Dr. William:

With Senate passed the Bill  S. 1932, since it will permit certain people to apply for adjustment of status even during the period of visa retrogression, does it apply to the I-485 application only, or it will include the consular immigrant proceeding for people to get help from this legislation?

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A: The Bill S. 1932 will permit certain people to apply for adjustment of status of I-485 even during the period of visa retrogression, but it will not apply to those who go through the consular immigrant proceeding. This means that those who have been waiting for the visa number outside of the U.S. to start the consular immigrant visa proceedings will not be able to get any help from this legislation. 

Those who had already started the consular immigrant visa proceedings to take advantage of speedy processing in some consulates may remain stuck with the visa number retrogression. If this bill is enacted into law, there will be a huge difference between the consular immigrant visa processing and the I-485 adjustment processing. The intent of this legislation is to give a relief to those who will have to face a tremendous hardship after spending years of endurance and hard work by visa retrogression inside the U.S.