Health Care Blog

TheDepartment of State has just issued the November 2024 Visa Bulletin. Thisblog post analyzes this month’s Visa Bulletin.

VisaBulletin

Table A: FinalAction Dates — Applications with these priority dates or earlier may beapproved for their Green Card (Permanent Residency card) or Immigrant Visaappointment:

Table B: Datesfor Filing

The USCISwill use the Table B Dates for Filing chart for I-485 employment-based filingsin November 2024. See: USCIS Visa Bulletin Dates

MU LawAnalysis

EB-1, EB-2,EB-3: The Visa Bulletin for categories EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3 made nomovement from October 2024 in the Final Action Dates or Dates of Filing chart.

TheNational Center for Health Workforce Analysis projectsa 9 percent nursing workforce shortage through 2036.  The problem will be particularly acute innon-metro areas, where the shortage is expected to grow to 14%.  The ten states with the largest projected RNshortages in 2036 are: Georgia (29%), California (26%), Washington (26%), NewJersey (25%), North Carolina (23%), New Hampshire (23%), South Carolina (21%),Maryland (20%), Michigan (19%), and Oregon (16%).

Thecurrent shortage is about 250,000 and is expected to grow to a shortage of 350,00full-time registered nurses in 2026.

TheNational Center for Health Workforce Analysis (NCHWA) collects data, conductsresearch, and generates information about the U.S. health care workforce toinform and support Public- and private-sector decision making. Learn aboutthe NationalCenter for Health Workforce Analysis.

Legislationproposed by Rep. Bayer (D-VA) calls for 20,000 nurse visas for ruralshortage areas.  Unfortunately, thatlegislation has probably been introduced too late in this congressional term topass both houses of Congress before the term ends on December 31, 2024.

Philippinesnurses seem to be choosing contract positions with an aim toward movingabroad.   ABS-CBNNews reports that ACT-Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro questionedwhy there did not appear to be an increase in permanent (Plantilla) healthcarepositions in the last year.   

Rep.Angelica Natasha Co speculated that healthcare workers opt for temporary orcontractual positions when they have plans to work abroad.  Last year saw one of the greatest numbers ofPhilippine nurses enter the US in many years, as the American nursing shortagecontinues to get worse.  As of 2021, about300,000 Philippine nurses worked abroad.

OnSeptember 18, 2024, USCIS issued a news alert that LawfulPermanent Residents (aka Green Card holders) who properly file Form-I-90 toreplace an expired or soon-to-expire Green Card will receive an automatic 36-monthextension, as opposed to the previous 24-month extension.

Receiptnotices received on or after September 10, 2024 for Form I-90 should nowinclude updated language granting Green Card holders the automatic 36-monthextension. On September 10, 2024, USCIS began printing amended receipt noticesfor individuals with pending I-90s.

Toevidence their lawful status, Green Card holders may present the updated I-90receipt notice with their expired green card. This will allow Green Cardholders to continue working and traveling, despite experiencing long processingdelays to replace their expired Green Card.

LawfulPermanent Residents who no longer have their Green Card are not eligible forthe automatic 36-month extension, but they may request an appointment at aUSCIS Field Office by contacting the USCIS Contact Center in order to obtain anAlien Documentation, Identification, and Telecommunications (ADIT) stamp toprove their status while waiting to receive their replacement Green Card.

TheDepartment of State has just issued the October 2024 Visa Bulletin, thefirst of the new Fiscal Year. This blog post analyzes this month’s VisaBulletin.

VisaBulletin

Table A: FinalAction Dates – Consular applicants with these priority dates or earlier may beapproved for their Green Card (Permanent Residency card) or Immigrant Visaappointment:

Table B: Dates ofFiling – Adjustment of Status applicants with these priority dates or earliermay file their Form I-485:

MU LawAnalysis

EB-1 andEB-2: The Visa Bulletin for categories EB-1 and EB-2 made nearly nomovement from September 2024. Only China EB-1 and EB-2 made forward progress ofless than a month.

EB-3: The EB-3categories for Rest of World, Mexico, and Philippines moved forward roughly 2years from the September 2024 visa bulletin, closely mirroring the June 2024visa bulletin which was issued before the DOS began rolling back visa numbersfor the rest of the fiscal year.

EB-3India moved forward less than one month, while EB-3 China retrogressed 5 monthsfrom the September 2024 Visa Bulletin.

Lastweek, the Department of State announced that all available Green Cards had beenissued for EB-1 and EB-4categories.

TheDepartment of State announced earlier last month that the limits had beenreached for EB-3 and EB-3 Other Workers and EB-5 unreserved categories.

