November 2010 Visa Bulletin – Minor Forward Movement in EB, Notable Forward Movement in FB

The U.S. State Department just released the November 2010 Visa Bulletin which is the second Visa Bulletin for the new FY2011 fiscal year.   As anticipated and as we wrote recently, following our meeting with Charles Oppenheim, there is not much movement across the employment-based categories, while some family-based categories have notable forward movement.

Summary of the November 2010 Visa Bulletin – Employment-Based (EB)

Below is a summary of the November 2010 Visa Bulletin with respect to employment-based petitions:

• EB-1 remains current across the board.
• EB-2 ROW (Rest of World) remains current, EB-2 China moves forward by only one (1) week to June 1, 2006, while EB-2 India remains (again) unchanged at May 8, 2006.
• EB-3 ROW moves forward by two (2) weeks to January 22, 2005, EB-3 China  moves forward by two (2) weeks to November 22, 2003, while EB-3 India  moves forward by only one (1) week to January 22, 2002.  EB-3 Mexico is now available at May 1, 2001 and EB-3 Philippines moves forward by two  (2) weeks to January 22, 2005.
• The “other worker” category moves forward by one (1) months to April 1, 2003 for ROW and China and moves forward by one (1) week to January 22, 2002 for India.  Mexico moves forward by one (1) week to May 1, 2001 and the Philippines moves forward by one (1) week to April 1, 2003.

Summary of the November 2010 Visa Bulletin – Family-Based (FB)

Below is a summary of the November 2010 Visa Bulletin with respect to family-based petitions:

• FB1 ROW, China and India remain unchanged at February 15, 2006.
• FB2A ROW, China, India and Philippines move forward by two (2) months to June 1, 2010, while FB2A Mexico moves forward by two (2) months to March 1, 2010.
• FB2B ROW, China and India move forward by two (2) months to June 1, 2005, while FB2B Mexico remains unchanged at June 22, 1992.

Slow Movement  for Employment-based Petitions and Notable Forward Movement in Family-based Petitions

The forward movement across many employment and family-based categories continues, although the movement in the employment-based categories may be very disappointing to many, especially in the India and China categories.   The November 2010 movement confirms the observations and the predictions which we published on September 23 after our meeting with Charles Oppenheim.  According to Mr. Oppenheim, the employment-based categories are expected to inch forward slowly — often by one or two weeks per month — while the family-based categories, especially FB2A is expected to make significant forward movement.

We invite you to subscribe to our free weekly immigration newsletter to receive timely updates on this and related topics.