In August, the F2A visa category, spouses and unmarried children under twenty-one (21) of Lawful Permanent Residents came current for probably the first time in my career. What this meant, was that for all practical purposes there was no difference between husbands, wives, or unmarried minor children of citizens and those of permanent resident aliens for immigration purposes. In both cases, the visa would issue as soon as the paperwork was processed. The October Visa Bulletin reports that this category is now backed up one (1) month. As a practical matter, that is irrelevant, because it takes more than a month to process the paperwork. However, it does mean that a line is starting to form. Soon, the back log will be very relevant. If you are a lawful permanent resident and have a spouse or unmarried child under twenty-one (21) that you were thinking about sponsoring, it is time to get your paperwork in. Waiting six (6) months may be the same thing as waiting a year if the line is also growing one (1) month longer each month.
I posted when this category came current on my Facebook page, although I did not blog on the subject. Also, this post was posted on Facebook before it made my blog. As all of my blog entries wind up on Facebook, but not all of my Facebook entries wind up in my blog, it would be a good idea to “like” my Facebook page. I use the moniker Lowell Lawyer.