For anycategory that is announced as “Unavailable”, Green Cards will not be issued toconsular applicants completing an Immigrant Visa interview under that category,and Adjustment of Status applications filed under that category will not beapproved until the new fiscal year, which begins October 1, 2024.

Thefollowing categories are now unavailable until October 1, 2024:

• EB-1
• EB-3
• EB-3 other workers
• EB-4
• EB-5 unreserved

Asdiscussed in MU’s blog on the September 2024 visabulletin, visa unavailability is temporary throughSeptember 2024, and new immigrant visa numbers will become available in allcategories beginning October 1, 2024.

The Department of State has just issued the September 2024 Visa Bulletin. This blog post analyzes this month’s Visa Bulletin.

Visa Bulletin

Table A: Final Action Dates — Applications with these dates may be approved for their Green Card (Permanent Residency card) or Immigrant Visa appointment.

The USCIS will use the Table A Final Action chart for I-485 employment-based filings in September 2024. See: USCIS Visa Bulletin Dates

MU Law Analysis

There was no movement forward for any employment-based category, and the EB-3 category for Philippines, Mexico, and Rest of World retrogressed an additional year, which the Department of State cautioned in the July 2024 and August 2024 Visa Bulletins.

The Visa Bulletin notes that the EB-3 category for Philippines, Mexico, and Rest of World are rapidly approaching the annual limit for FY-2024. If the annual limit of any category is reached, the Department of State will immediately make the preference category “unavailable”, and no further requests for numbers will be honored.

Finally, the Department of State indicated that it anticipates final action dates will advance in October 2024.

FAQ

In response to the many questions received about this Visa Bulletin, Musillo Unkenholt provides the following FAQ:

Q.  Why do visa categories often retrogress in September?

A. The Department of State has a limited number of immigrant visas it may issue each fiscal year, which runs from October 1 – September 30. The Department of State must avoid issuing excess immigrant visa numbers before the end of the fiscal year or else it violates federal law. 

The issuance totals in the categories retrogressed in September are rapidly approaching the annual limit for FY-2024, necessitating the Visa Bulletin’s retrogression in order to slow down issuance rates. 

Q. Does this mean that the Philippine EB3 and Rest of World dates will permanently be retrogressed?

A.  No. This is a temporary retrogression in effect for the month of September. The Department of State anticipates final action dates will advance in October 2024, when the new fiscal year begins.

Q.  If I have an interview, but my priority date will retrogress in September, will I still be able to get my green card?

A.  If you have an interview before August 31, you will be able to get your green card.  However, if you do not have an interview until September, the interview may be postponed until your priority date becomes current again.

If you have questions on this month’s Visa Bulletin, please reach out to your MU attorney directly or Contact Us.

On Monday, August 5, USCIS announcedin a NewsAlert that it had completed its second round of H-1B CAP selections in theFiscal Year 2025 H-1B Cap lottery (FY 2025 refers to CAP registrations filed inMarch 2024).

Those with selected second-roundregistrations received a selection notice in their https://my.uscis.gov/ account, which includesdetails of when and where to file. An H-1B cap-subject petition must beproperly filed within the filing period indicated on the selection notice. Mostsecond-round selection notices indicate a filing window of August 8, 2024 –November 7, 2024. In all cases, the period for filing the H-1B cap-subjectpetition will be at least 90 days. 

The USCIS has announced in a NewsAlert that it will select a second round of H-1B registrations in theFiscal Year 2025 H-1B Cap lottery (FY 2025 refers to CAP registrations filed inMarch 2024).

The second round of selectionsindicates that not enough H-1B petitions were submitted between April 1, 2024and June 30, 2024 to meet the total 85,000 H-1B CAP. In its News Alert, USCISclarified that it will not be conducting a second selection for the advanceddegree exemption (the master’s cap), as enough master’s cap petitions werereceived to meet the 20,000 FY 2025 masters cap. The second round of selectionwill therefore include both master’s and regular cap registrations.

USCIS will announce once thesecond-round selection process is completed. Those with selected second-roundregistrations will receive a selection notice in their https://my.uscis.gov/ account, which includesdetails of when and where to file.

MU Law will be hosting a FREE webinar for our clients and friends on Tuesday, July 30th, 2024 from 1:00-2:00 pm Eastern (12:00-1:00 pm Central).

Join us for this FREE webinar to learn more about:

• Specialty Occupation Criteria
• Potential H-1B Filing Approaches
• H-1B Cap Exemption
• H-1B RN Filing Trends

PLEASE JOIN US!