Hello, everybody. In this exciting video, I'm going to be talking about some projections for
June, July with the visa bulletin, and with visa processing in general, priority date movements,
and lots of good information. This is based on information that is coming from the State
Department through a new YouTube series that is being broadcasted every month. Charlie Oppenheim,
Chief of the Visa Control and the reporting unit of the State Department. Charlie discussed
visa trends and future projections for immigrant visa processing, and much more. Many of our
viewers mentioned the information, those videos are quite complex and confusing. And therefore
I'm making this video to break it down for you, in more simple terms, to make it understandable,
and easy to comprehend. S, what we're going to do is we're going to go through some of the main
topics discussed in the State Department's video and break it down for you in step by step format,
just like I do in most of my videos, so make sure you stick to the end because I'm going to go over
all these different topics. So, what are you waiting for? I'll see you on the other side.
Hello, everybody, and welcome back to our Immigration channel. This is a place we get
the most up-to-date immigration information, immigration updates, and everything else that
you need to make your immigration journey less stressful. My name is Jacob Sapochnik, and I'm
an immigration attorney located in San Diego, California. And I help clients in all 50 states.
We make those videos every single week just for you based on your comments and the information
that you want to see. So, make sure you always comment and let me know what is the next video
that you want me to make. If you're here for the first time, don't forget to subscribe to our
channel, click the notification bell so you don't miss any of our videos. And also, give us a big
like so YouTube will be able to show this video to more people just like you. So, let's dive right
into this video. As I mentioned before, we want to analyze the State Department's monthly update
on YouTube where they break down the different trends, the predictions, and a lot of other things
that are important for you to understand, how your case will progress in the next few months. So,
let's jump straight into the Q&A. And we'll go in the order as it was presented in the webcast
from the State Department. The first question they asked Charlie was the following. “You previously
mentioned that the fiscal year 2021 employment annual limit is approximately 262,000. Do you
expect that all of the numbers will be used?” So, the answer is no. Charlie explained that
he doesn't expect all these numbers to be used. And the reason is because of the global pandemic,
because of the major delays with consulates and embassies, and just the inability
to process all these visas. So, the answer is no, not all the numbers from the employment-based cap
will be used by the end of the fiscal year. This important question that Charlie was asked is the
following. He was asked an interesting question. He was asked whether he thinks that family-based
numbers will continue to advance all the way through September. And here's what he had to
say. Let's actually see it from him in a small clip. With the possible exception of the family,
fourth preference in the Philippine family dates, I do not expect any forward movement, and any that
occurs through August would be minimal. Based on the information that I've recently received,
we do expect to advance the worldwide and India fourth preference dates for June. Again, worldwide
family fourth and India family fourth will be moving for the month of June. So, as you can
see from the information in this clip, with the exception of the F4 category in the Philippines,
he doesn't expect any forward movement in the family categories. And if there's any forward
movement, it's going to be definitely minimal. He does expect the family fourth category
to advance in June both worldwide and for India specifically. So, these are not so bad news.
Another common question that comes up and it was brought up in that webcast is, “If I submitted all
my required documents, why hasn't my interview been scheduled yet?” And this can be true
for documents submitted to USCIS or NVC or the embassy. So, here's what he had to
say. In terms of the operational capacity of scheduling immigrant visa interviews,
Charlie points out that USCIS has been forced to deal with operational backlogs caused by COVID-19
related issues. Such backlog has, of course, severely impacted the ability of overseas posts to
process cases as they normally would. In addition, the scheduling of visa interviews is dependent on
the country conditions of each particular post. And safety has been the primary concern for the
public and staff members at consulates, embassies worldwide. Charlie recommends for individuals,
continue to monitor the website of their respective consulate or embassy for information
about operational capacity and services they're able to provide. And I want to say further. So,
while you've submitted all your documents to USCIS, and your case may have been approved,
as well as submitted all your documents to NVC, and your case may have been already
documented qualified, it doesn't mean that your interview will be scheduled automatically.
I mentioned that in previous videos, that NVC is like a warehousing facility right now,
they're waiting for embassies to open slots, so then they're able to send them cases
when they're ready to interview them. That's why it's important for you to continue to be in touch
with your individual embassy to determine when they open and when they can schedule your case.
So, then when slots are available, NVC will be able to send those cases in your interview will be
scheduled. Remember that some of these embassies, and I'm doing that right now on a regular basis,
and in those cases, you can try to request a national interest exception to expedite your case,
or wait for your turn for your interview. Another important question that was asked is
the following. “When do you think family priority dates are going to come close to their filing
dates?” The filing dates are typically eight to 12 months out from where Charlie believes
the final action dates will be due to the COVID-19 issues impacting processing overseas,
the family dates have not been moving as fast as one might normally expect. So, it may take longer
for some of the established family application dates to be reached. Approximately 95% of the
family-sponsored American limit is processed by overseas posts. And approximately 85-90%
of the employment base numbers are used for Adjustment of Status cases by applicants that are
already in the United States. So, as you can see, the filing dates are typically almost a year out
from when the action dates are actually going to happen yet this is all because of the processing
delayed of COVID-19 and backlogs with embassies. So, it doesn't make sense that it's going to take
that long. But at least we know we get some kind of verification from the State Department that it
is the case. Another question that was asked is, “Why is it so hard to release the visa bulletin
on the same date every single month?” As you remember earlier in the year, we're getting the
visa bulletin late in the month, almost at the end of the month. And some months, we're
getting them early in the month. Why is it so unpredictable? Well, here's what they have to say.
The Department of State attempts to make the determination of each upcoming month’s final
action dates in the bulletin on or about the eighth of the month depending on how that falls
in relation to a holiday or weekend, the release of the visa bulletin is ultimately impacted by a
number of stakeholders who must clear the release of the visa bulletin and ensure
that the appropriate cables have been issued to post overseas containing instructions on visa
availability.Every attempt is made to get the necessary clearances. And that the visa bulletin
out as soon as possible each month. So, as you can see, there's a lot of moving pieces there in the
State Department. They’re not able to release the visa bulletin every time consistently because they
have to go through all these back-end procedures, but at least we know they're trying. And finally,
the big question is with family-based interviews not taking place as normal. “With posts being
closed and so many backlogs, will there be a retrogression in any of the family-based
categories?” And what retrogression means is that if now, they're at a certain date
moving forward in the next month, they could go back backward in that same category. Is this going
to happen? And according to Charlie, and the State Department, none of the family-based categories
are going to retrogress, meaning go back in time. This happened in many visa bulletins in previous
years. He assured everybody that none of the family-based categories are going to retrogress
even though we have backlogs, even though embassies and consulates are closed. So, these are
great news. So, we covered quite a few topics from the State Department broadcast. If you want to see
the full Question and Answer transcript, we have it as a link on our blog. The link is going to be
posted in the description of this video. You can see a lot more of the questions that I didn't get
into in this video. But the bottom line is that there's going to be no retrogression anticipated,
and we're going to see some slight movement in family categories, specifically in the F4
category in the month of June, July, which are major predictions for you to know. So, once again,
if you liked this video, make sure you share it with somebody that needs to know. Leave me
a comment with questions or any suggestions you have for future videos. And if you have issues
with your case, and you want to consult with me one on one, make sure you text me at 619-483-4549.
I want to hear from you and I want to be able to help you.
Thank you so much for watching this video, and I'll see you in our next one.