The issue of LPRs separated from their families for years is not a new problem. A mechanism to unite families of LPRs was created by the LIFE Act by the introduction of a ‘V visa,’ signed into law by President Bush. It effectively expired and is no longer available. Bills HR1823 and HR4448 are in the U.S. Congress. The proposal for reviving the V visa is based on something that has little controversy — family unity — but passing such a bill into law is not a small matter.

Application process for employment-based visa
Many immigrants opt for this route, which requires an employer to “sponsor” (i.e. to petition before USCIS) the immigrant (known as the alien beneficiary) through a presumed future job. The three-step process outlined above is described here in more detail for employment-based immigration applications. After the process is complete, the alien is expected to take the certified job offered by the employer to substantiate his or her immigrant status, since the application ultimately rests on the alien’s employment with that company in that particular position.

1. Immigrant Petition – the first step includes the pre-requisite labor certification upon which the actual petition will reside.

• Labor Certification — the employer must legally prove that it has a need to hire an alien for a specific position and that there is no minimally qualified U.S. citizen or LPR available to fill that position, hence the reason for hiring the alien. Some of the requirements to prove this situation include: proof of advertising for the specific position; skill requirements particular to the job; verification of the prevailing wage for a position; and the employer’s ability to pay. This is currently done through an electronic system known as PERM.[11] The date when the labor certification application is filed becomes the applicant’s priority date. In some cases, for highly skilled foreign nationals (EB1 and EB2 National Interest Waiver, e.g. researchers, athletes, artists or business executives) and “Schedule A” labor (nurses and physical therapists), this step is waived. This step is processed by the United States Department of Labor (DOL).
• Immigrant Petition — the employer applies on the alien’s behalf to obtain a visa number. The application is form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker,[13] and it is processed by the USCIS. There are several EB (employment-based) immigrant categories] under which the alien may apply, with progressively stricter requirements, but often shorter waiting times. Many of the applications are processed under the EB3 category. Currently, this process takes up to 6 months. Many of the EB categories allow expedited processing of this stage, known as “premium processing”.

2. Immigrant Visa Availability. When the immigrant petition is approved by the USCIS, the petition is forwarded to the NVC for visa allocation. Currently this step centers around the priority date concept.

• Priority date — the visa becomes available when the applicant’s priority date is earlier than the cutoff date announced on the DOS’s Visa Bulletin[16] or when the immigrant visa category the applicant is assigned to is announced as “current”. A “current” designation indicates that visa numbers are available to all applicants in the corresponding immigrant category. Petitions with priority dates earlier than the cutoff date are expected to have visas available, therefore those applicants are eligible for final adjudication. When the NVC determines that a visa number could be available for a particular immigrant petition, a visa is tentatively allocated to the applicant. The NVC will send a letter stating that the applicant may be eligible for adjustment of status,