIAN NATIONALS

In the Dates for Filing Visa Bulletin, the EB-3 preference category’s immigrant visa cutoff date significantly advanced for India-born nationals from February 2010 to January 2015.

Additionally, the EB-3 immigrant visa cutoff date has advanced ahead of the EB-2 immigrant visa cutoff date for Indian nationals. This means that Indians awaiting EB-2 immigrant visa availability have the possibility to downgrade to an EB-3 immigrant visa classification to obtain permanent residence sooner. This opportunity is also available to Chinese nationals.

HOW DOES AN EB-2 TO EB-3 DOWNGRADE WORK?

In many cases, an employer can reuse the same PERM application that they used to file an EB-2 immigrant petition to support an EB-3 immigrant petition for the same position. Employers will need to file an amendment to the I-140 petition to reclassify the preference category.

To complete the downgrade, employers would need to submit a new Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers to accompany the original PERM. Employers and affected foreign nationals should work closely with their Chugh, LLP immigration attorney to navigate this process.

CONCLUSION

Contact your trusted Chugh, LLP attorney for more information on obtaining a green card for your employee.