July 2013 Visa Bulletin – EB-2 India Remains Unchanged at September 1, 2004; Significant Forward Movement in EB-3

Summary of the July 2013 Visa Bulletin – Employment-Based (EB)

Below is a summary of the July 2013 Visa Bulletin with respect to employment-based petitions:

• EB-1 remains current across the board.
• EB-2 for ROW, Mexico and Philippines are all current.    EB-2 India remains unchanged, again, at (the severely retrogressed) September 1, 2004.   EB-2 China moves forward by three (3) weeks to August 8, 2008.
• EB-3 ROW, China and Mexico move forward by four (4) months to January 1, 2009.  EB-3 Philippines moves forward by only one (1) week to October 1, 2006, while EB-3 India  moves forward by only two (2) weeks to January 22, 2003.
• The “other worker” category moves forward by four (4) months for ROW and Mexico to January 1, 2009.  It moves forward by one (1) week to October 1, 2006 for Philippines and moves forward by five (5) months to March 22, 2004 for China.  It moves forward by two (2) weeks for India to January 22, 2003.

Summary of the July 2013 Visa Bulletin – Family-Based (FB)

Below is a summary of the July 2013 Visa Bulletin with respect to family-based petitions:

• FB-1 continues to move forward, although slowly.  FB-1 ROW, China and India all move forward by five (5) weeks to June 1, 2006.   FB-1 Mexico moves forward by only one (1) week to August 22, 1993 and FB-1 Philippines moves forward by six (6) months to July 1, 2000.
• FB-2A moves forward by four (4) months to October 8, 2011  for ROW, China, India, and Philippines.  FB-2A Mexico moves forward by almost (4) months to September 1, 2011.
• FB-2B ROW, China and India all move forward by almost (4) months to November 1, 2005.  FB-2B Mexico moves forward by four and a half (4.5) months to November 1, 1993 while FB-2B Philippines moves forward by seven (7) weeks to December 22, 2002.

Again: No Progress in EB-2 India – Confirms Our Expectations for a Very Slow Forward Movement in the Future?

Unfortunately, the July 2013 Visa Bulletin does not bring any news for us to report in connection with EB-2 India.   This category has been stuck at September 1, 2004 since the October 2012 Visa Bulletin.  Yes, we realize we are repeating what we have been reporting over the past several months, but again this month the EB-2 India cutoff dates remain unchanged.     We are into the last quarter of the fiscal year, and the continued lack of any movement in EB-2 India this month is a strong indication that there is simply too high of a demand in the EB-2 India category and that the Department of State would move the cutoff dates forward very slowly in order to allow USCIS to approve the (high) number of EB-2 cases filed and pending.

The July 2013 Visa Bulletin brings some continued notable forward movement in the EB-3 category for most countries.    According to the State Department, this has been done in an attempt to generate demand so that the annual numerical limits may be fully utilized, and such movements may continue for the next few months.   Once the number of EB-3 filings increases to show that the available visa numbers for the year will  be utilized, the EB-3 forward movement would slow down or stop.   Since the last two months have advanced the EB-3 dates significantly, resulting in a high demand, it is possible to see slowdown in the EB-3 movement in the next few months.  In fact, this month’s visa bulletin advanced by four months, compared to seven months in the prior month.

We 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 2013 Visa Bulletin.  Finally, if you already haven’t, please consider our Visa Bulletin Predictions tool which provides personalized predictions and charts helping you understand when a particular priority date may become current and what are the movement patterns.