What are the numbers?

[english_august]

Do we have any information on the number of legal non-immigrants waiting to get their immigrant visas. I guess it would include all legal non-immigrants in various stages - from waiting for labor clearance to waiting to get their I-485 approved, correct?

Any place out there that has these numbers?

Thanks

[sbabunle]

Well, nobody knows the answers...
DOL has 150K applications pending at back log centers....Thats
all the number we know for sure....

USCIS doesn't know how many 485s are pending..( or they
dont tell....they said they dont have that kind of reporting capabilities)...
..All these agencies wont communicate very well....All in all its an ugly mess...
And we all have a part of that mess. Have to live with it buddy..Welcome to America....

[english_august]

So the 150K applications at the backlog centers would be the ones waiting to get Federal labor certification approved correct?

Then there are people waiting to get their 140 approved and then people waiting to file their 485, waiting for approval of 485 etc..

I know that numbers are difficult to come by but I am subscribed to a mailing list of South Asian Journalists in the US and I often lament the lack of coverage of the woes of knowledge based non-immigrants in mainstream US media on that mailing list. Someone asked me this question about numbers so I wanted to give him a ballpark estimate.

Another thing, while I know the entire process for immigrant visas for EB categories (Labor, 140, 485 etc.), is there a good reference on the web for people who don't know much about this process?

Thanks

[Googler]

A good starting place is http://immigrationvoice.org/index.ph...d=77&Itemid=36.

There is a list of must read documents in the resources for meet your lawmaker link (scroll down)
http://immigrationvoice.org/index.ph...d=53&Itemid=36

[Googler]

Forgot to add, anyone who hopes to be a source of facts for media MUST read through and digest the 3 Ombudsman's reports (2004, 2005, 2006) (scroll down):

http://www.dhs.gov/xabout/structure/editorial_0482.shtm

Also see the Ombudsman's recommendations for FY 2006 (the first two appear there due to questions from orgs like IV.)