I recently spent a week in the Philippines meeting with clients – and enjoying the food and people as you can see from the photos below. Most people I saw are still waiting for visas for petitions filed years ago by family members. For Filipinos in the F3 and F4 visa categories – adult married children or siblings of U.S. citizens, plus family members – the waits are over 20 years. Things happen when you wait that long; the petitioner dies, children turn 21, and some people are no longer eligible.
One of the biggest fears is that President-Elect Trump will somehow end their cases. That’s not going to happen. The bureaucracy might move more slowly in processing applications. It’s very likely the new Congress and President will enact new immigration laws and it’s even possible the wait times will get shorter. No one can say – it’s wait and see. To repeat the advice I’ve been offering online and in person – It’s highly likely that the new government will eliminate future petitions (applications) for adult children and siblings so file now if you can.
There were questions about other problem visa applications: including visitor visas (B1/B2), temporary non-agricultural workers (H2B), permanent visas for skilled workers (EB-3), fiancée visas (K-1) and marriage visas (CR-1), and more. Some are temporary visas, and some are green cards which grant permanent residence. No matter the category, It’s hard to get a U.S. visa in many cases, and it’s only going to get harder. True love is still the surest way to get a visa, although even there you can have problems if either the U.S. or foreign national has a criminal conviction or there are other issues like a prior immigration violation, health issues, or security concerns.
Meanwhile, back in Washington, the U.S. Department of State released its annual report on the number of immigrant visa applicants on the waiting lists for green card visas with quotas. If you like details and charts like I do, this is really interesting and depressing. There are over 4 million individuals waiting in the family-sponsored preferences, and 107,479 individuals waiting for employment-based preferences. There’s also a fact sheet that explains the whole visa quota system – have some coffee before you read this. Mexico has the most family members waiting, and the Philippines is second. The Philippines has the most people waiting in the EB-3 skilled workers category which includes nurses and physical therapists. That won’t come as a surprise to those still waiting 5 years or so for their green cards.
