July 2015 Visa Bulletin: EB-3 Philippines Unavailable; Advancements for EB-2 and EB-5 China, EB-3 Worldwide and India

United States

According to the State Department’s July Visa Bulletin, the EB-3 subcategory for professionals and skilled workers will become unavailable for the Philippines next month.  EB-3 will advance one week for India, to February 1, 2004; will remain unchanged for China, at September 1, 2011; and will advance by six weeks for all other countries, to April 1, 2015.

The EB-3 other worker subcategory will advance one week for India, to February 1, 2004, and by six weeks for most countries, to April 1, 2015. It will remain unchanged for China, at January 1, 2006, and will become unavailable for the Philippines.

EB-2 China will advance by four months, to October 1, 2013, and EB-2 India will remain at October 1, 2008. 

EB-5 China – which became subject to a cut-off date for the first time earlier this year – will advance by four months, to September 1, 2013.

Employment-Based Immigrant Visa Projections for the Coming Months

State Department officials project that EB-2 India will not advance further this fiscal year.  Because immigrant visa demand from other countries has doubled, it is unlikely that unused visa numbers from other categories will be available for application to EB-2 India, as had been the case in prior years.  Priority date advancements for EB-2 China will be slow for the remainder of this fiscal year.

EB-3 China is likely to remain at its current cut-off date for the rest of the year, while EB-3 India will remain at its current pace of one to two weeks of advancement per month.  EB-3 Philippines could become available again in September if unused visa numbers from other Philippines subcategories become available. For all other countries, EB-3 is likely to advance by several months through this summer.

EB-5 China is expected to advance further over the coming months.

July 2015 Priority Date Cut-Offs

In July 2015, EB immigrant visa priority date cut-offs will be:

EB-1
Current for all countries.

EB-2
China: October 1, 2013
India: October 1, 2008
All other countries: Current

EB-3 Professionals and Skilled Workers
China: September 1, 2011
India: February 1, 2004
Philippines: Unavailable
All other countries: April 1, 2015

EB-3 Other Workers
China: January 1, 2006
India: February 1, 2004
Philippines: Unavailable
All other countries: April 1, 2015

EB-5
China: September 1, 2013
Current for all other countries and subcategories

_{© 2015 Fragomen}