Dunedain
May 23, 2005, 10:49 AM
An interesting read from the hardcopy pages of Diyaryo Pilipino dtd. May 20-26, 2005. This has the possibility of affecting those who are planning to apply, in the process of applying, and those who recently got their Employment-Based visas in the U.S. Read on....
Employment-based visas may become 'unavailable' says US State Department
by Rhony Laigo
LOS ANGELES - A week after the Philippine celebrated the news of more potential nurses getting hired for work in the United States (about 25,000) after some 20,000 visas were opened up by the State Department, latest reports have dimmed for other Filipino professionals.
In what appears to be a sad news for Filipino working professionals working under the H1-B category (nonimmigrant working status) and who are seeking to become permanent residents as soon as they recieve their labor certification, word from the State Department stated that there might be no more visas available in the future that would prevent them from becoming greencard holders.
According to the U.S. Department of State (DOS) Visa Bulletin for June 2005, the Employment-Based (EB) Preference for immigrant workers is currently "oversubscribed". Such oversubscription, the DOS said, "could result in the establishment of cut-off dates, retrogression of already established dates, ot some categories becoming "unavailable".
There are several categories under the EB petitions. Whilst most are current, those who are born in China, India, and Philippines were the bulk of applicants come from, must have their priority dates before June 2003 or their applications will not be accepted. The category for non-skilled workers are held back with priority dates from June 1999 backwards will be processed for greencard.
The State Department said that during the past month "there has been a significant increase in the amount of numbers being used by Citizenship and Immigrant Services (CIS) offices for adjustment of status applicants". Adjustment of status in this regard means applying for a greencard, usually based on a petition filed by an employer, while others of exceptional abilities apply by themselves.
The DOS said, "This level of demand has significantly depleted the supply of Employment-Based numbers available under the annual limit."
Another reason for the "oversubscription", is due to the fact that CIS has been trying to reduce it's "three-year backlog" and is processing a lot of applications. Thus, the "backlog reduction efforts will sustain or increase the current level of demand", according to some immigration lawyers and "therefore, continued visa availability in the Employment-Based categories cannot be guaranteed during the final quarter of FY-2005".
The DOS states that this problem could extend to many or all EB categories worldwide.
The employment-based third preference category is granted up to 28. percent of the minimum 140,000 visa numbers. In each of the first three quarters, the State Department can only release 27 percent of these, or approximately 10,810 visa numbers per quarter.
Earlier in Washington, the Philippine Embassy announced that the amendment of the American Competitiveness in the 21st Century Act of 2000 allowed for the recapture of 50,000 EB-3 visa (employment based immigrant visa) numbers left unused from the fiscal years 2001 to 2004 which will be used exclusively for the "Schedule A" occupations such as registered nurses and physical therapists.
According to the embassy, the amendment "reopens the door for the entry into the US of our nurses who are well-known for their competence and compassion as health workers". The EB-3 amedment was incorporated into the "The Emergency Supplement Appropriations for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Tsunami Relief Act, 2005" that has been signed by President Bush.
When the EB-3 category was retrogressed for applicants from those in China, India, and Philippines, the processing applications, even for nursing jobs, one of the most wanted positions in the US for its lack of medical staff across the nation, was halted.
Related news...
US ready to hire 25,000 RP health workers
MANILA, May 17 (Mabuhay) -- At least 25,000 Filipino nurses and health workers are expected to be hired as soon as the United States resumes hiring foreign medical workers by the third quarter of the year.
Acting Labor Secretary Manuel Imson said the Philippines expects to capture the majority of the 50,000 slots available for foreign nurses and medical workers that the US government will allow.
“We don’t have the actual number (of slots) yet but, based on our past record, the Philippines normally gets the bulk of the quota allocated for nurses and other medical workers,” Imson said.
He said that, based on the records of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), about 80 per cent of the total number of nurses and medical workers hired in the US over the past few years were Filipinos.
“Hospitals in the US traditionally prefer to hire Filipino nurses and other medical workers, so we are expecting an increase in deployment when the US resumes processing of visa applications,” he said.
According to Imson, the DOLE is awaiting a report from the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) concerning the US government’s decision to resume the hiring of foreign medical workers.
Based on the initial information received by the DOLE, Imson said the US is likely to resume hiring foreign workers in the medical field by the third or fourth quarter of the year.
The DOLE earlier reported that the US Congress amended the American Competitiveness in the Twenty-First Century Act of 2000. The amendment is expected to pave the way for the resumption of the hiring of foreign medical workers in the US.
The amendment provides for the recapture of 50,000 EB-3 visa numbers, which will be used exclusively for the so-called “Schedule A” occupations, such as nursing and physical therapy.
The EB-3 visa number is used mainly by US hospitals in hiring foreign nurses, most of whom come from the Philippines, China and India.
In December last year, the US government temporarily suspended the processing of visa applications for nursing jobs for applicants from the Philippine, China and India because the three countries’ quotas had been exhausted.
But the existing EB-3 visas are now being reallocated to other countries, since their destined countries did not use them.
