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The Many Faces of Stern Elkind Curray & Alterman LLP

Since 1985,Stern Elkind Curray & Alterman has limited its practice to immigration law, with a special emphasis on matters relating to the employment of foreign professionals. Mr. Stern and Ms. Elkind founded the firm with the goal of providing the very best immigration advice and representation to our clients. As the firm has grown, we have continued our commitment to maintaining a high level of expertise combined with an understanding that our clients are individuals whose lives are deeply affected by the work we do. Over the years, we have developed expertise and wide-ranging experience in all facets of immigration law.

We continue to be deeply affected by our clients, some of whom are introduced within this web site.

Information and Teleconference on Visa Retrogression

September 21, 2005

As you may have heard, the visa numbers in the EB-1 and EB-2 categories will backlog for individuals born in India and China, beginning October 1, 2005. Additionally the visa numbers for all applicants in the EB-3 category have retrogressed even further. What this means is that only individuals who have a current priority date will be able to their adjustment of status applications as of October 1, 2005.

As of October 1, the current priority dates are as follows:
EB-1 India: August 1, 2002
EB-1 China: January 1, 2000
EB-1 All Other: Current
EB-2 India: November 1, 1999
EB-2 China May 1, 2000
EB-2 All Other: Current
EB-3 India: January 1, 1998
EB-3 China May 1, 2000
EB-3 Mexico: January 1, 2001
EB-3 Philippines: March 1, 2001
EB-3 All Other: March 1, 2001

Applicants whose spouse was born in a country different from their own country of birth may be able to apply before their priority date becomes current as they can use their spouse's country of birth as the controlling country. For example, a woman born in China who applied in the EB-2 category and who has a priority date of January 2002 would not be able to apply for some time. However, if her husband was born in Taiwan then she could apply now because the visa numbers for those born in Taiwan are not backlogged.

We have no way of knowing how quickly the visa numbers will move forward and so cannot say when you will be able to apply to adjust status to permanent residence. We remind you that, provided your labor certification or employment petition (I-140) was filed by the end of your 5th year in H-1B time, you remain eligible to apply to renew your H-1B visa beyond the 6 year limit. We encourage you to check the visa numbers at the Department of State website; the visa bulletin is usually updated by the 15th of each month. The website is http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/bulletin/bulletin_1360.html;

Stern and Elkind is holding a teleconference to discuss visa retrogression and its effects on our clients. The teleconference is free of charge to all clients, but you must register as there is a limited number each session can serve. Currently we have 2 sessions scheduled as follows:

Wednesday, October 5, Noon-1:30 pm, MDT
Thursday, October 13, Noon-1:30 pm, MDT

To sign up please send an email to rsvp@sternelkind.com, noting which teleconference you wish to attend. Please include your full name, telephone number and email address. You will then be given the information regarding how to dial in and where to send questions.

Please note that this teleconference is for our clients only and we are offering it as part of our representation to help our clients obtain the complete information they need to make important decisions. If you are not currently a client of Stern and Elkind but wish to obtain more information about visa retrogression please email us at info@sternelkind.com to request a consultation.

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