green card, extraordinary ability, outstanding researcher, national interest waiver, niw, h1B visa, j1 visa, j1 waiver, i140, i485, permanent resident, immigration, reference letter, request for evidence, request for initial evidence, rfe, requesting for evidence, eb2 niw, reccomendation letter,do it yourself, eb1, eb2, h1b, j1, i 485, form i485, perm, labor certification, perm recruitment, eta form 9089, form 9089, eta 9089 form, 9089 form, labor certification application

The Backlog of Form I-140 Petitions
and the Employment-Based Immigrants Admitted in FY 2006

9/5/2007

The backlog of I-140 petitions is deteriorating rather than improving, probably affected by two factors, among others. One is suspension of I-140 Premium Processing and the other is July 2007 Visa Bulletin filings.

At the end of June 2007, the I-140 backlog reached 103,000 petitions. Now at the end of July 2007, it raised to 130,955. Considering the fact that July Visa Bulletin cases are still yet to be receipted, the actual number could have been much higher than this number, had the actual receipt cases in July been all counted.

The employment-based immigrants should be prepared for the anticipated delays in I-140 petitions and those who need the benefit from the approval of I-140 petitions may look for alternatives to deal with their problems relating to H-1B extensions beyond six years, AC-21 180-day employment change, etc.

The following table is the employment-based immigrants admitted in FY 2006 by category:

Categories	2006	2005	2004
Total	159,081	246,878	156,330
EB-1	36,960	64,731	31,291
EB-2	21,911	42,597	32,534
EB-3	89,922	129,070	85,969
EB-4	9,539	10,134	5,407
EB-5	749	346	129




Green Card Apply Service - For All Your Immigration Needs	© Green Card Apply Service www.greencardapply.com