October 2009 Visa Bulletin – EB-2 Minor Forward Movement, EB-3 Available, EB-5 Unavailable

The October 2009 Visa Bulletin which is the first visa bulletin for the new FY2010 fiscal year was released earlier today by the State Department.   This October 2009 Visa Bulletin has been widely expected not only to see the EB-3 category go back to some availability of visas but also to use the movement in this month’s Visa Bulletin to gauge the level of visa numbers movements for this upcoming fiscal year.

EB-2 Numbers Indicate Minor Movement

The October 2009 Visa Bulletin dates suggest a minor forward movement as follows:

• EB-2 China moves forward by a little over two (2) months from January 8, 2005 to March 22, 2005;
• EB-2 India moves forward  by two (2) weeks from January 8, 2005 to January 22, 2005; and
• EB-2 Rest of World (”ROW”) remains current.

EB-3 Visas Are Available Although Forward Movement May Be Slow

As expected, the October 2009 Visa Bulletin brings a number of changes.  Most notably, the EB-3 category is no longer unavailable and the visa cut-off dates are as listed below.  We also provide the visa cut-off dates from the April 2009 Visa Bulletin which was the last time EB-3 visas were available.

• EB-3 China has a cut-off date of February 22, 2002 (compared to March 1, 2003 in the April 2009 Visa Bulletin);
• EB-3 India has a cut-off date of April 15, 2001 (compared to November 1, 2001 in the April 2009 Visa Bulletin);
• EB-3 ROW has a cut-off date of June 1, 2002 (compared to March 1, 2003 in the April 2009 Visa Bulletin).

We have included a comparison with the April 2009 EB-3 visa numbers to illustrate that even though the State Department has made EB-3 visas available, the fact that the government chose to set cut-off dates in October 2009 which are earlier than the April 2009 cut-off dates indicates that a slow movement in EB-3 over the 2009 fiscal year is to be expected.

EB-5 Is Unavailable

The EB-5 category is now unavailable.  This is due to the expiration of the EB-5 Pilot program on September 30, 2009, which means that no visas can be issued after September 30 under the EB-5 category until Congress extends it.  Once this happens, the visa availability is expected to become current.