New Delays for Some Green Card Applicants

The United States Department of State has released its Visa Bulletin for July 2005.  The "priority dates" for the employment-based third preference category for nationals of all countries have been listed as unavailable.  This means that foreign nationals who have been sponsored by U.S. employers for permanent resident status whose cases were filed in the so-called EB3 or employment-based third preference category will face a longer processing time for issuance of permanent resident status.  [Generally, the EB3 category applies to jobs whose minimum educational requirement is less than either (i) a masters degree or (ii) a bachelor degree plus five years of post-graduate work experience.  Jobs whose minimum requirements equal or exceed that level of education are categorized generally as EB2.