May 2016 Visa Bulletin: Advancements in EB-2 and EB-3 India Final Action Dates Next Month
April 12, 2016
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United States
According to the State Department’s May Visa Bulletin, there will be modest advancement in the cutoff dates for final issuance of an immigrant visa for EB-2 and EB-3 India next month, while the cutoff dates in these categories for China will remain mostly unchanged. In the EB-2 category, the final action cutoff date for India will advance by two weeks, to November 22, 2008, while China will remain at September 1, 2012.
Final action cutoff dates for EB-3 professionals, skilled workers and other workers will advance by three weeks for India, to September 1, 2004, and by three months for the Philippines, to August 8, 2008. For China, final action cutoff dates for EB-3 other workers will advance by seven weeks, to April 22, 2007, while final action cutoff dates for EB-3 professionals and skilled workers will remain at August 15, 2013.
Final action cutoff dates for EB-5 China, in both the Regional Center and non-Regional Center programs, will advance by one week, to February 8, 2014.
There will be no advancement in cutoff dates for eligibility to file an application for permanent residence in any backlogged categories, with the exception of China’s EB-3 other worker category, which will advance by eight months, to April 1, 2008. In the coming days, USCIS is expected to announce on its own Visa Bulletin web page whether it will accept adjustment of status applications from foreign nationals with a priority date that makes them eligible to file in May.
Employment-Based Immigrant Visa Availability in the Coming Months
The Visa Bulletin indicates that in recent weeks U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has received a high volume of adjustment of status applications in almost all employment-based categories, which will affect immigrant visa availability in the coming months.
The State Department projects that the high demand will require retrogression of China EB-3 cutoff dates as early as June. Retrogression is also possible in other employment-based categories in the coming months.
