Post-September 2005 Reflections on Retrogression
Posted Oct 14, 2005
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September 30th has passed, and, with it, the availability of visa numbers for all but the earliest priority date cases in the employment-based third preference (EB3) category. Similar feelings of shock and frustration are shared by those nationals eligible under the employment-based second preference (EB2) and the employment-based first preference (EB1) categories who come from India and China. We at The Law Office of Sheela Murthy worked with many of our clients to file their cases in the face of daunting time constraints in the two weeks leading up to September 30, 2005.
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Filed Several Hundred Cases through September 29, 2005
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We are proud to report that our dedicated attorneys and paralegals helped several hundred clients file their "green card" cases before retrogression. The large numbers are, in part, due to the need to file not only the primary beneficiary's case, but also that of any dependent family members. Our cases included many labor certification-based I-140/I-485s, as well as dozens of the document-intensive EB1 (Extraordinary Ability) and EB2 (National Interest Waiver) cases. Adding to this work were those lucky individuals who received their labor certification case approvals under PERM or the regular or RIR process through the Backlog Processing Centers (BPCs) during the last two weeks of September 2005 - right through September 29, 2005! These cases had to be added to our "to do" list and filed on or before September 30, 2005 to protect and preserve the rights of the individuals to file their I-485 applications. Benefits of filing include the ability to obtain employment authorization cards (EADs) to be able to work and advance paroles (APs) to travel and reenter the U.S. Another benefit is the use of AC21 portability upon the I-140 approval, based on the I-485's having been pending for over 180 days and finding suitable employment.
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Team Effort with Our Clients in to Meet this Deadline
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For the two weeks following the issuance of the U.S. Department of State Visa Bulletin, everyone at The Law Office of Sheela Murthy, P.C. pitched in, pushing themselves as hard as possible to take care of our clients' needs. We knew EB2 retrogression was inevitable, possibly before the end of 2005. The change commencing on October 1, 2005, rather than November or December, was a bit of a surprise in the immigration world. We know our clients depend upon us and trust us with their cases, which represent their lives and futures. We take our work and our mission seriously and this is why we did everything within our control to take care of as many clients as humanly possible within that small window of opportunity.
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Gratitude and Appreciation for Our Clients
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We would like to take this opportunity to thank our clients for your loyalty, trust, and patience during the stressful two weeks prior to September 30, 2005. We thank each of you for your support and cooperation in sending us the required documents and information promptly, so that your cases could be timely filed. We appreciate your understanding the demands that were placed upon us to file the cases of many of your colleagues and others in our immigrant community, as well as your own.
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It was all Worthwhile!
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We all breathed a sign of relief as our last case was prepared and filed. In fact, we managed to file one case in a single day, since the labor certification approval under PERM was sent to us on September 29, 2005. We understand that this obviously is not the end of the process, even for those who were fortunate enough to file their cases within the two-week timeframe. We will continue to help and guide our clients, MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers through the months and years ahead as they extend their EADs and APs, possibly each year, coping with the delays created by the lack of sufficient employment-based visa numbers under the U.S. immigration legal system.
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Conclusion
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Retrogression has created many problems, both for those who were able file before the September 30, 2005 deadline and those who were not. There will be a longer wait for those who were not able to file their I-485 cases before they can finally obtain their green cards. While we are pleased to have helped so many individuals quickly file their I-140s and I-485s prior to the October 1, 2005, deadline, we sympathize with those who were not yet eligible to file. We look forward to assisting persons affected by retrogression to file as speedily as possible in the months and years to come and to working for better immigration laws that end these delays.
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