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Immigration Reform News Briefs

Provided by Humera Subhani

July 2013

Immigration reform: a hot topic in D.C.
Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush argued for immigration reform, saying that more legal immigration would add to our workforce, creating revenue from payroll taxes. Other Republicans disagree.

Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said that he thinks the reform bill will pass the Senate by July 4 with 70 votes, i.e. almost every Democrat and at least 15 Republicans would vote yes. Other Democrats have been doubtful and have asked constituents to contact their Senators to ask them to vote yes. House Speaker Boehner is said to support it and to want Congress to pass some sort of immigration reform before the August recess. However, Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) issued a joint statement that it will have to be modified from the Senate version. And with August so close, it is not sure if anything will actually be accomplished.

Good news for family-based category
The family-based, second-preference "A" (FB2A) category is for spouses and children of U.S. permanent residents. It is usually backlogged, requiring years of waiting for a visa number. However, the current Visa Bulletin says that this category may become "current" in the near future.

If it does become current, there is no way of knowing how long it will be current or how far the dates may roll back. Therefore, eligible candidates who have not yet filed their FB2A cases should file their I-130 petition to establish an FB priority date as soon as possible.

VISA PREFERENCE NUMBERS FOR July 2013

FAMILY	India	Pakistan/Bangladesh
1st	01Jun06	01Jun06
2A	08Oct11	08Oct11
2B	01Nov05	01Nov05
3rd	01Oct02	01Oct02
4th	22May01	22May01

EMPLOYMENT	India	Pakistan/Bangladesh
1st	Current	Current
2nd	01Sep04	Current
3rd	22Jan03	01Jan09
Other	22Jan03	01Jan09
4th	Current	Current
5th	Current	Current1B