August 2009 Visa Bulletin – EB-2 India and China Move Forward

The August 2009 Visa Bulletin was just released by the State Department.  The only change, in comparison to the July 2009 Visa Bulletin, is the forward movement in the EB-2 China and India categories which changed from January 1, 2000 to October 1, 2003 .  All other categories remain unchanged.  Here is a summary of the August 2009 Visa Bulletin:

• EB-1 remains current across the board.
• EB-2 remains unchanged for all categories except as noted above for EB-2 China and India:  EB-2 ROW (Rest of World) is current, EB-2 China and EB-2 India are October 1, 2003.
• EB-3 is unavailable for all categories.
• Other worker visa numbers are also unavailable.

In one of the comments to the August 2009 Visa Bulletin, the State Department notes that the retrogression of EB-2 China has been necessary to take into account the high demand of visa issuances so far this fiscal year.   As a result, visa availability during the final quarter of the fiscal year is likely to remain very limited as some employment-based categories approach or have already reached their annual numerical limits.