Currently my sister and I are in the 2b family preference category with a priority date of October, 1992. Under the Simpson and Smith bills, we would no longer be eligible to immigrate. How likely is it that these provisions will pass and, if they do, what are the alternatives of people in the backlog?

The Smith bill provides a clause saying that unmarried adult children under 25 will be allowed to immigrate in very limited numbers. If so, how much longer would I have to wait to get a visa? I did not become 21 years of age until February of 1994 (which was after my filing date). Will I still be eliminated from eligibility or will my status as of the filing date count?

It is quite probable that the family immigration provisions will pass, although many things are still uncertain at this point. The final law may be quite different from the proposed legislation. If the family provisions contained in the Smith/Simpson bills pass as proposed, those in the visa backlog at the date of enactment will lose their eligibility. Their only alternative will be to qualify under some other immigration category, if they can.

By way of example, current eligibility for children under the immediate relative category (children under 21) requires that the child be under 21 at the time a visa is available, not at the time of filing. The Smith bill proposes allowing children who filed as immediate relatives before the age of 21 to continue in eligibility after that date, even though they are still in the visa backlog. If this provision is also applied to unmarried sons and daughters under 25 when the new law is implemented, you will still be okay even if you turn 25 while still in the visa backlog. However, it is still too early to predict the final form of the legislation.

It is also too early to tell what effect the new legislation will have on visa backlogs. The number of visas permitted for unmarried sons and daughters under 25 will be reduced to 5,000 per year but a large number of adult sons and daughters in the 2b visa backlog would also lose eligibility.