Great News – it seems that the visa bulletin is showing a great jump for Green Card holders applying for their spouses.

According to the October 2010 visa bulletin the Family Petitions under Second A (FB2A) – Spouses and unmarried children of Lawful Permanent Residents has bumped to April 2010 for most countries even India, China and Philippines except for Mexico which is January 2010.
This is really great news. It means that if you are a US Permanent Residence and you were waiting to file for your spouse or have filed for your spouse your date is possibly current or will become current soon.

It is important to note that often those dates are retrogressed meaning that once they reach the quota allotted, the State Department might changed the date backward. Therefore it is important that you follow up or talk to an attorney about your case in October or prior to October 2010.

If you want to know more about family based petitions, call us on 510 742 5887 or email us on [email protected]

What is a Family Based Visa and Who Qualifies?
Family based visas are immigrant visas reserved for relatives of US Citizens and Lawful Permanent Residents (Green Card holders). The two steps in applying for lawful permanent residence in the US (a Green Card) are i) not be inadmissible, and ii) establish eligibility within one of the categories by establishing your relationship to a qualifying relative as either a spouse, child, or parent.
Foreign nationals who are inadmissible include those with certain criminal history, diseases, and those who are likely to be a public charge. A public charge is someone who is dependent on the government. An affidavit of support from the sponsor, or a joint sponsor can allow a foreign national who otherwise has no financial means, to not be considered a public charge.
There are two main classes of relative petitions; “immediate relatives” and “preference relatives.” The difference between immediate relative petitions and preference relative petitions is that preference relatives must wait until their “priority date ” (see the visa bulletin for more details) is current before they can apply for an entry visa or before they can apply for adjustment of status in cases where they are already lawfully in the United States.

Immediate Relatives are:

a) Spouses of US Citizens;

b) Children (single, under 21) of US Citizens; and

c) Parents of US Citizens (if the US Citizen is 21 and over).
Preference Relatives are:

a) First (FB1) – Unmarried sons and daughters (21 and over) of US Citizens;
b) Second A (FB2A) – Spouses and unmarried children of Lawful Permanent Residents
c) Second B (FB2B) – Unmarried sons and daughters of Lawful Permanent Residents
d) Third (FB3) – Married sons and daughters of US Citizens; and
e) Fourth (FB4) – Brothers and sisters of US Citizens.

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