June 2010 Visa Bulletin Released

The US Department of State has released the Visa Bulletin for June 2010. The biggest news is that the Dominican Republic is now added as a separate country in Family and Employment preference categories.

Other major changes (or not):

* Family 2A preference dates for all countries, advance by over a year.
* India EB-2 is unchanged from last month. This means that it has moved only one week since October 2009.  In that month, the current date was 1/22/05, and now it is 2/1/05. 

May 2010 Visa Bulletin released

The US Department of State has released the Visa Bulletin for May 2010. The biggest news is that the 3rd Preference and Other Workers categories for Mexico are "Unavailable" and will remain so for the rest of this fiscal year.

DOS states that 

Due to continued heavy applicant demand, primarily by USCIS Offices for adjustment of status cases, the annual limits for the Mexico Employment Third and Third preference Other Worker categories have been reached. As a result, both categories have become “unavailable.” Visa numbers will become available once again in October with the start of the new fiscal year.

April 2010 Visa Bulletin released

The US Department of State has released the new Visa Bulletin for April 2010. In family-based categories, there is very slight movement forward, but just by a few weeks or months in most categories.

Employment-based categories remain "Current" for all 1st preference applicants, and for 2nd preference from Mexico, Philippines, and countries other than India and China. EB-2 for China moves forward by about 6 weeks, and EB-2 for India stays at 2/1/05, like last month.  EB-3 for China advances by about 7 weeks, India advances by 9 weeks, Mexico stays the same, Philippines and ROW advance by 6 weeks. EB-3 Other Workers has stayed at June 2001 since October 2009 for every country except India. India moved to June 2001 in Jan. 2010 and has stayed there since then.

Visa Bulletin for March 2010

The US Department of State has released the new Visa Bulletin for March 2010. In family-based categories, there is very slight movement forward, but just by a few weeks or months in most categories.

Employment-based categories remain "Current" for all 1st preference applicants, and for 2nd preference from Mexico, Philippines, and countries other than India and China. EB-2 for China moves forward by about 6 weeks, and EB-2 for India advances by one week. EB-3 Other Workers has stayed at June 2001 since October 2009 for every country except India. India moved to June 2001 in Jan. 2010 and has stayed there since then.

February 2010 Visa Bulletin released

The US Department of State has released the new Visa Bulletin for February 2010. As in previous months, there is very slight change.  To view the bulletin, click here.

Visa Bulletin for January 2010 released

The US Department of State has released the new Visa Bulletin for January 2010. In family-based categories, there is very slight movement forward, but just by a few weeks or months in most categories.

Employment-based categories remain "Current" for all 1st preference applicants, and for 2nd preference from Mexico, Philippines, and countries other than India and China. EB-2 for China moves forward by 1 month, and EB-2 for India is unchanged from last month. This means that India EB-2 has stayed the same sinced October 2009.  

3rd preference categories change slightly from last month. EB-3 for China, Philippines and all other countries move forward 2 months.  Mexico advances 1 month and India by almost 2 months.

December 2009 Visa Bulletin released

The US Department of State has released the new Visa Bulletin for December 2009. In family-based categories, there is very slight movement forward, but just by a few weeks or months in most categories.

Employment-based categories remain "Current" for all 1st preference applicants, and for 2nd preference from Mexico, Philippines, and countries other than India and China. 3rd preference and other categories are mostly unchanged from the November and October bulletins.  The only changes are that India EB-3 and 'other worker" categories move forward by 10 days.

Visa Bulletin for November 2009 issued

The US Department of State has released the new Visa Bulletin for November 2009. In family-based categories, there is very slight movement forward, but just by a few weeks or months in most categories.

Employment-based categories remain "Current" for all 1st preference applicants, and for 2nd preference from Mexico, Philippines, and countries other than India and China. 3rd preference and other categories are mostly unchanged from the October bulletin. Any change is just a month, at most.

Visa Bulletin for October 2009

The US Department of State has released the new Visa Bulletin for October 2009. In family-based categories, there is very slight movement forward, but just by a few weeks or months in most categories. However, Family 1st Preference for Mexico moves forward by 17 months

Employment-based categories remain "Current" for all 1st preference applicants, and for 2nd preference from Mexico, China, and countries other than India and China.

The biggest change is that the bulletin once again lists priority dates for 3rd Preference and Other Workers. These categories have been "Unavailable" since the May 2009 bulletin. Unfortunately, the priority dates listed on the October bulletin are all at least a few weeks behind the dates listed the last time, in the April bulletin. This may be the Visa Office being conservative in its first allocation of numbers for the new fiscal year. Let's hope so, and hope that they move forward in the next few months.

The US Department of State has released the new Visa Bulletin for September 2009. In family-based categories, there is very slight movement forward, but just by a few weeks or months in most categories.

