The Visa Bulletin for September 2010 has just been released, and we have more good news for spouses of green card holders. The current “priority date” for spouses of green card holders is January 1, 2010. This means that green card holders that applied for their spouses on or before January 1, 2010 will be current as of September 1, 2010. In other words, if they filed the form I-130 on or before January 1, 2010, they can now file the adjustment of status application, assuming that the spouse has not overstayed their visa in the US.
If the spouse is overseas, then the National Visa Center will quickly send the paperwork to the US green card holder spouse to complete the paperwork before the case can be sent to the US Embassy for an interview date to be set.
This is great news, as the old processing time for spouses of green card holders was about a 3 to 4 year wait. Now it looks like there is less than a 1 year wait. It is rare these days to get good news on immigration rules and procedures, so this is a nice change.
For a recent version of the Visa Bulletin, please go to www.needimmigrationhelp.com and click on visa bulletin under Important Resources.