The February 2012 visa bulletin showed one to 8 weeks advances in the family based preferences. The employment based third preference skilled workers advanced by three weeks while the unskilled third preference advanced by also three weeks. The February 2012 visa bulletin follows:

The Obama administration announced that it will propose a rulemaking to change the procedure in applying for waiver of unlawful presence.  The proposed rule will allow an alien to file an I-601 waiver in the US and wait for approval before departing the US to process the green card at the US consulate.  Under the current law an alien who needs a waiver for unlawful presence will have to depart the US and apply in his home country.  The present procedure is risky because (1) there is no assurance that the waiver application will be approved (2) If the waiver is denied the alien is barred from entering the US for 3 to 10 years (3) the approval process takes time and it could take years while the alien is separated from his family in the US.