Employment-based categories remain "Current" for all 1st preference applicants, and the entire 3rd preference and Other Workers category remains "Unavailable", like it has been since May 2009. The biggest change is that the priority date for India and China EB-2 categories have moved forward again. In June and July 2009, these categories retrogressed by 4 years (India) and 5 years (China). Both categories advance by over a year this month, each moving from 10/1/03 to January 8, 2005.

Visa Bulletin for August 2009 issued.

The US Department of State has released the new Visa Bulletin for August 2009. In family-based categories, there is very slight movement forward, but just by a few weeks in most categories.

Employment-based categories have not changed for 1st preference applicants, and the entire 3rd preference and Other Workers category remains "Unavailable", like it has been since May 2009. The biggest change is that the priority date for India and China EB-2 categories have moved forward again. In June and July 2009, these categories retrogressed by 4 years (India) and 5 years (China). Both categories advance by almost 4 years, each to October 1, 2003.

Visa Bulletin for July 2009 released

The US Department of State has released the new Visa Bulletin for June 2009. In family-based categories, there is very slight movement forward, but just by a few weeks in most categories. Some categories do not advance at all. Mexico FB-1 has retrogressed by 22 months. and FB-3 by 16 months.

Employment-based categories have not changed for 1st preference applicants, and the entire 3rd preference and Other Workers category remains "Unavailable", like it was in May and June. The biggest change is that the priority date for China EB-2 category has retrogressed from 2/15/05 in June to 1/1/00 in July. Sadly, this is similar to what happened with India EB-2 last month.

Visa Bulletin for June 2009 released

The US Department of State has released the new Visa Bulletin for June 2009. In family-based categories, there is very slight movement forward, but just by a few weeks in most categories. Some categories do not advance at all, but none have retrogressed.

Employment-based categories have not changed for 1st preference applicants, and the entire 3rd preference and Other Workers category is "Unavailable", like it was in May. The biggest change is that the priority date for India EB-2 category has retrogressed from 2/15/04 in May to 1/1/00 in June. This is bad news for 2nd preference applicants from India, unfortunately.

Visa Bulletin for May 2009 released

The US Department of State has released the new Visa Bulletin for May 2009. In family-based categories, there is very slight movement forward, but just by a few weeks in most categories. Some categories do not advance at all, but none have retrogressed.

Employment-based categories have not changed for 1st and 2nd preference applicants. However, the entire 3rd preference and Other Workers category is "Unavailable", meaning that nobody in that category can file in May, even with a very old priority date.

Visa Bulletin
Priority Dates and Preference Categories explained

Visa Bulletin for April 2009 released - significant retrogression

The US Department of State has released the Visa Bulletin for April 2009. In family-based categories there is very slight movement forward. In employment-based categories, however, the dates actually retrogress (move backwards) for some categories. In many cases, the retrogression is 2+ years, unfortunately. EB-3 for China retrogresses almost 8 months, EB-3 for Mexico retrogresses by nearly 6 months, EB-3 for Philippines and all other countries moves back by over 2 years.

The "other workers" categories also show retrogression in all categories: China by 20 months, India by 8 months, Mexico by 2 years, and Philippines and all other countries by over 2 years. Immigrant (permanent resident) visas for religious workers are "Unavailable" in April.

For an explanation of preference categories and priority dates, see here.

Visa Bulletin for February 2009 released

The US Department of State has released the new Visa Bulletin for February 2009. In family-based categories, there is very slight movement forward, but just by a few weeks in most categories. Employment-based categories advance by 5-6 months for India and China EB-2, by 4-5 months for China and Mexico EB-3, and unfortunately the dates retrogress for EB-3 Other Workers from China, India and Mexico. http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/bulletin/bulletin_4417.html.

(Credit for this photo and the last one go to my brother-in-law, Paddy, from the family's recent visit to New York)

What are preference categories and priority dates in immigration law and why do they matter?

There are 2 main routes to permanent residence (green card) in the US: employment-based and family-based. Less common routes include asylum, diversity lottery and investment.

Employment and family-based applicants are divided into different categories. In family cases, the categories depend on the family relationship. For example, married sons and daughters of US citizens are 3rd family-based preference. Employment cases are divided based on the type of position and job requirements. For example, foreign nationals in positions that require a master’s degree OR a bachelor’s degree and 5 years of experience are 2nd preference, or EB-2. For more details, click on the Permanent Residence link here: http://www.martinvisalaw.com/faqs.html.

Your priority date is generally the date that the first step in permanent residence (PR) was filed for you. This usually means the date that (a) labor certification was filed; (b) an I-140 was filed (if no labor certification was required); or (c) an I-130 was filed in a family-based case. Priority dates are important because they determine your place in the queue for the final step of the PR process. The Department of State publishes a Visa Bulletin every month, showing which priority dates are “current” for the following month. You can only file the final step of the PR process if the priority date is current.

The waiting periods vary depending on your preference category and your country of birth. The latest Visa Bulletin, showing the current priority date, is here: http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/bulletin/bulletin_1360.html