Washington – Legal immigrants hoping to be first in line for employer-sponsored green cards lost time and money when the government suddenly announced Monday that no new applications would be taken until the fall, a lawyers group said.
Tens of thousands of people who work in the United States under employment visas and their families were affected by the change, said Crystal Wil liams, associate director for programs at the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
“There are people who flew to the United States so they could apply and had their families fly back. They paid attorney fees,” Williams said.
The State Department announced last month that employment-visa numbers were available for all people seeking employer-sponsored green cards, except unskilled workers. It sometimes takes years for applicants to get those numbers.
The announcement meant that as early as Monday, Citizenship and Immigration Services would begin accepting applications.
The applications are hefty, requiring medical exams, a lot of documentation and the applicant’s presence in the United States.
But an update on the State Department website posted Monday said 60,000 such numbers were no longer available because of “the sudden backlog reduction efforts by Citizenship and Immigration Services offices during the past month.”
The department called the backlog reduction an “unexpected action” and said employment-visa numbers would be available again Oct. 1.
The State Department has been flooded with passport applications since new rules went into effect in January requiring passports for air travelers returning from the same destinations. The resulting backlog has caused delays of up to three months for passports and ruined or delayed the travel plans of thousands of people.
The fee to apply increases July 30 from $395 to $1,010, including a fingerprinting fee.
