July 2011 Visa Bulletin – Significant Forward Movement in EB-2 India/China, Other Workers and FB2A; FB1 Remains Unchanged

The U.S. State Department just released the July 2011 Visa Bulletin which is the tenth Visa Bulletin for the FY2011 fiscal year.    The major headline in the upcoming month’s bulletin is the substantial forward movement in EB-2 China, EB-2 India,  Other Workers and FB2A categories.

Summary of the July 2011 Visa Bulletin – Employment-Based (EB)

Below is a summary of the July 2011 Visa Bulletin with respect to employment-based petitions:

  • EB-1 remains current across the board.
  • EB-2 ROW (Rest of World), Mexico and Philippines remain current while EB-2 China and EB-2 India both move forward by almost five (5) months to March 8, 2007.
  • EB-3 ROW and EB-3 Philippines move forward by three (3) weeks to October 8, 2005, EB-3 China  moves forward by one and a half (1.5) months to July 1, 2004, while EB-3 India  moves forward by only one (1) week to May 1, 2002.  EB-3 Mexico moves forward by over six (6) months to July 1, 2005.
  • The “other worker” category remains unchanged (again) at  April 22, 2003 for China.  It moves forward by over one (1) year to November 22, 2004 for ROW, Mexico and Philippines.  It moves forward by only one  (1) week to May 1, 2002 for India .

Summary of the July 2011 Visa Bulletin – Family-Based (FB)

Below is a summary of the July 2011 Visa Bulletin with respect to family-based petitions:

  • FB1 ROW, China and India remain unchanged (again) at May 1, 2004.  FB1 Mexico moves forward by only one (1) week to March 8, 1993.  FB1 Philippines moves forward by seven (7) weeks to April 15, 1996.
  • FB2A moves forward by seven (7) months to March 22, 2008 for ROW, China, India, and Philippines.  FB2A Mexico moves forward by six (6) months to February 15, 2008.
  • FB2B ROW, China and India move forward by two and a half (2.5) months to July 1, 2003.  FB2B Mexico moves forward by one (1) month to September 22, 1992.  FB2B Philippines moves forward by three and a half (3.5) months to September 22, 2000.

Slow Movement  for Employment-based Petitions, Except EB-2 India, EB-2 China and Other Workers; Substantial Forward Movement for FB2A and No (or Minor) Movement in FB1

The slow forward movement across many employment categories continues, as expected, although we have started seeing notable movement in the EB-2 India and EB-2 China categories after many months of no activity (especially for EB-2 India).  The EB-2 India and EB-2 China movement is due to the carryover of visa numbers from the EB-1 category (also see note below).    Unfortunately, EB-3 India moved forward by only one  week again (the same as during the previous few visa bulletins).

We continue to see the FB2A category move forward (byseven months), after the significant retrogression over the past several months.  We wish to reiterate that the forward movement in FB2A is expected to be slow over the next  few months, according to indications from the State Department.   Unfortunately, due to strong demand, FB1 category remains unchanged, for a third month in a row, after it retrogressed by 8 months during the April 2011 Visa Bulletin.  This is due to heavy demand in the FB1 category which is expected to continue and further lack of movement (or backward movement) in FB1 is possible.

Further Updates and NewsWe invite you to subscribe to our free weekly immigration newsletter to receive timely updates on this and related topics.  We also invite you to contact us if our office can be of any assistance in your immigration matters or you have any questions or comments about the July 2011 Visa Bulletin.  Finally, if you already haven’t, please consider our Visa Bulletin Predictions tool which provides personalized predictions on when a particular priority date may become current.

By | Last Updated: May 20th, 2017| Categories: Articles, News, Visa Bulletin|

About the Author: Dimo Michailov

Dimo Michailov
Dimo has over 15 years of experience in US immigration including employment-based immigration benefits, corporate compliance and family based immigration. He represents corporate and individual clients in a wide range of cross-border immigration matters including mobility of key foreign executives and managers, specialized knowledge workers, and foreign nationals with extraordinary ability.

The Capitol Immigration Law Group has been serving the business community for over 15 years and is one of the most widely respected immigration law firms focused solely on U.S. employment-based immigration.   Disclaimer:  we make all efforts to provide timely and accurate information; however, the information in this article may become outdated or may not be applicable to a specific set of facts.  It is not to be construed as legal advice.