========================================================
To cut short: If you're not in the medical field, there is a low or no possibility of getting a working visa in the US.
Employment-based visas may become 'unavailable' says US State Department
by Rhony Laigo
LOS ANGELES - A week after the Philippine celebrated the news of more potential nurses getting hired for work in the United States (about 25,000) after some 20,000 visas were opened up by the State Department, latest reports have dimmed for other Filipino professionals.
In what appears to be a sad news for Filipino working professionals working under the H1-B category (nonimmigrant working status) and who are seeking to become permanent residents as soon as they recieve their labor certification, word from the State Department stated that there might be no more visas available in the future that would prevent them from becoming greencard holders.
According to the U.S. Department of State (DOS) Visa Bulletin for June 2005, the Employment-Based (EB) Preference for immigrant workers is currently "oversubscribed". Such oversubscription, the DOS said, "could result in the establishment of cut-off dates, retrogression of already established dates, ot some categories becoming "unavailable".
There are several categories under the EB petitions. Whilst most are current, those who are born in China, India, and Philippines were the bulk of applicants come from, must have their priority dates before June 2003 or their applications will not be accepted. The category for non-skilled workers are held back with priority dates from June 1999 backwards will be processed for greencard.
The State Department said that during the past month "there has been a significant increase in the amount of numbers being used by Citizenship and Immigrant Services (CIS) offices for adjustment of status applicants". Adjustment of status in this regard means applying for a greencard, usually based on a petition filed by an employer, while others of exceptional abilities apply by themselves.
The DOS said, "This level of demand has significantly depleted the supply of Employment-Based numbers available under the annual limit."
Another reason for the "oversubscription", is due to the fact that CIS has been trying to reduce it's "three-year backlog" and is processing a lot of applications. Thus, the "backlog reduction efforts will sustain or increase the current level of demand", according to some immigration lawyers and "therefore, continued visa availability in the Employment-Based categories cannot be guaranteed during the final quarter of FY-2005".
The DOS states that this problem could extend to many or all EB categories worldwide.
The employment-based third preference category is granted up to 28. percent of the minimum 140,000 visa numbers. In each of the first three quarters, the State Department can only release 27 percent of these, or approximately 10,810 visa numbers per quarter.
Earlier in Washington, the Philippine Embassy announced that the amendment of the American Competitiveness in the 21st Century Act of 2000 allowed for the recapture of 50,000 EB-3 visa (employment based immigrant visa) numbers left unused from the fiscal years 2001 to 2004 which will be used exclusively for the "Schedule A" occupations such as registered nurses and physical therapists.
According to the embassy, the amendment "reopens the door for the entry into the US of our nurses who are well-known for their competence and compassion as health workers". The EB-3 amedment was incorporated into the "The Emergency Supplement Appropriations for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Tsunami Relief Act, 2005" that has been signed by President Bush.
When the EB-3 category was retrogressed for applicants from those in China, India, and Philippines, the processing applications, even for nursing jobs, one of the most wanted positions in the US for its lack of medical staff across the nation, was halted.
Related news...
US ready to hire 25,000 RP health workers
MANILA, May 17 (Mabuhay) -- At least 25,000 Filipino nurses and health workers are expected to be hired as soon as the United States resumes hiring foreign medical workers by the third quarter of the year.
Acting Labor Secretary Manuel Imson said the Philippines expects to capture the majority of the 50,000 slots available for foreign nurses and medical workers that the US government will allow.
“We don’t have the actual number (of slots) yet but, based on our past record, the Philippines normally gets the bulk of the quota allocated for nurses and other medical workers,” Imson said.
He said that, based on the records of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), about 80 per cent of the total number of nurses and medical workers hired in the US over the past few years were Filipinos.
“Hospitals in the US traditionally prefer to hire Filipino nurses and other medical workers, so we are expecting an increase in deployment when the US resumes processing of visa applications,” he said.
According to Imson, the DOLE is awaiting a report from the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) concerning the US government’s decision to resume the hiring of foreign medical workers.
Based on the initial information received by the DOLE, Imson said the US is likely to resume hiring foreign workers in the medical field by the third or fourth quarter of the year.
The DOLE earlier reported that the US Congress amended the American Competitiveness in the Twenty-First Century Act of 2000. The amendment is expected to pave the way for the resumption of the hiring of foreign medical workers in the US.
The amendment provides for the recapture of 50,000 EB-3 visa numbers, which will be used exclusively for the so-called “Schedule A” occupations, such as nursing and physical therapy.
The EB-3 visa number is used mainly by US hospitals in hiring foreign nurses, most of whom come from the Philippines, China and India.
In December last year, the US government temporarily suspended the processing of visa applications for nursing jobs for applicants from the Philippine, China and India because the three countries’ quotas had been exhausted.
But the existing EB-3 visas are now being reallocated to other countries, since their destined countries did not use them.
========================================================
To cut short: If you're not in the medical field, there is a low or no possibility of getting a working visa in the US.