Frequently Asked Questions on additional visa release

  1. Is the 22,000 number set in stone? We believe so but it does not mean that we and our Congressional supporters are not pushing for a higher number. In addition, DHS held a Congressional briefing on Wednesday, April 21st, on the additional visa release and we were told that a number of offices pushed for a higher number. From a strategic perspective, we should allow our supporters to push for a higher number but our grassroots outreach should shift to exclusively pushing for a permanent fix.
  2. Will a lottery be necessary? Yes. The demand is for 60,000+ positions although only 22,000 visas are expected to be released. We expect less than half of applicants to win the second lottery.
  3. When will the rule be published and when can I expect to receive my workers? This is the million dollar question. We have sources who are confident the rule will be published by May 1st which means the workers would arrive before Memorial Day, while DHS said on yesterday’s Congressional conference call that it could take up until June 1st for the rule to be published. In this scenario, workers would not arrive until late June.
  4. How will the Northern Triangle allocation work? This is unclear. It seems that you will have to submit two petitions if you want to apply for workers from one of the Northern Triangle countries and any additional workers from another country (ex. Mexico). It is our best guess that you will have to choose one or the other but it is still unclear. We will likely not know the answer to questions like this until the rule is published and will update you as we know more.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *