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| October Visa Bulletin Shows Retrogression in Cut-off Dates for India and China EB-2 Category and EB-3 Categories; "Little if any forward movement of the cut-off dates...is likely until the extent of the CIS backlog...can be determined." |
9/12/2008 |
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For the month of October 2008, immigrant visa numbers are available only to those applicants whose priority or filing date is earlier than the cut-off date listed for the applicable employment category. If there is no cut-off date, then the category is either "current" (visas currently available) or "unavailable".
China-mainland born
EB-1 Current
EB-2 01/April/2004
EB-3 01/Oct/2001
India
EB-1 Current
EB-2 01/April/2003
EB-3 01/July/2001
Philippines
EB-1 Current
EB-2 Current
EB-3 01/Jan/2005
Mexico
EB-1 Current
EB-2 Current
EB-3 01/July/2002
Worldwide/All other Countries
EB-1 Current
EB-2 Current
EB-3 01/Jan/2005
Other (Unskilled) Workers
All Countries
01/January/2003
[The complete Bulletin will be found at http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/bulletin/bulletin_4357.html.]
The Department of State, which regulates the distribution of the immigrant visa numbers, explains the retrogression of cut-off dates and expections for movement, as follows:
EMPLOYMENT VISA AVAILABILITY
Item E of the May 2008 Visa Bulletin (number 118, volume VIII) indicated that many Employment cut-off dates had been advancing very rapidly, based on indications that the Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) would need to review a significantly larger pool of applicants than there were numbers available in order to maximize number use under the FY-2008 annual limits. That item also indicated that if the CIS projections proved to be incorrect, it would be necessary to adjust the cut-off dates during the final quarter of FY-2008. The CIS estimates have proven to be very high resulting in: 1) the “unavailability” of all Employment Third preference categories beginning in July, 2) the “unavailability” of numbers for China and India Employment Second preference adjustment of status cases during September, and 3) the establishment of many October Employment cut-off dates which are earlier than those which applied during FY-2008.
Little if any forward movement of the cut-off dates in most Employment categories is likely until the extent of the CIS backlog of old priority dates can be determined. It is estimated that the FY-2009 Employment-based annual limit will be very close to the 140,000 minimum.
The bottom line is that cut-off dates will only be moved forward as the USCIS' processing backlog and the related demand for immigrant visas becomes clearer. The Department of State did their best to maximize use of the available visas for the Fiscal Year 2009 (October 1, 2007 to September 30, 2008) by moving the cut-off dates forward during the closing months of the Fiscal Year. Unfortunately, predicting demand and processing rates is a demanding science. The Department of State must maximize use of the numbers each year while ensuring that they do not exceed the limited quota set by Congress.
We will continue to update you as new information becomes available.
Printable Version
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