The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has already approved the maximum of 10,000 U-Visa petitions available for fiscal year 2015, leaving many out, as we had anticipated would happen several months ago.
USCIS alerted in July that they had a waiting list of more than 16,000 people who had been pre-approved for a U Visa, indicating that these visas would run out before October 1, 2014, when they would be available.
This means that individuals whose petitions fell out of this cycle will have to wait until the next fiscal year for a chance to receive a U Visa.
However, USCIS announced that it will continue to review pending eligibility applications.
USCIS will send a letter to all eligible petitioners who were unable to obtain a U-1 Visa because they ran out, advising them that they are on a waiting list to receive a U Visa when they become available again. They will also tell them what other options they have while they wait.
USCIS will reissue U visas beginning October 1, 2015 for Fiscal Year 2016.
